Page 48 of Forbidden Romeo
My dad’s face tightened, his blinking increasing just the slightest bit.
Ahhhh. He didn’t know.
I can’t help my bitter laugh. “Oh? She didn’t tell you that she’s also fucking our TA? Maybe she didn’t think it mattered since up until a few weeks ago, you were married.”
Was that guilt I saw in my dad’s expression? Based on his reaction, I might have felt bad for him for a moment… if I didn’t know him so damn well. If I didn’t know what a bastard he truly was 99% of the time.
“Your father knows about Keith,” McCay says, rather defensively, I note. “And nothing has happened with Keith since Erik and I met.”
“Nothing’s happened,” I repeat, standing up from my couch. “Including a breakup, right?”
Her eyes narrowed onto me, but I didn’t shrink back. Not this time. Maybe not ever. “I don’t know why Katherine’s so intimidated by you,” I murmured, stepping closer. “You’re nothing but a trust fund kid who couldn’t hack it as an actress… so you had to resort to teaching. Mr. Abrams told us all about your understudy who stole the role out from under you. The girl who looked a lot like Katherine. Is that why you’re so hard on her?”
“Holden,” my dad warned, but I ignored him, taking yet another step closer to her.
“Well it didn’t matter. Because right now, Katherine’s on her way to an audition that will probably change her life.”
At that little tidbit, a smirk twitched at the corner of McCay’s mouth. “She’s going to audition?”
“That’s right,” I confirmed.
“For Abrams?” Something about her arrogance and knowing smile made me uneasy. As she spoke, a coldness seeped into her tone, causing my shoulders to tense up. The air around us seemed to thicken and I could feel a sense of foreboding settling in the pit of my stomach. What did she know?
“Yes.”
“Well,” McCay said unnervingly calmly. “Tell her I say good luck. I suspect she’ll need it.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Why? What aren’t you telling me?”
“Let me guess… did he pay for her plane ticket and hotel room?”
“Yeah…” A wave of unease rolled over me, a knot forming deep in my gut and slowly unfurling like a coiled snake.
“Classic Abrams. Chances are the New World Stages will fall through and he’s going to have to hold the audition in the room he booked for her… since he paid for it, she’ll feel obligated to say yes. And he’ll get cozy on the couch, tell her that he wants to get to know her. And… well, they don’t call it the casting couch for nothing, Holden.”
My eyes shifted to my Dad’s and he seemed legitimately concerned for a moment.
Holding my gaze, he gave me a nod and said just one single word. “Go.”
I didn’t hesitate, but instead, I took off, grabbing my wallet and phone and shoving them into my back pocket. Under normal circumstances, I might have ordered a limo or nice car. Right now, I just needed to get to Katherine and make sure she’s okay.
She had told me the audition was at New World Stages which was only a block away from her hotel. Either way… I could be there for her if she needed me and wait outside of her hotel room. Just in case.
I hailed the first cab I saw and slid into the backseat. “Belvedere Hotel! There’s a fifty for your tip if you can get me there in under ten minutes!”
He succeeded. Hell hath no fury like a cab driver aching for a good tip.
I tossed the money into the front seat and texted Katherine again.
I knew from our earlier chats that she was in room 1821 and I took off running, my sneakers squeaking like a basketball player across the marble floors. I found myself in front of the elevators, pressing the buttons like a madman. It was the slowest ride known to man and in the time it took me to get to the front of her door, I’d imagined a dozen different scenarios… every one of them had me seeing red.
I pounded my fist to the door. “Katherine!” I shouted, pressing my lips so close to the crack of the door, I was nearly kissing the damn thing.
I slammed my fist on the door again, calling Katherine's name. Just as I was about to kick the damn thing in, it flew open. There stood Katherine, looking surprised but unharmed.
"Holden! What are you doing here?" she asked.
Before I could respond, I caught movement behind her out of the corner of my eye. Abrams emerged from the bathroom, shirtless, running a towel through his wet hair. My blood boiled at the sight of him.