Chapter 18

Julian’s eyes followed her every move. He had made immense progress with Sia, and he was glad that the woman who had thrown herself at him a few moments ago hadn’t hampered that.
The past three weeks, he had worked extra hard to make her notice him. He had stayed so close until he was already breathing down her neck. He had to remind himself that he had to give her some space as well. He’d found that he couldn’t help it. Sia was slowly becoming his little brand of addiction, and he didn’t want to stay away from her. He couldn’t even if he tried.
He’d also learned a great deal about Sia from Leo. He had told him stories of how Sia had coped with taking care of him and studying in college at the same time. He had also told him about some of Sia’s likes and dislikes. Julian had already noticed some of them on his own. Like how she would rather chew on a pin than her nails when she was stressed, or how she liked to pull her hair up on top of her head when she was working. There were several tiny details he’d noticed about her and, contrary to how he usually lost interest after knowing a woman for a certain while, Julian felt like he could study Sia forever and still not get bored.
He wanted to discover more of them slowly, those tiny habits she had, and savor them. Sia was like a gift that he wanted to unravel bit by slow bit. Too fast would scare her away, because his Sia bore scars so deep. He didn’t even havethe slightest idea about how to reach them, or if he ever will.
His Sia.
He tasted the word over and over in his head. Instead of panic, he felt possessive. That was a first because Julian Turner never felt possessive. The reason women often called him Lucifer was because of his nature to easily disconnect himself completely from them when he was working. He never had any attachments. Yes, he was a passionate lover, but that was all he’d been able to give ‘till now—his body. With Sia, he was demanded of his mind, his soul, and his heart.
But strangely, the idea had never felt more right.
After about twenty minutes of mingling with the models, doing last minute adjustments to their clothes and makeup, Sia returned to Julian’s side, her spine stiff and her face set in hard lines.
“Is everything all right?” he asked, noticing just how nervous she looked and how she kept on wiping her palms on her dress.
“Yes.” She gave a slight nod, her shoulders square in anxiety. “They will begin soon. The anchor just went on stage.”
“Everything will be fine.” He placed his hand on the small of her back and brought her closer while the green room began to empty out. “Don’t worry. I’ll be right up front where I can keep an eye on you at all times.”
“And now ladies and gentlemen . . .” the anchor’s voice boomed across the venue.
“It’s started.” Sia took in a shuddering breath. Julian moved his hand to her nape and pulled her in for a scorching kiss.
When he released her, Sia’s lips were deliciously swollen from his kiss, and her eyes were dazed. He decided that he liked that look on her, and he would have savored the moment further had they had enough time on their hands.
“Did that help?” Julian asked, a slight smile on his lips, as Sia finally snapped out of her daze and looked up at Julian with her wide innocent eyes.
“Yes,” Sia said a little breathlessly as his smile grew. “And your lips got stained again.”
“Who’s first?”
“Nina Pavlov. That model from earlier is going to walk the ramp for her,” Sia said with a frown, remembering how the model had flung herself at Julian.
Julian let out a husky laugh and planted a kiss on her cheek, causing her to blush a deep red. “And I have no idea who either of them is. I do know Sia Milton, and I know that she’s going to slay this show.”
“Julian, I . . .” Sia opened her mouth to say something more, but then shook her head and smiled at him, “thank you.”
Sia and Julian both waited backstage while the models walked the runway, some wearing beautifully designed clothes while others wore literally piles of trash. Sia was still nervous, but the kiss had worked. She was no longer on the verge of a panic attack, and the feeling of Julian’s body pressed against hers helped her relax in ways that no one had ever made her feel before. He had his hand around her waist, giving her constant support while she leaned on his chest. But they had to be discreet in case a reporter sneaked backstage. Sia didn’t want a scandal on her very first public appearance.
They stood like that for almost half an hour until all of the models had walked the ramp, and it was Sia’s turn to walk along with her showstopper model, Sienna Wickham. Julian let her go reluctantly but kept his eye out for any disturbance in the crowd.
As Sia waited to walk the stage, he finally got a call from Abhay who wanted to talk urgently. He gave him the coordinates of his location and watched as Sia began her walk down the runway, escorted by Sienna, a small smile on her face as the audience burst into applause.
One by one, the rest of the models joined her on stage. Sia bowed to the audience, thanking them for being here and posing for a few photographs. Julian’s eyes went to the crowd, scanning all the rows before locking eyes with some of his men. All of them shook their heads; they hadn’t seen anything out of the ordinary and they hadn’t spotted Arthur either. His phone vibrated in his pocket then. After picking it up, he told Abhay to come into the main auditorium. But Abhay wanted to speak to him somewhere quiet so he called him to the back of the auditorium, near the exit. It had a clear view of the stage, so he could keep watch on Sia and talk with Abhay all at once. And besides, Sia was to go change in her private van. He could easily move out the door and have a clear view of the dressing van.
He motioned for a security personnel to keep a tight watch on Sia, since she was still on the podium, and walked out to toward the exit. Unknown to all of them, danger was already lurking nearby in the shadows.