Page 191 of Powerhouse: Boxed Set
I waited until there were a number of people between us before I turned back to face her, far enough away that she could never be quite certain who I was. Not amongst the dancing, and the cheering, and the flashing of the club lights all around.
It was just enough.
She saw me.
I felt it. Sensed it. Wanted it.
I met her eyes through the shadows and the flashes of neon, and I held her gaze in mine.
Yes. She saw me.
She stopped moving. Dead in her tracks. Eyes open wide.
The guy at her side stopped moving and turned toward her, trying to work out what she was staring at.
But no.
He’d never manage it.
I was already walking away.
CHAPTER NINE
Elaine
My heart waspounding, and my breath caught in my throat, and I couldn’t stop staring. Couldn’t stop the waves of panic flying through my veins.
“What is it?” Tristan barked into my ear, and I didn’t move. Couldn’t move. “What is it, Lainey?” he asked again, but the figure was gone.
I struggled to keep sight of him, but the crowd was too dark. I could feel Tristan staring, too.
“What the hell are you looking at, Lainey? What is it?” he asked, and I took a deep breath before I turned to face him.
“It was Lucian Morelli. He’s here.”
His eyes widened, his mouth dropping to match, and then he shook his head and fixed me in a gaze that said I was crazy.
Yep, he was joining the Elaine-is-crazy club. He’d better get in line.
“Lucian Morelli isn’t in this place,” he told me. “No fucking way.”
I shrugged, knowing full well my eyes weren’t deceiving me. I pointed into the crowd. “He was over there, and before that he was right behind me, grabbing hold of my waist.”
My words had to be shouts above the music, but that didn’t matter. He heard me loud and clear.
His eyebrows were pitted as he shook his head again, then leaned in close. “You have to stop this. Whatever this damn fucking obsession with Lucian Morelli is, you have to damn well stop it.”
“It’s not an obsession. He was right here.” I nodded in contrast to his shaking head. “I mean it, Tristan. He was here.”
“And I mean it, Lainey. How high are you? You’re probably hallucinating.”
My head was swirling from the beer, but it wasn’t a hallucination. There was no way it was a hallucination. He’d been wearing casual clothes, not a tux or even a suit. But I knew his touch, and I knew his stare, and I knew his breath—all of him seared into my soul in a few short minutes just days before.
Tristan leaned in close again. “Did you tell anyone about this? About you coming here tonight?” I heard him groan. “Please tell me you didn’t…”
“No,” I said. “I didn’t. I didn’t tell anyone. And I didn’t do any coke.”
“So, how did it happen, then?” he asked. “How the fuck would Lucian Morelli know to come here if nobody in the world knew you were coming? I sure as hell didn’t tell anyone you’d be here. Not anyone except Blue Hawk.”
