Mike chuckled. “Go, Gabrielle,” he said, proud of her.
The way he’d been proud of Amber when she stood up to his uncle Thomas to protect Edward. Like a woman loyal to her man, Mike realized, the thought coming unbidden. He rolled his head back and forth, seeking relief from the building tension.
“Does that mean you’ve spoken with Jason Corwin since the scandal broke?” the reporter asked, nonplussed at Gabrielle’s outburst.
“Where is he?” another reporter asked, pushing the microphone into Gabrielle’s face.
Another reporter shouted yet a different question and suddenly Gabrielle was being jostled from all sides.
Mike hoped she wasn’t wearing those stupid high heels. She’d break an ankle trying to remain on her feet.
“Everyone, step back!” a woman shouted.
Amber.
Mike bent down to get a better look at the screen. Sure enough, Amber had joined Gabrielle, shoving reporters out of the way. “Move it. Back off. The Corwins have no more comments!”
Gabrielle shot an appreciative glance at Amber.
“Who are you?” a reporter asked.
Amber glanced away. “Just a family spokesperson.”
“Just a family spokesperson?” Mike asked aloud. “What the hell? You’re my wife,” he yelled at the screen.
The sound of his voice and his vehemence took him off guard. Where had such possessiveness come from? Hadn’t he just sent her packing? So why did her minimizing her position in the family bother him so damn much?
“Just one more question,” a reporter asked as he sidled up to Amber from behind. He tripped and fell headlong into Gabrielle.
Amber pulled Gabrielle out of the way before the man’s big body could fall against her. “I said back off! She’s pregnant!” Amber shouted, and clapped her hand over her mouth, obviously regretting her words.
As far as Mike knew, nobody in the family had been aware of that fact. Except Amber.
Mike shook his head and reached for his cell phone to call his cousin, then grabbed his keys. He had to get to town before his father, standing in the background, went crazy over the news. And he needed to thank Amber for protecting the people he loved.
“YOU’RE SUCH AN ASS,” Marshall said to himself as he sat in a seedy bar on the water in a town named Perkins. He couldn’t find Amber, even though she was like a needle in a very small haystack. Somebody ought to have seen her and yet…nada.
It was his own damn fault. He’d lost track of Amber after she’d left the diner with that cop husband of hers. Since Marshall couldn’t risk being seen, he’d decided to follow King Bobby, figuring the big man would be in touch with Amber Rose again soon. But for now, following the Texan was useless. He’d somehow found himself a motel on the outskirts of town, probably paying off a reporter while Marshall was left biding his time.
With the couple of bucks he had left in his pocket
, he bought himself cheap beer on tap and wondered what the hell had happened to his lucky streak.
He’d used his winnings with Amber to pay off the loan shark he owed. Marshall had found another game to make some cash, but without Amber, his luck had gone south.
Unlike King Bobby, Marshall didn’t have money to burn. He’d been stuck sleeping in the car he’d rented with a stolen credit card.
He glanced up at the television on top of the bar and nearly choked on his beer. There she was, Amber Rose, pretty as a picture, on Main Street in Stewart. Beneath the screen, the tag read LIVE!
He slapped a couple of bills onto the bar and walked out whistling. His luck was changing after all. Once he had Amber back by his side where she belonged, money would follow.
MIKE PARKED HIS CAR behind the diner and ran to find his family. The first person he asked sent him to Derek’s office. When he arrived, chaos ruled. But the only person he didn’t see was the one he most wanted to lay eyes on.
“Where’s Amber?”
No one answered.
Mike glanced at his father.