I have to get out I have to get out I have to get out.
The words echoed in her head, pounding incessantly with every step she took. Liz managed to make it off the elevator, managed to keep her back straight as she approached her door. But when she was inside, she sagged, legs giving away. She clutched her chest, trying to keep the pain of her racing heart tampered, but it only made her hyperventilate. Liz sat there, struggling to breathe, thinking of how Hunter had basically accosted her in the streets just minutes before.
He was so close. He could be watching her this very moment, but Liz couldn’t find the strength to draw the curtains again. Michael kept pulling them aside to let in more light. She couldn’t blame him for it. She couldn’t blame him for wanting to be a light in her life when she was being followed by such darkness.
Slowly, Liz pulled herself to a stand. She took a moment to compose herself, to bring herself back to the woman she was known to be. She brushed her hair aside, wiping away the few strands that had been stuck to her forehead with sweat. She took a deep breath—in through her nose, out through her mouth.
She made her way to the window. She had no clue if he was already watching, but in case he was, she took her time. She grasped the curtain in her hand tightly, letting it give her strength. Then she pulled it closed.
What little strength she’d mustered failed. She didn’t know how she made it to the couch, pulling out her phone. She dialed blindly, her movements automatic. Catherine answered on the second ring. “Liz?”
“Hey.” Her voice was but a whisper, strained. She swallowed past her dry tongue. “I haven’t called to check up on you guys in a while. What’s up?”
“Oh, you know, the usual. Rosie is pestering me to get her a new instrument. Derek has broken down under her pleas and is trying to get me to say yes. Madison and Christian are their usual odd selves. It’s all the same over here. We’re just waiting for you to come back.”
Hearing that everything was just the same gave her an unsurmountable amount of pleasure. Liz eased into the cushions, letting the sound of her sister’s voice soothe her. “What instrument does she want?”
“A saxophone. Which is all fine and dandy with me, except I got her the guitar two months ago and she hasn’t even touched it since! Next thing you know, her entire room will be filled with untouched instruments she doesn’t know how to play.”
“And Derek’s right on board with her, huh?”
“Derek’s a sucker for her puppy dog face. I’m alone on this one.”
“She’s just like you, Cathy, which means you have one hell of a fight on your hands.”
“Don’t I know it.” Catherine groaned. “What about you? How’s Sorrento?”
“I’m in Venice now, pretty close to getting what I came here for.”
“Venice! I’m so jealous, I’ve always wanted to go. That’s a long way from Naples, right?”
“Yes, it was quite a hike. I also got to see Palermo.”
“Wow! Trust you to turn your Sorrento summer into a full-blown grand tour of Italy.”
Liz smiled weakly. She knew she should be more grateful for this wonderful trip, if not for Hunter’s presence causing her to experience anxiety.
“How is it there?” Catherine asked. “Is it as beautiful as they say it is?”
“Even more. You would love it. In fact, you and Derek should take a trip down here when you can.”
“I’ll bring it up to him.”
Liz rolled her eyes, her tension easing slightly. “Please. You know all you have to do is ask and he’ll make it happen.”
“You give me too much credit.”
“You give his love for you too little.”
Catherine laughed airily. Liz didn’t know if she had caught her at a bad time or not. Catherine would keep on talking for hours without thinking to mention the fact that she was busy at the restaurant or something to that nature. “So, what’s wrong?” she asked.
Liz frowned. “Why do you think something’s wrong?”
“Because I know you. You sound… off. Something’s wrong. What? The guy’s putting up more of a fight than you expected.”
“You could say that.”
“Don’t worry. I know you’ll wear him down eventually. No one can ever say no to you for too long.”
Except one particularly creepy man who never failed to make her heart thunder with fear.
And the other who made her heart pound with something else entirely.
“Are you home?” Liz asked, dodging the topic.
“Yeah.”
“Is Maddy with you?”
“She was, but she went home to get ready for her date with Christian. I swear, those two just can’t take their hands off each other. Every day it’s something else. I don’t even know how she finds the time to work.”
“You know she always finds time for the things she wants. I was hoping to say hi.”
“I’ll make sure to pass on the message.” Catherine paused. “You sure you’re alright, Liz?”
“Never better.”
“I would have believed you if you hadn’t said that. The Liz I know never talks like that.”
“Well, sue me for broadening my speech patterns.”
Catherine laughed on the other end. “Alright, fine, fine. I’ll let it slide. But don’t forget I’m always just a phone call away.”
“And an expensive one at that. I should get going.”
“Okay, love you!”
“You too. Give Rosie a kiss for me.”
“If she decides she’s talking to me again, I’ll make sure to pass it along.”
Liz was laughing when she hung up the phone. The call had done its job. Now, she wasn’t so agitated, her heartbeat slowed to normalcy. She could breathe easier now.
Yes, her sister was always just one call away. So was Madison. And, if needed, so was Harold. She didn’t have to be afraid of Hunter. She shouldn’t. Because he couldn’t do anything. He couldn’t hit her where it really hurt, not when everyone she loved was back in the States.
Then Michael walked in, and her heart sank.
He was dressed the same as this morning, except the way he left was nothing like the way he was coming in right now. There was purpose to his steps, pausing at the threshold as his eyes adjusted to the darkness. He spotted her on the couch as they closed the door behind him. He made his way over to her in three long strides.
Everyone she loved was in the States. But Hunter didn’t know that. He thought there was something more between her and Michael, something he hadn’t received. He was being driven by his jealousy, and the root of that was walking into her room right now. All her loved ones might be in the States, away from harm, but Michael wasn’t. And he was unaware that anything was amiss.
“You’re right,” he said. He sank into the couch next to her, his arm over the back.
Liz frowned at him. “What are you talking about?”
“I did know you were using me to find Alessandro. I don’t know why I got so upset about you not telling me your next move after you did, because I knew that was how it was from the start. I was mad that you didn’t trust me enough to let me in even a little bit, but then I remembered what you told me about not liking intimacy, and I realized that you have been letting me in bit by bit. I just need to be patient until you’re ready to let me in all the way.”
Liz blinked at him, sorting through everything he said. He stared earnestly at her, breathing slightly heavily, as if he had run all the way here. “Did you come all the way here just to tell me that?”
“I did. It’s been bothering me since I left and I couldn’t hold it in any longer. Marcus was pissed.”
Michael grinned. Liz only stared at him. For days she had been annoyed with herself, not knowing how to process these weird things happening to her. Now, as she stared at him, she knew only one thing. It was because she cared for him. More than she should have allowed herself to.
Finally, she found her voice. “You’re going to give Marcus a heart attack one day.”
“He says that all the time, but I actually think I keep him fit.” Michael came closer, until his breath was brushing her face. “I hope I didn’t scare you.”
Surprisingly, he didn’t. And that, funnily enough, was what scared her. But she shook her head. “I’m made of tougher stuff than that. It was kinda cute that you came all the way here to tell me that.”
Michael pulled away, eyes wide. “Did you just call me cute?”
“I don’t plan to make it a habit.” And because she could, because she was afraid for him, because she didn’t know what plans Hunter had up his sleeve, and if those plans included Michael, she kissed him. With everything in her. She kissed him until she was heady, drunk off the taste of him.
She pulled away, but his lips were still puckered, his eyes closed. The sight of it made her laugh. It was something she loved about him, the way he could make her laugh like no one else could.
“If that’s how you respond when I do stupid things like this, I should do it more often.”
“Do it at your own risk,” she warned with a smile.
Michael released a contented sigh, pulling away. She could tell he wanted to say something, get something off his chest, but he was resisting the urge. Instead, he pointed to the drawn curtains. “Why do you always keep the curtains drawn like that?”
“I like them that way.”
“It wasn’t like that when I came to your hotel room in Sorrento.”
Liz shrugged, feeling slightly guilty that she had to lie. “Must have missed it somehow. You were distracting me.”
“I’ve been known to be great distraction.” He grinned devilishly.
Liz rolled her eyes good-naturedly. “I can imagine how much your teachers must have hated you.”
“There were a good number of them who did, I’ll admit. But the true ones knew I was a comical genius as much as a musical one.”
“Cocky much?”
“It’s only the truth. Every prank I made, I could always catch a few of them trying not to laugh.”
“You were a tyrant.”
“Oh, and I suppose you were the perfect student, then?”
Liz didn’t hesitate. “Yes. I was. I always got perfect grades, was the leader of all the clubs I was a part of, and I never got in trouble once.”
Michael sighed heavily. “I believe that. What a boring way to live.”
“It’s not boring. It’s practical. I strive for perfection in everything I do, so my school life shouldn’t be any different.”
“I’ll bet all the money in my pockets right now that you had a lot of people who hated you.”
Liz decided not to answer that. Michael grinned widely. “See?”
“It doesn’t matter,” she said dismissively. “That was high school.”
“And college?”
She rolled her eyes again, but admitted, “And college.”
“Right.” Satisfied, Michael relaxed in his seat. “Doesn’t matter at all, you’re right. I like you.”
Before she could respond, Michael pecked her on the nose. The act was innocent and sweet, and threw Liz for a loop. She was still a bit frozen when he got up, holding a hand out to her. Slowly, she took and allowed him to ease her to her feet.
“My show is in a few days. I want you to come.” Liz opened her mouth, but he placed a finger against it. “Before you try to come up with all the reasons you can’t, just hear me out. It’s the last show I have in Venice. After that, I’ll be heading to Milan, and I know I’m going to have an even harder time convincing you to come with me. Especially since your business is here, with Alessandro. And then after that, I’m hopping on another plane. So, please. This might be the last of my shows you’ll get to see.”
Liz had already planned to agree when he first asked, but now, there was nothing that could get her to refuse. “Sure,” she breathed, fingers tightening on his arm. “I’ll come.”
Then, because she could, she kissed him again.