Lying here in the dark with Flash’s arms around me, safety blankets me like a snug cocoon. It gives me the ability to glance back into those few dark moments where fear snakes around my body, wrapping me up tight and paralyzed. I’m one of the lucky people who has never in my life felt physically threatened or fearful of another person. I’ve had my share of struggles in this life, but that particular brand of fear and helplessness hasn’t been one of them.

Earlier tonight, that changed.

“After I left SJI, a driver took me home. Only I couldn’t stop thinking about you, and being at home alone with my thoughts sounded unbearable. I couldn’t get Brantley on the phone, and I know she’s dealing with some things of her own right now. So, I went to the only other safe place I knew. I went to the studio.”

His arms draw me closer, the strong vise I’ve come to depend on, despite the carefully placed walls my pain built around my heart. His silence isn’t the uncomfortable kind; it’s the kind that encourages me to continue with my story.

“I didn’t even realize it when I started the wheel. I was just starting to shape my clay…” My voice breaks.

Flash turns me to face him, his big hand sliding to the back of my head as his forehead rests against mine. It’s how he likes for me to tell him my stories, I’ve noticed; when we share breath and our bodies are touching from head to toe. He says he can see me better that way, which just makes me want to touch him all the time.  

“The front door to the shop opened, and I called out to let them know I was closed. I…I forgot to lock the door. I was distracted, so what happened next was my own fault.” I swallow down the fear trying to fill me back up, take over me the way it did earlier tonight.

Flash’s voice is low when he finally speaks. “Bunny, you need to tell me what happened.” It’s like he can sense the direction my story is taking. Anxiety and dread drift from him in big vibrations that threaten to engulf us both.

Instantly, I want to reassure him. “He didn’t hurt me.”

Flash’s muscles twitch, and his voice takes on a dangerous edge. “Who didn’t hurt you?”

The breath I expel ricochets between us. “It was Reese Manheim. He came to the back before I could make it out to the shop.”

Every muscle in Flash’s body goes rock-hard. “What the fuck? What did he want?”

I close my eyes, remembering. Recalling the ugly words, the hateful way Manheim spoke about Flash. The wild, cornered look he had in his eyes, like he was terrified everything he wanted was about to be taken away from him.

“He’s scared, Flash. Really scared. He…he threatened me.”

Flash rears back from me, his hands gentle on the sides of my face even as his words turn to a feral growl. “He threatened you? I’ll fucking kill him.”

I shake my head, following Flash as he sits up on the bed. His hands move to his hair and he starts to stand.

I launch myself onto his lap, straddling him so that he won’t go anywhere. It works, holding him hostage on the bed with my body. His chest rises and falls rapidly with his shallow breaths, but he stays with me.

“He told me that I needed to do whatever it took to make sure you took a step back from the company. And he told me that if I didn’t, he’d have to hurt you to make sure you did. He said he was on track to run the place, that he had plans to buy you out and become owner and CEO of SJI. He was ranting, raving, and it scared me, Flash. I think he’s really unbalanced, and he thinks you’re the root of all his problems.”

I swallow the rest of the words that want to tumble out, clamping my mouth shut and watching Flash for any sign that he’ll rush off to exact revenge on Manheim tonight.

He takes few more breaths, then tips his head to the side, the way he does when he’s evaluating someone. “What aren’t you saying, Bunny?”

I hesitate, pulling the corner of my bottom lip between my teeth, but he grasps my chin in his hand. “I need to know everything. Tell me.”

My voice falls to a whisper, but I don’t look away from the searching expression on Flash’s face. I never feel the need to hide from this man. “He said that if you weren’t already fucking Poppy again, you would be soon. He said it was up to me to stop that from happening.”

Fury, mixed with revulsion, fills me at the picture Manheim put in my head when he said those things. I knew then and there it wasn’t true; that Manheim was jealous and crazy, and that he’d do or say anything to get Flash out of SJI. Feelings of stupidity and guilt flogged me, making me ashamed of the fact that I’d walked away from Flash at all.

Flash promptly lifts me off his lap before climbing out of bed and striding to the wall on the opposite side of the room. Then he slams his palm flat against it.

“Son of a motherfucking bitch!” His roar fills my ears, the room, the entire house.

But it doesn’t fill me with fear. He slaps his palm against the wall again, and I’m off the bed and crossing the room to him before I have another thought.

Sliding my arms around his big, powerful body, I lay my cheek against the bare skin of his back. Muscles roll and tighten under me, and he shudders as a heavy breath rolls through him.

“He can’t hurt us,” I murmur, before pressing my lips to his skin.

Flash turns around, wrapping his arms around me. The moonlight streaming in through the window beside us allows me to see the stark expression of fury on his face. It’s not just anger I see…it’s mixed with a fear and devastation so acute I feel it in my bones.

“He can hurt you,” he murmurs. “The fact that he even got to you, that he was there with you alone…God, Bunny. It’s making me crazy, can’t you see that? You’re everything to me now.”

His hands frame my face, his thumbs crushing against my cheeks. His expression is so raw, so open, it doesn’t even matter that he’s not seeing me. He’s feeling every single part of me, the same way I can feel him, and I know what he’s going to say before the words even cross his lips.

“I love you.” The words drift between us like a promise, like a dream, like everything I need.

My eyes mist, and one tear drives a lonely trail down my cheek. When it meets Flash’s hand, he brushes it away before kissing the spot where it began. “God…I love you too, Flash. So much.”

His lips form his beautiful smile, and my heart beats an erratic rhythm for him.

“I will handle Manheim,” he promises. “And you and I? We’re going to start this life together. Are you with me, baby?”

I smile through the tears, swallowing the lump of emotion that formed in my throat when he told me he loved me.

This man.

“I’m with you.”