I was losing her. I could feel it in my goddamn bones.

Not long after the initial fallout, Maury had called to say reporters were swarming the building. I didn’t feel comfortable with Tate being somewhere so exposed in unsecure so, after a huge fight, I convinced her to come with me to my house in Medina. The community was gated, and my place had a killer alarm system.

She’d texted her folks the address, telling them to head there instead of her apartment, and we’d packed enough of her stuff to last for several days. I didn’t bother with a bag since most of my stuff was still at that house. The apartment remained barren since my end game was getting her back, moving her into my house, and unloading both apartments once everything was said and done.

My girl was tough. She’d held up relatively well, all things considered. At least that had been the case until we tried making a mad dash to Ian’s waiting SUV. Then we’d been swarmed. And the reporters and paparazzi hadn’t even been the worst of it.

It was the fans who were out of fucking control.

And not just Civil Corruption fans but Camden Knight fans as well. They’d flocked in droves. They screamed at her, called her names. One bitch even went as far as spitting on her.

“Christ, Ian! Get them the fuck back!” I shouted, doing my best to hold onto Tate as Ian and his guys tried to fight off the crowd.

“You stupid slut! You don’t deserve either of them!”

“You’re an ugly bitch, and I hope they both kick your fat ass to the curb!”

It was coming at us from all directions. I’d almost breathed a sigh of relief when I noticed the SUV was in sight. We were almost there. But then some cunt reached out and grabbed a huge chunk of Tate’s hair, pulling so hard her neck bent at an awkward angle, causing her to cry out in pain.

“Get the fuck off!” I yelled, getting in the woman’s face. Luckily Ian got there before I was forced to do something extreme, like put my hands on a woman in anger.

“Back! Now! Get the fuck back or I’ll have you arrested!” Ian pushed and shoved until there was an opening for us to dive into the car.

The door slammed, drowning out the screaming psychos, but the damage had already been done. Tate was in tears, curled into a ball on the bench seat.

“Shit, baby. I’m so goddamn sorry. Are you hurt? How bad is it?”

Her hair was a tangled, knotted mess from being pulled and grabbed, her cheeks and nose red and blotchy from sobbing as she huddled in the corner. “That was…. I’ve never—” She began to hiccup, her words broken as she cried uncontrollably.

Fear and adrenaline spiked in my veins. “Tate, please, baby. Talk to me. Where are you hurt?”

“I’m n-not hurt!” she wailed. “I’m fucking terrified!”

I’d never felt more helpless in all my life. What just happened with that mob was unacceptable, and I was going to make the asshole who leaked that bullshit story pay if it was the last thing I did.

Ian finally made it to the driver side and climbed behind the wheel with the rest of his team in the car behind us.

“My place in Medina, Ian.”

“Yes, sir,” he said with a snarl, and I knew he was just as pissed as I was.

“And Ian.” I caught his eyes in the rearview mirror as I issued my demand. “You find the motherfucker responsible for all this, you got me? Find him, and when you do, I’m the first goddamn phone call you make.”

“You got it,” he replied. “You’ll be the first call… after I’ve had my turn with the son of a bitch.”

* * *

“Wow, this is some place,” Tate whispered as we crossed the threshold into my house. The place really was something else. At the time, I hadn’t been sure why I bought such a huge house; it was about twenty times too big for just me, and back in the day I’d throw wild parties just to have people around. It was pretty damn pathetic when I thought back on it.

But the truth was I bought the house with her in mind. It hadn’t been about the size or opulence of the place, although I knew the style of the house was something Tatum had always wanted. No, I didn’t get it to flaunt money or the famous lifestyle. I got it because I imagined filling the huge place with our kids. The yard was plenty big enough for a pool and swing sets, and there were massive trees all over the property that I’d pictured building a tree house in with mine and Tate’s son one day.

The neighborhood was safe, and I’d even scoped out the school district prior to buying, learning it was one of the highest rated in the area.

The house had always been for her and the family I wanted us to create together.

“It might seem a little imposing, but I swear it’s comfortable. Unlike Garrett’s place. Before Gwen moved in, it looked like a goddamn show house.”

She didn’t laugh or comment, just hesitantly moved through the space, checking everything out.

“You’re safe here, baby. I promise,” I told her when her silence became too much to bear. “Nothing will touch you here.”

She stopped and turned to regard me, clutching her overnight bag in front of her in a death grip. “But that doesn’t take care of the problem out there.” She tipped her head in the direction of the door. “I can’t stay cooped up in your house forever, Deck. And the second I step through the gates out front, it’ll happen all over again. As far as all those people are concerned, I’m the bad guy. Hiding out here isn’t going to change that.”

I didn’t have the first fucking clue what to say to make her feel better because, whether I liked it or not, this was my fault. If I hadn’t forced my way back into her life, she never would’ve been attacked earlier. She never would’ve had her name smeared for everyone in the country to read or hear.

“I’m sorry,” I finally managed to croak past the intense emotions lodged in my throat. “I’m so fucking sorry, Tate. But I swear to you I’ll make it right.”

The smile she gave me was more pitying than anything else, and the fact that she didn’t believe me hurt like a rusty blade carving through my skin.

“Can you point me in the direction of the bathroom? I need a shower. I’ve got spit and God only knows what else all over me. Please tell me you’ve got a heavy-duty loofah or something.”

Taking her bag and grabbing her hand, I guided her up the stairs to my room, tossing the bag onto the bed before leading her into the spa-like en-suite. It had a huge steam shower with six showerheads, and a deep Jacuzzi tub. Instead of starting the shower, I twisted the taps on the bathtub, making the water nice and warm. Then I scoured the cabinets beneath the double sinks until I unearthed a bottle of bubble bath I had for whenever Liddy was over. She liked to put on her bathing suit and go swimming in my tub when she came to stay with Uncle Deck.

“You have bubble bath,” she mumbled quietly. “With a cartoon princess on the bottle.”

“Liddy,” I answered with a small, reticent grin. “I’m her favorite, so whenever she needs a babysitter I’m the first choice.”

Tate stood motionless as I poured the glittery pink soap into the tub. Once the bubbles started to form, resting along the surface of the water, I turned to her and gently helped her undress, cursing my dick for getting hard at the sight of her naked body when what she needed most was comfort above everything else, not me going all caveman and pawing at her.

“You relax,” I told her, adjusting the dial for the lighting until it was nothing more than a soothing, faint glow. “I’ll be downstairs making some phone calls. Stay in here as long as you want.”

“Thanks,” she muttered, watching the level in the bathtub rise.

Placing my fingers beneath her chin, I tilted her face until it angled up, then pressed a firm kiss to her lips. She didn’t respond at all, and my heart plummeted. “Holler if you need anything,” I whispered, then left, praying the fear of losing her that was currently twisting my gut into knots was just an overreaction.

* * *

“I can’t believe this is happening right now,” Eugene balked through the line. You guys are supposed to be on the plane to Asia in two goddamn days! This scandal couldn’t have come at a worse time.”

“I don’t give a single shit how fuckin’ inconvenient the timing is, Eugene,” I growled, quickly beginning to lose my cool. “Stop harping on the fucking Asia shows and fix this!” I hung up and launched the cell in the direction of the couch, not caring at all whether I missed or not.

The only thing I gave a damn about was currently in my bedroom, but might as well have been a million miles away for all it mattered.

Tate had been upstairs for the past five hours. The only reason I wasn’t scared she’d drowned in the tub was because I heard her moving around a while back, and when I’d gone to check, she’d been curled up in my bed, wearing nothing but one of my T-shirts and passed out to the world. I’d left her in there, knowing the nap would do her good, and gone back to working on fixing this fucking mess. The rest of the guys got word on the clusterfuck swirling around Tate and me and had rushed over about three hours ago. Gwen—with Liddy in her arms—Gina, and Corrie were with them. They had gone upstairs to offer my girl moral support and hadn’t come back down since.

Meanwhile, I’d been fielding phone calls on my phone, barking “no comment” at every asshole trying to probe into my personal life, plus monitoring Tate’s phone for any calls from her folks since they should’ve been arriving at any minute. The damn thing had been ringing off the hook, every number unknown and unanswered.

“You know damn good and well who this was,” Garrett snarled, pacing my living room and dragging his hands through his long blond hair. “Should’ve killed the fucker when I got my hands on him after the shit he pulled with Gwen.”

“I know.” I cast my eyes to Ian, who was standing at the window, talking in low tones on his phone. The dude had more connections than anyone I knew. He’d find out for sure that it was Chris who went to that gossip site, and as soon as we had the proof, I was gonna nail his ass to the wall.

Tate’s phone rang just then, and I looked down to see Camden’s name pop up on the screen. I quickly engaged the call and brought it to my ear. “Cam. You got Deck.”

“Shit, man. I’m so fucking sorry it’s taken me this long to call. I’ve been in the air. I didn’t even know what the hell was happening until I touched down in Chicago. This shit’s crazy.”

“Tell me about it,” I grunted, reaching up to rub at the tension building in the back of my neck. Every muscle in my body ached from being strung so tight.

“You know it’s not true, right? She’d never—”

“I know. Thought never even crossed my mind.”

He let out an audible sigh of relief. “Good. ’Cause she’d never do that to you, man. And I wouldn’t either. I might not have been your biggest fan at the beginning, but I’m not stupid. I see how good you are for her now.”

I lowered my head and my voice at the same time. “Appreciate that, man. Glad she’s had you at her back all this time.”

“You and me both. Wouldn’t be where I am now if it wasn’t for her. How’s she doing?”

Heaving a defeated breath, I collapsed into a recliner and propped my elbows on my knees. One hand held the phone to my ear, and I used the fingers of the other to massage my forehead. “Not good. She was… Christ, she was attacked by some rabid fans earlier when we were trying to get out of the building. Spit on her and everything. One bitch even ripped at her hair. She’s been disconnected ever since.”

“Fuck,” he hissed. “I was afraid that was gonna happen.”

“What?” I sat up straight. “Why?”

Camden hesitated for a while before finally speaking up. “Look, I’m not telling you this as an attempt to put blame on you or anything, but you need to know in order to take care of her the way she needs to be taken care of.”

“Know what?” I barked impatiently.

“She hates this industry, man. Like really fuckin’ hates it. She blames the fame for what happened between you guys. Said it turned you into a totally different person. Getting her to go with me to that award show was a months-long process. It was like pulling teeth every single time I wanted her to attend an event with me. She went because she’s a good friend, but she loathed every goddamn second. So the fact that there’s a media circus currently circling her like a pack of rabid wolves? Yeah, she’s not gonna handle that well.”

“Goddamn it,” I sighed, dropping my head.

“I’d be there if I could, I swear. And I’ll join up with you guys in Asia just as soon as I’m done. In the meantime, you call with whatever you need, okay? I’m here. You let me know what you want me to do, and I’ll do it.”

“Guard at the gate just called,” Ian rumbled, drawing my attention to him. “Valentines are on their way up.”

Son of a bitch. This was going to be ugly. I just knew it.

I put my focus back on the call and asked, “I don’t suppose you have any tips on how to handle her folks.”

The asshole actually started laughing. “Sorry, bro. You’re on your own. Helene’s the shit, but John Valentine scares the piss outta me. And he actually likes me.”

Jesus Christ, could this day get any worse? “Thanks a lot,” I grumbled.

“Like I said, call if you need anything. That includes identifying your body if Tate’s papa bear murders you. I’ll be in touch.”

With that, he hung up. And my front door burst open.

“Where the hell’s my daughter?”

The answer was yes. Yes, this day could, in fact, get worse.