Page 24 of Love JD

“The truth is a good place to start,” she said derisively. “She bought Tristan’s story about me working for him, but Tristan is still in Canada for Christ’s sake. He can’t do jack shit to help her anyway.”

“Noted,” I said.

Tabitha hung up, and I leaned my palms on the white marble vanity. Well, hell. I tried to think through the problem rationally, but a red mist of anger clouded my thoughts. I imagined the reporters terrorizing Isla, causing her to faint just so they could get a click-worthy picture. My hands rolled into fists, and I tapped one against the marble.

Fucking bastards, I thought with mounting fury. I had to do something. I couldn’t just let Isla get stalked and terrorized because I hadn’t taken the press seriously to begin with. I’d probably pissed off whoever that Talia girl worked for, too.

But as soon as I thought that, I forced myself to pull up short. What could I do? Isla wasn’t anything to me. Not really. She was a victim caught in the middle of a PR mess, but did that give me the right to wedge my way into her life any more than I already had?

I pictured the way Isla had looked when she had fainted in my arms. How her long lashes had fanned out over her cheeks and her body had gone limp and vulnerable. Reporters had done that to her. Alone. In a fucking parking lot where anyone could have done God knew what to her.

I pushed away from the counter and went to the bedroom. I had to do something. If one group of reporters was smart enough to isolate Isla from her security detail, then what would happen when it got out that Isla was easy pickings? She’d be driven into hiding. It could ruin her life, especially if she continued insisting that she didn’t need help.

I couldn’t just sit here and hope for the best from afar. Whether I had planned it or not, whether I had a right to or not, I had become involved in this, and I wasn’t going to pawn the responsibility off on someone else. I’d gotten her in this mess, so I’d make sure she got out of it less scathed than she was now. I pulled up Isla’s number and tapped out a message.

Zev:

Quit ditching your security.

I doubted she would answer at this hour. It was ten at night and she’d been through a harrowing experience. But her response came immediately.

Isla:

Who is this?

Zev:

The bossy yeti.

Isla:

Oh. I forgot to save your #

Zev:

I’m wounded. And you're lying. Don’t deflect.

Isla:

I’m so good at it, though.

Zev:

…

Isla:

How do you know about my guard dog?

Zev:

I hired her.

I sat on my bed and jiggled my knee while I waited for her to answer. Three little dots jumped up and down for a full minute. Finally, she sent a perfunctory, “?”

Zev:

It’s kind of my fault you need one,

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