Liz didn’t stick around to hear the rest of his performance. She needed solace, though she had no idea why. Work, maybe. That should help. She could lose herself in her work so she wouldn’t have to sort through the weird feeling her chest at the thought of Michael and that woman.
They were clearly ex-lovers. Something had gone wrong between them, something caused by the woman, and Michael wasn’t over it. Maybe that’s why he wasn’t looking for anything serious like Liz was. Maybe it’s because he was still sore over the pain he had felt from his last relationship.
It wasn’t any of her business. She told herself that when she exited the back of the theater, heading towards the bus. Michael’s private life was definitely none of her business. She was only here to enjoy his body, and he only wanted to enjoy hers. What he was going through had nothing to do with her. Melody had nothing to do with her.
Liz nodded to herself, reconfirming that. Still, that odd feeling in her chest didn’t fade. She approached the man leaning against the door of the bus. “I’d like to get on,” she said.
He jumped at her voice, clearly not realizing she was there until she spoke. The cigarette between his fingers nearly fell to the ground. “Oh, you scared me,” he gasped. “Of course, of course. Not enjoying the show?”
“I’m just feeling a little lightheaded. I wanted to get away from all the noise.”
“Understandable.” The man pulled the door opened and gestured for her to get on. Liz gave him a grateful smile before leaving him behind.
The silence of the bus gave her little solace. She went straight for her laptop, hoping to lose herself in her work, but she had a feeling that there would be no chance for that tonight. Too many weird things were going on with her. She couldn’t focus no matter how much she tried.
But she did try. It almost worked, but the faint music wafting from the theater was making it difficult.
“I’ve never seen you so hard at work. It’s cute.”
Liz froze at the sound of the voice, fingers hovering over her keyboard. She knew who it was before having to look up, but her mind refused to believe it. He came closer, until he was sitting before her, right in the spot Michael had been when he had taken her hand.
Slowly, she dragged her eyes away from her screen and looked at Hunter. “What are you doing here?”
He cocked his chin at her laptop. “I’m watching you work. You looked like you were concentrating very hard, so I didn’t want to distract you. But then I realized that I’ve never actually seen you working.”
She didn’t know what to say to him. He was here. In Italy. Sitting on a tour bus with her, behind one of the biggest theaters in Palermo. It was too crazy to be a coincidence, which meant only one thing. He had followed her here.
He is insane. If he had followed her all the way here, there was no telling what he might do next. Liz glanced outside. Where had the driver gone?
“I’m sure that’s not true,” she said slowly, choosing her words carefully. “I’m sure you’ve seen me at work before.”
“Well, you’re right,” he said with a nod, draping his arm over the back of the seat. “When we first met, it was at your gallery. But you weren’t working. Not like you are now. You were just chatting up customers, which was what made me so drawn to you in the first place. The way you spoke to people. But I’ve never seen you work like this. Did you know you stare out into space when you’re thinking hard about something?”
“No, I didn’t know that. That’s… interesting to hear.”
He laughed. Liz tensed. “You might not find it interesting, Liz, but I do. Sorry,” he said after a moment. “Elizabeth.”
“Hunter… what are you doing here?”
“What do you mean, what am I doing here?” He actually sounded confused. “I’m here to take you back home.”
“I don’t need to go back home. I’m working.”
“Then why are you on this bus? It doesn’t look like you’re working to me.”
“Michael is helping me find someone important, Hunter.”
“Is he? Is that what you call what you two are doing?” He barked a laugh of disbelief. “I can’t believe you would sit before me and lie to me like that. I know what you two have been up to.”
She didn’t ask him what he knew, out of fear that he actually knew the truth. She only said, “Hunter, this is crazy. You need to go home.”
“Not unless you come with me.”
“I can’t—”
“Yes, you can!” He leaned forward, eyes wide, his fingers splayed out on the table. Liz kept herself incredibly still. “It’s okay. I know you’re a bit… confused right now. But everything is going to be okay. I’ll get you out of this. You don’t have to worry.”
“Hunter, I’m not trapped here. I’m here of my own free will. And I need to be here, for work,” she emphasized. “You can’t come barging into this place like this. What we had is over and done with. Even if I come home with you, there’s no hope of us ever starting up again. Especially not after this erratic behavior.”
That last bit knocked him sideways. The hurt in his eyes was so potent it became tangible, and for a second, she had the urge to reach out to him. Whatever wound he was nursing had just been cut deeper.
“You don’t really mean that, do you?” he asked.
“I do,” she said softly. “I know it’s not what you want to hear but it’s the truth. I’m done.”
“And he’s my replacement?”
“I told you. He’s helping me search for the person I’m here to find.”
“And behind closed doors?”
Liz stiffened. She straightened her spine. “That isn’t any of your business.”
Hunter scoffed. He ran his eyes down the length of her as if she was the dirt under his shoe. “You have no heart. No soul. And to think I thought you needed saving.”
Why the hell would he think that? “I don’t, Hunter. I’m fine here. Go home.”
He stared at her a bit longer. The stare transformed, going from disgusted to perusing as if he was trying to figure her out. Liz didn’t like that one bit. “You forget I know you, Elizabeth,” he said after a while. “As much as you’re always trying to shut me out and keep me out of your life, I know you. And I know your little tells.”
“What are you talking about?”
Instead of answering, he rose to his feet. “I’ll leave for now.”
For now? Liz shot to her feet. “Hunter, you need to go home.”
“I will go home, Liz. In time.”
He stepped a bit closer. Liz stepped back. He reached out to touch her, to frame her face or to brush aside her hair or something, but she didn’t allow him the chance to. She pulled out of his reach, hoping he would take that as the final clue he needed to get out of Italy. Or at least, to get away from her.
Hunter looked hurt by her withdrawal, but he nodded in what frightfully looked like determination before letting his hand drop. “It was nice seeing you again, Elizabeth.”
She didn’t respond to him. She only watched him leave the bus before she let her shaking legs give away and sank back into the seat. Her heart was pounding, and she held her hand over her chest, keeping her eyes on the entrance of the bus to make sure he was well and truly gone.
She couldn’t believe he was here. He was really here. Even if he had followed her, the paper trails she left behind wouldn’t have led him to this bus. They would have led to her hotel, then perhaps to Alessandro’s place. No one knew she was here with Michael. There was no way anyone could have known unless he had been watching her every move.
The thought sent a shiver down her spine. Liz hurriedly got to her feet and rushed over to the door. Just as she was about to close it, the driver wandered up.
“Where were you?” she demanded.
He blinked at the urgency in her voice. “I decided to go for a walk. Wanted to stretch my legs a little bit. Why? Did something happen?”
She sighed, letting her shoulders relax. “No, nothing happened. It’s fine.” It was no use scaring the man. Hunter was her problem. She didn’t need to be involving anyone else. Especially not anyone connected to Michael, since he was sure to get involved and that wasn’t something she particularly needed right now.
When the driver’s frown deepened, she said, “I was going to close the door but when I saw that you weren’t here, I panicked. I guess being alone in a big bus doesn’t appeal to me very much.”
“Oh, I understand,” the driver said with a nod. “Well, I’ll be right here until the performance is over. You don’t have to worry.”
She nodded, feeling some of the apprehension ease. Still, when she returned to her seat, she was plagued by her fear at Hunter’s appearance. And that fear made her angry. If there was one thing Liz hated more than anything, it was being afraid.
She hoped Hunter didn’t know that. He said he knew her more than she thought, but she hoped he didn’t know how much she hated being afraid. Would he enjoy that? He was more unhinged than she could have imagined. There was no telling what was going through his head, what motivated his actions or made him do the things he did. She had no clue if it was jealousy, anger at being ‘dumped’ or both.
What she did know was that this wasn’t over. And the fear that had taken hold within her chest dug its claws in deeper.
As soon as Michael’s last performance was over, he rushed to the bus ahead of all the others. He found Liz sitting in the same spot she had been before his performance, her head down. At the sight of her, his knees buckled with relief. He had been afraid that she had gone back to her hotel. Knowing her, it wasn’t impossible.
He reclaimed his earlier seat. “Liz.”
She didn’t respond. He leaned forward, bringing his lips closer to her ear. “Liz?”
Still no response. Michael touched her, then gave her a tiny push. Liz’s body moved but she still didn’t lift her head. She must be sleeping. Michael sighed at that, not knowing what that meant. Maybe it just means she’s tired, you dolt.
He could deal with that later. Tomorrow, when she woke up, they could talk about what she might have overheard.
Michael crouched down and lifted her into his arms. She mumbled a bit under her breath at being disrupted, but her eyes didn’t open as he tucked his arm under her knees. When she rested her head on his chest, his heart palpitated. He hoped it wouldn’t wake her.
Slowly, he made his way near the back of the bus where the beds were kept. He eased her onto the mattress of his curtained sleeping area, brushing the hair out of her face. She murmured something again, something about hunting, but then she rolled over, putting her back to him and going silent. Michael laughed softly.
He stared at her back, resisting the urge to stroke her hair. It took him more effort than it should to close the curtains and leave her there. Marcus met him at the back of the bus.
“You like that woman,” he said.
Michael sighed. He wasn’t in the mood to keep up his usual shenanigans with Marcus and he just tugged on his bowtie, tossing it to the side. He plopped down into the nearest seat he could find and threw an arm over his face. After everything that had happened tonight, he was beat.
“You like her,” Marcus repeated, sitting across from him. “What did you say her name was? Elizabeth Harley?”
“That’s right.”
“And what did you say she did?”
Michael lifted his arm to peer at him. “I didn’t.”
“This is where you still tell me.”
“Why do you want to know?”
“I need to know everything about this woman so you don’t end up like you did after Melody left.”
At the mention of her name, Michael threw his hands back over his face. After three years, she still managed to make him angry without even being in his presence. “Liz is not Melody.”
“You didn’t think Melody was Melody until you saw her true colors. You like this woman. So, I need to make sure she’s worthy of being liked.”
He didn’t even bother to deny it. “She is. She’s the most amazing woman I’ve ever met, and I think I want to marry her.”
“Wow.” Michael could feel Marcus’ surprise. “How long have you known her?”
Michael took a lot of pleasure in his next words. “Less than five days.”
“You’ve—” A sigh.
Michael had enough energy to grin. It seemed he wasn’t too beat to yank Marcus’ chain a bit.
“One day, you’re going to take me seriously,” Marcus said.
“Hey, alright, alright. I am taking you seriously.” To prove it, he sat up at attention. “I understand why you’re asking me all this, Marcus, but don’t forget I’m a grown man who can make his own decisions.”
“I just don’t want you to go through what you did before. That almost killed you.”
“I know,” he said softly. He remembered it well, and knew the chaos had affected Marcus as well. It had affected his career. His music. “I won’t let it happen again.”
Marcus nodded, but Michael knew he was unconvinced. There was no telling what could happen with matters of the heart. Neither of them had expected Melody to behave like she had. Neither of them had known if Michael would ever recover. Marcus must have seen the way Michael looked at Liz. He had more than enough reason to wonder if she was dangerous.
Michael had to wonder that himself. There had to be a reason he was so drawn to her, since the day they met in the gallery. She was puzzling, and each moment with her had him craving more. He wanted to know her, and unravel the truth about what lay behind her hard exterior. He knew he was falling, and falling fast. It was why he had lied and said that he wasn’t looking for anything serious. It was the only way he knew he could stay close to her. Avoid scaring her away.
She didn’t want anything serious and had left her last sex partner because he had developed feelings. Michael wasn’t stupid enough to make the same mistake. He had to do something different, to be different, so that she would want the same things he did. Eventually. For now, he was enjoying their physical intimacy just as much as he enjoyed the way his heart pounded for her.
It wasn’t until tonight, when fear had consumed him the moment he saw Liz standing at the door of his room backstage, did he realize how hard he was falling for her. Melody had disappeared in that moment, and he could only see Liz with her perfectly emotionless face. There was no telling if she had actually heard anything, or if she was upset. There was no telling if she even cared. And when she had walked away, Michael had been afraid to go after her, if it meant finding out that she didn’t.
Another day, he told himself. He would talk to her another day. That was his motto, had been his motto since forever. He could always be patient, and choose another day to do what needed to be done.
Michael looked out the window at the blur of the city lights. He saw none of it, aware that Marcus was now tapping away on his phone, getting more work done. Marcus and Liz were just the same. “Melody showed up.”
Marcus paused and looked at him. “How?”
“She was waiting for me in my dressing room.”
“That’s not acceptable. She shouldn’t have been let backstage.”
“Someone slipped up.”
“What did she say to you?”
Michael shrugged. “Only the usual. That she knew she was wrong, but wanted to get back together. She didn’t even say sorry.” Michael looked at his manager. “Can you believe that? After everything she’s done, she didn’t even apologize.”
Marcus took a moment to respond, clearly not knowing how to. He was probably wondering how many old wounds had just been opened up. Michael was wondering the same thing. “I’ll tell the crew not to let her backstage. I’ll make sure the theater managers know as well so they can tell their security.”
“Thank you.”
“Michael. That was three years ago. You’re a better man now. You’ve moved on. Don’t forget that.”
He wouldn’t. He couldn’t. If he did… he shook his head at the thought.
Taking a deep breath, he shot Marcus a smirk. “Enough with being all mopey, I swear it’s the worst thing ever. Really doesn’t fit my happy-go-lucky attitude at all.”
“Oh, brother.”
“Don’t act like you weren’t waiting for me to start griping on you again. I know you secretly love it.”
“I’m going to bed.”
Michael grinned as Marcus rose from his seat. “Hey, Marcus, wait.”
Marcus paused. Rolling his eyes on a sigh, her turned to face Michael again. “What?”
“I’m sorry about stressing you out last night. I need to remember that my actions don’t just only affect me. You handled it pretty well, too. I was expecting you to take my head off.”
“There’s no need to apologize. I’m used to it. Just make sure not to do it too often, please? Or else I really might have heart failure.”
“You got it, boss!” Michael saluted him and Marcus rolled his eyes again before walking away.