Page 26 of Corbin
“Yes.”
Where was the queen? That thought had barely passed through Corbin’s mind when out from the left stage stepped a long-legged woman in three-inch heels. Those matched her dark green skirt suit, showing off striking strawberry-blond hair that took him back years.
He couldn’t drag his eyes from her. There she was after all these years. His chest ached. He couldn’t explain why his heart clenched with missing her after all she’d done to him long ago.
His heart had a damn short memory when it came to the misery he and Ares had suffered. His brain needed rewiring for him to still yearn for the young girl he’d fallen for after weeks of exchanging flirtatious glances.
One thing was for sure. That was no little girl anymore.
A smudge of dirt smeared Givenchy’s pink cheeks. Her shoulder-length hair had probably been styled before whatever happened to give her a disheveled look. Brushing at the sleeves of the jacket, she cocked her chin up and looked spitting mad.
His body tensed. Damn his soul. He hadn’t expected to feel anything except revulsion.
Apparently, his body had no conscience or loyalty to him.
She swatted at her shoulder-length hair, knocking dust free. She still wore long bangs brushed to the left across her forehead.
He’d forgotten how unusual that shade of hair could be. He’d never seen the equivalent on anyone else, as if Givenchy owned that color.
Police stepped over to her. “Ms. Givenchy, we’d like to get a statement from you.”
She kept her chin up but took her attitude down a notch to civilized anger. “What would you like to know?”
The policeman wrote notes as he questioned her. “How well do you know this man?”
With exasperation clear in her voice, she replied, “Hewasleading my security team who are tasked with my protection. Based on the issues they’ve had recently, including today, they should do a better job of watching out for each other. I ask very little of them.”
Another security guy in the same jacket stood to the side with his arms crossed and eyes glinting with anger. “We are doing our best with what we’re allowed to do.”
Ignoring him, she continued speaking to the officer. “To be honest, I’d terminate them for their own safety rather than wait to see who gets hurt next, but my tour contract requires Beckham’s security service.”
Pausing from taking notes, the cop asked, “Were you near the guard when he was injured?”
Corbin studied her reactions. Right now, she appeared annoyed that the questions had not ended yet.
“No.” Givenchy brushed at an imagined fleck of dirt on her jacket. “I was taking a call in my dressing room when I heard a crash. I ran out into the backstage to a disaster.”
“What interaction have you and the injured party had today?”
She hesitated, then said, “None. I had just arrived and had not spoken to any of the team today.”
The security guy standing next to his fallen teammate said, “Wait a minute. Archie followed you backstage to ask about details for the show schedule.”
She ripped off her sunglasses and glared at him. “Did you see the two of us talking? If so, please share what you heard being discussed to clear up this contradiction for the police.”
Fire flashed in her striking gaze. Those eyes were stormy as the Caribbean Sea in turmoil. Corbin had never seen her angry as a young girl. Back then, she’d been sweet, vulnerable, and innocent-looking.
Red flooded the guy’s angry face. “No, I didn’t see you talking to him, but—”
“But what?” she snapped. “This is serious. I want to know what happened as much as the police do. This isn’t the time to bring up anything exceptfacts.”
The policeman saved him from digging a deeper hole. “Let’sallkeep to the facts.” When the security guy backed down, the officer asked Eirene, “Did you have any personal history with the injured party?”
She pulled back, appalled. “What? No. He was one of my security team. Otherwise, I’d have no reason to even talk to him. You do know that I’m a wolf shifter, right?” she asked as if leading an ignorant witness on the stand.
“Yes, of course. I was only—”
“Then you should also know that the media would twist whatever I do to seem like I’m insulting the entire human race if I do or do not date a human. I’m trying to build a favorable relationship with the human population, not start a war between humans and shifters. I’m also putting on a charity event at my own cost on the day following each show on my tour.” Her angerhad diffused into her making a statement about life in today’s world as a shifter.
