Page 64 of Celebrity

I could tell Ashur was doing everything in his willpower to keep from losing his temper every time Papa opened his mouth. During my younger years, I used to resent Ash for being Papa’s favorite, but quickly I learned he used his position in the family as a way to keep a buffer between Papa and me. My big brother dealt with so much crap because of me. I knew he’d have left long ago and told my father to shove his money where the sun didn’t shine if I weren’t in the picture. Ashur loved me and protected me the way I’d wanted Papa to do.

God, I had such daddy issues.

“Baby, is everything okay?” Devin asked as he sat down next to me. “You barely touched your food at dinner, and you haven’t said much since we left the dock. Don’t let your father get to you. I heard what he said to Representative Cartwright.”

“He wants to hurt me because I didn’t follow his plan for my life. And telling others that I didn’t have the stomach or will for business is his way of taking a jab at me. It’s not as if I was ever going to get to run Kumar Tech. He has strict views on women’s roles.”

I exhaled and wrung my hands together. He would have done to me what Mommy’s family did to her, educate and then marry the prized daughter to the most advantageous alliance. Papa acted modern but was as ass-backward as they got. Hell, most families in India were more open-minded than he was.

There I went again with my daddy angst.

Devin pulled me to his side and pressed my head against his chest.

“I’m glad you didn’t say anything to him. I saw your jaw clench,” I said as I watched a family jumping into the water from their dock.

“I was tempted, but it would have hurt your election prospects if I threw my father-in-law off the riverboat. Now tell me what’s really bothering you. Are you nervous about the announcement tomorrow?”

I glanced up at him, but he pushed me back against him.

After making love to me in the cabin, Dev and I had touched on my conversation with Tracy but hadn’t gone into details. Devin accepted the plan, but something told me he was holding back his true feelings and I was too chicken shit to probe him. What if the loss of his privacy was too much for him? After the pictures came out, we’d become even more of a spectacle.

“Honestly, I’m worried about telling our families about the pictures. The election will be less important to my father than the images of me naked.”

“This isn’t about him, Sami. Someone illegally took photos of you in a vulnerable state and then threatened to hurt you. If your father can’t see your innocence, then he doesn’t deserve a single thought. One day Spencer Miller is going to be sorry.”

I lifted my face up, and the look in his eyes told me he was planning something.

“What did you do?”

“Ash and I have it under control.”

“Excuse me. When did you and my brother become friends again? The last thing I knew, Ash wanted to take you to the gun range and use you for target practice.”

“We came to an agreement,” Devin said. “Our differences are secondary to your safety. Plus, your brother missed taking our annual guys’ trips.”

“I’m not sure if I believe you but I’ll buy it for the moment.” I pursed my lips and then narrowed my eyes. “Now tell me what the two of you did.”

“Let’s just say, it helps to have a billion-dollar technology company at our disposal.”

I jumped up and paced, pinching the bridge of my nose.

This was bad.

I cocked a hand on my hip. “Devin James Camden, don’t do anything to hurt your position. He’s not worth it.”

I was already about to put him in the spotlight. The last thing I wanted his actions to do was affect his job, or worse, land him in an ethics investigation.

“Stop worrying.” He tugged me onto his lap, spreading my legs to straddle him. “Ash is going to use his channels to see if he can buy the pictures before Decker sells them to Sanders.”

I gripped his shoulders as his hands slid to my hips. “What if he doesn’t budge?”

“Then Ash is going to hack him and wipe the cloud and any electronics the pictures were downloaded onto.”

“What?” I jerked; however, he held on to me so I couldn’t stand. “When did you have time to plan this? I know it couldn’t have been between fucking me four times today and mingling with potential donors.”

“I called him after our date the other night. I will break every law to make sure some scumbag doesn’t terrorize my wife.”

“Okay, Mr. Rule-and-law-breaker. What have you done with my do-everything-by-the-book husband and when can I get him back?”

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