Free No Magic Moment (Secrets of Stone Book 4) by Angel Payne, Victoria Blue

Pete?”
    “Sure thing,” his partner volleyed. “We never heard that one before, buddy.”
    “Let me guess. You also haven’t been drinking tonight, right?”
    They kept up like that, at Michael’s expense, while dragging him down the back corridor. Thankfully, we were now away from prying eyes—and camera lenses.
    Finally, I ran to get ahead of them, forcing them to stop. “Officers—please. Can’t you just let him go?”
    Michael flashed a glare and growled. “ Margaux .”
    I pushed the invisible mute button for him. Getting into it with him wasn’t going to help the immediate problem. “I promise we’ll go right to the car,” I told the bigger of the two, Pete. “Then we’ll leave the property. I give you my word. I have a driver here waiting for us. Please, enough of this already. We don’t need the bad press.”
    Useless. The pair tightened their grip on Michael and kept power-walking toward an exit door ahead.
    “Please! Stop!”
    I poured on the girly angst, always a sure-fire guy-freezer. Pete didn’t look happy about it, though. “Ma’am, listen. It’s the policy of the hotel. As its security professionals, we have to uphold that policy. He caused a scene and openly threatened another guest. I don’t care if you’re Minnie Mouse and he’s Pluto. It just doesn’t matter. The rules are the rules, and we have to follow them or we lose our jobs. I would love to just send you on your way out that door, but I can’t. I have a wife and a baby on the way. I can’t lose this job, okay?”
    “I get it.” I held out both hands, palms spread. “But for one thing, you don’t need to be throwing him around like he just made a pass at your prom date. For another, who will know if we just slip out the back door? No harm no foul, right?” I went for my big guns: the wide kitty-witty eyes. “I’m sorry we’ve caused you trouble, I really am—but there are so many photographers here tonight, and we could really use some privacy. Would that be too much to ask?” Annnd, the even bigger guns. A flash of my wallet, and a little yank on the cash inside. “I have a couple of friends here named Ben who can help make it worth your while.”
    Pete glanced at his buddy. Their silent communication wasn’t long but told me everything I needed to know.
    “All right,” Pete finally muttered. “I’ll see what I can do.”
    “Thank you.” I rushed out a breath. “I’d really appreciate it. But…where are you taking us now? The parking lot is in that direction.”
    Yes, I was still anxious. We weren’t out of this yet—and I couldn’t help noticing how quiet Michael had gotten, without any help from my mute button. And in this situation, a quiet Michael was a scary Michael. He was either planning or brooding. Neither was something I wanted to deal with at the moment.
    “There’s a back exit down here,” Pete explained, “that opens to the beach. If you take the path around to the right, it will bring you out to a parking lot. You can tell your driver to meet you there.”
    I looked down at my phone and I wasn’t getting reception at all.
    “Dammit. No bars.”
    “True that,” he answered. “You’ll have to go around the building a little farther, about a hundred yards that way.” He pointed in the opposite direction of the parking lot he’d just told me about. What the fuck ?
    I narrowed my eyes. Kitty-witty just became pissy wildcat. “Did I mention that this is all to keep the press away from this mess?” I charged.
    “Yeah, yeah. We heard you, lady.”
    “Good—which means you also know not to jack me around, right? Petey, you don’t want to fuck with me.”
    “Right, right.” Though he groused about it, his face was properly somber while accepting the bills I pushed into his palm. I hoped to God it actually helped the situation.
    We emerged from the building. As Pete had said, the beach was straight ahead to the left, the parking lot to the right. The sharp October air was,