Page 69 of Behind the Scenes
Even when I checked the bugs in her house, it was silent.
I should have taken a chance and had the cameras installed anyway.
I had trusted Laura, maybe a bit too much, especially since I didn’t really trust anyone. It hurt to be ignored in such a way when I thought we were actually getting somewhere.
But it also caused me to worry. There was no signof her at all.Did she get hurt?There were no hospital records as proof.Did someone take her?No evidence.
I was going even crazier than back on the island when she was sick. I needed to be with her. There was no way around it.
I tried to give her time. Tried to adhere to our contract. But I was just barely making it. I even decided to go after that stalker fan, cut the brake lines in her car, and then watched as she went into oncoming traffic. It was satisfying, but it didn’t really work. Nothing worked without Laura.
I was on a filming break for three days, and on the third night, when she was still unreachable, I decided something needed to be done.
Her assistant wouldn’t answer my calls. When Penelope went there in person, Laura was nowhere to be found,andshe had been escorted out after pushing too hard on her whereabouts.
She did say Laura was busy with trials, but I knew that was a lie based on Penelope’s research. She hadone. But it was a bench trial. Over in one fucking day. So fast that Penelope couldn’t even find her in the packed courthouse after.
I had people I could reach out to. People who would get me all the information I needed for the right price. If it were anyone else, I would have made that call. And yet, something was telling me to give her one more chance.
And then Laura ignored my call for the hundredth time.
Fuck it. I’m going to take matters into my own hands.
So I hacked into her assistant’s calendar to see where she was. I was no expert, by any means, but you couldn’t do what I did without picking up some skills along the way.
Imagine my surprise—and anger—when I saw that there was a calendar invite titled “Lenard,” and the address was a fucking five-star hotel.
Lenard?
I heard her kick the bastard out. I heard her refuse his proposal.
This can’t be right. And right after our time in Hawaii?
There wasn’t a strong enough word to describe the rage I felt. Murderous might come close, though.
I thought we were on the same page. I thought Laura felt it too.
I should have killed him the moment he left her house after delivering that half-assed proposal.
I didn’t because it was over. There was never really anything between them anyway. So I let it go. I focused on being everything she deserved.
But not this time.
No more Mr. Nice Guy. Killing is what I do. It’s who I am.
I was going to kill him. And I would make Laura watch. Remind her of the monster I truly was, and when all was said and done, I would fuck her over his dead body.
It shouldn’t have been this easy.
When I got to the hotel, I was wearing a hat, sunglasses, and a mask, but one quick peek behind it and a star-struck receptionist had given me all the information I needed. I was pretty sure she would have given me a key card for the room if I’d asked for it.
It seemed very unlike Laura not to protect her privacy. It seemed… careless, and that surprised me. Laura was smart.
It should have had alarm bells ringing in my head. Should have had me pausing before I got to the room. Should have had me thinking this could be a trap.
But my mind was too busy trying not to think of all the things Laura could be doing in there with that fucker.
I stood to the side of the hotel room so I wouldn’t be seen through the peephole and knocked on the door.
