Total pages in book: 50
Estimated words: 48371 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 242(@200wpm)___ 193(@250wpm)___ 161(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 48371 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 242(@200wpm)___ 193(@250wpm)___ 161(@300wpm)
And then Tony’s here, pulling him back, holding his shirt and punching his face. The thud of bone crunching bone punctuates the air. He punches him twice. Three times. Four.
I sob, still gasping to get air into my lungs, through my crushed throat.
Tony may be beating Hugh, but his eyes are on me.
“Tony?” I warble.
He immediately drops Hugh to the floor and lunges for me. He scrapes me off the bed, gently lifting me into his arms. “Songbird. Christ, please tell me you’re okay.”
I cough. “I’m. Okay,” I manage.
He looks down at Hugh, groaning on the floor, and plants his boot in Hugh’s ribs. “Tell me what to do here.” There’s a pleading quality to his voice, and I realize he’s holding back from killing Hugh.
For me.
I want Hugh dead—I do. And maybe it’s the drugs talking, but I sense Tony’s soul is hanging in the balance here. I’m not going to ask him to kill for me.
“Call the police,” I rasp. “Please.”
Tony doesn’t move for a moment, still staring down at Hugh, then he curses in Italian and touches the comms unit in his ear. “Call for an ambulance and I need the police on the fourteenth floor—suite 1460. One of our guests has been assaulted.”
Then he turns his warm brown eyes on me. “Baby. I’m dying here. I should’ve protected you from him. You could’ve died.”
“I wasn’t going to die,” I promise, my head lolling against his shoulder. “I couldn’t, because I haven’t said I love you.”
Tony goes still. “What, songbird?”
“I said I love you. I missed you. I’m sorry.”
Tony clutches me tighter. I nuzzle into his neck. “Pepper. I-I have so much to say to you, and I don’t know where to start.” Hugh groans and tries to stand and Tony delivers another swift kick to his ribs.
“Maybe you’d better wait,” I mumble. “Hugh roofied me and I don’t even know if I’ll remember this tomorrow.”
“Remember this, songbird.” He palms the back of my head to lift and turn my face to his and claims my mouth like we’re in a Hollywood movie ending.
Pepper
The next few hours are a blur as the police and paramedics show up. I end up at the hospital for an examination, and Tony stays by my side, insisting he’s my bodyguard, and he’s not allowed to let me out of his sight.
We’re at the same hospital Izzy was taken to, so after she’s released, she comes into my room, her arm in a sling to stabilize a broken collarbone.
“Pepper, what happened?” Her face is pale against the blue hair. “One of the nurses told me you were here because she knew I was part of your show.”
“Hugh tried to kill her,” Tony growls. “How did you know something was going to happen?”
I’m starting to get my brain back, so I pick up what he’s saying. “Izzy knew?”
“She called Corey, who called me to tell me to make sure you weren’t alone with Hugh. She may be the reason you’re alive, baby.”
I want to cry, but shock and exhaustion left me too empty for tears. “How did you know?” I ask.
Izzy’s gone even paler than usual. “H-he tried to kill you?”
I stand up and walk over to her. “You knew, didn’t you? Because he’s done this before.”
Tony’s spine stiffens. “Done what before?”
“Roofied me. Raped me.” I don’t look at Tony, because I can’t. I know the fury I see there will make it hard to keep my footing. And I need to know the answer to this question.
Izzy bursts into tears. “Oh God, is it true? I wasn’t sure. I saw him come out of your hotel room once, back when I was first hired. I didn’t know you that well then and when I asked you about it, you blew me off. I guess you thought I was confused or something. So at first I thought maybe you were having an affair with him.” She wipes her tears and sniffs. “And later when I knew you well enough to know that wasn’t the case, I just kept an eye out. Made sure you were never alone with him at night.”
Nausea rolls through me. “He’s roofied me before. I don’t know when, but I remembered it when he tried to rape me tonight. It definitely wasn’t the first time.”
“I’m sorry, Pepper. I should’ve told you my suspicions.”
“Yeah, you should’ve,” Tony growls.
I hold my hand up to him, telling him to back off. “She’s the one who sent you tonight,” I remind him. “You both are the only reason I’m alive.”
“God, I didn’t trust him, but I definitely didn’t know he was trying to kill you,” Izzy says. Her eyes round. “Do you think this”—she points at her broken collar bone—“was an attempt to kill you?”
“I don’t think it was an accident,” Tony says.
A police detective comes in and the three of us all turn to him, armed with the ammunition to put Hugh away for a long time.