Page 155 of Ever With Me

“I’m fine. I’m fine now. It’s a long story, but I’m here, and I’m safe, and I’m so sorry.”

He’s safe.

His words filled her with regret and worry.

Something had happened.Of course it had.

Tearing up again, Maddie laid her cheek against the soft fabric of Brooks’s shirt, listening to his heartbeat.God, I missed him. This heartbeat.

So much.

I never want to be away from him.

She wiped her cheeks and pulled away, swallowing hard as she gave him a half-hearted smile. Crossing to the window, she opened it to let in some early morning sunlight. “You have some serious explaining to do, Mr. Kent. I was this close to filing a missing person report.”

“Mike—” A pained expression crossed Brooks’s face, his own eyes looking glossy.

It was all he needed to say.

Her heart constricted. “Did he threaten you? What happened?”

Brooks shook his head, then sank onto the bed, covering his face. “Well, yes, but more importantly, he threatened you. He had pictures, Maddie. Of us. Damaging ones he was going to upload to the internet. Apparently, he’s had a private investigator following us for a while.”

A chill ran through Maddie, and she hugged her arms to her chest. “What did he want?”

“What do you think?”

“Money?”

“In cash. Only place we could get the amount of cash he wanted, though, was in Vegas. And it had to be yesterday because he wouldn’t let me out of his sight until the money was in his hands. If I used my phone, called you, the police got involved, he got arrested—any of it—he said he’d have the files transferred instantly.”

“So you paid him?” Maddie gaped at him and sat beside him, her brain spinning. “Brooks, that’s extortion.”

“You think I don’t know that? He had me by the balls, Maddie. What was I supposed to do?”

“Let the damn images be released. I don’t care.” It wasn’t true, of course, but what else could she say? It was better than extortion.

Brooks gave her a sharp look. “Maybe you don’t, but I do. I love you, Madison. I’m not going to allow the world to view our private moments. I don’twantother people looking at you that way.”

“Brooks, I hear you, but all you did is open yourself up to more of this. You think Mike won’t come back again? Haven’t you said he keeps doing it? And what if other people try to do similar things? You can’t protect me by constantly paying people off.”

“I know,” Brooks said miserably. He closed his eyes, his jaw clenching hard. “I know that.”

Tense silence crept in, and Brooks stood. “Which is why this has to be over between us, Maddie. I wanted to call you as soon as Mike let me go, but we needed to talk in person. You deserve that much. And I wanted to get my guitar. I don’t care about my other things, so you can throw them out.”

What?

Maddie’s heart ripped at his words, and she stared at him in disbelief.

She didn’t know whether to be angry or devastated.

He’d tried to do this before, and now he was doing it again.

“Absolutely not.” She stood and grabbed his hand. “No. You aren’t walking out on me, Brooks. I won’t allow it. We love each other?—”

“I do love you, Maddie,” Brooks said, his voice a low growl. He cupped the sides of her face and kissed her forehead. “I love you more than I’ve ever loved anyone or anything, but I can’t protect you. Over the past week, you’ve been attacked and threatened in ways that made me go crazy. I chose this stupid lifestyle, and there’s no going back for me. I can’t stop being who I am. But I won’t have your life and reputation put in danger because of me.”

“So you hire security! We live in your gated community?—”

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