Page 89 of Off Balance

"Oh, they did. They called and left a message on your cell phone two days ago. They said that, with your permission, they can fax the information over to the detective so he can begin tracing. You just need to call them back."

The threat in his tone is obvious. I cut my eyes back to Mark and Theo again, who have moved further into the room. They're probably too stupid to figure out that the door rolls in and out, otherwise I'm certain they'd have closed it. It's wide open, I just have to get them far enough away from it so I can skirt by them. Either that, or I could run and lock myself in the bathroom until someone comes.

Emile follows my gaze and grins slyly. "You have nowhere to run,mon cheri."

"Why are you doing this?" Keeping him talking is the only thing I can think of at the moment. I just need to buy myself time to think. Or maybe for someone to come up here and check on me. Surely the guys downstairs saw them come up? It'll be at least another hour before Dom gets back. He and Dwayne had so much to talk about, not even including the logistics for the trip tomorrow.

"I don't know, Cameron. Why did you make it so difficult for me to turn you into a star? All you had to do was follow directions. I made it so easy for you!"

"What are you even talking about, Emile? I did everything you told me to. I isolated myself from my friends and family. I changed how I dressed and walked and never opened my mouth, even when someone asked me a direct question. I let you degrade and humiliate me until I hated the version of myself that I became."

"Yes, I suppose you were a good boy until that heathen came into the picture. A boxer, really, Cameron? Could you really make a less civilized choice in men to embarrass yourself with? And your uncle, too." He grins and hums thoughtfully. "I wonder how long it'll take the press to catch on to that little tidbit. I left that part out of my initial communications. It's my own little game."

I try not to let the confusion and concern show on my face, but he sees it before I have a chance to mask it.

"Oh, so you haven't seen the news yet? Ugh, here I am gloating away, and you have no idea. That's okay, this is better. I want to see your face when you see it." Emile pulls his phone from his pocket, pulls something up from the internet search bar, then turns it towards me. He comes closer so I can see it properly.

"Dom Connor Caught With Male Escort," I read. Then laugh. "Tell them whatever you want. They'll see who the liar is when the truth comes out."

Emile tsks, and the sound makes my stomach cramp. He's close enough that I can smell the overly floral scent of his body wash and cologne. It swirls around my head and makes my temples ache.

"It is almost unfortunate this dance will never see the light of day," he says, caressing a fingertip down my arm.“Maybe I willborrow some parts of it to use in my next show and dedicate it to your memory.”

I recoil and take a step back, but suddenly, Theo is right behind me, and Mark has moved in closer, too. He's standing only a few feet away, still blocking my way to the door.

"It didn't have to be like this, you know. It could have been easier than this."

"What could have been easier? Keeping my mouth shut and letting you rut into me with your pathetic excuse for a dick?"

Expecting the hit doesn't make getting backhanded any less painful. My head snaps to the side, jaw aching. When I touch my fingers to my cheek, they come back bloody from his rings.

"You fucking whore! You're nothing more than a puppet, with a little talent but not enough class and breeding to pull it off. A hole for me to use when I saw fit, but you weren't even good enough for that. If you weren't so disgusting, vomiting everywhere, you could have been more use to me."

"What?" I wipe more blood from my lip and stare into his wild, calculating eyes.

"That fucker Heath was blackmailing me, so I was going to use you to get back at him. Everyone knew he hated you. I made sure of it. Then at the afterparty for the show you stole from him, it was supposed to look like he drugged and lured you out of the building. Mark and Theo were going to leave you all used up on the curb where you belong. The entire thing was set up, but you were so disgusting no one would touch you." He spits at me, a fresh stream of wetness adding to the tears and blood dripping down my face. I wipe it away and flick my hand, spraying him with his own spit and drops of my blood.

This time when he rears back to hit me, I’m ready. Using some of the moves I’ve learned training with Dom over the last few months, I step forward and jab him hard in the eye. Whatever he or his little henchmen do to me next, he'll be leaving with a souvenir.

"You know what, you stupid little bitch, I'm not even going bother trying to make it look like an accident," Emile growls in my face. His face is beet red, and the sweat and heat of anger are making his gelled hair frizz up along his hairline. He looks deranged. His hand flies to my hair, gripping it by the roots and dragging me face first into the mirror. The barre stops me from taking the brunt of the hit to my face, but the air is knocked out of me before I'm on my back, heaving. Emile's foot comes down on my stomach, and I lurch, the breakfast I ate this morning threatening to make a comeback.

"Poor Cameron, are you going to vomit everywhere again? It won't stop us from making sure you never open your mouth again."

A kick comes from the opposite side, Theo or Mark joining the party to kick me in the back of the head. I flip to my stomach, vision fuzzy.

Emile tsks again. "Such a waste," he says. The pointed toe of his shoe digs into my groin from behind, then he uses it to push me over onto my back again. He snaps, and Theo is standing at the end of my body, his foot pressed against my ankle. Just as he starts to put pressure on it, I grit my teeth.

"Go ahead and cry, Cameron. No one is going to stop me from getting what I want."

"The hell there ain't," comes a gruff voice.

My head lolls to the side, and everything happens in slow motion.

Dom's long strides eat up the distance as he stomps into the room. He grabs Mark by his collar and smashes his head into his face. Mark slumps to the ground, but before he can even hit the floor, Dom swings wide and punches Theo hard enough that he seems to fly back, hitting the barre and falling to his knees. With those two out of the way, Dom sets his sights on his real target. Blinking hard, I turn my head the other way, watching the fear blow out Emile's pupils. He staggers backwards, mouth opening and closing, trying to get the words out to beg, but he can't spit them out in time. Dom's fist in his stomach makes him lurch forward, wheezing out a cry, then his head snaps back surprise. He barely has time to realize he's just been punched before the blood starts dripping down his face.

Dom crowds him, wrapping his big fist around Emile's throat and lifting him off the ground.

"You're going to pay for everything you've done. You sorry sack of useless?—"

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