Page 16 of Behind the Scenes

As much as she believed what she thought was important, Alexis had never had anyone ask her about how she felt in all of this. Everyone had always been worried about her, but no one investigating had wanted to know her opinions. They’d just always listened to her story about the most recent letter and then assured her they’d find out who did it, but never had they asked what she believed about any of it.

She’d always just been a victim in their eyes. A woman who needed their help to survive in the world.

One by one she listed her bodyguards first, starting with her head of security. “Malcolm has been with me the longest of all my guards. Paul hired him right after my first film four years ago.”

“Any problems between the two of you?” Hunter asked as he jotted down notes on what she said.

She shook her head and answered without giving the question a second thought. “No. He’s always been a wonderful man to have protecting me. I sort of feel bad for him, actually. I think he feels like this whole thing is a reflection on him, but I don’t think that at all.”

Hunter lifted his head and squinted his eyes. “What makes you think that? Has he ever said anything to you about it?”

“No, no, nothing like that. I just get a sense that he feels bad for me and worries I might fire him if this continues. That’s probably more because I tend to have a short fuse and yell at people more than him feeling anything like guilt.”

Once again, Hunter smiled in that way that made him look very sexy. “Yeah. I can see that.”

She wanted to explain herself, to make him see that she wasn’t just some raving lunatic with too much money and too much fame. Pulling her legs up to her chest, she wrapped her arms around her knees and hugged them to her.

“I’m not some Hollywood diva, Hunter. I’m really not. I admit I have been known to yell and scream sometimes, but everyone who knows me knows that’s just my way. I don’t mean any harm. I just need a release from the pressure of the world outside my home, but I care about all these people who work for me. I’d be lost without them, especially Lauren.”

“She cares a lot about you. I can tell just from talking to her.”

Alexis smiled, happy to hear him say that. “I love her. She’s the sister I never had. I don’t know what I’d do without her.”

“Okay, back to your bodyguards. Who’s next?”

She explained how long each man had worked for her, and after each name, Hunter asked, “Any reason he would want to hurt you personally or professionally?”

Every time she answered the same way. “No.”

When she gave that answer about Kyle Murdoch, Hunter stared at her, clearly wanting more information. Confused, she wondered why he’d singled out that one bodyguard until she remembered the night she’d spent with Kyle when her divorce became final.

Oh, God. She didn’t want to talk aboutthatwith him.

Looking away, she quietly said, “Whatever you heard, it wasn’t anything.”

“Are you sure he felt the same way? Maybe he thought it was more something than nothing.”

She turned back to face him and nodded. “Trust me. He didn’t think it was anything, just like I said.”

Hunter smiled. “Alexis, you’re a beautiful and successful woman millions of men love from afar. It’s not ridiculous to think Kyle would want to be with you for more than just one night. Maybe he wanted more and didn’t get it, so he became resentful. The male ego can be a very fragile thing.”

Rolling her eyes, she laughed at his comment about millions of men loving her. For someone who was supposed to be such an object of affection for so many, she spent every night alone or with her best friend from childhood. That didn’t sound like anyone loved her.

At least not the way she wished a man would.

“I don’t know about millions of men, but trust me, Kyle didn’t want anything from me.”

She hoped that would make him drop the subject, but he continued asking questions about that one stupid night. “Did anything change between the two of you after your time together?”

“No. Believe me. You’re barking up the wrong tree, Hunter.”

The wrongest of trees, but she didn’t want to explain to him how the man she turned to in a moment of drunken need couldn’t get it up.

But still he kept focusing on Kyle and that night. “Has he ever mentioned it or shown any problem with you since? Have you ever gotten the feeling he wanted to talk about it, even if you didn’t?”

Looking away, she desperately wished he would just drop the subject. “No, he’s never said anything about it, and he never wanted to. Kyle has been a loyal employee and nothing more, except for that one night and it meant nothing to either of us.”

Hunter said nothing for nearly a minute, and Alexis hoped that would be the end of it and he’d just move on. When he began to ask about the other staff, she breathed a sigh of relief.

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