“Will you just go back to the cameras?”
“Obviously! I was in the middle of speaking!”
“Then no. Jesus, how could you be so stupid?!” I can feel him shaking under me.
“I was defending myself, you goddamn gorilla! Put me down!”
We reach the curb. Kenta and Glen are both standing by the car, looking grim. Matt sets me back on the ground and yanks open the back door. “Get in.”
“No!” I shout.
His face is a frozen mask. He looks completely blank, but I can see all the anger under the surface. His grip tightens on my elbow. “Get in before I put you in.”
“I’m not done!”
Matt sighs, wraps his arms around my waist, and picks me up, shovelling me into the backseat and climbing in after me. Kenta and Glen get in as well, slamming the doors shut behind them.
“Take route E,” Matt tells the driver.
The driver frowns. “Sir—”
“Drive!” Matt barks.
“But the freeway would—”
“Her security has been compromised. Now drive us around the long way, before the pervert following her sees all theidiotic shitshe just spouted on live television.”
Anger burns through me. “It wasn’tidiotic shit,” I snap, “I was defending myself. Howdareyou pick me up like that?!”
“The contract you signed granted us permission to use appropriate force to remove you from dangerous situations. You were being a danger to yourself.”
“I was answering an interview question!”
“You ignored me!” He bellows, his blue eyes flashing. “I told you to stop talking to that reporter, and you didn’t!”
“Is that what this is about? You’re mad I didn’t roll over to follow your orders?”
He takes a shaky breath. “You promised, when you signed the contract, that you were going to defer to us on matters of safety. You put it into goddamn writing, but of course, you don’t give a shit about that, do you? All you care about is getting in the press, and always having the last word.”
I gape. “You think I did this because I wantedattention?I did it because I’m sick of getting harassed!”
He ignores me, turning to Kenta. “Call the PR woman. Have her order a car to the hotel and write an apology. Athoroughapology.”
“On it.” Kenta pulls out his phone and starts tapping away.
I look between the men, incredulous. I can’t believe this is happening. “What the Hell is wrong with you people? I’m not apologising, I didn’tdo anything wrong.He broke into my house, followed me across the world, hacked into my social media andposted a bloody picture of his genitals—”
“It doesn’t matter what he did!” Matt shouts. “This isn’t about your fuckingego!”
“No,” I agree, “it’s about the fact that he’sviolating me.How can you not see that I need to stand up for myself? Matt—” I reach over to grab his arm, and he turns to me, rage contorting his handsome face—and then suddenly freezes. Every muscle in his body goes rigid. His eyes slip out of focus, as if he’s thinking hard about something else. I can feel him shaking slightly under me. My heart starts beating in my throat as the car falls silent.
“Briar,” Kenta says quietly. “Let him go. Slowly.”
Twenty-Seven
Briar
?
