Bad Boy (Invertary 5)

“Great, call Mitch Harris. He’s an entertainment lawyer...”

“I know who he is,” Lawrence said.

“Good. He’s probably staying at the castle with Josh. Or in the hotel rooms above the pub. He’s got to be somewhere. I know he’s still in town. He dealt with this the last time the camera crew invaded Abby’s privacy. If the two of you get together and build a legal wall around Abby and the kid, that would be great. Bill me.” He turned to Victoria. “I know she’s laughing right now, but it’s hysteria. It could turn to tears at the snap of your fingers. This is a lot to cope with. Can you look after Abby while I deal with this? I know you aren’t close, but...” He looked around, searching for the words. He felt a tug at his hand as Katy slipped her fingers into his.

“Don’t worry, Flynn. I’ll look after Muma while you sort out the circus.” She gave him a wide-eyed smile meant to reassure him and he felt his chest clench.

He ruffled her hair, making her frown. “Thanks, kid.”

“Want me to call Lake?” Matt said. “Get some extra muscle out here in case we need it to clear your place? If we wait for police reinforcement it could be hours. This isn’t high priority, and they would have to come from Fort William.”

“Lake’s guys are great.” He felt relief just thinking about backup. “Tell him to bill me. Can you get someone to come here, keep an eye on Abby’s house too? I don’t know what’s happening, but better safe than sorry.”

Matt nodded. He already had his phone to his ear. The noise outside grew louder. Cars revved. Music blared. Someone spoke over a sound system, testing it. Flynn clenched his jaw, worried about how terrified his animals would be. He hoped like hell the goat was eating her way right through the crowd—the mob deserved it.

“Let’s go.” Matt hung up. “Lake and the boys will be here soon.”

“Right.” Flynn crouched down to face Katy. “Watch your mum. Give her chocolate. Chocolate always helps women when they’re upset. And don’t let her do anything stupid.”

“Okay,” Katy said solemnly.

Flynn rolled his eyes. “What am I doing? You wouldn’t know stupid if it bit you in the a—”

“Time to go.” Matt hauled Flynn back to his feet.

“Wait.” Victoria rushed forward. “You really do care about Abby, don’t you?”

Flynn felt something shift within him. He looked at Katy, who was staring up at him with unwarranted faith in her eyes. “Aye, I really do.”

“And this new leaf of yours, it isn’t pretend?”

“No, it isn’t a ruse. I’m trying really bloody hard here and it keeps getting screwed up.”

Victoria stared at him for a moment before nodding.

“We need to go. More cars have arrived.” Matt tugged Flynn away from Victoria and they headed out of the house.

The minute they set foot outside the door, a camera crew rushed forward, followed closely by the woman who accused him of fathering her child. Flynn cast a nervous glance back towards Abby’s house, but saw someone had the presence of mind to shut the curtains.

“No comment,” he said as a microphone was thrust in his face.

“Back off,” Matt growled. As he was dressed in full police uniform, people did as they were told. “Who organised this?”

Flynn cocked an eyebrow at him. “You mean you actually believe it wasn’t me?”

“I never said it was.”

“You never said anything. You hit first. No questions asked.”

“And I’ll hit you again, once this is over. It’s the least I can do for Abby. You can’t screw around with her. She’s a mother. She’s serious about everything. She doesn’t do casual anything. You crossed a line seducing her.”

“What makes you think I seduced her?”

Matt shot him an angry glare. “Do you want me to hit you again? We’ll deal with the Abby thing again later. Right now, we need to sort this mess.”

“We need to find the weasel. He hates me and wants to make his mark. This has got to be him.”

“Got it.”