Hidden Darkness (Hidden Saga Book 4) Read Free Page A

helping.”
                  He laughed, his white teeth flashing under the hot studio lights. “You’re going to have to get used to me, you know. We’re about to be spending a lot of time together.”
                  I tried to ignore him and focus on being the watch , but his extreme nearness—and extreme cockiness—was making this the most difficult shoot I’d done since I was a fledgling model just getting my start in L.A. at seventeen years old.
                  If I didn’t need this job so much, I’d just walk out of here right now and get in my car, drive to the beach—or better yet, up the coast to Ventura County to one of those farms where you could wander the dusty crop rows and gather ripe raspberries and heirloom tomatoes and black-eyed peas, where the air smelled like freshly turned dirt and ripening peaches and you heard birds and honeybees and you felt like the city didn’t even exist.
                  “Excuse me.” An imperious female voice interjected, and my stomach sank to my toes. Great. “Excuse me. May I have a word with my daughter please? Ava. Ava dear,” she called.
                  Guillermo wore an incredulous expression as he turned to see the tall red-haired bombshell clicking into the room on her stiletto heels, white designer suit hugging her slim curves, icy blue eyes boring into me.
                  She spoke again, exerting her full regal presence and a hefty dose of Sway. “It will only take a moment—and it will help. I assure you.”
                  The photographer’s expression changed instantly. His tone was deferential. “Of course. No problem. Take all the time you like.” To me, he said, “I can see which end of the gene pool you came from.”
                  Little did he know, my father had been just as tall and physically attractive as my mother. It was an Elven thing. That was why so many of us dominated the television and movie screens—and especially the magazine ads like the one we were shooting today.
                  Mother beckoned me with her manicured fingers. I extricated myself from Culley’s arms, crossing the bright studio to where she stood, my throat growing tighter with each step in her direction.
                  “How’s it going, darling?” she asked aloud. Inside my brain she hissed. What do you think you are doing? I’ve never seen you do such a lackluster job. It’s almost as if you’re trying not to work well with him. Do I have to remind you? We need this, Ava.
                  Well I’m sorry, I said, not sounding very sorry at all. But it’s awkward. If you wanted me to be comfortable, maybe you should have given me a little more warning. Or maybe introduced us before throwing us together like this.
                  For the sake of the humans in the room, I answered her first question. “Oh, it’s great. We’re just getting warmed up.”
                  “Lovely. I’ll just stay and watch if you don’t mind.” She gave me a saccharine smile, which I returned with equal insincerity. Working with her helicoptering over me was like trying to win a swim meet with a backpack full of bricks. At gunpoint.
                  “Great,” I said.
                  He’s just arrived in the States. You should make him feel welcome—not antagonize him, she continued. And be charming. You’re perfect for each other, you’ll see. And you don’t want to displease Audun. You have a job to do.
                  Well then let me do my job.
                  I spun away from her toward the refuge of the set and slammed directly into the intern who’d been sent out for sandwiches. Brown take-out boxes flew in every direction. The drink tray she’d been balancing crashed to the floor, sending a flood of tea and soda and ice cubes over her shoes