Page 33 of Hacker Salvation

“You need to go.”

He took another swig of his scotch. “We don’t know who’s after you. I can’t leave.”

“Nobody’s done anything in a few days. I can hire Gabriel as my bodyguard until we figure out what’s going on, or I can hire someone else.”

John pushed his plate to the side. “I haven’t seen my mom in years. I’m not one hundred percent convinced it’s her. I can stay here a few more days.”

“You need to go and be with your sister. I promise to be safe. I’m going to spend hours on set.”

“I will be back in a couple days, and then we can figure everything out.”

“When do you have to leave?” I knew it would be soon, and I wanted him to go be with family, but selfishly, I didn’t want him to leave.

“Addie booked me on the next flight out. I leave in two hours.”

14

Annabella

My alarm echoed through the large bedroom at Daisy’s house. I was used to living in enormous homes since I’d made it in Hollywood. Some days, I still missed the small one-bedroom my mom had raised me in. I could’ve fit that whole apartment in my current bedroom. Sadness washed over me as I thought about my mother. She’d died of breast cancer the year I graduated from high school. With her agoraphobia, she wouldn’t leave the house to get treatment, and we couldn’t afford to have a nurse come to the house.

I slowly woke up and stretched my legs out before getting out of bed. I turned to look at the clock on the end table.Five-thirty.This was my first day back on set, my first return to my normal life. I wasn’t ready to go back. I wanted to jump on a plane and go see John. We’d texted last night before I fell asleep. I reached for my phone and saw I had a missed text from John.

John:Good luck on your first day back. Text me when you are done, Beautiful.

I couldn’t help but scroll back over the conversation we’d had the night before. He was so sweet and considerate. He cared more about my safety and me going back to work than about meeting his mom. His flight hadn’t gotten in until well after midnight. He was going to his sister’s house this morning for breakfast and to find out what was going on. He would be heading over there soon.

Annabella:Text me how it goes. I want to know everything.

The three little dots came up on the screen. My heart picked up as I waited to see what he would write. I had never been with anyone that made me sit and watch the three dots, waiting to see what they would write. I had already opened my heart to him in a short time.

John and I clicked. My fame didn’t seem to bother him. I liked how he wanted to stay in and just be with me. He didn’t care about going to the new local restaurant or hot spot to be caught on camera by the paparazzi. When I’d tried to pay for breakfast the other day, he’d almost seemed appalled. Men in my past had never tried to pay. Now I understood how Daisy felt with Neal and Aaron. John was a good guy.

I glanced at the clock on my phone. I needed to get my ass in gear. I showered and changed into casual clothes. I would spend a few hours in hair and makeup before I was on set.Last Loveonly had four more days of filming before it wrapped. The director had worked on filming all the scenes without me, and all that was left were my scenes.

I couldn’t wait forLast Loveto come out. I knew it would be another blockbuster hit. My next film started filming next week. When the contracts came in, I had given myself two weeks off between films. ButLast Lovehad started shooting late, and I’d taken a week off because of Nate. Now I only had two days off before I started the next movie. Filming forBreaking Heartswould take three months to shoot. I didn’t know when I would get to see John again.

When I was ready, I went downstairs and grabbed a muffin from the kitchen before I headed to the studio.

Gabriel stood at the counter, sipping from a mug of coffee. “Ready?”

I nodded. It would be strange to bring a bodyguard along on the job. Plus Gabriel was on the quiet side. I had offered to take him out for dinner to thank him for saving me, but he’d said it was part of his job.

We headed toward the set. My car was getting fixed, so we took the rented SUV. Now Gabriel did a sweep of the SUV before we got in each time. Nobody had tried anything since the bomb. I was hoping the person forgot about me and went away. Or it was the mob, and they no longer wanted to come after me.

I waved hello to Jeremy, the man who worked the gates to the set. He hit the button for us to come in. Gabriel drove us to the back of the set, near the stage forLast Love.

Three people stood next to my trailer—my manager, assistant, and producer. I hadn’t thought about how things would go today. I wasn’t sure I was ready to talk about any of it. I had talked to my manager a couple of times, but Roxy, my assistant for this movie, and I hadn’t talked much.

Some days I wondered why I kept her on my staff. I didn’t use her—I just did things myself.

“You sure you’re ready for this?” Gabriel asked.

“No, but it’s my job.” I grabbed the handle to the SUV and jumped out of the car.

Roxy ran up and gave me a hug. “We’ve missed you so much. Did someone really try to kill you with a bomb? And there’s a rumor you called off the wedding. Does that mean Nate is single? What was it like when you were taken in for questioning?”

Her rapid-fire questions surprised me. “I don’t really want to talk about it. Can you get a hold of my realtor and have her meet me here on my lunch break?”

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