Page 70 of Behind the Scenes

Surprised to have Paul standing in front of her, she looked over toward Hunter, confused. Had he called him at some point? Why? They were supposed to be getting away from everything in her world for a few days, and that included her manager.

“What’s going on? Hunter, why is Paul here?” she asked, searching his expression for the truth.

He stood near the couch and shook his head. “I’m sorry. Somebody obviously called him.”

Looking over at Persephone, she asked, “Is that true? Why wouldn’t you just tell me to leave instead of calling my manager?”

“I didn’t call, Paul. He knew you were here and came down to see that you’re okay,” Persephone said, sounding more than a little defensive.

Her manager stepped forward toward her and held out his hand. “I just wanted to make sure you weren’t hurt. You left without telling anyone, so I had to make sure you were fine.”

Persephone walked out of the cottage quietly, leaving the three of them alone.

Anger swirled inside Alexis at what Paul must have put Lauren through to get the details about her leaving. “If you made Lauren cry, I swear to God, Paul, I will never speak to you again. I bet you threatened her, didn’t you? That’s the only way she’d tell you that I left.”

“Maybe it wasn’t her, Alexis,” Hunter said as he walked over to take her hand. “Maybe it was Carla. Is she your mole at the house, Paul?”

She turned to look at Hunter and shook her head in disbelief. What was he saying? “Carla wouldn’t do that to me. She’s loyal. And what do you mean his mole in my house?”

Hunter squeezed her hand and quietly said, “I didn’t figure it out until this morning. Paul told your bodyguards to not follow my instructions about one of them being in the lobby at all times. He had no good reason to do that, so why did he?”

Alexis turned to face Paul. “Why would you do that? Hunter wanted to protect me. You hired him to protect me, so why would you tell the men not to follow his instructions?”

Paul shook his head so vigorously that his blond hair swung left and right. “It wasn’t like that. I knew you were never in any danger. I just told them to ignore that part of what he told them.”

“Why? What if the stalker came to the building and dropped off a letter? One of the guys would have seen him.”

As her head began to swim with questions about the man who had spent the last four years guiding her career and her life, Hunter pulled her close to his side and said, “There was no stalker. There was only Paul. He’s the one who’s been sending you the letters and packages. The only question he needs to answer is why before I tell the cops.”

Alexis turned to look at Hunter, stunned that he was accusing Paul. “What are you talking about?”

Before he could say a word, he pushed her behind him and she saw her manager standing there with a gun in his hand pointed at the man she loved. Terrified, she closed her eyes and cried, “Why are you doing this, Paul? What’s going on?”

“What’s going on is Hunter here was supposed to show up, do some checking, and then the letters would stop. We’d get some great press from the whole thing, the world feeling completely sympathetic for poor Alexis Marchand, and you’d have your pick of films in the end. I was doing my job, but he got out of hand.”

Hunter stood as still as a statue in front of her, holding her hand tightly as he protected her. “And there I was thinking Carla was behind it because she’s in so much debt. It was you all along.”

“Oh, Carla helped. She got a few bucks every time she told me how Alexis was feeling. Then I’d tell the press and she’d be in the headlines again. Nobody got hurt, and everyone won in the end. But then you got in the way because you wouldn’t just let it go the way it should have. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. Of course you’d fall for her. You’ve got that protective thing and she’s a damsel in distress. So when the tracker I put on her phone after her little trip to Atlantic City told me you took her here, I knew I had to follow you and take her home. But I’m not going to jail for a little letter writing to help her career. Not going to happen.”

Rage coursed through Alexis at that description of her. A damsel in distress. That’s all her very own manager saw her as!

“How the fuck do you think this is going to end, Paul? You planning on killing her and ending the gravy train you worked so hard to keep going? Or is it me you plan to shoot? Because that gun says you think this is going to end that way.”

Paul chuckled, and for the first time, Alexis looked around Hunter to see her manager for the man he truly was. All this time she’d thought he cared about her, but all he’d cared about was money and fame. No matter that the stalker’s letters had made her practically a shut-in afraid to go out into the world around her. All he cared about were headlines to keep her in the news.

“I don’t have to use it. I can just take her out of here and back to New York, and she and I can go back to making her the biggest star in the world.”

Hunter shook his head and held tightly to her hand. “She’s not leaving with you.”

Pointing the gun directly at Hunter, Paul said, “Then I had to come here to rescue her from a jilted lover who kidnapped her and brought her to the one place he knew he wouldn’t be found out. And if my friend Persephone wants to keep this project of hers quiet, she’ll cover the whole thing up. You’ll disappear and no one will know the truth.”

Alexis couldn’t let him do this to Hunter or to her. She wouldn’t live her life under the control of a madman. She could be strong when she had to be.

Knowing Hunter always kept his gun near him when he didn’t have it in his pants, she quickly scanned the room for any sign of it. God, why hadn’t she paid attention when they arrived here? If only she could have some way to find out where it was without letting Paul know.

Hunter moved a step to the left toward the fireplace, and she zeroed in on it sitting on the mantle. It was now or never, and there was no way she planned to just stand by while Paul killed the man she loved. So she tore her hand from Hunter’s hold and raced over to grab the gun.

Her hands shook almost uncontrollably as she wrapped her fingers around it and pointed it at Paul. She’d only held a gun once before, and that was for one of the first parts she’d ever gotten after leaving modeling. All she remembered about how to shoot was the safety had to be off. She had no real experience other than that since that gun had been nothing but a prop, but she didn’t care.

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