Page 124 of Love Me Tomorrow

But then that hand releases me completely, followed by the distinct sound of a pained grunt, and I don’t hesitate to take advantage.

Up, up, GET. UP!

I haul myself off the ground, my vision swimming, swimming, swimming as my head continues to throb. One step forward and I nearly collapse on wobbly legs.Dammit.My beautiful teal pumps do absolutely nothing in the way of making a hasty retreat. Kicking them off would be too time-consuming. Short of stripping one off and using the spiked heel as a weapon—and landing myself in prison, no doubt—I scrap the idea and whip around, already winding my arm back to pummel Joe in the face.

Only, one second he’s there, clutching his nose, and, in the next, a blur of black is coming out of nowhere and tackling Joe to the ground.

Owen.

Familiar inked knuckles jab once into Joe’s gut, and then another time into his jaw. If it were possible for a person’s head to actually twirl like a spinning top, Joe’s would be flying off his body and rolling into the stands of horrified fans. As it is, there’s a solidcrunchof cartilage snapping and then a squealed, “You broke my nose, you bastard!”

Owen’s answer to that is another one-two punch to the gut that has Joe’s limbs flexing in the air like they’ve been attached to a puppet string.

Is it wrong that I’m feeling the need to pump my fists in the air and shout, “That’s my man right there!”

Then again, probably not the time or the place. Or maybe it is, considering this is a reunion show and Owen and I didn’t have the chance to go public with our relationship.

Unexpectedly, strong arms circle my waist, dragging me backward from the fray. “If you get hurt,” says a deep voice in my ear, immediately settling my impulse to go for another headbutt, “Mina will rip my nuts out and force me to eat them for breakfast.”

Nick.

Despite the fact that I trust him wholly, I dig my heels in, anyway. “If Owen gets hurt, I’ll rip them out myself and hand them to her on a silver platter.”

Joe squeals again, and I return my attention to the fight just in time to see him crawling along the floor as Owen links a hand around his shin to halt his escape.

Behind me, Nick lets out a throaty laugh. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure that’s never going to happen.”

Coming up on the other side of Nick, Dom says, “That fucker is the one who hacked your emails?” The former NFL player flicks his dark eyes over me, as though to make sure I’m all in one piece.

Another squeal.

“It’sCelebrity Tea,” I tell them both.

Dom’s mouth drops open. “Hold on,JoeisCelebrity Tea?” When I nod, his eyes turn flinty and zip over to Nick. “You got her?”

What in the world?

Nick pats my shoulder like I’m a good dog. “Take a swing for me, would you? Just trying to live up to the old Saint Nick reputation, you know.”

“Never would have expected anything less from a mama’s boy like you, Stamos.” With a grin and a shoulder pat of his own, Dom strides over to the all-out brawl, shoves Owen to the side like he’s nothing heavier than a bag of feathers, and announces, “Nice to officially meet you, Mr.Celebrity Tea. It’s been a long time coming.”

His fist connects with Joe’s jaw, and I cringe.

“Should we stop them?” I ask Nick. “You know, before they do permanent damage?”

The Greek Adonis only grins. “Oh, I don’t know. I think good ol’ Joe can take one more round for the team.”

And then he stands back, arms crossed over his chest, and waits for security to arrive.

Joe Devonsson confessesto his side hustle of being the anonymous owner ofCelebrity Tea Presentsthrough a new gap in his teeth, a gift from the inked god himself.

From my seat on the hospital bed, I stare at the tiny TV as Joe lisps, “There’s no crime in being a reporter. You can’t send me to jail for that.” He slaps at the hands of the police officer who tries to bind him in shackles. “Where are my rights as a US citizen? I didn’t hack her fucking emails!”

The news station bleeps out his cursing while he’s escorted into the back of a police cruiser, then swaps over to a reporter standing in front of the camera, a microphone in her hand. “John, this is going to be one for the books. Never, in the history of reality TV, has there ever been a scandal quite like this one. All fingers point to Devonsson as being the email hacker—maybe with a helping hand or two along the way—but that’ll be left to investigators to figure out. For now, let’s go to a clip of the moment when everything exploded on the air.”

I hit the POWER button on the remote controller.

Within minutes of security appearing, chaos erupted all over again. Along with Dom, Owen was pulled off Joe before being escorted to talk to the cops. Nick stood vigilantly by my side, especially when paramedics arrived. Of all people, Matilda was the one to bring them over to me, and before I knew it, I was being shuffled into the back of an ambulance.

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