Page 104 of Places I've Never Been

Abayomi moved to intercept him. “Please, Mr. Adam. You should not be here.”

Adam ignored the man. “Mattie! Wait.”

Mattie blinked. “Why are you here?”

Her voice sounded cold and detached. Almost clinical. She must be in shock.

“I’m coming with you.”

“Mr. Adam, the helicopter is about to depart. It is not safenear the blades. Please. Step back.” Abayomi gestured to the side of the pad.

Mattie stared at him with a blank expression. “Why would you do that?”

“I saw the photo.” Adam sidestepped the butler and rushed across the remaining space to Mattie. “You shouldn’t be alone right now, and there’s no way I’m letting that asshole get away with this.”

“Why not?”

He reached out to take her into his arms, but she flinched away. “What’s wrong?”

“Get away from me, Adam. Leave me alone.”

“Let me fix this. I have to fix this.”

“How would you do that?” A spark of emotion flashed through her eyes. “Set up another photo shoot? Maybe create a new hashtag? You can do that without me now, can’t you? Devon does.”

She turned toward the helicopter.

“Wait a second.” He tried to catch her arm, but Abayomi got in his way.

“Mr. Adam, we must step away. Now.” the man said with firm authority.

Mattie whirled to face him. “Did you really think I wouldn’t find out?”

Adam side-stepped Abayomi. “Find out what?”

“Stop the act, Adam.” She sounded bitter and so unlike herself that he couldn’t believe it was the same sunny girl he knew. “I know this whole trip was nothing but a PR stunt. Did you think you could use me for publicity and keep fucking me too?”

What she’d said was so unfair and so wrong that he almost choked. “What the hell are you talking about?”

She looked at him like he was the shit on the bottom of hershoe. “Donnelly works for Lucas Austerberry. He arrived here two days before we did. Nice move, telling him to back off when we first got here. It really made me feel safe.”

The word “safe” cracked like a whip. He took a step back, caught off guard by the accusation and the contempt in her voice. “Lucas? You can’t really think—”

“How stupid do you think I am? Never mind.” She looked away. “I already know the answer.”

His jaw tensed. “Lucas might be an aggressive ass, but he knows where the line is. He wouldn’t do something that low.”

Even as he said it, doubt rushed through him. Lucas could be savage at times. His tactics pushed the edges of convention, but they made things happen. He was the reason Delusions of Glory hit the map so hard and fast. Adam hadn’t questioned how he made it happen. He hadn’t cared. Until now.

She huffed out a breath. “You really expect me to believe that?”

Heat rose along the back of his neck. “I didn’t know anything about it until the photo dropped on the damn internet, same as you.”

“Yeah, right.” She narrowed her eyes. “How long did it take to cook up this little scheme of yours? Did the whole band help?”

“It wasn’t a scheme. I don’t know that damn photographer and I had nothing to do with that photo.” His voice rose with frustration.

“Why should I believe you? You’ve lied to me about everything from before we even met.”

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