“So, drink up. Trip is sleeping with us tonight so the two of you can really celebrate,” Shannon chirps while pouring a glass full of champagne and handing it to me.
My eyes turn to meet the smoldering ones burning through me, and I murmur, “That sounds good,” in my sexiest voice.
She pulls Trip from my arms just as Tag’s arms wrap around me and his lips devour mine. I throb for his touch to get stronger, and then his phone buzzes.
“Don’t answer it,” I almost beg.
“I have to. Security has to call me if anything is wrong.”
I huff and pout, making him smile and kiss me quickly before answering.
“Yeah, Troy, what’s going on?” He pauses for several seconds, and then his lips tighten, promising our moment of celebration is about to be soured. “Yeah. Send him on through.”
“What’s wrong?” I ask as soon as he pulls the phone down.
“The detective is here.”
Crap.
He turns around just as Troy opens the door, and in walks the stern-faced detective.
“I’m sorry to bother you so late, but we’ve just had something come to light.”
“Did you finally find Rene? She was supposed to come back from Vegas a while ago.”
“Sorry, we believe someone must have tipped her off because she hasn’t returned home, and she has stopped using her credit cards.”
Tag tilts his head curiously.
“Then why are you here?”
“Because there has been something else come up that I need to speak with Ms. Branderwood about.”
Tag’s arm wraps around me very protectively. With our celebration officially halted, Tag ushers him into the living area across the way. He pulls me beside him on the couch as the detective sits across from us.
The others slowly retreat to a hiding place to give us some privacy, though I feel a little deserted.
“What’s this all about, Detective?” Tag asserts, his patience growing thin.
“I’ll be blunt. Dyllan Mathews was discovered dead six months ago.”
What?
“Dyllan?” I ask, my voice crackling from surprise.
“That’s the guy…” Tag’s voice trails off, avoiding saying, that’s the married guy you fucked.
“Yeah,” I murmur wearily, still trying to wrap my mind around everything.
He turns back to the detective. “Why are you telling us about this now?”
“Because when we asked Ms. Branderwood about her exes, due to the stalking threat, she left out his name. This is now twice we’ve been left in the dark or lied to.”
“She didn’t tell you about me being Trip’s father because she wanted to tell me first. If I don’t hold it against her, you sure as hell shouldn’t. She didn’t tell you about Dyllan because he’s irrelevant, especially now that you know it’s a female stalker, Rene Ballinger.”
“Mr. Masters, maybe you should step out. I need to ask something rather personal pertaining to Dyllan Mathews's case.”
“No. He’s staying. He already knows everything there is to know,” I quickly insert, and Tag’s grip tightens on me.
The detective’s lips thin to a line, and he leans forward.
“Ms. Branderwood, did you know he was dead?”
“No. I haven’t heard from or spoken to him in a long time.”
“Why did you leave his name off your list then?”
“At the time I was dating him, he was married. Quite frankly, the whole situation was humiliating. That was all long before the stalking started, so I didn’t find it relevant. I didn’t want my past mistake to hurt Tag’s newest business launch, since I’m in the tabloids more than him.”
***
Tag
She feels so guilty, and I’m ready to fucking punch this son of a bitch right in the face for putting her on the spot. My hand tightens on her leg, and she shivers as she leans into me.
“Ms. Branderwood, I have to ask, are you sure you didn’t see or speak to him before his death?”
“No. I have no reason to lie about it. If he had called me, I would have put him on the list of possible suspects. My child’s safety overrides a public image.”
She’s damn right about that. Besides, it wouldn’t have ever hurt my image. I hate knowing she had something like that on her mind.
“How did you even know about her affiliation with Dyllan?” I ask, suddenly curious how that stone was turned if no one really knew.
His lips thin, and then he pulls a newspaper article from his coat to hand to us. I take it, and then I quickly skim over it.
“That son of a bitch!” Ash squeals. “That’s why he was at Melanie's party. It was never about you. It was about going through me to get to you.”