Page 94 of Beautiful Enemy

She dries her hands on a towel. “I don’t know.”

“But he’s all right?”

“I believe so.”

He’s fine.

The knot in my chest eases, only to retighten.

He’s fine, and he didn’t return.

I head for my room, where I stare at the article again.

My throat aches. The stinging spots on my cheeks are tears.

I reach for the untouched bottle of pills on my dresser, fumbling with the lid. I take one dry.

The article wasn’t entirely correct… but it wasn’t all wrong either. Last night might not have been a PR stunt, but I did get caught up in something I was too naïve to handle.

I believed what I wanted to believe. I trusted a man I had no business trusting. Got comfortable in a place I never should have stayed.

I call him again.

He picks up on the third ring.

“Hello—”

“Harrison, I need you.” I choke out the words, but his voice continues.

It’s voicemail.

“You’ve reached Harrison King. I recommend you don’t leave a message. If I need you, I will find you.”

If I need you, I will find you.

He clearly doesn’t, because he’s not here.

22

Harrison

By the time I’m finished with the police, I want nothing more than my home and the woman waiting for me there.

Rae and I have things to discuss, things we didn’t get to last night.

Still, I have to make one stop on the way. There’s something I haven’t been able to shake, something made more real by Mischa’s appearance last night—an act not of calculation but of desperation.

“If you’re following up about your suggestion of a DJ, I’ve considered it. She’s not ready.”

Christian’s voice comes from the doorway of his study.

I snap shut the book I was pretending to read.

“She is. She filled Debajo for the first time in years.”

“Debajo is not La Mer.”

“No. It’s harder. It was empty. Desolate.” And it came with me. “Give her the chance. I promise she won’t disappoint you.”

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