Page 135 of Stormswept Colorado

“Please. I need to talk to you. In person.”

“No, you need to answer my questions. First of all, what thehellis wrong with you?”

“I don’t know. I screwed up. I realize that.”

I almost laughed. “You stalked me.”

“No! It wasn’t real. You know that, right? I wasn’t stalking you.”

“You sent me those emails. You said you were watching me.”

“But I swear Ayla, the whole time I was trying to help.”

He was even more despicable and clueless than I’d thought. The man cared about no one but himself. “Which part was helping me? Where you invented a stalker to mess with my head? Or where you planned to use that to get me to sleep with you?”

“If you would let me explain. Do you realize how badly this is fucking over my career? Cheryl called my father. Hefired mefrom Ruxton Records. His own son.”

“Good. That’s what you deserve.” Actually, I was impressed. Not enough to stay with the label. But maybe I wouldn’t trash Ruxton Records in the media.

“Look, I get that you’re pissed off. But you’d be smart to sit down with me and hear me out. You don’t even know what’s really going on.”

I shook my head. “Yeah, I thought I could do this, but I was wrong. You can talk to my lawyers.”

“Just give me a chan?—”

I hung up, feeling sick to my stomach. That asshole. I hadn’t even gotten to my real questions, but what was the point? Why should I believe anything Paul said?

Just talking to him made me feel gross.

I went out to the kitchen. Poured a glass of water. Then I heard a knock at the front door. A shadow crossed the windows.

“Ayla!”

Oh, no. No way.

Paul was outside.Here.

My heart rate skyrocketed. Dashing out of the kitchen, I made sure he couldn’t see me from the front windows or the door. I didn’t know what to do. My first instinct was to call Teller. But he was already busy taking care of Piper. He would completely crash out if he learned Paul was here. Piper needed her brother right now. I wasn’t the only person who mattered in Teller’s life.

My phone rang. Paul again.

“Think,” I said to myself.

Should I call Ashford or Callum? Was that even necessary? The alarm was set, and the doors were locked. Paul wasn’t the type to break a window or kick his way inside. He was a record producer, nowhere near the size or strength of someone like Teller or Bryan.

And why should I call a man to come save me, anyway? Last time, I’d gotten away from Paul with a well-placed knee to his groin. I could handle him myself.

When Paul’s number rang on my phone again, I answered,pressing my back to one side of the hallway. “What are you doing?” I asked through gritted teeth.

“I told you I want to talk in person. That’s why I’m here. I know you’re inside Landry’s house.”

“What makes you think that?”

“I bribed one of the security guards who works at your house in Malibu. Cost me ten thousand dollars.”

My eyes closed.Please tell me it wasn’t Bryan.

“The guy said you and your boyfriend had both left LA, and it wasn’t that hard to guess you’d run off with him to Colorado. That’s what you do, Ayla. When shit gets bad, you run to that small town. Not that hard to figure out.”

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