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te. She was trying to slip past the dead end of the backstage corridor at Lincoln Center when an arm shot ou
ewhere, li
th bourbon hit her first. Then his body. He moved closer, crowding her until her
ut steadier than she felt. "I
card. He held it toward the neckline of her costume. Alyssa's hand shot
beneath her jaw. Alyssa didn't think. She lifted her foot and brought the
ed and rel
d, her ankle screaming from the impact. The stage manager's voic
ushed it down. By the time she reached the
launched herself into the opening sequence. Her muscles obeyed. Her fingertips stopped trembli
point in the darkness beyond the footlights to keep her balance. Her
drifted to t
silhouette. A man in a dark suit, legs crossed, holding a
up her calf, but she didn't stop. She couldn't stop. She finished the sequence,
eyes were dark, flat, predatory. He watched her
name attached to more zeros than she could count. Something flickered in her memory, a ghost from
mile until the
orage corridor, her leotard soaked through with sweat, her chest heaving. She nee
ner into the dimly
hair. Alyssa's scream died in her throat as Gregg yanked her backw
ittle
sent her sprawling across the concrete floor. Her palms scraped raw. Her mouth filled with th're special? You think you can humiliate me?" He grabbed her hair again, forcing her
y ounce of hatred she could summon, her jaw locked,
e. Gregg raised his foot, aiming for her injured
er manager's voice, oily and obsequious, accompan
e air. Then he lowered it, slowly,
his jacket, smoothed his hair. "I'l
f the storage ar
herself up, using the flat for support. Her left cheek throbbed in time with h
up was smeared. Her cheek was already swelling, purple blooming beneath the skin. But her spine was straigh
en the dressi
Alyssa walked to her station without meeting anyone's ga
ose enough that Alyssa could smell her perfume. Dina's eyes traveled over the swol
mpathy. "Did you fall? You really should be mor
e and stared into the mirror. Dina's smile faltered, then shar
lub. Private party. Only the top one percent, you know how it is." She laughed
eration barely hidden beneath the bravado. She felt a twist of som
buzzed i
ice. Outstanding balance for Elena Voss. The number had too many digits. Alyssa's finger hove
h to leave through the front door without attracting security. Then she had to figure out how to keep her soloist
in Brooklyn. She pulled a black surgical mask over the lower half of her face and slung her canvas tote
wind cut through her sweater like it wasn't there. Alyssa
ree steps befo
way. The kind of car that cost more than her lifetime ea
w, with the certainty of prey sensing p
r, her injured ankle screaming with every s
Maybach's engine
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