“Hey! Do you know where Jo's at?” Leighanne peeked through the door at the couple having breakfast.
Lina shrugged. “I have no idea. Haven’t talked to her at all for the last couple of days.”
“She doesn’t answer her phone or the door.”
“You need someone to take care of Bay?”
“Nah, not really, just wanted to know where she is.”
“I’ve got a spare key to her room. I’ll go check if she’s there.”
“That’d be great.” Leighanne closed the door.
Lina got her purse to check for the key, but she was only halfway through it when she heard a knock at the door. Nick opened and let in a Jo that looked as if she’d seen brighter days. Lina rushed to her and gave her a hug.
“My god Jo, what’s happened?” She felt the oozes of alcohol on Jo’s breath and let out a laugh. “Oh, yeah. You’re hung over. I had forgotten how terrible you look when you are.”
Nick laughed where he stood next to them. “She’s not hung over. She’s still drunk. You keep your distance from my lady. I don’t want our baby getting drunk in there.”
Jo covered her ears with her hands. “Sssh! You don’t have to yell.” She collapsed onto the couch, accidentally dropping her sunglasses as she went down. She let out a whining sound that made both Nick and Lina laugh. “Oh, please, turn the sun off.”
“Here you go, there, now you can open your eyes again.” Lina put the sunglasses back in position on Jo’s face.
“Again? You really think I’ve gotten that far yet?” Jo tried to laugh, but stopped after the first ‘Ha’. “Man, my head is killing me. Nickolas, take your testosterone and leave. I need to talk to Lina.”
“Ok, but only because you asked so sweetly.” He gave Lina a quick kiss, then was out the door.
“What’s up? Anything happened?”
Jo sighed. “Geez, girl, you’ve got no idea.”
“Tell me!”
“One condition. Pull down the curtains.”
Lina did as she’d asked, then sat down in an armchair opposite to Jo.
“Talk.”
“Well... I’ve been seeing a lot of Ryan lately.”
“Ryan? Oh, bandguy. Yeah, you guys hit it off from the beginning, didn’t you?”
“Not like that, Lina.”
“Oh. Oh... for how long?”
“Yeah. Just one date. A long one, though, practically all of yesterday. And last night we were out for dinner, had some wine, and I felt like going clubbing. So we found a tiny club, had some drinks, kissed and danced, we had a blast. Then I went to the bathroom, he waited for me outside, then when I got out we walked towards the bar, and BHAM! There’s Alex, with his arm around some girl. And they looked really cozy. I just froze, and so did he, but he let go of her first. I didn’t let go of Ryan. And we just stood there until she took his hand and pulled him out of the club.”
“Sounds like quite the night.”
Jo slowly opened her eyes. “Could I have some water? Please?”
“Sure.” Lina reached for the mini bar and got out a bottle of water that she gave to Jo. “Go on.”
“Well, I had to do something, right?”
“Yeah. So you got drunk.”
“Yup. I got drunk alright, and Ryan had to practically carry me home.”
“Smooth, Jo.” Lina laughed. “Tell me, what are your intentions with Ryan?”
“What are you? His mother? Nah, I like him. Really do. He’s fun to be around. He’s not like Alex at all.”
“And that’s why you like him?”
“It was why I went out with him to start with. But there’s a connection, Lina. A strong one.”
“Did you have sex?”
“No, we didn’t. I woke up fully clothed in bed, and he was beside me. He took care of me, gave me water, shut the blinds, got my sunglasses.”
“You think you could have something with him?”
“Yeah. Something real.”
“You’re gonna continue dating him?”
“I think so. If he’ll still go out with me.”
“What about Alex?”
“He’s got that short girl, he can be with her. I'm fucking over him,” she said, but felt her insides burn with jealousy as she uttered the words.
Lina looked at Jo, who seemed exhausted by the massive flow of words, and had hid her head under a pillow.
'Yeah. She’s over him. And I’m the Dalai Lama.'
”Nick, I wanna go home now,” Lina said. She felt tired and she didn’t wanna stay out anymore. They had gone out to dance with all of the others, except Alex and Jo who both had other plans. But Lina were sure that it was all just bad excuses.
“Sure babe.” Nick came up to her and reached her the jacket. “I’ll get a cab for us.” They walked out onto the street and got into a cab.
“I’m so tired,” she said and leaned her head on Nick’s shoulder. “I hope you don’t mind going home?”
“Of course I don’t mind. As long as I’m with you I can be anywhere,” he said and gave her a soft kiss. “I love you baby.”
“I love you too.” She cuddled up against him and just enjoyed having him close. They arrived at the hotel and went in to their room.
“So how tired are you?” Nick said and kissed her. She felt his tongue exploring her mouth and suddenly she didn’t feel tired at all.
“Oh I don’t know, depends on what you have in mind.” she said and smiled at him.
“You know exactly what I’m talking about.” He kissed her again and unzipped her dress. He let it fall down to her feet and for a second he just stood there watching her in her underwear. He saw the bump on her belly and gently caressed it.
She saw the love in his eyes and she felt her heart race. She removed his shirt and pressed herself against him. She loved the feeling of his skin against her. They met in a kiss and he lifted her up to carry her into the bedroom.
“Oh, what are you doing?”
“What does it look like? I’m taking my lady into our bedroom.”
They both laughed as he carried her. He gently put her down on the bed and laid down next to her. She felt something under her back and reached to grab it.
“Nick, what’s this?” she took out a piece of paper.
“I don’t know...” he tried to kiss her again but she pushed him away.
“Wait baby... I wanna see it.”
“Okay, lets see it.” He turned the light on and took the paper. As he read the paper his face got pale.
“What’s wrong?”
“Baby, we need to get out of her, right now. Put your clothes on.” He walked out in the livingroom and put his shirt on again.
“What is it? You’re scaring me Nick.” Lina was right behind him reaching for her dress.
“Wait.” He took out his cell phone and dialled the number to Kevin. He just told him to be ready for him and Lina to be over, and then hung up.
“Come on Lina we need to go.”
“I’m not going anywhere before you tell me what’s going on.”
“Okay, this note is from a fan. Someone has been in our room.”
"What?"
“Yes. But the note isn’t for me. It’s from someone who wants you to die...” he held out the paper and she read it.
"Who the hell do you think you are? Nick’s mine. And I’m gonna get him. Even if it means killing you! That baby you’re carrying should’ve been mine."
Lina felt her heart race in panic. Someone wanted her dead, and that person had been in her room.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Crazy stalker warning! :)
