All She Ever Wanted - Barbara Freethy [36]
"I took it—a long time ago."
"I don't remember you filming us."
"You weren't there that day."
That's why she hadn't been in the clip, just the other three girls. Which meant Emily had not been talking to her; she'd been talking to Dylan, telling him to stop taking her picture. That made sense. What didn't make sense was why Dylan would still have that film clip or be using it in some virtual-reality game. "You use Emily's picture, her voice, her words in your games? How can you do that? You were her friend. Are you completely sick?"
His dark eyes flared with anger. "I don't use that clip in the games. I just have it on my computer along with every other piece of film I've ever shot. I thought you might enjoy seeing your old friends, take a trip to the past."
She didn't believe him for a second. "You didn't think that at all. You wanted to shock me. Why?"
"Because you came here acting like the spoiled brat you always were. You left, Madison. Before the funeral. And now you come back like nothing ever happened. Like we're just two people who knew each other once. I think you're the one who's sick."
So he resented her leaving before Emily's funeral. At least she had one of the answers she had come for. If Dylan felt this way, Cole probably did, too, as well as his parents. She wanted to turn and run out the door and forget this stupid idea, but something inside her decided to fight back. "That was my parents' decision, not mine. They came and got me and took me straight to the airport. I was nineteen years old. I had no money of my own. What was I supposed to do? I didn't have a choice, Dylan. You can believe it or not. I don't really give a damn."
"And you didn't come here today to talk about Emily? About the book that's been written about her?"
"You know about that?" She shot him a questioning look, although she wasn't completely surprised. Despite his bad-boy aura, the motorcycle, and the dark magic, Dylan had always been into books. Reading was something he and Emily had in common. They were always passing books back and forth to each other. Madison had never paid much attention. She'd been more interested in fashion and entertainment magazines.
"Of course I know about the book." Dylan crossed his arms, leaning back against a console. "Do you know who wrote it?"
"That's a good question," a woman said from behind her.
Madison's breath stalled in her chest at the sound of that familiar voice. Natalie! Was her mind playing tricks on her again, or was Natalie really here? Madison wished now that she had left when she had the chance. She'd imagined seeing Natalie a million times in her mind but not like this, never like this.
Chapter 6
Natalie held her breath, waiting for Madison's answer. The last person she'd expected to find in Dylan's club was Madison. Her mind raced with a million questions. Were Dylan and Madison together now? Was Madison the one who had given Garrett Malone the personal information used in the book?
Madison slowly turned around. She was stunning, Natalie thought. Madison's beautiful face was picture perfect, her blue eyes framed by long, dark lashes and sculpted eyebrows. Her cheeks were tinged with pink, her lips a daring cherry red.
"Well, isn't this a surprise?" Madison drawled.
"You can say that again," Cole muttered. "What the hell is going on here, Dylan? You and Madison?"
Dylan threw up his hands. "Hey, she showed up fifteen minutes ago out of the blue. And I'd like to ask you the same question. You and Natalie?"
"I was wondering about that, too," Madison said.
"We're together because of the book, as apparently the two of you are," Natalie replied, not wanting to get into any long explanations. "Do either of you know who the author is or how he got the information about us?"
"I'm surprised you'd even ask me that," Madison said. "Do you seriously think that if I had created this story, I would have made you the villain, Natalie?