Four Letters (The Lust List: Devon Stone #3) (10 page)

“Don’t worry about that right now.”

I raise my eyebrows. Does he know who he just told not to worry?

“How about this,” I offer. “I’ll stop worrying if you agree that if this all goes wrong, we contact the police.”

“You know I don’t want—”

“And I don’t want to wake up to a stalker hovering over me with a knife.”

Devon sighs. “Fine. I’ll consider talking about
maybe
going to the police, but only—”

“…Alexandria Rogue…” we hear from the phone. Lex is using some ridiculous fake accent. We all freeze and stare at the phone sitting in my lap.

“Right this way,” a woman says.

“She’s going in.” I know, I know.
Miss Obvious,
here. I bite my lip and listen.
Focus, O.

More shuffling, and then we hear Lex say, “Thank you, darling. I’ve got it from here.” Only, because of her stupid accent, it sounds like, “Thank you, dahhhling…”

Then a loud scuffling noise makes us all cringe before we hear, “Hey. You guys there? I’m in.”

She’s going to blow her cover in two seconds.

“Great,” I say. “But we need you to not be so suspicious.”

“What are you talking about?” The accent’s back. “Right now, I’m a very important Hollywood star taking a very important phone call.”
Vahry impwahtant phu-one call,
it sounds like.

Devon pinches the bridge of his nose, and Maddie giggles.

“Just find what we’re looking for, Lex,” Devon pleads.

“Say what? I don’t understand that code. Try again.”

Devon looks up and clenches a fist like he’s going to punch the phone.

I throw my hand up to wave him off and tell Lex, “Find the damn donut, okay?”

“On it,” she says with a cheery voice. “This place is all decked out. Can I stop at the bar first?”

“No!” we all yell in unison.

“You guys are so boring. Alright,” she lowers her voice. “Judging by the photo Devon showed me off the old police report, I’m looking for a hot Russian chick. Dark hair… Oh wait. I think I see her. Just a sec.”

We here movement, and then my phone beeps.

“Did she just text you?” Maddie asks.

And she has. She’s just sent us a photo.
She took a photo of Nat.

“Is this her?” Lex asks.

“Yes, but what the hell are you doing?” I can’t believe how bad she is at this. “You can’t go snapping pictures of her. Be discreet.
Discreet
!”

“You can see for yourself she wasn’t looking at me. Chill out.”

None of us speak. She needs to stick to the plan. It’s only a matter of minutes before Nat will have gone somewhere less obvious. And at that point, we can step in and take care of the rest.

An eternity seems to pass with Lex offering occasional commentary about which celebrities are walking in and what food’s being served. We keep reminding her to stay quiet, and finally she gets it and puts the phone back in her purse.

Relief washes over us all now that she can easily blend in with the guests. And about two minutes later, we hear her on the move.

“This could be it,” I say, again stating the obvious.

We sit up straighter, anticipating our cue.

More shuffling.

A strange yelping noise.

Something falling.

My eyes go wide. Something’s not right about this unless, maybe, Lex just dropped her purse in the toilet or threw it across the room.

“Shit guys. The donuts aren’t cooking!” Lex yells.

“What the hell does that mean?” Devon’s voice has that sexy powerful tone to it, but this is no time to admire my boyfriend.

“The donuts have left the bakery.”

“What are you saying, Lex. Dammit. Where’s Nat?” I can’t take the games anymore.

“She’s gone. She just shoved me into Ethan Beckham and ran. I can’t say I’m mad though. He’s hot.”

We jump out of the SUV as though we’ve found a bomb. The guards get out with us.

“She ran,” Devon tells them. “We can’t let her leave.”

We can’t race into the party and cause a scene. Instead, we walk around the side and push through to the staff entrance, ignoring the woman with the clipboard demanding we stop.

“You and Maddie stay near the doors. The guys and I will split up and search. Be careful, okay?” He kisses me hard before running down a hallway.

“We can’t just stand here. He knows that right?” Maddie surveys the main floor of the hotel. “If we split up, one of us can check the rooms down here. And one can go upstairs.”

“And one of us can check outside.” Lex has found us and is ready with new ideas.

I’m not sure we can afford to have her help more, but what else can we do?

“Fine,” I say. “Lex goes outside, Maddie upstairs, and I’ll search down here.” I pat at my pockets and pull out my phone. “Call me if you find her. Do whatever it takes to stop her. Just,” I look around at the well-dressed guests who are completely clueless to what’s happening, “try not to cause a scene.”

We rush off our respective ways. The guys each took a hallway, so I start with the kitchen. Chefs and servers eye me suspiciously as I search under counters and in the walk-in pantry. That crazy bitch can be anywhere. But she’s not here. I go back out and check in closets and offices.

“Can we help you?” a check-in receptionist asks.

“I’m fine.” And I don’t need to be interrupted. I slam the door open for the women’s bathroom and check in each of the stalls. It’s empty.

“I need to see your credentials.” The receptionist is following behind me, growing more impatient by the second. “All the staff tonight’s required to have a name tag. Security reasons.”

I stop and stare at her. “I can’t deal with you right now. Everything’s fine, but…but this is important. Go back to your desk and make it look like everything’s normal, okay?”

She does, but on her way to the desk, she calls to the other receptionist. “Pearl, I need you to call security. I think we have a problem.”

Dammit! I need to hurry and get out of the lobby. Party guests are still arriving in their gowns and excessive diamonds. As they work their way back to the ballroom, a few notice me but merely raise an eyebrow. I clearly look out of place wearing jeans, and the curiosity in their glances is as though they’re wondering whether or not I’m
really
Olivia Margot or just some ordinary woman who looks like her. Great. Tonight, let me pass for ordinary. It’ll make things easier.

On the other side of the lobby, I push open the door for the men’s bathroom.

It’s not empty. Ethan Beckham stands at a urinal…doing his business.

“What the hell?” he shouts.

I ignore him, checking the room as fast as possible, my cheeks burning with embarrassment now.

As I leave, Ethan mutters under his breath. “What the hell is wrong with this fucking place tonight?”

Oh right, Lex said she was shoved into him by Nat. Sorry Ethan. Tonight’s just not your night.

Back in the lobby, two hotel security guards wait at the check-in desk, getting details from the receptionists.

Shit
.

I hide myself in the crowd, hoping they don’t notice me, and race down the first hall that gets me out of view.

My phone’s buzzing in my pocket. I yank it out. It’s Maddie.

“She was up here! Took the stairs.” Maddie talks in bursts, gasping to catch her breath. “Knows we’re here … Coming your way.”

At that exact moment, a door swings open, and Nat comes out looking like a frightened deer. We lock eyes for a moment.

And then she runs.

This time, all efforts at being discreet are a waste. I shove my phone back in my pocket and race after her, pumping my legs faster than I’ve run in years. Nat disappears in the sea of incoming guests, but I push through them, trying not to think about
who
I’m pushing out of the way.

Sorry Bia. Sorry witch from Werewolf Chronicles. Sorry guy in that one band I can’t remember.

I push through them, running toward the door. A second of clear space reveals Nat, exiting the main door.

She
can’t
get past the media line. The blockade set up means she only has one way out—the red carpet.

I get through the door only a few feet behind her.

Nat tries to run faster but gets caught up in Ender Varrone, and the rest of Cylon Smash, taking up all the space on the red carpet. If I reached out with my arms, she’d only be inches away.

But if I jump…

I can’t believe I’m going to do this.

Nat gets past the band, who stays out of the way for me. Thank you, gentlemen.

Then I do it.

On the fucking red carpet. In front of cameras. In front of the entertainment reporters. In front of the tabloid journalists.

Pushing into the plush red carpet. I leap forward. I reach out—determined.

And I land right on top of her.

I bring the bitch down.

And just as quick, the hotel security guys are on me, pulling me up.

“Don’t let her go!” I yell. Flashes from all the cameras blind me, but I’m focused on Nat. Please don’t let these idiots let her get away.

“Are you alright, miss?” they ask Nat.

“No, she’s not alright. She tried to kill me. She tried to kill my best friend. She—” I feel the cold metal of cuffs close around my wrists. “What are you doing? No. She’s the one you need to cuff. Believe me.” I plead with them, but it’s no use. The guard holding onto Nat’s arm will let go any second, and when he does, she’ll run.

My chest heaves as I try to catch my breath and figure a way out of this. Reporters are yelling questions at me.

“Olivia Margot, what is going on?!”

“Olivia, are you drunk?”

“Olivia, why is your life going downhill?”

“Olivia, where’s Devon?”

I can imagine the headlines already.

The guard holding me looks from one of the reporters to me, his face clearly confused. “Let’s go over here and let these folks enjoy their evening.”

Nat and I are led to the side of the building near the staff entrance. The red carpet resumes its parade of top celebrities and party guests, but half the media has followed us to get more story.

“What’s happened here tonight?” the guard asks me.

The other one, with piqued interest, keeps his hold on Nat to ensure his role here is still important enough to stick around.

“This was the only way to catch her,” I say, breathless and near tears. Nat is right in front of me. We have her. “You can’t let her go,” I tell the guard holding Nat. “She’s in a lot of trouble. She’s a criminal and—”

Nat bursts out laughing. “Oh, Olivia. You’re hilarious.” She looks at each of the guards, her eyes bright and flirty. “We used to work with each other. It was all about pranks with her. This might be her best one yet. You can let her go. It’s just a game we play.”

“It’s not. I swear.”

“And who are you exactly?” the guard asks.

“Olivia Margot.”

The guard looks to the reporters. “And you’re what? An actress? A—”

“No. I’m—”

Devon races out the staff door, Maddie, Lex, and the private guards following behind him.

Thank you, thank you, thank you. I can’t help but smile. “I’m with him.”

Now the attention is on Devon and everyone around us is going wild. The media are fighting to ask questions first. The flood of camera flashes illuminates the entire scene. And Nat’s immediately taken into custody by one of Devon’s men.

“Get those things off her.” Devon points to the handcuffs on my wrists, and the hotel guard does as he’s told. “We have this taken care of if you can secure the area and get them,” he points to the paparazzi and reporters, “back where they belong.

Tears stream down my face and adrenaline rushes through my veins. I throw myself into Devon’s arms, eternally grateful that we pulled this off. I’ll deal with the mortification of it all later. For now, we have Nat. We did it.

Once the cameras are out of our faces, Devon steps closer to Nat.

She flutters her eyelashes. “Hi baby. It’s nice to see you here.”

“You’re going to listen to me very carefully.” He inches his face closer, dead serious. “You’re going to be arrested now and then charged with the highest counts my lawyers can prosecute you with. You will be locked up for a very. Long. Time. And if the day comes when you get to see sunlight again and walk the L.A. streets, you will not come anywhere near me, my family, or anyone I know. And—hear me very clearly now—you will not even
think
about Olivia. If I find out you so much as speak her name, I will have you taken care of. These guys here…” he looks at both his guards, “they can get rid of people. No questions asked.”

Devon stands up straighter while my heart tries to burst from my ribcage. He just gave her a death threat, and judging by the looks on his guards’ faces, it might not be a threat at all. It’s a promise.

“Get her out of here,” Devon says, and Nat is led off to the Escalade.

As quickly as she disappears out of sight, a limo pulls up, the window rolls down, and we see Mark.

“You guys ready to go?”

Just like that—it’s over.