Page 169 of Perfect Pitch

Which means I’m going there as well.

I need to protect the woman I love at all costs.

* * *

Up ahead, I see my target.

I’m surprised at the way she keeps glancing over her shoulder at me, calling to me with her body. Surely she doesn’t expect me to become part of the game? Not when she plans on hurting those I love.

I do give her points for ingenuity. Her long dark hair is captured in a mess of twists and braids. Except for the color not being permanent, it’s just like Austyn’s.

Her lashes have been extended over colored contacts. Most people wouldn’t recognize the length being wrong, but I do. After all, I studied her file in depth after the break-in at Beckett’s.

Her father was supposed to let us know when she got out of the mental hospital he sent her to, I think dispassionately. I wonder if he knows his daughter is missing.

Or did she just mask the crazy so well that she signed herself out?

She’s basking in the worship of the people who reach out to touch her bared skin as she saunters by. Her stiletto heels make her taller than Austyn is, as she attempts to assume the identity of the woman I love. What she doesn’t know is Austyn hates working in heels. She wears boots.

She doesn’t know because as much as she’s studied Beckett, as much as she tried to emulate Paige, as much as she wants to be Austyn, she’s not them.

She never could be.

When we spotted the senator’s daughter on my camera in LA transforming her appearance not to that of Paige but to that of Austyn, I knew we had to put an end to this, or Austyn would never be safe. My woman may be fierce, but this bitch was trained by her father’s bodyguards to fight.

And I don’t want Austyn hurt.

Skimming my gaze from her head to her toes, I feign an interest I don’t feel. I need to cordon her off so I can get her bat shit crazy on record with a warning to stay away from Beckett Miller and the Kensington family.

Or I’ll kill her. It’s as simple as that.

Reaching out, I grasp Zandra’s arm. I jerk her into the shadows and press her body against the wall with mine. Deliberately mistaking who she is, I murmur, “Austyn.”

The crazy bitch smiles. “Hi.”

I pretend to be hurt as I slide my hands over her rear. I feel something hard and plastic sticking out of her back pocket. I palm it, almost wincing as I jab myself. “Have you been drinking or do you not remember what we did last night, pumpkin? Was it too much with us going out with your pops and then back to my place?” I deliberately mislead this cunt.

“Of course I do,” she purrs. Her arms circle my shoulders, making my skin crawl. But it gives me a chance to skim my hands up her sides. Just as I’m about to lower them, I feel the edges of a vial. Smoothing my thumbs back and forth, I manage to get her to suck in her breath enough that it drops into my fingers.

Score.

I’m just about to suggest we go deeper into the shadows when I hear the sound of my own heart breaking when Austyn’s—my Austyn—voice cracks. “Mitch?” It’s a question and a prayer that what she’s witnessing is a nightmare.

I lower my head and Zandra the Insane giggles, “We can make her go away. I know how.”

Steeling myself, I push away from the psycho. “So do I.” I spin around and face the woman I love.

Her body is encased in an adorable baby doll dress that I want to skim up her hips so I can grab her ass as I carry her back to our bed. I want to murmur apologies for what she had to witness over and over until she knows I was doing the most important job I have—protecting her with my life.

Austyn’s lip begins to tremble. She firms it up and squares her shoulders. Her voice turns frigid. “I need to speak with you. That is, if you can tear yourself away for a few moments.”

Zandra’s hand smooths up the inside of my leg, aiming right for my dick. I know I’m not the only one aware of it. Austyn’s expression seizes in pain. “I see.”

I lash out. “Do you? Do you really?” Please see me, Austyn. Based on where we’re standing in the shadows, I have little hope of that.

Zandra licks my neck before whispering against my ear. “Ditch her.”

Austyn opens her mouth to speak, but I steamroll over her so I can get her away. I have no idea how many more weapons this woman has on her, but I need to find out. I lash out, fueled by the pain on Austyn’s face. “Get the fuck out of here.”

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