Luck of the Devil (The Forge Trilogy #2)(65)
I stand up and whirl around, my head spinning faster than my body as I stumble into the bedroom. It’s a mess too. The bedspread is missing, and there’s a dark stain on the rug. Papers are scattered all over the room, and my suitcases have been tossed.
Blood roars in my ears as I rush into the bathroom, but it’s empty. There’s no sign of Jericho anywhere.
Where is he? I’m screaming on the inside, but no words come out of my mouth.
I run back to the door, my lungs burning and my stomach dropping to my feet as I bolt down the hall. I jab the elevator button and charge toward the doors as they open.
But it’s not empty.
Belevich is inside.
“You left before you could collect the rest of your winnings.”
Belevich narrows his gaze on me as I stumble back until my shoulder blades hit the opposite wall, swinging my head back and forth as I look around for any kind of weapon. But there’s nothing. Not even a fucking vase.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” His expression morphs into one of confusion.
“Get away from me. Get the fuck away from me right now.”
The elevator doors begin to close, but Belevich stops them with a hand. He steps out, his attention catching on the oversized check I dropped as soon as I stepped out of the elevator.
“What happened?”
“Did they do this? Did your people do this?” My voice comes out as a ragged scream, and Belevich looks at me like I’ve lost my goddamned mind.
“Do what?”
I point down the hall. “Kill them . . .” My voice breaks before I can finish saying the words. “And take my husband.”
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Indy and Jericho’s story will conclude in the final book of the Forge trilogy, Heart of the Devil, releasing on March 12, 2019. Heart of the Devil is available for preorder now by tapping on the title.
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If you’re wondering where you can find Creighton and Holly’s story, you can find them in the Dirty Billionaire Trilogy. Keep reading for a sneak peek of Dirty Billionaire, book one. Dirty Billionaire is free on all retailers. Download now by tapping on the title.
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Dirty Billionaire Sneak Peek
CHAPTER ONE
Holly
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Country Star JC Hughes Caught Between a Cock and a Hard Place
How is he going to explain this one away to girlfriend Holly Wix and his fans?
“That two-timin’ son of a . . .”
I hiss under my breath as I stare at the headline—and the compromising picture accompanying it—splashed in vivid color across the front page of the gossip rag displayed prominently in the checkout line at my supermarket. For the second time in two months, it’s a picture of my “boyfriend” locked in an unmistakably passionate embrace with another woman, except this time she’s wearing a giant black strap-on.
The edges of the paper crumple in my sweaty grip, and I fight the urge to tear it to shreds, along with every copy sitting on the rack in front of me.
He’s going to destroy my career before it even has a chance to become a reality.
One year, they said. One year in this joke of a “relationship” and I’d earn my stripes, be all set in the world of country music. Judge me all you want for agreeing, but when your brand-new record label puts something like that in the contract that will jet you out of the backwoods town you’re dying to escape, you don’t ask questions. You sign on the dotted line.
But reality is a cold slap in the face, and some days it hits you when you’re standing in line at the grocery store. What happens when they finally catch JC with a guy? His habit of swinging both ways, but preferring men to women, is about to become the worst-kept secret in Nashville.
I’m Holly Wix, winner of a make-me-a-star TV show, and handpicked by the label to buoy JC’s once-impressive but now flagging career. It didn’t seem like a big deal when they slipped it into my contract in the beginning. What starry-eyed girl wouldn’t be thrilled to have her name linked to a country star?
Instead of the one-way ticket to stardom I naively expected, I’m becoming the butt of every industry joke faster than the guys back home can spend their paycheck on twelve-packs and scratch-offs. But I’ve got one shot at keeping this dream career alive, and honestly, there’s nothing I wouldn’t do to save it. So this situation with JC needs to get settled before things spiral further out of control.
Tugging the bill of my trucker hat lower, I glance around to see if anyone has noticed me flipping out in the checkout line. A woman behind me clucks her tongue as she pulls her sunglasses out of her baby’s mouth.
Crap.
That cluck of her tongue was aimed at me, not the toothless, blue-eyed, smiling baby. Surprisingly, though, the expression on her face is sympathetic, not angry.
“Men are assholes, am I right? Being famous just makes them bigger ones.”