Empire High Betrayal(6)

James moved toward the door.

“No! You can’t.” I couldn’t breathe.

He looked out the peephole. “It’s one of Mr. Pruitt’s bodyguards.”

Oh my God, it was probably Donnelley. Isabella must have sent him to finish me off. “Don’t answer it.”

“Brooklyn, you’re being ridiculous. He’s here to take you home.”

“I can’t go home! She’ll kill me!” How was he not getting this?

“It’s fine,” James said. And then he completely ignored my pleas and grabbed the door handle.

“Please, James. I’ll do whatever you want. Just don’t answer the door. I’ll kiss you, okay? Don’t answer the door and I’ll kiss you.”

“I’m not going to kiss you when you’re freaking out. Let’s put a pin in that for now.” He started to open the door.

Had he lost his damned mind? I would have run into the bathroom to hide if Rachel wasn’t already hiding out in there. So I did the first thing I could think of and ducked behind one of the curtains. My heart was beating so fast, I swore it was the only thing I could hear.

“Where is she?” said a deep voice.

Donnelley. I didn’t know him that well, but it sounded like him to me. Isabella had sent him to kill me. I threw my hand over my mouth so he wouldn’t hear me crying.

There was a long pause.

“I don’t know where she went,” James said. “She was right here a second ago. Brooklyn? It’s okay, you can come out."

Right into Donnelley’s trap? No freaking way. I felt behind me for the latch to the window, but I couldn’t find one. Wasn’t this a fire hazard? What kind of fancy hotel made their rooms death traps?

“Brooklyn,” Donnelley said. “You can come out. I’m not here to hurt you.”

Like hell you’re not. Why was he doing this? I let Isabella abandon me in that parking lot in part to keep his secret. I ran miles in my bra to protect him. And now he was going to kill me? Fuck this guy.

I could hear footsteps getting closer to my hiding spot.

No. No, no, no. I was too young to die. But I knew better than to believe that. Life could be cut short. And I was going to do my best to hold on a little longer. I tried to take a gulp of air and my throat made a squeaking noise. Crap.

The curtain flew open and Donnelley was standing there frowning at me with what I assumed was a murderous expression.

Not today. I did the first thing I could think of and threw my map at his face.

He yelled and I slipped past him.

“What are you doing?!” James yelled.

Donnelley lunged for me and I dodged him by hopping onto the bed.

“Brooklyn, he’s here to help,” James said. He was staring at me like I was crazy.

And maybe I was. I was jumping on James’ bed in my underwear. I looked over at James and he was staring at my breasts as I jumped. What the hell is happening? I had no idea how my night had turned into this. But I couldn’t trust Donnelley. He was an extension of Isabella. That conclusion wasn’t crazy. It just made logical sense.

Donnelley tore the map from his face and ran to the side of the bed. I bounced to the other side and tossed a pillow at him to slow him down.

“Get down,” James said, his eyes still focused on only one part of me.

Good idea. I threw another pillow at Donnelley and then leapt off the bed. James sidestepped and caught me in his arms.

“Calm down,” he said.

His voice was so calm. Normally I would have found it soothing. But not when I was about to die.

I pushed him off of me, knocking him back into Donnelley.

“Brooklyn!” James yelled.

“What is going on out here?” Rachel shrieked as she reemerged from the bathroom fully dressed.

“Get back in there! Save yourself!” I gasped as I ran past Rachel and out into the hall.

“Stop telling me what to do!” she yelled back. “James! Don’t you dare go after her!”

I looked both ways to see which way I should make my escape. That stupid football player who couldn’t close the deal was still standing there with his girlfriend. It didn’t really matter if they saw me again.

The girl gasped. “What did James do to her?”

High school gossip was the last thing on my mind as I sprinted down the hall. Let them think the worst. They already thought I was a prostitute.

“Stop!” Donnelley yelled from behind me.

“Brooklyn come back!” James said from somewhere closer behind me.

I looked over my shoulder. James was running down the hall after me. I felt bad for running from him. But if I stopped for him, I stopped for Donnelley.

“Brooklyn!” James yelled. “What the hell are you doing? I’m trying to help you!”

His voice was so close. He was going to catch me. I ran toward the stairs, gasping for air. Everything hurt, but my chest hurt the most. I tried to take a deep breath like Rob had told me to do when I was panicking earlier tonight. But I couldn’t. My vision was starting to blur.

I ran into the stairwell. Someone was cleaning up my bloody footprints. They didn’t look pleased that I was leaving a trail of more footprints. But they could have also been frowning at me for running around in my underwear. I didn’t freaking know and I didn’t freaking care.