Page 28 of Rush

“Look this way! Smile for us, Elena!”

Flashbulbs explode, blinding me.

People shout my name in all directions, holding up my album and posters for me to sign. Somewhere beyond them paparazzibark questions like they’re entitled to the pieces of me I haven’t even figured out yet.

Fuck.

How did they find me?

My pulse pounds in my ears.

I can’t breathe.

Hands reach out for me, cameras are shoved in my face. My vision blurs at the edges as I stumble backward, heart racing.

It feels like an eternity passes before I feel a pair of hands pulling me back into the safety of the lobby, I glance at the man—building security.

“Ma’am are you okay?”

I can barely speak, grasping my phone with trembling fingers, nearly dropping it, my thumb shakes over the names trying to figure out who to call.

Riley—somewhere in Brooklyn, working.

Philippa, Andrew—both would be at the Montgomery Towers. Both within arm’s reach of my father. And I don’t want him finding out what’s going on. Not yet. Not like this.

My finger hovers over the only other person I know in the city.

Then—I tap his name.

Would he pick up?

It rings twice.

“Elena?” His voice—calm, deep, familiar—cuts through the noise like a lifeline.

My throat closes. “Broderick, I…I need.” But I can’t get the words out.

“Where are you—what’s going on?”

“Pacific,” I whisper, choking on a sob I don’t want anyone to hear. “There’s so many people, I can’t leave.”

“I’m coming.Stay where you are. Do you hear me? Stay there—I’m on my way.”

His certainty grounds me, but my hand still shakes as I clutch my phone.

“Okay.”

“I’ve got you. Just hold on.” He ends the call.

I pace in a hidden hallway, away from the glass, peering into the lobby and wait for Broderick.

He won’t be far, Goodman Enterprises is only a few blocks away from Pacific.

I can still hear them—shouting my name, arguing with security.

The screen lights up again.

Broderick.