Page 120 of Triggered By Love
Jason was thrilled with the security. The entire upper floor of the tower would be cordoned off, and security agents would be posted around the perimeter of the deck. No one could approach without going up the elevator, and the adjoining restaurant and bar would be closed.
Apparently Secret Service approved because the president’s gazelle-like daughter was back in the lineup. None of the guests, photographers, or models were told exactly where the show would be held. Everyone involved would go through metal detectors and be chauffeured to the base of the building, then brought up the secure elevator and seated after being screened a second time.
What could go wrong?
Avery suppressed the shadow of dread that hovered over her. It was post-traumatic stress and the anniversary of her grief. She and Brando’s mother would be forever tied together by the date. Everything was set, but fear constricted like a noose around her heart.
When she was young, she used to count down the hours before a dentist appointment. She’d imagine that in forty-eight hours, she’d be past it, and she’d visualize how happy she would be.
In a week, she and Jason, along with Kerry and Finn would be at a Broadway show. They would arrive in a shared limo, but unfortunately, couldn’t sit together. In a little more than a week, they would be jet-skiing around Liberty Island, and in two weeks, she was flying to Hawaii.
If the next forty-eight hours didn’t kill her.
She zipped up her garment bags and hefted her makeup kit over her shoulder. Jason came out of her brother’s bathroom wearing a suit and tie. His hair was pomaded with gel, and his barely-there beard was trimmed just the way the professor preferred. His watchful eyes, of course, were on her, slightly creased with worry.
“Showtime,” he said, taking her bags from her.
“You set the GPS to Professor Leach’s place?” she asked for the thousandth time.
“Not only that, I’ve scoped out the Upper East Side neighborhood already. Get in the car and relax.”
“I just want to get this over with.” She nuzzled his face with hers. “I’d kiss you, but I can’t get lipstick on your collar.”
“I don’t mind,” Jason said. “But you said the professor is a stickler for perfection.”
“We’ll touch you up when we get there.” She walked with him from Damon’s apartment where she and Kerry had been staying while Jason and Finn lived in hers. It was for the better. She couldn’t let herself make love to him. Not yet. Not when Jason could be irrevocably disgusted with her by the end of the evening.
“So, we practiced the walk,” Jason said as he got into the car. “You showed me how to strip, and you said I was a quick learner. But I couldn’t even tempt a kiss out of you.”
“I have to stay focused.” She suppressed a shiver. “I’ll let go after the after-party tomorrow night. I promise.”
“You’re so uptight; you’re wound tighter than a midnight rendezvous.”
“You’re making no sense.” She rested her head against the side of the car and closed her eyes, focusing on taking deep breaths.
“You’re not scared of walking a few yards, are you?” He squeezed her hand. “I’m the one doing the stripping. You’re only supposed to watch.”
How little did he know.
“You promised you’d do anything I ask,” she reiterated.
“I won’t kill anyone.”
“It won’t be criminal; don’t worry.”
“On second thought, I’d gladly kill someone if they were going to harm you.”
She touched his forearm, more to steady herself than to reassure him. “You’ve already proven yourself.”
He grimaced with an unspoken thought, and she knew what he was regretting—that he still hadn’t caught the person behind Ernesto Gomez.
They’d gone over the list of suspects, even added ones that were ridiculous, just for grins.
Saul had an alibi for last year’s show, but he definitely was up to no good. He was either informing on her to Larry Leach or playing tricks with Ivanna. Jason had checked the hospital, and even though they wouldn’t give out Ivanna’s information, he’d barreled in there with a story about his child needing to know if her mother was okay.
The hospital, wanting to get rid of him, told him Ivanna Chu was not a patient.
Damon couldn’t get a straight answer out of Safire, and as for Clarissa, the modeling agent at Starbright, she’d mysteriously resigned and flew off to Hong Kong.
