Night After Night Read Online Free PDF Page A

and signed the napkin she pushed in front of her. Friendly and kind and always aware of the fact that her fans were the reason for her success, Jessica posed for snapshots, graciously accepted compliments on her music, and autographed scraps of paper and even a few T-shirts.
    Certain that Jessica would be occupied for a while, Zoe headed into Michael Kors, knowing her friend would meet up with her as soon as she was done. Inside the store, Zoe approached a salesgirl and asked about the dress in the window, and a few minutes later she was in the changing room trying on the outfit in her size. As soon as the dress fell into place, Zoe turned in front of the mirror and smiled at her reflection. She loved the off-the-shoulder neckline, the way the straight skirt hugged her curves, and how the coral hue complemented her skin tone.
    “What do you think?” the hovering salesgirl asked, her voice drifting from just outside Zoe’s closed door.
    “It’s perfect. I’ll take it.” Once Zoe had the dress off, she cracked open the door and gave it to the girl to take up to the register, then slipped back into her blouse and pants.
    As she left the changing room, she glanced back out the front windows. There was still a small crowd around Jessica, and Zoe could only shake her head at the insanity of it all. She made her purchase, and as she was heading back out of the store, a red gathered top caught her eye. Just as she lifted the blouse to take a closer look, someone grabbed her arm in a tight grip and spun her around.
    Startled by the rough treatment, she gasped, her heart lurching in her chest as she came face-to-face with the man she’d seen earlier. Up close, with his angry features, dark, glittering eyes, and short-cropped brown hair, he looked more menacing. A definite threat that had her pulse racing in her veins, especially since they were mostly hidden next to a rack of clothes.
    “Where is your father?” the man demanded, his fingers still biting into her skin.
    She shook her head, confusion and fear mingling inside her as she tried to make sense of his question. “My…my father?”
    “Grant Russo,” the man said in a low, harsh tone. “Where the fuck is he?”
    Wincing at the fury lacing the man’s voice, she tried to pull her arm away, but his hold didn’t budge. The dangerous glint in his gaze warned her not to scream or draw attention to them, and she swallowed hard, deciding she’d be smart to answer him. “He’s out of town.”
    It was all she knew of her father’s whereabouts, that he was in Chicago working on a business deal—information his own secretary had given Zoe when she’d placed a call to her father’s office a few days ago to ask her dad out to dinner. It wasn’t out of the ordinary for her father to be away on a trip, and she figured he’d give her a call when he returned, like he normally did.
    The man gave her an impatient shake. “Where?”
    “I don’t think it’s any of your business,” she said, her own anger rising over this bizarre confrontation with a stranger.
    He moved his face close to hers. “Yeah, well, I’m making it my business.”
    “Who are you?” She figured if she had some kind of name, she could at least press charges against this man for harassment and let her father know the guy was trouble.
    “I’m someone who has a whole lot of money wrapped up in the Meridian project, and now that money has gone missing, along with your father,” the man said bitterly.
    There wasn’t a person living in or around Las Vegas who hadn’t heard of the upscale casino and resort her father’s company was developing. It was a huge, billion-dollar project, and a job as big as that wasn’t without disgruntled workers.
    She tried her best to reason with him. “Look, I’m not involved in my father’s company, or the Meridian project, so I really can’t help you with whatever your problem is.”
    “Sure you can.” He finally released her arm but remained in front of