Page 157 of Beautiful Storm

“I love you, man. But no. You’re needed here,” I tell him.

With that, I take off after Adrian, running through the halls as a sharp pain rips through my chest like a stab to the heart.

Amelia has to be okay.

She has to be. The alternative isn’t an option.

Amelia calls out as we reach the door, her voice shaky before she sucks in a frantic breath. My panic turns to sheer terror as I yank on the door handle, desperately trying to get inside.

“Open the fucking door, Jake. Security is on their way.”

Adrian stiffens beside me as he grabs his phone, and two seconds later, he says, “I need you to call security to meet us at the edit suite.”

“Thanks. God, I—”

The door flies open, stealing my focus, and I rush into the room, my eyes struggling to adjust to the low light as I search for Amelia.

“I’m here,” she calls out. “I’m okay.”

I race toward her voice just as my vision improves to find her huddled on the floor, her arms wrapped protectively around her knees, her body trembling. “I’m okay,” she repeats but there’s a waver in her tone.

Dropping to the floor in front of her, I cup her cheeks and search her face, looking for signs of pain as the room is bathed in light.

Amelia blinks a few times before grabbing my hands and nodding, her eyes boring into mine, her expression neutral in an attempt to reassure me. But it doesn’t.

Lifting her to her feet, I make sure she’s stable, before pressing a kiss to her head and spinning around to face Jake, reaching back to clasp Amelia’s hand.

“Tell me why I shouldn’t hurt you?” I seethe.

“You’re overreacting. We were just looking at some footage. Though it was rather interesting. Did you know Amelia’s afraid of fire? And not even real fire. All I did was show her a clip of a house burning to the ground and she freaked out, began hyperventilating. I think she was having a panic attack, and it made me question if someone’s been lying. You said the fire wasn’t a big deal. That you all got out easily. And yet…”

“It means nothing,” Amelia snaps, her voice still hushed as she works to calm her breath.

“It meanseverything,” Jake retorts. “Admit that you lit the fire, Luke, and I’ll leave Amelia’s name out of the show.”

“You’re delusional. You’ll never get the sign-off for that. Management will shut you down before the first episode has aired.”

Jake laughs and the vile sound echoes through my head. “We’ve already got the sign-off from your owner. We can air whatever we want as long as it gets ratings. He’s selling the team. This show is his final send-off, ensuring he continues to make money after he’s gone.”

What the fuck?

“You’re lying.” I step forward and push up my sleeves, threatening him with my stance.

But he doesn’t flinch. “I’m not. All he asked was that I provide proof.”

“You don’t have it,” I say confidently butfuck, he better not have it.

Jake shrugs and his careless attitude has my muscles tensing.Who the fuck does he think he is?I clench my fist, but I don’t get a chance to move before Amelia’s fingers curl into my tee.“Luke,” she whispers under her breath as though attempting to stop me, but we both know she’s barely making an effort. She’d let me go if I asked.

And I really want to ask.

“If it’s not the fire,” Jake continues, “I’ll just go with my next story about how the show’s former director slept with one of the players while she was still married in an effort to extort information for the show. That one might be juicier.”

And I’m done.

“Or,”—I race forward as I speak—“I could break your jaw.” I grab him by the shirt, my fingers curling into the fabric as I force him back against the wall. “How’s that for a fucking story?”

“It’s perfect. Because now I have witnesses,” Jake calls out over my shoulder, his words pulling me to a stop. I drop my hold on him and spin to face the door, the blood draining from my head when I come face-to-face with our GM and one of the guys from security.

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