Page 118 of Sweet as Sin (Bad Habit 1)
“Oh dear God,” muttered Grace, fluffing her hair. She spun from the mirror and looked down her nose at us. “All right, you two, enough of that. I’ll gain five pounds just from breathing in all the sugar in the air. Can we please go back downstairs now so I can find my own Prince Charming and not have to listen to you two hens clucking over your roosters?”
“I’m pretty sure you’d scare the crap out of Prince Charming,” Chloe said, smiling.
“And his horse,” I added.
“Shut up,” Grace said good-naturedly. “Even though you’re probably right. I can’t see myself with a man who wears white gloves and epaulets.”
She and Chloe moved to the door, their steps muffled on the thick, blood-red carpet. Chloe asked, “What’s an epaulet?”
Grace sighed.
Noticing I was hanging back, Chloe asked, “You coming?”
“I think I’ll hide out in here for a few minutes longer.” Feeling a headache coming on, I sank into the red velvet chair beside the row of sinks. “Big parties were never my thing.”
Grace was concerned. “Are you feeling okay?”
I nodded. “Yeah, just . . . need a few minutes alone, maybe. These past few weeks have been insane.”
Standing near the door of the ladies’ room, Grace narrowed her eyes at me. She was about to say something when Chloe beat her to it.
“We’ll be outside when you’re ready, okay? At that bar we passed on the way in. Then if you want we can go back downstairs and watch the band from the balcony. It’ll give you a different angle to ogle your man from.”
I smiled. “Deal.”
Before Grace could protest, Chloe dragged her from the room, and I was left alone with my thoughts. I dropped my head into my hands and contemplated the rug.
I hadn’t admitted it to Nico, but I was worried about the tour. What would life on the road be like? What if I hated it? What if I got homesick? It seemed both exciting and terrifying. And what was going on in Nico’s head the past few days? Why had he been so remote?
What about Michael?
The more I thought about everything, the more my head began to spin, and the more distracted I became. Which was why I didn’t hear anything when the door opened and closed. I only looked up when I heard the lock on the handle turn with a sharp snick.
The man in the doorway smiled at me. It was the most frightening thing I’d ever seen.
“Fancy meeting you here,” said Michael as he stepped into the room.
Heart pounding, I sucked in a breath and leapt to my feet. As Michael stepped closer, I backed away on shaking legs.
“How did you get in here?” I whispered, terrified.
The expression on his face was indescribable. His eyes held the flat killer gaze of a shark. Even his smile was shark-like. “You mean, how did I evade all the security and police Nico hired to try to keep you safe tonight? I came in with the dinner crowd last night.” His smile grew wider. “And never left.”
The realization that he’d been lying in wait for me like a patient predator stalking its prey since yesterday made my skin crawl and my blood run cold. I backed up another few steps until I hit the wall. I couldn’t go any farther. I inhaled a breath, readying a scream.
“Scream and I’ll make you regret it,” he snapped.
My shaking hands curled to fists at my sides. My mind flew in a million scattered directions. “What do you want, Michael?”
He cocked his head. His eyes roved hungrily over me. I shuddered, which made him laugh. “I’m many things, but a rapist isn’t one of them, Kat. Your virtue is safe with me.”
“But my house apparently wasn’t!”
His laugh settled into a chuckle. His similarity in physical looks to Nico was truly eerie. They were even dressed the same: boots, jeans, and a black leather jacket. I wondered if it was coincidence or just another weird fetish, like standing outside a darkened bedroom and watching his brother sleep.
“That was just to get your attention. Take down that smug self-confidence of yours a notch. I see it worked.”
There was a deafening roar in my ears. I wasn’t sure which I wanted to do more, run or lunge at him and gouge his eyes out. “What do you want?”
