Page 48 of Single Dad Christmas

“I’m not leaving you here.”

“I’ll be fine,” she said, through another sob. “I’ve dealt with worse than this before.”

“Louisa, listen to me?—,”

“No, you listen to me.” She whirled around to face him. “I’m not angry with Taylor. She’s a kid, and she’s acting out, and we both knew that. And I’m not angry with you, either.” Tears rolled down her cheeks. “But I do need you to go, and leave me alone, to deal with this. I’m asking you to respect my decision, and just go.”

He scrunched his hands into fists, wanting to fight her, but how could he? How could he when she was being so clear?

“The embassy car will be here soon. They’ll have security. I’ll be fine.”

“And how’s that going to play in the papers?” he asked, not because he cared about his own image,per se. But Louisa washis.Not a part of the palace any longer.

“It will look like Ares and I are still friends, which we are. It will look like he’s looking out for me.”

“How did the palace even hear about this so fast?”

“They have a whole social media team, Noah. I guess an image is already online.”

He swore, pulling his phone from his pocket and loading up Instagram. He’d only downloaded the app to keep an eye on what was being said about Amy, to shield Taylor, but he was glad he had it now. He typed in Louisa’s name and saw that she was right. Photos of her from forty minutes ago, as they’d walked into the restaurant, meaning someone had been out there, taking photos before they’d become aware.

Billionaire Rebound,someone had captioned the first image. He clicked out of it before he could read the accompanying text. Or comments. His gut sank as he acknowledged that Louisa was right. None of this was good for her.

“I wanted us to have a normal night out together,” he said, quietly.

“I know.” She closed her eyes. “I wanted that, too.”

“Listen, the photos are out there now. The story’s there. You want to control the narrative? Walk out of here like everything’s fine. Like you don’t give a shit. Hold my hand and get in my car, and come home with me, and let them write whatever they’re going to write. They’re going to do it anyway. Come home with me and block out the world at my place.”

She shook her head. “There’s no blocking this out. My parents read this stuff, Noah. It’s not…weallneeded a break for a while.”

He dropped his head forward, the reality of that hitting him hard. Her parents. Her sister. Her past life.

He was going to kill Taylor. Not literally, but he was going to think of some kind of consequence for this that would make her realise how much she’d stuffed up.

“Please go,” she whispered.

He stared at her, and nodded once. “Okay.”

She bit into her lip.

“But let me say this first.” He moved across the tiled bathroom towards her and put his hands on her hips. “You are the best thing that’s happened to me in a long time. Probably forever. And what I care about, almost most in the world, is being that for you, too. Tonight was a mistake; it won’t happen again.”

She shook her head sadly. “You can’t promise me that.”

“I can promise to try.”

“I just need to think,” she whispered, pulling away from him then, and he felt as though he couldn’t breathe. “Let’s talk tomorrow.”

CHAPTER TWELVE

“WHAT THE HELL WERE you thinking, Taylor Fox?”

Walking through the front door the next morning, having been dropped off by Melanie’s mother, Taylor looked exhausted. He presumed the sleepover had not involved much sleep.

Despite the passage of the night, Noah’s temper hadn’t improved. Probably in large part because he’d done what he hadn’t wanted to do in the restaurant and come home for a deep dive on social media, losing himself in all the posts about Louisa.

And then losing himself in photos of her and Ares, and feeling like he was torturing himself for no reason because that was in her past. Never mind how happy they looked. He was sure if he hunted around, he could find some photos that told a similar story with him and Amy when they’d been a mess almost from the start.

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