Starstruck - Book Three
Page 7
I clutched onto his arm, my fingernails digging into his flesh.
“Brynn, there’s a Glock 42 in the top left drawer in the kitchen by the stove,” he said. “Bring it to me.”
My heart raced. I’d never touched a gun in my life, and I didn’t even know he had one in the house. How come I’d never come across it before?
I let go of his arm, albeit unwillingly, and trekked inside to grab the Glock.
“Here,” I said as I handed it to him mere seconds later. I hated touching that thing. The cool metal of the handle gave me chills.
“Who’s back there?” he yelled again. “You have two seconds to show yourself or I’m shooting.”
I covered my face with my hands as the pit of my stomach churned. This was either going to be nothing or it was going to be something very bad, like something out of a horror movie.
“You don’t have to shoot,” a woman’s voice giggled. “It’s just me, silly.”
Out from the grotto emerged none other than Miss Ava Fox, string bikini barely covering her lady bits. Her body was incredible but her smile was evil. She emerged from the grotto as if she owned the place and had every right to be there.
“What are you doing here, Ava?” Hudson demanded to know. “How’d you get in here?”
“You gave me the code, remember?” she said. She was talking to him, but her eyes were on me, menacing me with every move.
“I did no such thing and you know it,” he said. He rested his gun down on the table. “How’d you get in here?”
“Don’t you remember that weekend during the reshoots?” she cooed. I came up to your hotel room, we drank a little. You couldn’t keep your hands off of me for two seconds. You told me you missed me.”
I wanted to throw up. I wanted to run away. But for some reason, I was paralyzed. My feet were cemented to the patio floor.
“You made love to me twice that night,” she continued. “Two amazing times. It was incredible.”
She studied my face, and I knew right then and there that she was trying to get a reaction out of me. I refused to let her see me crack.
“Get out of here, Ava,” I said. “You don’t belong here.”
Hudson seemed simultaneously shocked and pleased that I was standing up to her.
“Hudson,” Ava pouted. “Tell Miss Iowa USA here the truth about us. Tell her before you take this too far with her and break her poor little heart.”
Hudson shook his head. “Stop it, Ava.”
“She deserves to know about you,” she said. “And all your…ways.”
“Ava,” Hudson seethed.
“You don’t date someone for two years and not learn a thing or two about their deepest, darkest secrets,” Ava cooed. She began to walk out of the pool and towards us, like some siren emerging from the ocean.
“What is she talking about?” I asked him.
“Nothing,” he said. “She’s trying to scare you away from me, that’s all.”
Ava tossed her head back and laughed maniacally.
“Yeah, keep telling yourself that,” Ava said. “Hudson Smith has no secrets at all. Brynn, are you sure you know what you’re getting yourself into with this one?”
“Why are you still here?” I replied, ignoring her question. “You’re not wanted or welcome. Get out before we call the police.”
“How do you like that ring he got you?” she asked. Her eyes glowed with malicious intent as she stared at my hand. “I bet he told you it really meant something, huh? How adorable. You two make me sick.”
I clasped my ring and hid it from her sight, staring at Hudson and pleading silently for an explanation. How did she know about the ring he gave me?
“One last time,” Hudson seethed. “Get out, Ava.”
“I’m going to call the police if you don’t leave,” I added.
She slinked on past Hudson, drawing her hand across his arm slowly in the process.
“Hudson wouldn’t dare allow you to call the police,” she said as she locked her icy, blue eyes with mine. “He doesn’t need the negative publicity right now.”
He closed his eyes and cringed as she let herself inside, leaving a trail of wet footprints behind her. We followed her and made sure she showed herself out.
“What the fuck?” I said to Hudson the moment we made sure she was gone.
“She must have climbed the gate,” he said. “I don’t know how else she would’ve gotten in here.”
“She is insane,” I said as I noticed my entire body shaking. “Crazy. Psychotic.”
Hudson nodded, his expression worrisome, and I couldn’t help but wonder if Ava was holding something over his head.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Gemma Brooks is a sucker for a good love story that's peppered with plenty of drama. Writing since she was old enough to pick up a pen and graduating from college with a degree in English, Gemma's hunger for crafting stories has always been nothing short of insatiable.
When she's not hiding behind her laptop feverishly typing up scene after scene like a mad woman, you can find her drinking tea lattes from a local coffee shop, shopping for new perfume or luxe candles, working on her tan, or searching for the perfect shade of red lipstick (which she still has yet to find).
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In the mood for something a little lighter? A little sweeter? Gemma also writes new adult contemporary romance novels under the pen name Jessa Jeffries! Check out her catalog here!