Page 58 of Backstage with a Billionaire Rockstar

"Mack," he says, his voice barely audible. "He engineered that show. It has to be him."

Brent's voice rises, and Evan nods, even though Brent can't see him.

"Yeah, I know. It all fits. The inside knowledge, the personal nature of the threats. God, how did we not see it?"

Evan runs a hand through his hair, his face a mix of anger and disbelief.

"Have you called the police? Okay, good. No, don't do anything else. We're coming back now."

“Evan,” I say, pushing myself toward him with a frown. “What’s wrong?”

He blinks, remembering he’s on the phone, then shakes his head. “I’ll, uh, call you in a bit Brent.”

Brent says something else, but Evan just hangs up the phone and sinks onto the edge of the mattress.

He stares at a space on the floor where nothing fascinating is sitting, and I take in a shaky breath. “Evan, what’s going on? You’re scaring me.”

That seems to get him out of his head because he looks up at me, color still drained from his face, and he shakes his head. “I didn’t want to believe it,” he says softly.

“Believe what?”

There’s an uneasy feeling inside of me as he takes a few moments to answer, and his shoulders sag. “I thought about it briefly while you were working for me, but I didn’t think it was something that he would be capable of.”

“Okay… who are we talking about?”

Evan blinks and looks at me, a torn expression in his gaze. “Mack.”

His former manager? What does he have to do with anything?

“What about him?”

“He’s the stalker,” Evan says softly, almost a whisper, but I still hear him.

My heart pounds wildly in my chest, and I blink. “Are—are you sure, Evan?”

“Brent called to tell me they got a package at the house, and it had my name on it.” He runs a hand through his hair and shakes his head. “It was a coded message that only Mack would know.”

“So, what does this mean? They called the cops, right? Did they catch him?”

Evan shakes his head. “They can’t find him, Mia. He’s gone.”

That uneasy feeling turns to dread, and I immediately fumble on the ground for my clothes. If Evan’s stalker is really Mack, and he’s missing, I can’t take the chance that he doesn't know where we are.

Liam.

“We need to go,” I say breathlessly while tugging my shirt over my head. “Now.”

Please tell me he’s going to be okay.

22

Evan

My hands are shaking as we pull into my parents' driveway, Mia’s eyes darting around the property like she’s going to see Mack appear out of thin air.

I can’t believe it was him all along.

Brent’s name flashes on the screen of my phone for the thousandth time, but I let the call go straight to voicemail. My mother is sitting on the front porch, a book perched on her lap, and she snaps her attention to the car when my tires screech to a stop.

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