again, and you will not be living that rock star life you love so much, I can guarantee that.”
“Y-you’ll break my hands…”
“Think bigger. You see, I can break your entire world. I can take away every contract you’ve got. I can make your money vanish. I can have your fame crumble around you. All it will take are a few well-placed words from me, and you’re done.”
“Nah. Nah, you don’t have that kind of power—”
“That is exactly the kind of power I possess.” He didn’t even blink. “Lacey is mine. I protect what’s mine. Understand?”
Chapter Ninteen
I didn’t send the text.
No way would she have texted Tim. But someone had sure wanted it to look as if she had.
“I trust Lacey completely.” Dex had sounded as if he meant those words.
Her back pressed to the closed door. She couldn’t hear anything from inside that little space, but she knew Dex was probably scaring the ever-living-hell out of Tim. She should go back in there. She needed to—
“Lacey!” Elizabeth darted toward her.
Lacey pushed away from the door.
“Thank God!” Tears streamed down Elizabeth’s cheeks. “You can help me. Please, please…” She grabbed Lacey’s hand and held on tight. “You’ll help me, won’t you?”
What in the world?
“Come with me,” Elizabeth begged. “You can help me to find him. I know you can! You work for Wilde. You can do anything!”
Hardly anything. “Elizabeth, slow down. Tell me what’s happening.”
“Everyone is leaving this place. People are dying,” Elizabeth whispered. “And…Jonathan was supposed to meet me, but he never showed up and it’s getting later and later…help me.” She pulled on Lacey’s arms.
The door opened behind Lacey.
Tim hurried past her. “I’ll be gone in the hour.”
Elizabeth frowned at him. “Is that…isn’t he in Implosion Night?”
Dex’s arm brushed against Lacey. “Darling, we have that appointment that we must keep,” he said smoothly. “You know we have those last few questions that need answering and—”
“Jonathan is missing,” Elizabeth blurted. “I can’t find him, and I need Lacey’s help.” Tears dripped down her cheeks. “It’s not like him to vanish. He’s the one who planned this whole trip, and it was supposed to be so special, but he’s missing.”
Lacey focused on Dex. “You go handle those last questions. I need to talk with Elizabeth.”
“I am sure her husband will turn up,” Dex muttered. Then, louder, “Elizabeth, did he perhaps go out skiing? Maybe he was delayed on the slopes.”
“He—I don’t know. He just isn’t answering his phone and with that poor woman dying…I have to find him.” She still held onto Lacey. “You’re my friend. You’re the only person here that I can trust. Please, please help me.”
“We kind of have some situations of our own here, Elizabeth,” Dex retorted. “So I’ll get lodge security to help you, but—”
“I’ll help, too,” Lacey said. “Excuse us for a moment first, will you, Elizabeth?”
A slightly confused nod was Elizabeth’s response as she finally let go of Lacey.
“You.” Lacey pointed to the luggage guy who was working undercover for Dex. She’d only recently learned about him. “Keep her safe until I come out.” Lacey put her hand on Dex’s chest and shoved him back into that little privacy room. The door closed behind them.
Dex glanced at her hand, then up at her face. “Sweetheart, what in the hell are you doing? I told you, I wanted you close. I want to—”
“You want to protect me. Yes, I get that. Here’s the thing, though. I want to protect my friends, too.” Her heart was about to jump out of her chest. “You and Roman were both at the lodge during the same time—I’m assuming that was deliberate. But Tim was lured here. How do we know that Elizabeth and Jonathan weren’t somehow lured to this location, too? I worked with them before. They are my friends. I was so surprised to see them when we crossed paths in the ballroom, and now, if Jonathan is missing—”
“Guy could just be off drinking somewhere.”
Lacey snorted. “Really? With everything else that’s happening, you actually think that?”
His expression softened. “Why do I find that little snort so sexy?”
“What are you talking about?” Her chin notched up. “I don’t snort. Never have. Never will.”
A grin stretched across his face. “My God, I love—”
He isn’t saying, he can’t be saying…Dex, are you saying—
“—the way you can make me smile even when the world is shit around me. Only you can do that, Lacey. Only you.”
Bam. Bam. Bam. Her heart was racing even faster now. “Glad I can amuse you,” she