Page 25 of Vain
She sucks in a shaky breath and nods. I know there will be many more moments like this because it’s instinctual for her right now. But we’ll get there.
“What happened? Is it the stalker?”
I frown before I curse, wrapping my arms around her shaking body and holding her tight. “Fuck, I’m sorry. No, he’s not here. One of my friends is hurt. I don’t know how bad, but he was in an explosion. He’s at the hospital back home alone because everyone else is in Vegas dealing with an emergency.”
“An explosion? Oh my god.” She pulls back and looks me over, realization dawning.
“You need to leave. I mean, of course you do. He’s your friend. Do you need help packing?”
“I need you to get dressed and throw a bag together for yourself. You’re coming with me.”
She gapes at me momentarily, her mouth moving, but no words coming out.
I tap her ass. “Quick as you can, Tilly. I need to get there and see what the fuck is going on.”
She jolts and looks at me for a moment. “I’m not sure?—”
I cover her mouth with mine for a moment before pulling back. “I need you, Tilly.”
She swallows before squaring her shoulders. “Give me ten minutes. What time is it anyway?”
I look down at my watch. “A little after five am.”
“Marley and Greyson will be downstairs. Explain the situation and ask Greyson if he can call my pilot and get the plane ready as soon as possible.”
“You have a plane?”
“Yeah. Movie star, remember?”
I roll my eyes. “It’s easy to forget.”
“Is me having more money than you going to be an issue?” she asks quietly.
“No. As long as you don’t put up a fight about me buying dinner and shit.”
“You wanna buy me dinner?”
“Babe.”
“Shit, injured friend. I’ll be right back.” She spins on her heel and hurries to the bedroom as I head down and try to locate Greyson.
I find Marley, unsurprisingly, in the kitchen. “You see Greyson?”
“He went to talk to whoever was on security detail last night.”
“Something happen?”
Marley looks around to make sure nobody is around to hear. “There was a dead pigeon in the mailbox.”
I pause and frown. “Any chance it flew in, got stuck, and suffocated?”
“No. It’s been decapitated, and the head is missing.”
“Goddamn motherfucker.”
“Yeah, that was my response.”
I run my fingers through my hair before I sigh—nothing to be done about it now. “I’ll ask Daniel if his team can sweep the property while we’re gone and see if he can find any signs that anyone has been sneaking in.”
