Page 85 of Fool's Gold

My stomach flips wildly. Yes. I’m willing to bet that’s exactly what happened.

He’s got nothing to say. She owns his tongue, too, and she’s locked it down in shackles and chains.

I watch them disappear into the crowd before one of the production assistants, walking at Belinda’s side, comes up to have their turn chatting with us and speaking to the interviewers.

Autopilot is an immediate defense mechanism. The press is appeased, however, and Jacob doesn’t know me well enough to see through the charade.

Celeste said Marcus made a deal. He gave himself to them, to her, to get me out for good.

What does she plan to do with him?

Jacob slides his hand down my wrist, linking our fingers together, and my mind is a million miles away, focusing on the crowd like I can somehow still see Marcus while I stand there frozen.

His face is seared in my head, from the rigid set of his jaw to the stern line made by his lips. His eyes dark, narrowed, determined. He actually believes he’s done the right thing, but has he? My breath quickens, and a chill races along my exposed skin.

Jacob tugs me along in front of the large screen erected against a wall of lights, featuring the title of the movie in repeated lines. Belinda is still speaking to us, chatting happily and posing for the paparazzi.

No, this is wrong. This is all wrong.

It’s clear Celeste is taking Marcus back to her place to fuck him, to erase any memory of me from his body and superimpose her own. What then? She’s not going to be satisfied with a quick fuck, and I’m willing to bet Stanic won’t either.

Whatever deal Marcus thinks he’s struck, it’s not going to end where he believes it will.

So what—

My chest constricts without warning, driving the breath from my lungs with such force I see spots. My back snaps straight.

They’re going to kill him.

It’s the only way to make sure he’s controlled, for good, and they aren’t going to let the opportunity slip by them a second time. They’ll do to Marcus what they did to my parents because they feel they’re owed.

I double over, the pain in my chest racing down to my lower abdomen like someone sucker punched me. Lava boils in my blood.

“Empire, are you all right?”

I’m about the furthest fucking thing from all right as a person can get, but my lips work and no sound comes out. There’s a disconnect somewhere between my brain and my mouth, and I’m left gasping for air like a fish on land.

Stanic and Celeste are going to kill Marcus tonight.

No one is going to be able to do shit about it unless I get out of here, and… What? What do I think I’m going to be able to do?

I force myself to straighten, my nostrils flaring as Jacob rubs a soothing hand across my back. I can’t lose Marcus.

There is no way in hell I’m going to stand back and let him die. There was no warning when the plane crashed, and I lost both my parents in the same night.

I can do something. Anything. I’ve got to try.

The rest of the world falls away, and I take a massive stride toward the door when something stops me.

Jacob, tugging me back, our hands still linked. “What are you doing?” he asks. “You can’t leave.”

“I’m going after him.” I gasp for breath, blinking rapidly. Duh. It’s not like I can make it any more obvious.

I have to stop Celeste from hurting him and repair whatever damaged relationship exists between us before it’s too late.

Jacob shakes his head, and a lock of hair falls rakishly over his face. Almost like he’s planned the movement as he tugs me forward. The cameras snap, whirring to capture every tiny moment and interaction between us.

“There’s nothing you can do for him. He’s gone home with his date. Tonight is for us.”

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