Sure enough, a woman with a “staff” pass was hanging out near one of the Dumpsters, talking to another girl. Both of them had cigarettes in their hands, and both of them stiffened at the sight of him. Encouraged, he rushed forward.
The women stubbed out their cigarettes and started to rush for a nearby door.
“Wait,” Cade called as they hurried away. He raced after them and barely managed to get to the door before they could slip inside. Pushing his weight against it, he said one single word: “Kylie?”
They exchanged a look.
“She’s not supposed to see anyone,” the younger one said. “The label’s clamping down hard on her.”
“I just flew here from Sweden,” he told them desperately. “And if I don’t get to see my wife and find out what’s going on, I’m going to lose my mind. Please. I will pay you. Handsomely. I will buy you cars. Private islands. Whatever you want. Just let me in this door, all right?”
They exchanged another look.
“No, Snoopy,” the older one said. “You know this is some shit we don’t want to get involved in.”
“Snoopy,” Cade said, seizing the opportunity. He pressed his back harder against the door, just in case they tried to move him. “You know my Kylie, right?”
She looked uneasy, crossing her arms.
“You’d tell me if she was hurt or unhappy, right? Because she’s not answering my texts at all, and I’m worried about her. I just want to know she’s okay.”
The older woman stared at him, stone-faced, but he could see the younger one hesitating. After a moment, Snoopy said, “She can’t text you because her phone broke.”
The older one threw up her hands in the air.
“Her phone broke?” he asked, surprised it was as simple as that. If that was all it was, why all the subterfuge? Why the annulment papers?
“Daphne stomped on it,” Snoopy blurted. “After she pegged Kylie with the flowerpot.”
His entire body tensed. “What?”
“Jesus. Here we fucking go,” muttered the older one. “Good luck getting rid of him now, Snoopy.” She scowled at the younger woman and shook her head. “I’m heading around the front. Fuck all this. You want to do this? It’s on you.”
Snoopy looked uncertainly at the other woman as she walked away, but remained where she was. When the other woman left, she glanced at Cade. “My name’s Carmela, not Snoopy. And shit’s been bad for the last few days.”
“What’s going on? What happened to Kylie?” Fear and anger warred for dominance. “Why did she hit Kylie with a flowerpot?”
“Daphne’s been uncontrollable,” Snoopy—no, Carmela—admitted. “She has a doctor that gave me ‘headache medicine’ for her.” She used air quotes and rolled her eyes. “Except I can guess that it’s not really for headaches. Here’s the thing, though. Up until last week, she was living on that shit. Now, though? She doesn’t ask for them at all. Which tells me that she’s got a new supply of something fun and it’s making her nuts.” She shook her head. “The other day . . . she . . . well, I think she grabbed Kylie’s phone. Poked through it. Threw some shit at her. Kylie’s fine, though. It was just two stitches—”
“What?” he blurted. Stitches?
“—and they said the concussion wasn’t bad—”
“What?” A concussion? Was everyone out of their minds? His horror at the thought of Daphne seeing their private pictures and texts paled at the thought of Daphne attacking Kylie. He suspected she’d be jealous if she found out about them, but he never imagined that she would hurt Kylie.
Helpless outrage blasted through him. While his wife, his woman, was being attacked, he was overseas at a conference. He felt like a self-important asshole. He’d let her get hurt because of him.
Was this why she was trying to annul their marriage?
He pointed at the door, nearly shaking with rage. “If you don’t let me in here, God help me—”
Carmela shook her head. “No, I’m letting you in. The label might lose their temper with me but I don’t have anything to risk. I just hate seeing what they’re doing. And you’re not the only one tired of Daphne’s bullshit.”
With that, she ran her pass through the cardswiper on the back of the door and gestured for Cade to enter.
Cade surged his way into the building, slamming down the hall. The need to see Kylie—to know if she was all right, or if she was hurt worse than he’d been told—roared through him with an intensity that was shocking. For once, Cade was in danger of losing his cool. For once, he was about to lose his mind with rage. For once, he couldn’t be the calm, easygoing guy.
His wife was threatened, and that meant all bets were off the table.
Then, he turned a corner and the room opened up. There was Kylie, her back to him as she faced a makeup mirror. Daphne was nowhere to be seen, and the room was deathly quiet, all lightness and sense of fun that normally pervaded the staff area completely gone.
“Kylie,” he said, approaching her.
She turned, and he saw the enormous bruise on her forehead, the butterfly bandage covering the stitches. She was pale despite her makeup, and her expression was one of hesitancy. And the sight of her broke his heart. His loving, sweet, open Kylie looking as if she was frightened? Her spirit trampled? It filled him with even more anger.
Kylie hesitated at the sight of him, and that hurt even more. As if she shouldn’t approach him. As if he was off-limits to her.