Page 104 of If We Never Met

"You can thank me when you get to LA."

She let out a breath as Margot left and stared at the card in her hand. She felt like she'd just been handed a ticket to something amazing. The other people who had emailed her after the awards show had either not responded back to her email or had dropped out after all the bad press she'd received, but Jessica either hadn't seen that press or didn't care. Dressing her for several events could be huge. But this ticket to something amazing would require her to make some tough decisions about her future.

She'd been feeling overwhelmed for the past year. She couldn't add one more thing to her plate without getting rid of something.But what?

A wave of panic ran through her. Her gut was churning. It was just too much. She was already feeling emotional about losing Dante. Now, she had to make a life-changing decision about her career. She didn't want to do that. She wanted to dive into bed and pull the covers over her head.

There was also no guarantee Jessica would hire her even if she did fly to Los Angeles and talk to her. She could be put through a series of test designs and in the end, Jessica might decide not to use her and then all that time would be wasted. It was a risk.But wasn't it just the risk she wanted?This could be the beginning of her own design business, one that went beyond her friends.

As the teenage girls brought clothes up to the counter, she put down the card and focused on what she had to do right now. It was actually a relief. She knew how to sell clothes in her boutique and make customers happy. The rest she still had to figure out.

Dante was annoyed that Keira hadn't texted him back by the end of the day. She was clearly avoiding him, and he didn't know what to do about it.Should he give her space? Or should he try to force her into talking to him?If he gave her space, he might never see her again. On the other hand, if he pushed too hard, he might reach the same result. She might just tell him to his face that she was done.

He paced in front of the window as the clock struck five. He definitely needed to get out of his room at the inn, because the bed just reminded him of Keira and the night they'd spent together.

Restless, he decided to go downstairs and check out Lizzie's daily happy hour.

As he stepped into the hall, he saw someone coming out of Mark Langley's room. To his shock, it was the red-haired woman. She froze when she saw him, a guilty look flashing across her face.

"Hello," he said.

She gave him a nod and then hurried toward the stairs. He realized as she disappeared that she hadn't shut Mark's door. He moved down the hall and knocked on the door. With no answer, he pushed it open, about to say hello when he realized that Mark wasn't there, and the room looked like it had been ransacked.

There was writing on the wall—three words: YOU WILL PAY.

Damn!He backed out of the room, careful not to touch anything, and jogged down the stairs to the lobby. He saw Lizzie in the dining room, talking to one of the other guests. He walked in and hovered nearby until she gave him a questioning look.

"Sorry to interrupt," he said. "I need to speak to you right away."

"Okay. Is something wrong?"

"Yes." He motioned for her to follow him.

"I'll talk to you later, Susan," Lizzie said to the woman, then followed him back to the lobby. "What's going on, Dante?"

"You need to see this." He headed up the stairs with her right on his heels.

"Is there something wrong with your room?" she asked.

"Not my room. Mark Langley's room." When they got to the third floor, he led her to the open door. "I saw a woman come out of this room a few minutes ago. She left the door ajar. I was going to shut it or let Mark know it was open, and then I saw this."

Lizzie stepped into the room and gasped, her gaze darting from the upturned drawers to the ripped pillows on the bed, the slashed fabric on the recliner, and the threatening words on the wall. "Oh, my God," she murmured, putting a hand to her mouth in shock. "Who did this?"

"A woman with red hair. I saw her come out of the room. She gave me an odd look and then rushed down the stairs."

Lizzie met his gaze. "There was a woman matching that description who came by last week. She was looking for Mark. I told him she'd left him a message. I put it under his door.”

He walked over to the desk and saw a piece of paper with a few handwritten scrawled lines:You should have protected my sister and not your wife. You're going to keep paying until I tell you it's time to stop.

"Sounds like blackmail," he muttered.

Lizzie read the note over his shoulder. "It does sound like that."

"Mark must have decided to stop paying." His gaze swept the room. "She left him a bigger message."

"I have to call Adam." Lizzie pulled her phone out of her pocket. "Can you wait here while I do that? He might want to ask you what you saw."

"Of course."

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