Page 72 of Beautiful Enemy

My lips twitch. “Charter.”

I think about Leni’s suggestion that we could use Rae to get good press. To show the world Echo Entertainment is moving in the right direction. A month ago, she wouldn’t have considered it. But now…

“Look!” Beck calls, leaning over the front row of seats. “Remember the releases you signed for this clip from your wedding party in LA? We used the footage.”

Annie and Rae are in the background, and as the video captures Beck’s speech, Rae stiffens next to me.

“What is it?” I ask, instantly on alert.

“At the party, I had bruises on my wrists. A fan got past security the night I played your club and grabbed me.”

Every muscle in my body goes tight, anger simmering up from somewhere deep and dark.

“You told me another woman was hurt,” I grind out. “You didn’t tell meyouwere hurt.”

She returns to watching the screen, but I can’t.

Annie laughs in the front row, and Tyler ducks his head to kiss her, making her laugh more.

“I can’t promise to have every woman’s back,” I hear myself say. “But I will do my utmost to ensure that never happens in my clubs again. And I will damned well have yours.”

Rae stiffens for a moment, then relaxes.

I rest my thumb and forefinger at the back of her neck, pressing lightly through the rest of the show.

18

Rae

Dinner is chef-prepared and exquisite, and I wish I could enjoy it fully.

From the head of the table, barefoot in chinos and a white shirt, Harrison watches me with a protectiveness that’s unsettling. But somewhere between the cool evening breeze, the laughter on the air, and his grin when he brings out the cake, I can’t hate it.

Beck insists on feeding me cake, and I don’t realize until I’m laughing through a delicious bite that Harrison has gone still.

Annie groans, bracing an arm on the railing as we sit on the lounging deck after dessert. “That was better than sex.”

“I came at least twice just from the cake.” Elle rubs her stomach.

“Where’s the testosterone?” Ash appears from belowdecks, his hair blowing in the night breeze.

“Drinking at the other end of the boat.”

Ash’s smile vanishes as he cranes his neck that way. “Hollywood too?”

I shift forward. “You don’t like Beck.”

“The guy made us watch his home movie,” he gripes.

“Come on. It was a screener of his TV show. That’s a little different.”

Ash waves it off. “He’s the self-indulgent type who does anything for attention. Trust me, I’ve met lots of them over the years at private school and in sports.”

“Well, you’re missing out,” Annie says. “They’re drinking a new line of bourbon I brought from my dad’s company.”

“Jax Jamieson’s personal collection?” Ash rubs a hand over his jaw. Annie’s dad is an even bigger rock star than her husband, though he’s semi-retired from the stage to raise two kids with Annie’s stepmom in Dallas while working on his own label. “Fuck, I can’t pass that up.”

Ash walks in the direction of the other guys, and a moment later, the deck is quiet.

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