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he understood her strength.
    Her face softened when she looked at Jonas again. “The next hour will be chaos here. After that, we’ll have to move out quickly, but there are other people to do the clean up.”
    “Can I see Nicky now?” Jonas asked her.
    She shook her head. “Believe me, you don’t want to be anywhere near him now. He’ll snap your head off for no reason.” She looked a little ashamed of admitting it. “Afterward, he’ll be tired and needy. He’ll really need you then. Look, if you’d like to watch the show, I can get you a seat at the side. If not—”
    “I’ll stay in here,” he interrupted her. “Out of sight. Until the dust settles.”
    “Well, if you change your mind, right through there,” she pointed at a curtain, “you can sneak out into the show hall. Now I’m sorry, but I have some fires to put out.” Jonas nodded and watched her walk away. He sauntered between the chairs and make-up tables, picked up a flute of champagne along the way, and moved in the general direction of where he’d heard Nicky’s voice earlier. It didn’t take Jonas long to spot him.

    Façade
    35
    Tensions were rising as the stage manager announced that the show was about to begin and that everyone should quiet down.
    Nicky was moving between the models as they lined up, adjusting how the shirts and gowns were draped on them. His touches were professional, yet intimate. He bared their shoulders, glued garments to their breasts, told them to show more skin or less, and patted them on their non-existent asses as he sent them on stage.
    He wasn’t too shy to lift skirts or peer down trousers to see why they didn’t flow as he’d intended, and the models let him, their facial expressions vacant as they prepared to step out on the catwalk.
    At the end of the show, as all the models lined up to go back on stage one last time, Jonas walked through the curtain and found a place to stand near the back. He saw them all march onto the stage, spreading out across the space. As the applause broke out, Nicky stepped through them and walked out front. He had shed the white shirt he’d been wearing and was now just clad in tight leather trousers, his bare chest only covered by thin braces and several trinkets dangling from leather strips. His hair was long and messy and, with minimal make-up, he looked entirely sexy. Jonas saw him look out at the crowd, nodding to some of the people in the front rows and applauding his models as he accepted the standing ovation.
    As he turned around, he put his arms around two of the girls and wiggled his ass at the crowd.
    Returning to the backstage area was another thing, though, and it took Jonas a good fifteen minutes to make his way through all the people leaving the hall. It gave him a chance to hear them talking about what they’d seen, and he was secretly proud to hear words like
    “highly original,” “quite imaginative,” “innovative,” and other gushing terms.
    Once back behind the curtain, Jonas walked into the still-chaotic room, but this time the atmosphere was one of elation, not nervous tension. He didn’t see Nicky anywhere but barely had the time to find himself another glass of champagne when Tanna took it from him.
    “Come with me. I promise you’ll get another glass in a minute.”

    36
    Zahra
    Owens
    She guided him out of the room and down the corridor, where she opened a door to the outside and a waiting limo. “Have fun. I’ll see you boys tomorrow!”
    It was no surprise that Nicky was inside. He looked tired but calm, laid back in the corner of the seat.
    “Mmm, you’re a sight for sore eyes,” he moaned, holding out his arms. As Jonas settled next to him, Nicky’s hands felt up his back and over his chest. “You can’t believe how sick I am of boobs.”
    Jonas laughed.
    “What? You know I like a nice hard body.” Nicky almost pouted.
    “Yes, I do,” Jonas answered coyly. “It’s just funny, because those models don’t have boobs