“You had cameras installed at my house without me knowing?” she gasps.
I hang my head. “It wasn’t like that. I was only trying to keep you safe, and it turns out I was right to be worried.”
“Hold on. Did you just say you were right to be worried? What else have you not told me about?” She’s angry. I can see her body tremble as she holds her emotions in, and fuck—all I want to do is pull her into my arms and comfort her. I can’t stand it.
“Come here,” I demand.
“Excuse me, what?” she snaps.
“Come. Here,” I repeat.
“I don’t want to.”
“I didn’t ask if you wanted to. I said come here.” There’s an edge to my voice.
“No.”
“Stop making this so difficult, Vivienne, and come here so I can finish apologizing.”
She rolls her eyes hard but scoots closer to me. Not all the way—she makes sure to remain just barely out of reach. “This is as close as I’m getting until you explain how you got inside my house, and what makes you think you were right to install cameras at my house.”
I admire her strength, and sometimes a king has to bend to support his queen. I move, scooping her into my arms and settling us both back into my corner of the couch. She pouts. Ihold her, thinking about how scared I felt seeing the reports she was attacked and not knowing if she was okay. This girl bumped into me a few months ago backstage, and now she’s my entire world.
I begin my explanation again. “The way I got into the house was easy. I pulled the footage and watched Roxy enter the door code. But I was only trying to protect you from what happened here while you guys were out of town.”
Vivienne stills in my arms. Her body stiffens, and her breathing becomes shallow. I press my cheek to her head. “What happened while I was gone?” she whispers.
My throat tightens. “Jackson broke into your house. He went into your room and destroyed the mattress, along with the bedding. Then he cut up all your bras and underwear.”
She says nothing, so I continue. “I beat you here so I could clean it up. I had a new mattress delivered, new bedding, and I did my best to replace your personal items.” Her body trembles as she sobs in my arms. All the exhaustion and emotions from this trip—from Jackson—all of it comes tumbling out in wave after wave of tears.
When she’s finally calm, she sniffles. “I’m sorry. I was awful to you. Thank you for looking out for me. Thank you for saving me from coming home to a nightmare. I don’t think I could have handled that. I should have remembered he had a door code. I need to change the locks.”
I mentally catalog that information away and plan to take her to the hardware store so I can change the locks myself tomorrow. “Shhhhh. It’s okay,” I soothe. “This is exactly why I wanted to be here.”
We lay together in silence, just existing, for what feels like forever when she finally whispers, “Cas.”
“Yeah.”
“You should have told me.”
“I was protecting you, Vivienne.”
“Will you give the police the footage so I can try to get a restraining order?” she asks. “I never thought Jackson was capable of all this. Honestly. He posted that picture saying he moved on, and then he’s been relentlessly trying to get me back ever since. Jealousy makes people do crazy shit.”
“I already turned it over to the police. Well, the security company did.” The lie comes easier than it should. “And yeah, he’s definitely done some crazy shit. He was ready to move on, but he wasn’t ready to see you move on, and that’s not fair. None of this should have happened.”
“Is he in jail?” she asks, her body stiffening once more.
“No,” I answer, my tone defeated. “He bonded out.”
“I’m scared, Cas. What if he comes back here to hurt me? Or worse, what if something happens to Roxy?”
“It’s okay, Vivienne. I won’t let him hurt you. Come with me on tour. Shit, Roxy can come too. I’ll have someone stay at your place. He’s not going to be able to bond out again if he comes back here. My lawyers will make sure of it.” I try to reassure her, running my fingers through her hair.
“I wish I could,” she sighs.
“Shhh. Go to sleep. Don’t worry. I’m here. He’d be stupid to come back. I had better security installed before you arrived. I had Roxy’s place done too, so you’re both always safe.”
