I swallow hard, my voice rasping from my throat. “What’s wrong?”
“There was a hit piece done on me this morning.”
Grayson isn’t rattled by hit pieces, which is why I ask, “And?”
“The reporter, who was clearly set-up by Ri’s hacker hires, has photos of me with any woman I had contact with when we were split up.”
“Women that you slept with?” The question rasps like blades from my throat, painful and sharp.
“No. Actually, I didn’t sleep with any of the women they put in the article. Two were clients. One I went on one date with and couldn’t stop thinking about you. There wasn’t a second. I now have to call the clients to apologize. Mia—”
My hand comes down on his chest. “Stop. I don’t want to hear about it anymore or see it, for that matter.”
“Even TMZ picked it up, baby.”
I inhale and let out a breath. “Okay.”
“Okay?”
“It’s done, Grayson. You didn’t cheat on me. And even if these women were bedmates—”
“They weren’t.”
“I believe you, but even if they had been your bedmates, I left you. You didn’t think you’d ever be right here with me again and neither did I. Let’s just go get this next week or two behind us.”
“Which is why I have a proposal for you.”
“You already gave me the greatest proposal of all.” I hold up my ring. “Twice, and honestly, Grayson, after I let Ri beat us, sometimes I don’t think I deserve to be back here with you now.”
“Don’t do that,” he says, pulling me hard to him. “We let it happen. And we are not going to let it happen ever again.”
“That’s right,” I agree. “Let’s go face this down. Together.”
“I want to grant an interview to a high-profile reporter. I want us to grant the interview. I want the world to know—”
I push to my toes and kiss him. “I don’t care about what the world thinks. I care about you and I care about us.”
His hand flattens on my lower back. “There was a time when you feared the world would think you slept your way to the top.”
“And then there’s today when I don’t. No one who knows us believes that’s true.” I push past the knot in my belly. “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. He doesn’t get to win this time.”
His hands come down on my face. “I love you.”
“I know you love me. And you know I love you. It’s enough, Grayson. It’s more than enough. It’s everything. I can handle this. Trust me not to let you down.”
“Mia—”
I press my lips to his and this time his hand cups the back of my head and his tongue strokes mine, deep and sultry.
A few minutes later, we’re in the hallway with Blake in front of us and Adrian behind us. Once we’re all in the elevator, Blake starts handing out instructions. “The press hasn’t found you here. We’ll be fine exiting the side door, but once we’re at your offices, all bets are off. The press is everywhere.” He eyes Grayson. “Reese Summer is going to meet you here tonight.”
I look between them. “Why are we meeting with a criminal law attorney that doesn’t even work for our firm?”
“Because he’s the best of the best and I trust him,” Blake replies.
“Why do we need him?” I counter.
“We’re not giving the FBI a chance to twist anything Ri has done into guilt that lands in the wrong place,” Blake says. “And we want someone who has no conflict of interest and a reputation for only defending the innocent.”
“The innocent?” I demand. “Grayson was attacked. He’s a victim the FBI should be protecting.”
Grayson slides his arm around me. “Relax, baby. We’re making sure this doesn’t just end. It ends our way.”
I’ve done everything I can to block out Ri holding me at gunpoint and then dying right in front of me. But it’s not his death haunting me now, it’s the evil in that man that still lives on.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Mia
Nerves I don’t want to feel jump around in my belly as we load up in the black Escalade with us in the back, Adrian behind the wheel and Blake in the passenger seat. Grayson and I are side by side, his leg pressed to my leg, his hand on my knee, just beneath my skirt. His hand is warm, strong, possessive, and after fearing I’d never feel his touch again, wonderful. What’s not wonderful is the prison of press and past history that seek to control this day, but the sooner we’re past this awkward stuff, the better.
The drive is short, and good Lord, when we turn the corner to our destination street, the building that houses the offices of Bennett Enterprises is swarming with reporters. Adrian pulls us to a side entrance where Grayson exits and helps me out, and to my shock, we enter the building without much trouble, and with relief, we head upstairs in a service elevator. The space is small to share with three large, testosterone-loaded men, and Grayson is quick to pull me in front of him and hold me close. Tension radiates off of him and it’s then that I realize just how much pressure he’s under. He’s literally got an empire on his shoulders, the FBI breathing down his throat, and TMZ and the gossip rags won’t even allow him to just be secure with us. I need to be the person who eases his stress, not adds to it.