Page 77 of Mark my Words

“I’m just gonna...” I hooked my thumb over my shoulder in her direction, gesturing awkwardly that I would follow her as Isobel laid into him. Chase rolled her eyes as I walked away, leaving them to rein in Adrian’s mouth.

Kristine angrily pulled paperback copies of the book from a box under the promotional table, slamming them down on the black tablecloth before repeating the process.

“What did those poor books do to you?” I almost stepped back at the glare she aimed in my direction, but I knew she wasn’t mad at me. She knew I had no more control over Adrian’s mouth than the rest of us.

“Fanny likes it rough,” she huffed, wiping her hands on her dress pants and turning toward me. “Sorry,” she sighed. “I didn’t mean to snap at you. He gets under my skin. You’d think he was a grown adult by his looks, but nope. There’s a perverted little asshole with the IQ of a toddler trapped inside all that bulk.”

“Yeah, I don’t think his filter is broken. He never had one to begin with.”

“I just don’t understand how Isobel can put up with that.” She waved her hand angrily in his direction. “She’s got to have more self-respect than that. He’s horrible.”

“Maybe she sees something in him no one else does,” I said quietly, leaning to the side to make eye contact. “We both know that appearances can be deceiving.”

Her eyes flashed something that looked like understanding, and she nodded tightly before she handed me a stack of books, pointing to the table by the door where Diana was set up with her team. “I think they’re almost out.”

She may have been dismissing me for the moment, but I knew my comment made her think about what people said about her outward impressions. The tough outer shell may have been in place around everyone else, but I’d seen the real woman behind her defenses.

I watched from the opposite side of the room as Kristine hugged a tall, dark-haired woman, talking animatedly before she shook hands with the man at her side. Chase was excited to see the couple as well, and they all chatted, surprisingly, Evan included, before Isobel grabbed the authors and steered them toward the stage.

My curiosity was piqued about who their guests were, but with the subtle choker around the woman’s neck and the possessive hand on her back, I figured this was the Dominant and his submissive they’d worked with while writing. Kristine also knew them, and I realized she must be the blogger supplying her little black box. I wondered if it was inappropriate to thank her for the gifts she sent. What was the etiquette for showing appreciation to someone who supplied a toy that allowed you to give your not-a-girlfriend multiples?

“You can join them.” Diana had been utilizing me at the check-in table, but now that things were getting started, arrivals had slowed.

“You sure you don’t need me?”

“We’ve got this covered,” she assured. “Not my first rodeo, remember? Thanks for the backup.”

Kristine was standing by herself, nursing a drink, as she watched Chase and Evan get pulled up onto the stage with Isobel. Adrian still looked like a chastised puppy as he stood off to the side, waiting.

“Drinking on the job?” I teased, knowing that she likely had soda with a cherry inside her glass.

“Yup. I thought, since Adrian can get away with it, why the hell not?”

Leaning forward to sniff at her glass, my suspicions were confirmed. “Hitting the hard stuff, huh?”

“Stop it.” She swatted at my shoulder half-heartedly as she looked everywhere but at me.

“How’re you holding up?” I asked as I took in her tense posture.

“You act like I’m going to fall apart under the pressure. I can handle myself just fine at these things.”

“I know you can.” She was more than capable of handling tasks that would make most people balk. “I just know you don’t like these things.”

“Not like I have a choice,” she commented, her head turning to follow Evan out the side door of the ballroom. “Where’s he going?”

“Maybe to get some air?”

Her eyes flashed toward Chase, narrowing as she stood next to a tall guy who’d come in the same time as the Dom and the sex toy blogger. A tall, slender woman approached them, a calculated smile pulling at her overly-filled lips.

“Why don’t you check on your guy while I check in with Chase?” Kristine placed her now empty glass on the table to our side before she nodded toward the door Evan had escaped through. “Something doesn’t feel right.”

“On it.” The hallway was quiet as I pushed the door open, Evan nowhere in sight. Hmm.

Following the hall to the left,there were two empty smaller meeting rooms, but no Evan. Turning around, I walked back toward the hotel lobby, checking the hallway with the conference rooms, but all the lights were turned off.

Something did feel off as I turned back, heading down the hallway toward the main entrance of the ballroom. Evan was releasing the door handle as he turned in my direction, his face drained of all color. He staggered toward the hotel entrance as I tried to cross the lobby quickly, dodging people here for the launch and hotel guests as he fled.

I watched as the tall woman Chase had been talking to staggered out the door behind him, framed by two security officers, a trickle of blood running from her nose. They disappeared out the front doors as I wove through the last of the crowd, yanking open the door and holding it for a couple coming in with suitcases.

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