Page 64 of See You There
The two men glared at each other before James swore. Apparently, they’d come to some sort of unspoken agreement. With James leading, the two men disappeared into the house. Lights flashed on behind her curtains.
How is this happening?
Dahlia’s phone buzzed in her hand again. Everyone she knew was blowing up her phone. Word had gotten out.
A few minutes later, Luke opened the car door and hustled her into the house. With Luke and James both in her townhouse, the space shrank drastically. Luke paced back and forth across her small living room while James leaned against the breakfastbar separating the kitchen from the living area, his arms crossed over his chest.
“You can’t stay here,” Luke said, coming to a stop.
“What about a hotel—”
“Not secure enough,” James said. “Whoever it is, they seem to have your calendar. They knew where you would be today. We can’t guarantee they aren’t also tracking your credit cards.”
“What?” Dahlia’s stomach churned. “The car could have been an accident,” she said weakly. “Not the shooting, but…” Luke shot her a look. “What about him? Every time something happened, Luke was there, too. How can we be sure he isn’t the target?”
James cocked his head. “She’s got a point. No one has come after her while she was alone.”
“Because she hasn’tgoneanywhere alone since we handed over the photos,” Luke said through his teeth, sending his brother an expression she couldn’t decipher. “Besides, if this is related to the other issue, they wouldn’t be this clumsy.”
“What other issue?” Dahlia asked.
Both men ignored her.
James nodded grimly. “I agree. But, you should take precautions just in case.”
“I will. But so should you, Cara, and Declan. Dahlia and I will go to my condo. I have a doorman, and a state-of-the-art security system. You’re going to have to stay out of sight for a while,” Luke said to her.
She shook her head. “I can’t! This movie premiere is the biggest night of my career. I have to promote it, be on social media—”
“Is it more important than your life?”
That gave her pause. Luke was right.
She didn’t want him to be right. However, the bullets aimed at her had changed her perspective.
Dahlia was ambitious, not stupid. “I’m not contractually obligated to do more until the premiere night,” she admitted. “Ihaveto be there for that. I could probably do most of the interviews remotely over the computer.”
“I’m sure everyone will understand.” James gave her a commiserating smile.
“I doubt it.” Dahlia sighed. “Per my contract, Victor can sue me if he can prove I’m not doing my best to further my career.”
A clause that, at nineteen, Dahlia had thought nothing of. Of course, she would always want to further her career. What she hadn’t been mature enough to realize at the time was that Victor would use the vague statement to overrule her whenever she disagreed with him.
“That doesn’t sound right. The language is too subjective. Besides, I think a court would agree that the risk of death trumps any lack of reasonable effort,” James argued.
“Do you have the contract here?” Luke’s voice was tight.
Dahlia retrieved the contract and handed it to Luke, before muttering an excuse about needing to pack. She knew her contract was bad and she’d been a fool to sign it. Dahlia had no desire to see the contempt on their faces when they saw just how stupid she’d been.
She began haphazardly filling her suitcase, her hands lingering on some of her lingerie. She should be consumed with the fact someone was trying to kill her. Terrified.
Dahliawasfrightened. But underneath it was a shiver of excitement. She’d be sharing Luke’s condo. Her body tingled as she remembered how his lips had sucked at her neck.
Dahlia ruthlessly squashed the memory. She was ridiculous. Her hormones were obviously confused by the rush of adrenaline from almost dying. That was theonlyreason she was lusting after Luke right now instead of behaving like a rational adult.
With that thought in mind, she intentionally left her cute lingerie sets in the drawer. Serviceable and comfortable would be the rule. Not sure what to bring, Dahlia tossed in several pairs of shorts and T-shirts and the outfits she might need for virtual interviews. At the last second, she grabbed her bathing suit. Maybe his condo would have a pool.
Hopefully, the police would figure out what was going on and Dahlia would be home in a few days. If nothing else, she had the premiere in a week that she had to be back for.
