I’m going to be a supermodel one day, Lili. Everyone is going to know my name.
She lived with her mom and I knew they fought. She didn’t see Bronco much. Her parents had been divorced for years.
God, I was a terrible friend. When she hadn’t returned my messages or calls, I’d just assumed she was done with me.
Where are you Ava-Jane? I didn’t have the first clue where to start looking for her, but I really wanted to know that she was okay.
In the other room, I perched on the edge of the king-sized bed and nabbed the TV remote. The room was so quiet, underscoring how alone I felt. I found a news channel and left it on. It made the room feel less empty.
Rubbing my hands up my arms, my thoughts kept drifting to Cole. When I’d been with him, I hadn’t felt alone. I’d felt safe.
I couldn’t ever remember feeling safe.
“I’ll make myself safe.” I couldn’t sit here and wallow. Feeling sorry for myself didn’t help things. Believe me, I knew.
Spotting the T-shirt Cole had given me, I rose, and quickly shed my robe. I pulled the soft, white cotton over my head. It was huge, swamping my frame, and instantly, I smelled him. That spicy, dark scent that made me think of bourbon and black pepper.
I crawled into the center of the bed. For a second, back at his villa, I’d almost given in to the temptation to kiss him. I squeezed my eyes closed. Of course, he’d pulled away. It was embarrassing. I was nobody and he could have anyone. He just had to snap a finger and he could have any one of those beautiful fight groupies who panted after him.
My stomach growled. I knew it was the middle of the night, but I hadn’t eaten any dinner, and I’d been running on fumesmost of the day. I snatched up the room service menu. Cole had said to order something.
After ordering a burger and Coke, I snuggled back in the pillows and flicked through the channels. Tonight, I was going to enjoy this beautiful room and get some sleep. I wasn’t going to think about my father, or Anton, or Chadwick Goodyear. None of them existed for me anymore.
Then tomorrow, I’d think about how I could find Ava-Jane. Maybe I could find a PI or something.
Then, I was going to drive to California.
I was going to make a fresh start.
I found a music channel, playing a Taylor song I loved.
Leaping up, and breathing in the delicious scent of Cole Black from my T-shirt, I danced around the room. I swung my hips and raised a hand like I was holding a microphone. Smiling for the first time in ages, I threw my arms above my head and boogied.
Yep, I was going to shake it off. My life was going to be different.
There was a loud knock at the door.
I jolted and quickly turned the TV volume down. Wow, room service at the Avernus was fast.
The knock came again.
“Coming,” I called out.
I glanced at the T-shirt and shrugged. It covered everything important. On top of that, I was sure the hotel staff had seen pretty much everything before.
Smiling, I yanked open the door. “Thanks, I?—”
My smile dissolved. Two of Goodyear’s goons pushed inside.
“No!” I threw an arm up. How had they gotten up here?
One fisted a hand in the front of my shirt. Fear and anger punched into my throat.No. This wasn’t happening. I saw hewas holding an ID card in the other hand. It had a woman’s face on it and had Housekeeping written on it.
I jerked back, but he didn’t let go.
Screw this.This time, I was fighting.
My punch hit Goon One in the jaw. He cursed and shook me.
