Page 84 of Forbidden Dance
It’s a live finale.
And he knows how to get thrown off the show. He’s already done it once.
I whirl around and dash back up the steps.
Jacob, Suze, and Aurora glance up at me, but I rush past them to Danika’s office. Please, please be there, I pray. You have to.
When I get to her door, it’s open. Danika stops tapping on her computer keyboard when she spots me. “Why, hello, Livia. Come in. How is thepointework going?”
I plunk down in the chair opposite her desk. When she sees my face, she says, “Are you all right? Is something the matter?”
“Blitz is going to do something terrible on live TV,” I say. “I know it.”
“Whoa, whoa,” she says. “What makes you say that?”
My words come out in a tumble. “He told me to believe him that he was coming to get me after the finale. That no matter what I saw about the show, he would make it happen.”
“What makes you think he’ll do something rash?”
“There’s supposed to be three more episodes! He didn’t tell me about them! He would have told me if he planned to do them. He’s going to say or do something horrible on the live show so that they fire him.” I can barely breathe.
I expect her to argue with me, to say that I don’t know him that well or that I’m overreacting. Maybe even that he lied to me.
But she doesn’t. Her face is full of concern.
“Let’s call Bennett,” she says. She pushes the speakerphone button on her console and dials.
“The man who built this place?”
“My son-in-law,” she says. “He knows Blitz personally. He funded his training and is one of the producers of his show.”
My mind buzzes as the phone rings. “How?”
“Bennett always watches out for hometown talent. He saw Blitz’s potential when he was still here at the San Antonio theater.”
The line picks up. “To what do I owe this lovely surprise?” a man’s voice asks.
“Bennett, I’m on speakerphone here with Livia.”
“Is she okay?”
I’m so confused. How does the wealthy patron of the academy know who I am?
“She’s concerned that Blitz might do something on live TV to get out of the contract for the bonus episodes. What do you know about that?”
“The contract always had a clause calling for postseason coverage of the couple. What does she think he will do?”
“Livia?” Danika says.
My voice doesn’t want to work. After a few stutters, I finally say, “He already knows how to get fired.”
“Damn it,” Bennett says. “You really think he’ll do that?”
“You know what he was like when he asked to borrow your plane,” Danika says to the phone.
“He did?” I ask.
“Last week,” Bennett says. “The publicity has gotten very intense. He can’t go anywhere without a horde of reporters and photographers. He wasn’t sure he could even drive back to Texas without drawing attention to you.”
