Page 35 of Embedded
What the hell just happened?
“Seriously?” I was livid. Who did he think he was, chasing off that nice man? I caught Cole’s huge smile as he watched us. He tried to use his beer to hide his lips from me, but it was too late. He quickly turned away to say something to Keith, who nodded in agreement.
As I stood there beside Paul, various options went through my mind. I could get mad, I could throw a tantrum, but it just wasn’t my style. No, I had a better idea. I held up a hand and put the other on his shoulder.
“All right, cowboy, you wanna chase off my fun, then you be my fun.”
“I don’t dance.” He just stood there.
I beamed up at him as Burning House by Cam flowed through the speakers. “Somehow, I doubt that.” He didn’t move, and my fun took a dive. “Fine, never mind.” I turned to leave, and he grabbed my arm, spun me around, and hauled me to him. I knew from Savannah that he was close to being healed, but I pulled back a little from his chest and slid my hand over his shoulder.
We began to sway to the music, as I tried to settle my pounding heart. I prayed he wasn’t going to say something to ruin the moment. I tilted my head back a moment later when he hadn’t said a word to sneak a peek at him. He was watching me. I looked away and swallowed hard to try to ease the stress in my throat. I opened my mouth to say something, but nothing came out. I couldn’t think of what to say at that point anyway, and I sure as hell wasn’t going to apologize for something I didn’t do. It was there between us; I could feel it in his body. The tug and pull of secrets and sins, I thought as I danced with him. I guessed we were all guilty of something.
I found myself getting emotional and I had to blink away pesky tears. Get a grip, Nicole. You barely know the guy. Why do you care so much? I dropped my hand away. I needed space before he saw how much his accusation affected me.
His hand flexed on my lower back and drew me closer. His lips skimmed my temple as he breathed in deeply. “Nicole,” he said just above a whisper, and his cool breath brushed across my ear, “we need to figure this out.” The growl in his voice made my head go light. Maybe it was his strong arms around me, or maybe it was the command in his voice. Regardless, I felt it deeply, and my stomach coiled into a hungry knot.
“So you keep saying,” I shot back with a hiss so he wouldn’t know how much I hurt.
“You’ve got a quick tongue.”
“And you think you know everything.” I held his gaze.
He looked toward the stage, and I followed his gaze. John had gone up to speak to the DJ. He grinned over at Sloane as he mouthed something then walked over to pull her into his arms. The song changed to Love the Lonely Out of You by Brothers Osborne, and they moved along the dance floor together.
“If we were alone right now,” Paul’s voice broke my fairytale moment and made me look up at him, “I’d have you under me, pinned so you couldn’t get away. I’d kiss you until you begged me to do more.” I blinked at his words and rewound what he just said. A light sweat broke out on the back of my neck at the thought of his hands on me that way. “The pink in your cheeks tells me you’d like that.” He wasn’t smug, and he wasn’t wrong either. I was definitely turned on by the idea.
I waited a beat. “Let’s remember I’m not the one with the problem here,” I reminded him. I took a breath as the spark that built between us was about to hit full blaze. “I wish you’d take my word on what happened.”
I felt his chest rise and fall against mine. “I want to,” he admitted.
“Why can’t you?”
“It’s complicated.”
“Says every man.” I sighed. “Look, Paul, we barely know one another. We were thrust together because of an extraordinary situation. Maybe what we had in Mexico was caused by an adrenaline rush and nothing more.”
His forehead wrinkled. “I don’t believe that.”
“You don’t believe much of what I say,” I huffed. As the song ended, I stepped out of his hold. “I just thought maybe…” I stopped my words when I realized he wasn’t having it. “Thank you for the dance.” I turned and began to walk away, feeling raw and my heart bruised.
“Nicole,” he called after me, but I rushed toward the hallway where the bathrooms were located. I just needed two minutes to myself, so I could re-center. It was a lesson I’d had to learn very early in my career in order to cope.
I was almost to the hallway when my phone buzzed in my pocket. I pulled it out as I made my way through the crowd.
Jack: I’m sorry, Nicole.
Huh? Another message popped up.
Jack: I’m sure you’ve seen it by now but just in case I thought you should know. I know you were working with him. Call me if you need a friend.
The attachment pushed through, and I quickly pressed play. Agustin’s face came into view. “We are the family that will end this war.” He said in English and held up a finger. “One down, eleven to go.” The camera then swiped down to where Paul lay nearly unconscious on the ground. I could hear him moan. I stopped dead in my tracks and pressed myself to the wall.
Agustin’s face came into view again then whoever held the camera panned it back down as a needle was pressed into Paul’s arm then tossed aside. Agustin then lifted a knife and stabbed it into Paul’s chest. I slapped a hand over my mouth and watched in horror as he yanked it out, and as plunged it into his chest a second time. A terrible sound came from Paul, then his body went limp. The camera zoomed back in on Agustin’s face. “And hey,” he waved at the camera, “media bitch,” he licked his lips as the camera zoomed in, “we’re coming for you too.” He stuck out his sloppy tongue and ran the bloody knife across it, sending crimson drops everywhere. He laughed like a hyena as the screen went dark.
Rage hit hard, but it was quickly replaced by fear and then the realization that Paul was supposed to die that day. Everything hit at once, and I felt my cheeks and forehead start to tingle as my mouth went dry.
“Yikes,” Ty suddenly appeared and put his hands on my shoulders, “you look like you might be sick.”
