CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Kade gently places his hand over my mouth and smirks. The joyful twinkle in his eye makes more giggles escape from my lips. With his free hand, Kade places his isolated finger against his lip and says, "Shh, you're being too loud."

I grab his arm and pull it away from my mouth. "You're the one being loud, mate."

"No, you are," he insists.

"I –" Kade's hand is placed against my lips at the sound of approaching footsteps.

Adrenaline shoots through my body as we nervously wait. The footsteps grow louder. My breathing comes out shorter and my heart feels like it's about to lunge out of my throat. I squeeze onto Kade's arm and look towards the door.

"Trust me," whispers Kade.

He nudges be towards the other side of the door. I hold my breath in anticipation as I wait. Kade pulls his phone out of his pocket and presses it against his ear. As the doorhandle begins to jiggle, Kade swings the door open and pretends to talk on the phone.

"No, that's not good enough. Tell him to get in the office and correct the mistakes. What? No, this is ridiculous. I should fire you for this glaring error," he grumbles into the phone.

The man on the other side must have gotten the idea. The door closes and Kade slips his phone back into his pocket. He closes the space between us and places his hands on my waist.

"See, problem solved." He grins proudly.

Kade wraps his arm further around my waist, thus tugging me against his chest. He slowly brushes his nose against mine, then presses kisses me. My heart flutters from the gentle peck.

"For now," I murmur. "We should leave before someone else returns."

"Sure," he agrees. "I also want to take you out somewhere tomorrow."

"Really? I do need some holiday photos for my parents," I explain.

My parents weren't completely sold on the idea of me traveling alone. But here I am, and well, they'd probably kill me if they knew what I was really doing. But hey, sometimes you need to branch out and do your own thing.

"Great, I have some fun ideas in mind." His eyes light up with excitement.

"Simple, okay? My parents have to believe it's something I would do." And could afford on a small budget.

"You could always tell them part of the truth," he replies.

"And what part? That I'm faking famous?" I chuckle. They wouldn't believe me.

Kade shrugs his shoulders and smiles. "You bewitched a wealthy man's heart and he decided to do something nice for her."

"It's not that simple," I grumble. They'd probably think I've been kidnapped or something.

"It's as simple as you make it."

"If only it was that simple." I push him to the side as I grab the doorhandle and pull it open without. Poking my head outside, I look both ways before walking into the open. I stride down the hallway confidently as if nothing has happened.

Kade quickly follows behind and we enter the main room together. I don't wait on the outskirts of the group, I dive inside and try to get lost with the people. I don't want to stand out in the crowd in case someone notices me.

He places his hand against my lower back and whispers into my ear, "I'm getting a drink from the bar."

I nod my head and continue to wander around. As I shuffle through clusters of people, I find Luke and Jenna standing with a few younger guests. The thought of standing near Luke makes my stomach twist. But when Jenna's eyes light up with excitement, I know I can't walk away now

"Hey." I smile.

"There you are!" Jenna brightly smiles and goes in for a hug. I awkwardly pat her back and smile at the people surrounding us. When Jenna steps to the side, Luke moves in and gives me a hug and takes a long time letting go.

"How is your night going?" he asks.

"Wonderful, thank you, Luke."

"Hey Jenna, can you accompany me to the bathroom?" I ask.

"Sure." She nods her head slowly. "I need to power my nose."

Jenna sharply turns and starts strutting towards the hallway which leads to the bathroom. She's got a sharp swivel to her hips that might knock you over if you get too close. I take longer strides to hurry my walking pace to catch up with her.

She pushes the bathroom door open and it swings back and hits the wall. I slip inside the bathroom before the door has a chance to slam into my face. That would be awkward!

"Can you tell me about Luke?" I ask.

Before she answers me, Jenna proceeds to move through the bathroom and push all the doors open to check if anyone else is accompanying us. When she's finished checking, Jenna walks to the sink and places her bag on the bench.

"Luke is someone you're seeing on the side," she says.

"Why?"

"She never did specify why. All I know is that Luke is the son of Kade's rival company. Maybe she was trying to make Kade jealous? But Luke's father is trying to sabotage the Taylor Empire, the usual. They've never gotten along. I honestly don't get Alessia sometimes." She grabs her lipstick around and begins to apply it.

"Now you have to tell me." I stamp my food in frustration. "I need to know these details."

"Ask the boss then." Jenna grabs the power out of her purse and starts patting her nose and cheeks.

I take a deep breath to calm myself and join Jenna at the bench. I dig through my clutch bag to find my lipstick. And when I'm done with that, I grab the compact powder - whatever will keep me from leaving this bathroom to soon.

Is it wrong to just want answers? I'd rather understand the extent of the situation instead of always being blind sighted. I'm afraid of stuffing up and ruining someone's life. I'll be relieved when this job is over.

If Kade finds something new out about Alessia's life and she gets annoyed, it's not on me and I refuse to worry about it. If secrets were supposed to be kept, they needed an informed gatekeeper to keep them locked up.

"Ready to leave?" Jenna asks.

"As ready as I'll ever be," I groan.

Jenna wanders out of the bathroom and I rush to follow behind her. She cuts through the crowd and returns to our previous spot. All of the same faces are there except Kade. Luke moves to stand by my side and it sends shivers running up my spine, and not the good kind I get from Kade.

He lightly touches my elbow and holds out a fresh glass of campaign for me to take.

"I got this for you," he says.

"Thanks." I take the glass by the stem.

I don't know if I can trust Luke, so accepting a glass of campaign from a stranger makes me worried. I know it's funny since I'm in this predicament. At least Kade doesn't have the creepy vibes Luke is sending out.

I'm not drinking this, but I'm not sure how to get rid of it.

"Kade's gone, drink up and we can escape." He winks.

I look at Jenna with pleading eyes, the kind that scream, help me. But I don't think Jenna gets the hint because she starts laughing and dives into a conversation about a previous function she attended the other week.

"How about I meet you at the door?" I ask.

"Okay," Luke replies.

"Great." I smile uneasily.

"You told me you wanted to get away from this place for the night, we can go back to mine," Luke offers.

"Two seconds." I give Luke the glass and dart through the crowd and towards the exit. If Luke can't take my gentle nudges to leave me alone, I'll just escape quicker or hope to the heavens I find Kade wandering around here.

As I get to the front door, someone grabs my elbow, forcing me to stop walking. I turn around to see Kade's mother starting back at me. She seems, different. Her hair is messy, flushed cheeks and a disorientated look from the bright lights - something I'm not going to get myself tangled in tonight.

"Where are you going, leaving without saying goodbye to me?" she asks.

"I'm just feeling sick." I frown. "Sorry, I'll see you later?"

Her face changes into a sad motherly frown of concern. "Get better soon, and do let me know how you go."

"Okay." She releases my arm and I start hurrying away again.

I don't look where I'm going, a blur of worry consume my mind and it makes it hard to focus. Before I can feel the fresh air on my skin, I collide with a body and dread spreads through me like a toxin. Please don't be Luke!

"Lydia?" Arms wrap around me tightly and for the first time since I found myself alone, I start to calm down.

"What's wrong?" he worriedly asks.

"I need to get out of here, Luke's looking for me," I explain.

"He wouldn't dare," he reassures me.

"I just need to go." I push him away. "I'm done doing this, and I don't want to ruin anyone's life."

"What happened?" He grabs my arms and tries to look into my eyes.

"Everyone has too many secrets and I don't want to know them, it's not my place. This whole life Alessia and you lead is majorly screwed up."

"I'm sorry, I'll transfer the money to your bank tomorrow." He sounds defeated, crushed.

"I never wanted your money." I shake my head.

"Take it." His voice sounds sharp, angry, yet frightening.

"Fine, but don't expect me to do this again." I pull away from Kade and walk through the exit door.

The cold air hits me like a ton of bricks, and within seconds I'm shivering. A man dressed in a nice tux opens the door and I slip inside the waiting car.

"Where to?" the driver asks.

"Home."