Page 13 of Shadowed Agenda
He wasn’t worried about running late. Pavlo no longer trusted their publicist. She didn’t need to know about Nicholas Wyndham’s visit.
Pavlo would text Cade. Keira, Cade’s fiancée, had just opened a small PR firm. According to his partner, Keira’s lawyer was one of her close friends and a shark in the courtroom. Wyndham’s expensive, cut-throat lawyers would be no match for her.
“My entertainment lawyer can handle this.” Regan grabbed her handbag from the coffee table and followed him to the door. “He’s good with contracts, and his partner is a well-known litigator. The man won a prominent case in the news just last week.”
“Humor me,” Pavlo said and stepped into the hallway. Wyndham could outspend Regan, and if the litigator was a threat, he’d buy the guy off. If Keira’s lawyer was anything like Keira, that alone would motivate the woman to destroy Wyndham.
“I’ve got it under control. There’s no need for you to be involved,” Regan said, refusing his help.
Their relationship had gone cold again, but that didn’t mean Pavlo wouldn’t help her.
“We’ve got company,” he warned Regan as she shut the door. He’d been right. Isla hadn’t waited for them in the car. She was charging down the hallway in their direction.
“We’re going to be late,” she barked, turned on her heel, and returned to the elevator.
Pavlo and Regan hurried to catch up.
Isla poked at the elevator’s down button several times.
“Did you find out who initially contacted you about the private book signing with Mrs. Aster?” Pavlo asked as Isla impatiently hit the down button once more.
“When did any of this become your business?” Isla snarled and crossed her arms.
“I’m involved in this book tour. Everything is my business.” Pavlo saw Regan flinch at his harsh tone and placed his hand on the small of her back.
The gesture had been intended to comfort her, shelter her from Isla’s unwarranted anger. It was having the opposite effect on Pavlo as heat shot through him. He pulled his hand away.
“I checked my notes. It was the Senator’s aide,” Isla replied.
Odd. Pavlo would have thought Mrs. Aster’s assistant would have been responsible for handling her calendar.
“It’s the perfect wedding anniversary gift. Mrs. Aster has been a big fan of Regan’s since her first book was published.” The words sounded rehearsed.What was Isla hiding?
The elevator dinged, announcing its arrival at the same time as the text alert on Regan’s cell phone. Pavlo stepped back to let the two women on ahead of him. Regan glanced at the screen and frowned as she entered the crowded elevator. Her eyes narrowed as she stared at the text.
Separated from Regan by Isla, Pavlo couldn’t see the cell’s screen as Regan quickly texted a response.
“I’ll meet you at the car,” Isla said once they’d stepped out of the elevator. “I need to check something at the front desk.” Her heels clicked on the tiled floor as she walked away.
Regan’s cell dinged again, then again. She walked over to a cluster of chairs away from the lobby’s traffic and sat. She swiped and tapped at the screen, her body tense. Her face paled as more text messages flooded her cell phone.
Pavlo snatched the phone out of her hands. One word was written across the screen—accept. He scrolled through several other texts before shutting it off. The text messages repeated the one word. The Senator’s followers were text bombing her.
“You replied to a text message in the elevator,” Pavlo said, slipping her cell into his pants pocket. He’d need to look at it later. He could track down the SMS bombing service but doubted he could find the person who’d paid for it. The Senator’s followers would have been careful to conceal their identity.
Pavlo expected to find text monitoring and location tracking apps on Regan’s cell phone. It would explain how they found her for the attack in Central Park. They had tracked her.
“The first text said,Don’t disappoint us.” Regan drew a deep breath before continuing. “I was mad. I let my anger take over and texted back.” She reddened and looked away. “I sent the middle finger emoji.”
Pavlo suppressed his laughter. He was certain Regan would misinterpret his amusement like she did everything else. Sending the emoji was something he would have done.
“I’ll need to buy a new cell phone,” Regan said and sighed.
Pavlo didn’t have the heart to tell her it wouldn’t make a difference. The Senator’s followers would have a way to find the new number.
Regan irritated the hell out of him, and he knew she wanted nothing to do with him, but he wouldn’t let her deal with this on her own. He’d speak to his partners.
Chapter seven