“I’ll deal with you later.”

Liam stands in the kitchen, confused. I shoot him a nasty look and then run to catch Cata as she flies up the stairs.

“Wait.” My hand is on her arm.

“Wait? No.” She jerks away and practically runs into the office. Once we're both inside, the door closed, she shoots me a violent glare. “Tell me exactly what’s going on. Now.”

“About what?” From the look on Liam’s face, I suspect that he’s said something he shouldn’t have. About the photos. But I need a little time to think. Ever since I’d gotten another photo emailed the day before, I’d been going nuts trying to figure out what to do.

“About Miami. About the photos. About how you received a new picture yesterday. How you disabled my email.”

I pace the room, and she crosses her arms in front of her chest. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone look so angry. I rub at my hair, wondering what to say.

“I’m waiting,” she says.

Sinking onto the sofa, I lick my lips. “I only wanted to protect you.”

“I don’t care what you want. I want to know what the fuck happened.” Her voice is now shrill.

“Okay. Okay. Calm down.” I know that’s the wrong thing to say when I watch her face get red. My words come tumbling out, forming the longest run on sentence of all time.

“While we were in Miami I got an anonymous email with one of your photos, and I had the guys disable your account, and I wanted to try to find out who did it and sort everything out before you had any idea what was going on.”

I exhale. There. God, I hate confrontation.

Cata sits next to me. “At what point in the weekend did you get the email?”

“Saturday. The morning after we, you know.”

“Saturday.” Her voice is icy. “So that’s why you locked my phone and my laptop and my tablet up in the hotel room safe? So I wouldn’t have access to my email?”

I nod and look down at my bare feet.

“Do you think I can't take care of myself?”

Raising my head, my voice protests but my mind knows she’s right. “I know you can, but—”

“But you wanted to keep fucking me that weekend, and you thought I was some damsel in distress to be saved. And, you didn’t want my past to screw up your deal, did you?”

“That’s not why I didn’t tell you. The deal has nothing to do with this.” My voice is sharp. “I don’t care about the deal. I care that you’re safe.”

“Whatever. Thanks, Diego. Now you’ve gone and told everyone in the house about the photos, and you haven’t given me some important information about something that involves me. So, thank you. For treating me like a child.”

“I didn’t do it so I could keep fucking you. I’m offended you’d even say that.”

“Well? Then why didn’t you say anything when we were in Miami?”

I pause, and we lock eyes. “Because you seemed so happy. I didn’t want to ruin that.”

She rubs her lips together and starts to rise from the sofa. I grab her wrist in my hand and pull her toward me. Maybe I pull a little harder than anticipated because she yelps and falls into my lap.

“Sorry,” I whisper. “I’m not trying to hurt you. I want you close.”

I put my arms around her, and she stiffens.

“And yeah, I did get a photo emailed yesterday. It came when you were in Fort Myers at the computer store. I didn’t want to tell you about it. It was the same photo you got in your snail mail.” I sigh. “Please know that I wanted to shield you from all this crap. I couldn’t protect you six years ago. I didn’t know how. Now, I’m pissed about what’s happening. I want to get to the bottom of it. I’m working with the guys on trying to figure out how we can find the asshole.”

Her body eases into mine, and she presses her face into my neck. She kisses me, then raises her head.

“I’m so angry at you,” she whispers. “I’m angry at everything.”

I feel like slamming my fist into a wall, I'm so mad at whoever is doing this to Cata. “I know. I’m sorry. But none of this is your fault, Cata. And I’m on your side.”