Page 104 of Reckless King

Her teeth press into her lower lip. “Eric came to the shop.”

In an instant, my heated blood goes ice cold. “What did he do?”

“He wanted to talk. I honestly don’t know why. When I asked him to leave, he got angry and grabbed my wrist.”

“Where was Pinnacle while this was happening?”

“As soon as he grabbed me, Brad was there and got rid of him. He wasn’t negligent, Tate. Don’t blame him.”

I don’t blame Brad. I blame myself. It was probably the publicity around our relationship that caught Eric’s attention, that told him where to find her.

It’s my fault he hurt her.

“It’s not your fault,” she murmurs, as if she can read my mind. Or maybe it’s my frozen expression.

“We’ll press charges,” I say.

She shakes her head. “I don’t want to.”

“Why the hell not? He ambushed you at your place of work and hurt you.”

“It’s not that bad,” she says. “And he was never violent when we were together. I don’t think he meant to hurt me. He just seemed a little… desperate, I guess.”

“People can change. I don’t care what state of mind he’s in; he put his hands on you. I can make a call, get the police here right now, and you can press charges.”

“Tate. The whole point of this relationship was to get the tabloids off your back. If the press finds out about me pressing charges against the nephew of a state senator, you’ll be right back?—”

“I don’t care about that. He’s not going to get away with hurting you.”

“I care,” she says softly.

I clench my jaw, holding back my frustration, when all I want to do is make sure he never comes near her again.

“And it’s not just that. This arrangement has helped me bring True Brew back. I don’t want the kind of publicity this will bring when we’re just getting traction again. I don’t know what Eric wanted, but I doubt he’ll be back. If he is, then I’ll go to the police. I promise.”

Tension knots at the back of my neck. I pull my hand from hers and run it through my hair. I didn’t think this whole thing through. From the minute I found out she was the woman I was with at Onyx, I’ve been careless with her, from convincing her to fake date me, to announcing that we were engaged, to deciding I wanted all of her, my moves have been based on my wants and desires. Now she’s asking me to do something for her. It goes against every instinct that’s screaming at me to track Eric down and threaten his life, but I’ll give her this.

“Fine. But Violet, if he tries anything else…”

“He won’t,” she says, relief shining in her eyes. “He’ll be back in Maine soon. And he knows I have security now. He won’t want to risk his job and reputation, believe me. Eric is all about appearances.”

I nod, swallowing down the frustration that’s urging me to do it anyway. She doesn’t want to press charges, and I’ll give her that. But I will put in a call to the investigator I had track down my biological father and ask him to dig up all he can about Eric. I should have done it after she told me he’d commented on her True Brew post. I’m not letting it go this time.

Violet smiles at me. “Thank you. I know you want to help, but this is for the best.”

“Come here.” I gently lift her until she’s straddling me. Framing her face with my hands, I tug her down until her lips are against mine.

She sighs against them and presses closer.

My thumbs trace over the soft skin of her cheeks. “I hate that you’re hurt because of me.”

“It’s not your fault,” she whispers again.

Guilt pinches behind my ribs and I trail my fingers down her back so I can wrap them around her waist. “It is.”

“Maybe you could make it up to me when we get home.” With a wicked little smile, she rolls her hips.

Heat flares up my spine. I’m suddenly too aware that I have her here, alone in my office. I ended my meeting early, and the next doesn’t start for half an hour. There’s a lot I can do in thirty minutes.

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