Capture Me: Alpha Billionaire Romance (Hollywood Dreams) (28 page)

Sadie was rambling. Not something she did unless she’d become really excited or really nervous. It made me think back to the first time she tried sushi a few years ago. She went on about the fish roe on top and how they popped in her mouth.

I’d never actually heard her go on
this
much.

The first moment I could find an opening, I said, “I’m about to head out. Was there something you wanted to tell me?”

“Oh my god! You are never going to believe what I heard at the studio today.”

“I’m starting to think that by the time you tell me I’ll be at the studio myself.”

“No!”

My jaw went slack but I managed to say, “I’m supposed to work tonight and—”

“Liam wants to marry you,” she blurted out.

“Well, I haven’t really thought about it yet, but I could see that happening someday.” Just the thought warmed me and I realized it was true. If things kept going as they were, Liam really was
The One
.

“Marry you as in this—”

BEEP.

I held the phone out and saw I had another call.

“Liam’s calling me. Maybe I should just—”

“Let him go to voicemail. Didn’t you hear what I said?”

“No, I—”

“He wants to marry you
this week
.”

I pulled the phone away from my ear again, returned it, and asked, “Come again?”

“How many times do I have to—”

“I don’t understand.”

“He. Wants. To. Mar-ry. You. This. Week.” She enunciated each word slowly and it took a bit of willpower not to stop her in the middle.

“Rewind for me, Sadie. Breathe.” I decided to take my own advice and inhaled deeply, then exhaled. “Why would Liam want to marry me this week, and where did you get that idea, anyway?”

“He’s having issues with immigration and is about to be deported.”

“That can’t be right. He never told me he’s going anywhere.” I thought back to all the times we were together. “How soon would he have to go?”

This was a lot to take in and I definitely needed some time to wrap my head around it. I hung the red dress back on the shelf. She had a point earlier; it really wasn’t going to be the right thing to wear tonight.

“Less than a week.”

Her words hit me like a full-on battering ram.

Like Dani’s did when she told me our parents had died during the night.

Liam hadn’t died, but him living halfway around the world in just a few days was close enough.

But then, that’d be why he wanted to marry me.

“This is a lot to take in.” I sat down on Sadie’s bed. Her satin bedspread hugged at my body and I invited the comfort. As much as Sadie wanted things to look good, comfort and functionality were just as important. Two things I could use right about now.

I needed to understand and I couldn’t be thankful enough that Sadie came to me first instead of Liam. Who knows what I would have said if it’d been him to drop all this on me.

Maybe most would have preferred it that way, but I needed time to process. Not that I’d consider a few days nearly enough time to process.

“I can’t imagine what you’re thinking right about now.”

“No kidding,” I said. “I don’t know what to think.”

“There’s more.”

“
More
? How in the world could there be more?”

“Maybe I should have asked if you wanted the good news or the bad news first.”

“I . . .” I frowned and laid back on her bed. I looked up at her popcorn speckled ceiling and tried to focus on one nugget, then the next. “Wait, which news did you give me, the good or the bad?”

“Oh, honey, I know it’s fast, but I thought you’d be happy he wants to be with you.”

I closed my eyes, wanting to skip over whatever bad thing Sadie was about to lay on me.

“Do you remember that girl from the sauna?”

“The sauna . . . oh, the steam room? She’s one of Liam’s models, right?”

“You remember us going on and on about him with her in there?”

“That’s right. The worst odds ever. Who cares? I’m the one dating him.”

Sadie let out a breath. “Apparently . . . not the only one. At least as of two months ago.”

It felt like Sadie had just pushed my chest all the way through her bed and my heart lay in a heap on her floor.

“Look, I don’t know that he was dating you two at the same time, in fact, I doubt it.”

“There’s more to it, isn’t there? What is she, pregnant or something?”

Sadie cleared her throat.

“He got her pregnant!” I heard myself say the words but couldn’t feel the bed beneath me or the phone against my ear. Everything had gone numb. “Are you sure?”

“That’s what she’s claiming at least.”

“I’m supposed to be there in, like, half an hour. Do I act like I don’t know anything? How the hell am I supposed to do that?”

“So don’t go.”

“These are some serious allegations. Not that I don’t believe you, but I need to know the truth before I even speak to him again.”

“How are you going to figure anything out without talking to him?”

“Liam should be at the studio right now waiting for me so I’ll go to his place. Look around.”

“Just like that? You’ll just walk right in?”

I sighed. “You’re right. He has that doorman . . . Randal, Raymond—”

“Randy.”

“Yes. He could let me in.”

“And he would double check with Liam before letting you in. No good.” Sadie sighed. “Wait. Do you know where my junk drawer is in the kitchen?”

“You mean all your drawers?” I said as I got to my feet and headed down the hall.

“Hilarious. Bottom left. In the corner there’s a key-ring.”

I stepped into the kitchen and hesitated with my fingers on the handle. “Do you have a spare key?”

“You got it. Most of my early shoots with him were beside the pool. He had a thing about wanting to work with reflections.”

I pulled out the ring that had at least a dozen keys on it. “Let me guess, the rest are old boyfriends?”

“Hell no. That’s a whole different ring.”

I chuckled, then immediately refocused. “Okay, so I have a key. That still doesn’t help me to distract Randy from knowing I’m there.”

“It’ll take you about fifteen minutes to get there. Leave that part up to me. As long as you don’t see him at the desk, just sneak by.”

I rubbed my face. “This is definitely out of my territory.”

“Do you love the guy?”

“I don’t see how—” I rubbed my chest. It still ached from the news I’d just received. “Yes. Of course I do.”

“Then you’re about to do some breaking and entering.”

I laughed at the thought. “And I just came back from giving my sister hell for being sent to jail.”

“Easy. Don’t get caught.”

CHAPTER 46

Tessa

One hour ago I’d been planning my conversation with Liam about modeling for him for the next few months. Having enough money to pay my rent and feed my little sister had been my priority.

Until Sadie called and flipped everything sideways.

Now I didn’t know what to make of the meal where I’d planned to talk things through with him. Right about now I was supposed to be at his studio for my modeling session. Kind of hard to make an appointment there when I stood in front of his building, ready to break inside.

But it wasn’t really breaking in if you had a key, right? Not that he
gave
the key to me. But hey, if I validated everything Sadie told me, I was definitely justified.

Dinner tonight would certainly be an interesting one.

My phone beeped with a text from Sadie telling me to put the hood on and go inside in exactly one minute.

Leaving her place, instead of putting on her red dress as expected, I borrowed one of her hoodies and told her that didn’t count as my choice for full access to her closet tonight. Not that I didn’t owe her big time for telling me all she knew. It wasn’t easy hearing all this, but if Liam wasn’t going to tell me himself, I wanted to know the truth.

I pulled the hood up over my head and leaned against the brick beside the main door just as Randy walked out muttering something about some punk kids spraying up the side of the building. He didn’t even notice me as I caught the door just before it shut all the way and slipped inside.

The service stairs would be faster but I couldn’t risk an alarm going off if I opened the door. I went for the main stairs, completely open to the entry, and hoped I could make it up the two flights before Randy realized there were no kids messing with the building.

Suddenly glad Sadie had convinced me to start going to the spin classes with her, I bounded up the stairs two at a time. Just as my shoes went out of sight, I heard the front door open again. I pressed my hand into the keys, making sure none of them jingled in the front pocket of the hoodie, and made my way toward the entrance to Liam’s loft.

I looked over my shoulder after the third key didn’t work. Though I wasn’t sure Randy could hear me up here, I couldn’t exactly keep the keys silent as I tried the lock. I took slow breaths to keep my heartbeat under control, sure that the pounding in my chest would have been what gave me away.

Finally, one turned. I slipped inside and let out a deep breath. I locked the door behind me, then pressed my back against it.

Where exactly was I supposed to get started? I’d never even thought of doing anything like this before. I tiptoed my way across his living room as though he was asleep in the bedroom.

“Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.” I whispered the words with every step. “This is so very—” I stopped the moment I saw the piles of papers and photos on the table. “It can’t be this easy.”

My eyes were immediately drawn to a photo of me in Liam’s car, then another on his rooftop.

“What the . . .” I said it louder than intended and I covered my mouth. “Why are you taking all these photos, Liam?” I whispered the words, though it wasn’t like he’d answer me.

I placed my finger on his smiling face. Maybe the photos existed to remember these moments? But that really didn’t make any sense.

I quickly shuffled through them to see if there were any from the night he had me completely naked up there and breathed a sigh of relief that there weren’t.

A rustling jarred me from my thoughts and I quickly hid under the table.

The air conditioner hummed as it clicked to life. I sat there for a minute, in between the leather kitchen chairs, watching the front door.

I laughed once I realized that anyone stepping through the front door would have just as clear a view of me as I did of them. The only things around were a few pigeons, but I needed to hurry before Randy did any sort of rounds of the place, especially after the prank call.

I stood again and grabbed the stack of letters. There wasn’t enough light here so I took them and a few of the pictures over to the couch.

The first letter was dated a few weeks ago with the words ‘FINAL NOTICE’ stamped across the top. It definitely seemed that Liam was getting deported.

I scanned through the other documents, trying to understand the timing of all this. The words were becoming more difficult to read and I realized I’d begun to tear up.

“You’ve known.” I really needed to stop talking to myself, but I just kept going, as did the tears. “You’ve known that you’d have to leave. Why the hell didn’t you tell me?”

I wiped my eyes, needing to see clearly. I scanned the papers again, looking for the date he’d be deported.

“Four days?” I said it way too loud. I held my breath to listen for Randy in case he’d heard me. I couldn’t hear anyone coming up the stairs, so I figured I was safe in here. I reminded myself that these weren’t exactly cheap apartment walls.

I blew out a breath and jumped when my cell phone rang. Liam’s name displayed across the top and I immediately hit decline. No way in hell I could deal with him right now.

He called again.

The walls suddenly seemed closer than before. Much closer. The cuff around my wrist felt more like a shackle, and I pulled it off.

I had to get out, as in right now. I dropped the papers and cuff on the couch and ran out. I went right for the service stairs and ran down them.

No wonder he was looking for a wife.

My heart pounded from what I’d just learned more than from the exercise. “Four days,” I said as I pushed the fire escape door.

An alarm sounded, warning Randy that I’d just left. I just wished I’d had some sort of warning before falling for Liam.

My phone rang again. I let it go.

I let it all go as I walked into the night—alone again.

CHAPTER 47

Liam

“Pick up, dammit,” I said into the phone as if that would somehow make Tessa answer it. Instead, all it did was ring until her voicemail started up again.