Page 34 of Scorned Queen

“I know,” I say, because I’m trying to convince myself it’s true, and then, needing a distraction, I ask, “She’s pretty.Is she your girlfriend?”

He laughs, and it’s a friendly laugh.“No.One of my friend’s wives.”

“Oh,” I say.“That’s cool that she obviously likes you.”

“You never want your friend’s wife to hate you or like you too much.Those are good ways to end up with no friends.”

My mind goes to Andrew, a friend of Damion’s who I went out with one time after he left for college.Even after Damion kissed me that day while still dating another girl, I’d felt so very guilty.The same was not true of Andrew, but I cut things off, nice and clean.They’re still friends today, which I know because Andrew later called me and thanked me for keeping him from making a stupid mistake.

“Does your friend work with you?”I ask, refocusing on Adam.

“Yes.Walker Security is a lifestyle, not a job.We all live, work, and play together.We try not to die together.”He halts us at the studio and runs a key card across a security panel that opens the door.Obviously noting the surprise in my eyes, he explains, “I’m cleared to go wherever you go.Now get in there and do your job.I’ll be on set and nearby if you need me.”

I huff out a breath.“I’m not looking forward to explaining you to the crew.”

“Then don’t.One thing I’ve learned is that sometimes less is more.”

Just not with Damion, I think, nodding and walking inside the building.I can feel him at my back as we climb a narrow set of steps, and it’s just weird having a shadow.Fortunately, we arrive at the top level, right next to the hallway to my dressing room.I turn to Adam.“I need to put my things in my dressing room.Then I go to the sound studio.”

“I’ll wait outside your door.”

“This is just…strange.You know it’s strange, right?”

“Safe is not strange, but I hear dead is.”He motions to the ring on my finger.“How are you going to marry your man if you’re dead?”

He’s hit a nerve ten feet wide.I’m not supposed to marry him at all.“Right,” I say.“I’d like to not be dead just yet.”With a queasy feeling in my belly, I rotate on my heels and all but fly down the hallway, and even so, Adam is there before me.

“I need to check the room first.”

Oh my God, I think, but I give a choppy nod.He opens the door and enters, and only moments later, he announces, “Clear,” steps aside, and motions me into the dressing area.

“Thank you,” I say, and walk inside, but just as I shut the door, a thought hits me, and I rotate to Adam again.“Is Damion in danger?”

“He hasn’t given me reason to believe he needs protection.”

“I don’t agree with that assessment.He’s too macho to think he needs it.He can protect himself, is how he will think.I don’t even have to ask.Talk him into it, please.His father is a monster.”

He offers me a half-lidded, impossible-to-read stare, a beat passing before he says, “I’ll see what I can do.”

I nod again and enter the room, shutting the door behind me and just leaning on it for a moment that turns into a few.I can’t believe where we’ve landed and what all of this has become.My gaze catches on the flowers.I never even thanked Damion.I reach into my pocket and pull out the card and read the typed note, ice rippling down my spine:What I give, I can take away.There’s no signature, but I know who sent the flowers.It was Damion’s father.

Chapter twenty-nine

Istartpacing,mymind a jumbled mess as I struggle to process the implications of the flowers and the note, my heart beating uncomfortably fast through my mental freakout.What is this?What is going on?I halt and read the typed message again:What I give, I can take away.

What the heck does that even mean?

My hand swipes at a wayward lock of brown hair and I shove it behind my ear.I press my fingers to my forehead and then drop them.Is he talking about Damion?Or maybe the money he gave my father?My show?My show would be the least of my worries if it weren’t for the fact that there are many jobs attached to its production.Losing it doesn’t just impact me.It impacts them.It would impact so many people, including my parents, which would be a way he could take away in so many ways.

I fall back into my chair in front of my dressing table and think about what I learned at lunch.Damion’s father took my mother to the attorney’s office today, knowing Damion would find out.The timing cannot be a coincidence.That warning Damion spoke of wasn’t just for Damion about me.It was for me.He must be threatening my parents.I throw the piece of paper, and as if taunting me, all it does is catch in the air and fall toward the ground right in front of me.I can’t make it, or the content of the note, go away.

Launching myself to my feet again, I have no idea what to do with my nervous energy or how to handle this.I know Damion, and if I tell him about his father’s threat, he’s going to be beyond furious, and I cannot sit in a soundproof booth without going crazy.My mind goes to Adam, just outside my dressing room door, and I consider telling him what I’ve discovered, but he works for Damion; he’ll tell him.I know he’ll tell him.I glance at my watch, and my stress ratchets up ten levels.I have five minutes until my call time.I have to make a decision.

No matter how bad this gets, I can’tnottell Damion.He’d never forgive me for holding this back, and that’s a trust issue I don’t think we need between us.

I grab my phone from the dressing table and punch in his number.The call lands directly to voicemail, and I’m ridiculously relieved yet fretful.I have no time, and I hurry to the door and open it.Adam is immediately standing in front of me.“Ready?”

“No.Come inside.It’s urgent.And we need privacy.”

---