Chapter 13 Lofton #2
Nodding, he propped his shoulder against the doorjamb, his thick biceps crossing his chest. “If I have my way about it, this will be the last time we have to talk about your ex, but Leo called this morning, and we were right about people seeing him yesterday. Seems he was so worried about you, he stopped and had lunch at the café before comin’ here.
People snapped some pics and shared ‘em online. Word’s spreading, and news outlets are connecting the dots back to you.
Would have been nice if he’d given us a heads-up, especially after I laid the situation out to him, but there's not much we can do about it now.”
My vision tunneled as the breath was stolen from my lungs. I swung my hand out, propping it on the counter to keep my balance.
Two years. Two fucking years I hadn’t seen Sebastian. And suddenly, he was ruining my life all over again. The man never missed an opportunity to slay me. Truly, it was uncanny.
He was a terrible husband who flew through life using his dick as a moral compass.
But he’d lived a life in the spotlight as long as I had.
He wouldn’t have purposely led a stalker to my door.
Though he was a narcissist who would absolutely throw me under a bus rather than perform the herculean task of taking responsibility for his actions and the ramifications they might cause.
Who cared if it got me killed as long as he didn’t have to admit he’d been reckless or wrong.
All this trouble to keep me safe, and Sebastian fucking Cristobal waltzes into town feeding me to the wolves while signing autographs.
My nose stung, tears welling in my eyes as reality overwhelmed me.
What would I tell my dad? Or Jenn? How long would I be gone this time?
What happened if the LAPD never caught this guy and Daddy got worse? Would I even be able to come back now that the farm had been compromised?
And worst of all, what if I lost him and, just like with Marty, all I got was a quiet goodbye in an empty funeral home?
“Oh God,” I croaked, slapping a hand over my mouth before the sob could escape.
Devon pushed off the doorframe with a quiet exhale, closing the space between us. His large palm slipped under my hair and wrapped around the back of my neck. With a gentle squeeze, he guided me into his chest.
An avalanche of emotions consumed me, tears streaming from my eyes.
“Hey,” he murmured, soothing his palm up and down my back. “It’s okay. I’ve got you.”
My arms circled his hips, bringing us flush. “What the hell did I do to deserve this?”
“Nothing. This is not something you did.”
“He genuinely just doesn’t care who he hurts.” My shoulders shook, fighting another round of sobs. “Do you have any idea how many years I’ve spent covering for him? Protecting his image? People still hate me for divorcing him, because I refuse to air his dirty laundry.”
A low growl rumbled in his chest. “Guys like him don’t change. They just keep finding new ways to disappoint.”
“This is more than disappointing. He’s robbing me of the only time I have left with my dad. I can’t get that back!”
His whole body locked up. Solid as a statue. “Wait, what?”
“Everyone’s going to know where I’ve been hiding now,” I whispered.
When he didn’t reply, I tilted my head back to catch his gaze.
Confusion colored his features, his long dark lashes working overtime. “You think you’re in hiding?”
I nodded. “You told me I was off the grid.”
His lips thinned, understanding—and, wait, was that humor—dawning on him.
“Babe, if we were trying to hide you, we’d have you holed up in a cabin in the woods, not crashing at your parents’ place.
Anyone with half a brain cell, including that dumbass ex of yours, already had a pretty good guess where you were.
” He gave me a pointed squeeze. “You were off the grid at the beach house. Before we had everything locked down. But now you’ve got more security, active cameras, a secure perimeter in a location we can control.
People finding out where you are is not an issue.
We accounted for exposure risks before you ever stepped foot on a plane to come here. ”
It was my turn to be confused. “I don’t understand. You told Sebastian that he was handing out maps to my location.”
“Yeah, because he did, and that was seriously fucked. It should have been your call to make when you felt comfortable stepping back out into the world. Maybe ease into it by doing dinner and drinks with your old friends, or visiting your old high school rather than going viral because that asshat stopped at that café. It was a publicity stunt—I knew it then, know it even more after hearing you say you’ve been keeping his secrets.
He wanted people to see him rushing to your side, hoping to make himself look like a knight in shining armor.
Probably hoping you’d think that too and fall back into his bed. ”
I scoffed. “Oh, please. He could get any woman he wants.”
“Maybe. But any woman is not you, Lofton.”
Warmth washed over me, partly because of what he’d said, but mainly because, as he’d said it, he’d gathered me in his arms, shifting me impossibly closer.
“So we don’t have to leave?” I all but squeaked.
The corner of his mouth hitched. “No, babe. We do not have to leave.”
“And I can go to dinner with my old friends? I mean, I haven’t even told Brittany or Francine that I’m back. But it’d be really great to finally have a night out, to relax and forget for a little while.
“Absolutely. I’ll set it up with Chris and Matt, take one of them with us. When I said you weren’t a prisoner, I meant it. You don’t have to be invisible for me to keep you safe.”
Heat filled my cheeks. I may not have known Devon long, certainly not as long as Marty, but I believed with my whole heart that he would never let anything happen to me.
But more, as his hands came up, framing my face as he used his thumbs to dry my tears, I believed Devon would never let anything happen to me, and it had nothing to do with the job.