I pace back and forth across the living room of the Farm, my phone in my hand. I wish I had spent more time paying attention to her work schedule.

No, I wish I would’ve made her not fucking go to work tonight. I should’ve been me, the man I feel like when I’m with her. I should’ve taken charge, protected her, made her realize she’s the most important thing to me in the world.

I should’ve been her man.

Fuck!

“Why is Alison not answering my calls?” I ask Graham.

“How do I know? She’s not my girlfriend.”

I stop in my tracks, ready to fire off some hasty comment when Lincoln clears his throat. Turning to look at him, he’s sitting at the desk in the corner, facing the computer, his brows pulled together. He looks over his shoulder at us.

“Hey, who was here today?” he asks.

“I don’t know. Why?”

“Humor me.”

I blow out a breath, frustrated. “Dad. Nolan was here for a while with Rose, I think. Maybe Camilla?”

He nods his head, his bottom lip between his teeth, and flashes Graham a look before going back to checking sports scores or whatever he was doing.

“I need to talk to you for a second,” Graham says, getting my attention.

“I’m here,” I shrug, getting impatient. “Talk.”

He lifts off the chair and squares his shoulders to mine. “Alison went to work tonight and there was an incident.”

“Define incident,” I growl, a chill tearing through every cell in my body.

“She was attacked.”

“What?” I bellow, my voice drowning out the sound of the door opening. “Is she all right? Why am I just finding this out?”

“She’s fine,” Graham says. “There was a witness, a guy she works with and I’ve been talking with him off and on all night. He’s filing a witness report now in case something happens. He saw it all.” He thinks a second before speaking again. “He volunteered to answer any questions you might have.”

“Alison is okay though, right?” I say, taking a step towards Graham. My heart is beating out of control. I knew something was wrong tonight. I felt it. Motherfucker, I knew it and I should’ve been with her or had her with me. Fuck!

“She’s okay. Really. She ... um ...” Graham winces. “She was attacked by Lacy McKay.”

“What!?” I boom.

“We don’t know what was said,” Graham says. “We just know what Isaac, the guy she works with, saw. And that was Lacy slapping her and then claiming Alison hit her back. But she didn’t.”

“Fuck,” I hiss, grabbing my phone again to see if she’s responded yet. “I need to see her. I need to be with her. Where’s Troy? I need to get to her house.”

“I’m sorry, Barrett. She’s not there,” Graham says simply.

“Where is she?”

“Hey, guys,” Linc interrupts loudly. “You’re gonna want to see this.”

“Not now, Linc,” Graham warns.

“Trust me.”

“Lincoln, no one gives a fuck about golf scores, all right?”

He casts an angry look our way. “Okay, how about this? Does this get your attention?” He bends closer to the computer screen. “I’ll wire you another five thousand this morning. If Barrett pushes back about the pregnancy, we’ll come up with fake ultrasounds. Don’t be bothered by that. We’ve talked to Lacy and she’s on board, ready to see this thing out until the very end.”

“What the fuck is that?” I say, racing to the desk. I’ve broken out in a cold sweat, my stomach churning, as Graham and I look at the screen. Emails upon emails from a web-based account under Nolan’s name. “Oh my God.”

“It gets better,” Linc says. He clicks another message.

“Release the info about Baker. That should shake him up. Maybe it’ll make him withdraw altogether.”

Graham takes the mouse and clicks another message.

“I’m having him tailed. As soon as we can get a decent shot of the girl, I’ll have it sent anonymously to the media. Just play it cool, be supportive. I have a guy that’s going to take some pics of the kid. Maybe that’ll make him rethink this. Talk soon. Hobbs.”

I step back, my hands shaking at my sides. My brothers watch me and I can see the fury in their eyes that I feel in mine.

“That son of a bitch,” I growl.

“Why would he do this?” Graham mutters, shaking his head.

Lincoln stands and faces me. “Because he’s a sneaky bastard. I told you not to trust him.”

“I’m going to kill him.” I grab my phone and send a quick text to Troy to come get me. I need to find Alison, find Nolan, do a million fucking things, and I don’t know where to start.

My head snaps up as I listen to the front door open and my father’s voice trickle down the hall. Graham, Linc, and I all look at each other, anger drifting between us all.

“That’s true, Harris,” I hear Nolan saying. “We just keep pressing forward. It’ll all work out.”

“What will work out?” Graham says as they turn the corner.

Dad looks around the room, obviously reading the mood correctly. It’s not lost on Nolan either. He pales and takes a step back.

“Apparently Nolan talked to Alison tonight,” Lincoln says, taking charge. He comes up next to me and stands shoulder to shoulder with Graham and I. Lincoln’s voice is eerily calm and it sends a chill through me. “Want to tell us about that?”

I want to charge ahead, rip him a new asshole, but I can’t. I’m frozen to the spot, unable to process everything that just happened.

My manager balks at Lincoln’s question. “I just answered your phone and let her know you were unable to speak at the moment.”

“Nah, Nolan, I don’t think that was all that happened,” Linc dismisses him.

“He talked to Alison?” I ask in disbelief. “What did he say?” I drag my gaze from Nolan to my brother, feeling my blood turn to ice. “Tell me, Linc.”

A silence descends on the room.

“Nolan, what did you say to her?” my father asks his long-time friend.

He throws his hands up in the air. “I told her he was busy and that’s what politician’s lives are like.”

Linc pops his knuckles beside me. “Nah, Nolan, I don’t think that’s all you had to say.”

I take a step towards Nolan, but Linc grabs my arm.

“Linc was just online,” Graham says, glancing at our father. “And he found something interesting.”

“Like what?” Dad asks, setting his jaw. “What’s going on in here, boys?”

“You want to tell me why you’ve been emailing Hobbs?” I look Nolan in the eye and his face goes white. “I’d love to hear why you are talking about fake pregnancy tests and leaking pictures to the press. Come on, Nolan,” I chuckle, the sound laced with fury, “I wanna hear it. Tell me. And if you had anything to do with Huxley being followed or her being fucked with by Lacy, I’m going to rip you into pieces so small they’ll never put you back together. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

My dad spins on his heel and his jaw drops. “Nolan? What are they talking about?”

“I ...” He grabs for the doorframe as Graham takes a step towards him. “I ...” He stutters again, his eyes searching us for the weakest link. He lands on my father. “I was trying to make sure that Land Bill doesn’t get passed. You know what that would do to you, Harris. He won’t listen. He—”

“No,” Graham corrects him, his tone as cool as a cucumber. “What I think you were doing was trying to implode Barrett’s campaign. But why? I can’t figure that out.”

Nolan doesn’t answer, just watches Graham move another step closer.

“Did you think we wouldn’t find out? Did you think you’d get away with this?”

Graham’s questions seem to break Nolan’s stress, dissolve the last hanging shred of composure. He faces Graham head-on.

“How do you sit back and watch them build him up,” Nolan asks, nodding at me. “You should be the candidate. You’re the intelligent one, the one that will listen to logic ...”

Graham smiles, but it’s disingenuous. “So you decided to make sure he wouldn’t win? Because you think he doesn’t deserve it?”

Nolan relaxes a bit, tricked by Graham’s easy tone. “No, he made sure he won’t win. He won’t listen. All of a sudden, he decides he wants to grow a damn conscience, and it’s going to cost him the election! Then what?” He swings around to face my father whose eyes are bulging in disbelief. “I’ll tell you what,” Nolan growls, “I’ll be out of a job! Just like a bunch of other people that rely on that kid,” he spits, “to do what’s best for the campaign. So, yeah, I took a few kickbacks to help end this mess of a campaign early. He wanted to lose so fucking bad, I figured I’d help him!”

He turns to face me, hatred in his eyes. “I considered the kickbacks I got from Hobbs my severance package.”

I leap forward, fury bursting through my body when Lincoln jerks my shoulders back. I stumble into my brother’s chest, my arms held behind my back.

“Let me at him!” I shout, my body shaking with anger. “I’m going to fucking kill you!”

“No, you aren’t,” Graham says, glancing at me over his shoulder. “You have an election to win if for no reason but to spite him. But I, on the other hand, the logical one, have no reason to not use logic here and—”

We all gasp as a smashing sound ricochets through the room. Nolan drops against the wall, his eyes bugging out. Our father shakes his hand from the impact to Nolan’s face.

“I warned you a long time ago not to mess with my children,” Dad rumbles, glaring down at his once-trusted advisor. “If there will be anyone going to jail tonight it’ll be me.”

“No,” a voice booms from the doorway. We all whip our heads to the side to see Troy standing there. “If anyone is going to take a fall for that, it’s me.”

He bends down and helps Nolan to his feet. Blood trickles from his mouth and he wipes it with the back of his hand.

“If anyone asks, I’m the one that hit him.” Troy gives us a look and turns back to Nolan. “I’m going to accompany you off the property and it would be best to go willingly and quietly.”

Nolan shuffles immediately towards the door but stops, with his back to us, when I speak.

“This isn’t over. If it would’ve been me, that would’ve been one thing. But you fucked with Alison and Huxley and you will pay for that. I promise you.”

“You better hope we can’t trace the guy taking pics of Huxley to you,” Lincoln warns him. “Because I will personally find you before the police do and will use my exemplary bat skills on your fucking face.”

Nolan flies down the steps and into his car. My father and Graham step outside, making calls to security, publicists, and others to let them know things have changed.

“Where is Ali?” I ask Linc.

He puts his hand on my shoulder. “I don’t know.”

“We have to find her.”