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“Was it you? You sent those pictures of me to the press?”
His expression turned frantic, and she sensed she had guessed the truth.
“Why? What do you want?”
His head shook back and forth. He muttered under his breath. Lexi couldn’t hear a lot of what he was saying, only picking up the odd word here and there, none of which made a blessed bit of difference: he wasn’t answering and seemed to be in a near state of panic of his own.
“You should have been nicer to me.”
This she did hear, though it made as much sense as everything else. As far as she knew, shehadalways been nice to him. He was obviously disturbed.
She had to keep him talking.
Surely Stan would hear their struggle?
“I’m sorry if I upset you. Can you tell me when I was mean to you?”
“Shut up!” He snapped abruptly. “Must… think…”
While he was preoccupied, she pried open the clutch slowly and slipped a hand inside. Her fingers felt around the contents of the bag, searching for the panic button that she knew was in there somewhere. They brushed against the metal tube of lipstick, the small pot of Kiehl’s lip balm and her waterproof mascara, but couldn’t locate the panic button.
Why didn’t she have a special pocket sewn into her dress for it?! How could she have been so stupid when she knew she was at risk?
Stretching, she reached in further, digging in deeper until her fingers grazed the metal ring that it was attached to. Just a little more and she’d be able to hook it up with a finger.
Adrenaline caused her heart to beat like a drum.
She managed to leverage the tip of the ring around her index finger when the bag was suddenly knocked away from her. The contents spilled over the floor, the panic button bounced then skidded a few feet away until it landed beneath the dresser.
“What’re you doing?!” He snapped, alert to her actions. His voice had risen higher, the tension causing a vein to pop on his head.
He was getting more desperate. Lexi knew she was running out of time, could feel it in her bones. She tried talking to him again, grasping at straws, hoping this time, maybe a threat would cause him to rethink his plan.
“There’s security patrolling the house everywhere. There’s even a guard right down the hall. You won’t be able to get out without them seeing. If you just let me go, you won’t get into any trouble. I promise you.”
A sound outside on the terrace interrupted her plea — an amorous couple, arms around each other, looking for a dark corner to fool around in. Seeing her opportunity to raise the alarm, Lexi screamed.
But Stella had just reached the bridge of her song, which happened to be the loudest moment of it.
Her scream disappeared into the music to fall on deaf ears except for one pair.
Hehad heard it.
And he knew that she was trying to escape.
Face twisted in fury, he covered her mouth and nose with his hand. She knew instantly that she had made a terrible mistake. Giving up all pretence, she tried to pry his hand away from her mouth. Fueled by a desperate rage and anger, he was much stronger than her.
All the while, her airways were emptying.
She was thinking of her loved ones. Picturing her parents’s beloved faces when he suddenly threw her to the floor. She gulped in the air greedily.
“Get changed.”
“What?” The request was so bizarre, she thought she’d heard wrong.
He pointed at some clothes she’d left tossed over a chair. A pair of jeans and a thin sweater. “Put that on.”
“No.” Her reply was shaky, but she wasn’t going to do whatever this was. He lunged toward her pulling a knife out of his pocket that he held at her throat. Its razor-sharp end nicked her neck, drawing blood.
