The smell of her shampoo made me drunk. Her skin. Her warm breath. I could have had five shots of bourbon and I’d feel as intoxicated as I did in this moment, holding her.

I’d spent the week keeping an eye on her, but keeping my distance. It hadn’t been easy. More like hard as hell.

I handled conference calls in the study, burying myself in numbers and projections. I went through itineraries with Eileen, reframing my appointments for virtual meetings. I listened to the acquisition proposals, studying the due diligences of the companies I wanted to bring into my portfolio. And I did all of it while digging into the details of Abi’s attack.

I hadn’t made much headway. The LAPD wasn’t any more successful.

I’d watched the scratchy feed the gym had provided a hundred times. It was dark and it wasn’t possible to make out the gunman. If only she had hired a new bodyguard. If only she took her safety as seriously as I did.

She wanted to be normal. She wanted to get coffee and go for runs in the park, but that wasn’t the kind of life she lived. A-list celebrities couldn’t do that unless they were willing to hide out in tiny Montana towns.

Wasn’t that what I had loved about her? She was normal. Abi was a breath of fresh air in a town that ran on greed and popularity. It made it even more unbelievable that someone wanted to hurt her.

There had to be more to the attack. There had to be more information out there, but I didn’t want to press her. I didn’t want to ask too much too soon, but part of me knew I was using every distraction I could grab, to keep the inevitable from happening.

My chest pounded. I wanted her as much now as the first time I met her.

“You left me,” she whispered.

“I know.” I held her wrists against my chest. I had regretted it every fucking day.

I dropped her wrists, tangling my hands in her hair. I crushed her mouth with a rough kiss. A kiss that said everything I couldn’t.

The little moans coming from her throat made me ache for her. My tongue twisted along hers. Tasting her. Drinking her in.

Her hands wrapped against my neck.

I could devour her. Wipe away the pain of the past. Kiss her breathless until she forgot I hurt her. I wasn’t the man who was supposed to leave. I was the man who had sworn to always protect her with my life.

I groaned against the softness of her lips. “Abi.”

She nipped at my mouth, climbing into my lap one leg at a time. My tongue flicked along hers. Her skin was warm under the flimsy tank top she slept in. My fingers pressed into her flesh, remembering how she felt. Every smooth line. Every curve. My hands molded to the roundness of her breasts. Her tits perked into hard points under my touch. Sweet precious Abi.

She sighed as I lifted the tank top over her head.

Her tits rubbed against my chest as I brought my mouth crashing down on hers. The friction built as her hips ground into my cock.

“Don’t leave me again,” she whimpered.

“I won’t,” I promised, tugging her panties at her hips. I meant it. I meant every fucking word.

I could have lost her.

Never again. Tonight I’d prove it. I’d show her how much I loved her. How sorry I was. As I buried myself inside her over and over. Making her scream my name. Coaxing her to come harder than she ever had.

Tonight was a new beginning.

We’d fuck until the sun came up. Until we were covered in sweat and the smell of sex. Fuck until we had forgiven each other. Until I had forgiven myself.

I lowered Abi to the pillow, sliding my hand between her legs.

The alert alarm sounded from my tablet.

I jerked upright.

“Oh my God. What is that?” she asked, panting the words.

It was a high-pitched alarm, guaranteed to wake me even in a deep sleep.

“Wait here,” I instructed, walking into the great room. My devices were plugged in and resting on the kitchen table.

My tablet blinked and the siren wailed from the small speaker.

I pressed mute and read the alert on the screen.

Abi appeared in the doorway with the quilt wrapped around her naked shoulders. “Reid? What is it?”

I rubbed the back of my neck. “You didn’t tell me you had email threats.” I stared at her.

“What are you talking about?” She stepped closer.

“I asked for details. Everything. Anything. How many times have we gone over the past six months? I told you you couldn’t leave any detail out. Nothing.”

“Why do you sound so mad at me? What happened, Reid?”

I held up the screen. “This. This is what happened. I got the report back on your email account. You’ve had fifty-five threats from the same account. The IP address changed ten times, but there’s no mistake, you had a repeated threat.”

How could she have withheld this information? Didn’t she know I was doing everything in my power to catch this guy?

“Let me see that.” She took the tablet from my hands and read the top briefing of the report. “I’ve never seen these.” She looked at me. “I haven’t had any threatening emails.”

“They’re all right here, Abi. Fifty-five.” I hadn’t read more than a few keywords from them.

“How did you even get into my email?”

“My team analyzed all your traffic,” I answered. “They scoured your social media too. I should have a report that cross-references this address with any posts.”

“You didn’t ask me about that.” She shoved the tablet into my hands.

“Ask? I had to get an analysis on any threatening activity.”

She turned away. “So you hacked my accounts? Did you break into my phone too? Is that why I can’t have it?”

“Hold on. We aren’t getting off target here.” I tossed the tablet on the table. “These emails could lead us to your attacker and you’re pissed at me?”

She pulled the quilt tighter. It was starting to slip against her arm. There was a thin sliver of moonlight falling across the floor like a line dividing the room in half. Abi was on her side and I was on mine.

“I’m pissed about everything.”

“That’s fair.” I lowered my voice. I didn’t want this to escalate into a fight.

“And you think it’s justified. All your actions. Keeping me hidden. Hacking my personal information. Heading up the investigation.”

“I do.” I pressed my lips together.