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He frowned. “She’s fine. Maggie, what is it?”
Her voice grew even tenser. “Keep her safe, that’s all I’ll say.” She hung up.
He stared at the phone in his hand. What in the bloody hell was going on?
“Is everything all right? You look upset.”
He pulled on his sweatpants. “I had a puzzling call from Maggie, that’s all. She says she needs us back at the house right away. My brother has arrived.” He moved toward the bedroom.
Nicole frowned. “Should I be worried?” she called down the hall to him.
He shook his head. “No, there’s nothing to be worried about.”
Her eyebrows rose; his tone was far from convincing. “I’m ready to go when you are.”
Reece came out of the bedroom, their bags slung over his shoulder. “Let’s go then,” he said, taking her hand in his and leading her out the door.
Chapter 6
Reece held the door open for Nicole as they entered the house. Taking her hand, he led her down the hall toward the kitchen. They were stopped before they made it through the swinging door.
“So, you’ve decided to join us at last?” a voice questioned. Reece turned on his heel to greet his brother.
“Good morning, Marcus. To what do I owe this honor?”
Marcus descended the rest of the way down the stairs, circling around to face his younger sibling. “Have you seen the papers this morning? Your face and ass are plastered over all of them.” He glanced at Nicole, his demeanor scornful. “And a few of her body parts as well. What do you have to say for yourself?”
Reece’s fingers tightened around Nicole’s. This was what he was afraid of. “What do you mean?” He thought he’d been careful.
“An enterprising paparazzo has been following you since London. He spied you on the beach yesterday afternoon, capturing quite a number of images of you in flagrante with an unknown female, but when he zoomed in on her face, discovered it was Miss DeLancey.” Nicole blushed. “And to make matters worse, he followed you from the pub to, I’m assuming from the setup, the Cliff House, getting some nice shots of you both through the un-shuttered window.”
Reece closed his eyes briefly, clearly remembering the flashes of light as he was drifting off to sleep. “How much did he see?”
“He saw enough. I wouldn’t be surprised if your little escapade becomes the centerfold in porn magazines across the globe. What the hell were you thinking?”
Reece clenched his jaw in frustration. He hated being put on the spot this way, but he should have done more to ensure their privacy. “Where are the papers?”
His brother pointed toward the dining room. “I’ve laid them out across the table. The expanse of it is covered with them.” He shook his head. “You’ve really created a shit storm.” Marcus turned on his heel, stomping away with his cell phone at his ear.
Nicole was frozen in dismay. “Colin, I . . . what are we going to do?”
He squeezed her fingers in reassurance. “I think we need to see the papers, and then we’ll decide how to contain the damage.”
She snatched her hand from his. “I thought you said we were safe,” her voice low, almost a whisper.
She’d gone as white as a sheet. He tried to pull her close, but she flinched away. “I thought we were.” He glanced toward the dining room. “Look, I’ll take care of this. Give me a few minutes with Marcus. Between the two of us, we’ll come up with a strategy to handle it.”
She bit her lip in frustration. He’d told her she could trust him, but her doubts were beginning to creep back. “I guess I’ll go hide in the library.”
His shoulders relaxed a bit. “Good idea. Go lose yourself in your writing for a while. It’ll help clear your mind.” He pulled her close, kissing her forehead.
She nodded and turned away, her shoulders hunched in shock and self-reproach.
~ ~ ~
Nicole sat at the desk, but she couldn’t concentrate on the love story. She didn’t care that her lovers were in turmoil. Her own life story had taken a bad turn. Fixing it took precedence.
She opened her web browser, punching up the news. Sure enough, the pictures were plastered across the page. She studied the shots of them frolicking in the surf, with her body wrapped around his. The images were distant and blurry, but the evidence was clear: they were involved in sexual congress.
