Page 111 of Reckless King

His scowl is full of admonishment. “You did what you needed to do to protect your fiancée. Now, how are we going to take him down?”

“I’m working on it, but I’ll only do it if I can make sure Violet doesn’t get hurt.”

“Do you have a plan?” Roman asks.

I look from him to Cole, hit with a shot of gratefulness. Because my brothers have my back. “We need to visit Onyx.”

An hour later,we’ve descended on Reid’s office. With four big men crowded in, the moderate-sized space is almost stifling.

“What’s going on?” Reid asks. “I never thought the day would come when I’d have three billionaires in my office.”

Cole and Roman sit back while I force myself to repeat Eric’s threats. By the end, my hands are shaking with rage.

Reid narrows his eyes in thought. “You did the right thing. Going to the police would likely get messy, and it wouldn’t guarantee the photos would disappear. Or that he wouldn’t resort to more extreme measures. If he’s really in trouble andthinks he can use her, there’s a chance the threats against her could get physical.”

I give him a jerky nod. “I already have a PI looking into him, but I need more. Can you help?”

Reid’s dark eyes glitter with understanding. “I know someone who knows someone who can hack into his accounts and find those photos. As well as anything else he might be hiding.”

It’s illegal as hell, but I don’t give a shit. I look at my brothers. I know what I’ll see on Cole’s face. He’d do anything for Delilah, so I have no doubt he’ll back me up. But I have no idea what Roman will think. He’s CEO of the King Group, and that’s his only priority. But when I turn to assess him, there’s an emotion I haven’t seen in a long time burning in the icy gray depths of his eyes.

It looks an awful lot like protectiveness.

He nods, a grim jerk of his head.

That’s all the confirmation I need. I turn back to Reid. “Do it.”

He reaches for his phone, but before he unlocks the screen, he regards me with a frown. “If we do this, Tate, you shouldn’t tell Violet.”

I hang my head and taste the acid burn of defeat at the back of my throat. I’ve already figured this part out myself. If we get caught paying someone to hack into the accounts of a senator’s employee, there will be hell to pay. And the only way to keep Violet from getting caught up in that is to keep her ignorant of it all. I won’t implicate her in my illegal actions, and I won’t put her in a position where she might have to lie to the police.

Reid makes the call, and we set the plan in motion. Then we spend the next few hours talking through various scenarios. But as Jeremy finally drives me home, my sole focus is on Violet. I’m doing this to keep her safe, but at what cost?

Keeping her in the dark, lying to her, is for her protection, but it feels an awful lot like betrayal. And I can’t help but wonder if she’ll ever forgive me for what I have to do next.

CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

VIOLET

Ilisten to the message Tate left on my phone an hour ago. “I won’t be home until late. Don’t wait up.”

When he called, I was busy cooking, and I’ve only just noticed the message notification.

I shouldn’t be disappointed. It’s the nature of Tate’s job. He has to work late sometimes. But I was looking forward to sitting down to dinner and showing him the finished details of True Brew’s first tasting night. Afterward, I hoped to celebrate with him in the best possible way. And then… then I planned to ask him. About us. About our future.

Instead, I eat alone and try to distract myself with a movie. It’s no use. I spend the evening checking my phone and looking at the elevator, hoping to catch the display ticking up to show it’s moving. But nothing. It’s getting late now, and I’m tired. For the first time in weeks, I question if I should sleep in Tate’s bed like I have been or go back to mine. Uncertainty weighs heavily on me, but eventually, I decide to sleep in his bed, since he’s given me no indication that he doesn’t want me to when he’s not around.

It hits me then exactly how much we’ve both ignored our situation. How we’ve let ourselves topple headfirst into this relationship that isn’t a relationship, while ignoring all the rulesthat fell by the wayside and avoiding discussing the potential consequences. Burying my head in the sand seemed like a good idea at the time, but after my talk with Anna today, I’m desperate for some clarity. I need to know the truth of what Tate’s feeling.

And I need him to know howIfeel.

I take a shower, hoping it will relax my tense muscles, brush my teeth, then slide into bed. Despite my exhaustion, my mind races, and I struggle to fall asleep. Eventually, I must doze off, because I’m woken what seems like only a short time later when a body slides into bed behind me.

“Tate?” My voice is thick with sleep. “It’s so late. What were you doing?” I hate how needy that sounds.

His body stiffens almost imperceptibly against me. “I was at Onyx.”

The fog clears from my mind, and I sit up. I focus on him, taking in his features in the moonlight that floods through the large window. My stomach bottoms out at the thought that he spent the night at his sex club instead of at home with me. “You went to the club?”

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