Page 229 of My Three Billionaire Rockstars

That was the point. So she can see that life doesn’t have to all change.

Then, a camera flash explodes across the street and everything in me hardens. Willow startles beside me.

Standing near the fountain with a phone already lifted toward us is Caitlyn West.

Her expression narrows when she sees recognition cross my face.

“Well,” she says brightly. “This certainly confirms a few things.”

I step in front of Willow.

Caitlyn notices that, too. “There it is. Protective. People are going to love that.”

“Stop filming,” I say evenly.

She keeps recording. “Come on, Gabe. You had to know this would happen eventually.”

My jaw tightens. “This isn’t your story.”

“Oh, I think it very much is now.”

Willow shifts beside me uncomfortably. I feel it immediately.

Caitlyn’s eyes flick toward her. “Fans are obsessed with you, by the way,” she tells Willow casually. “Especially after the podcast.”

“Please stop talking to me like we’re friends,” Willow mutters.

Caitlyn laughs softly. “The article’s running regardless,” she says finally, lowering the phone. “You should’ve just worked with me when I offered it.”

She keeps talking, probably sensing blood in the water now, but I’m no longer listening to her.

I’m watching Willow instead. Watching the exact moment fear starts creeping back into her expression.

And suddenly the only thing I can think about is keeping her away from people like Caitlyn.

FORTY-THREE

Willow

Iseriously consider running away.

Back to my house. Back to my diner. Back to my tiny, uncomplicated life where the worst thing that happened to me was Bill complaining about pancake flour.

Instead, I’m sitting cross-legged in one of the guest rooms at Hawthorne House while the internet argues about whether Gabe Stockton looked “possessive” during a two-second clip filmed outside Commas Park.

Spoiler alert: He did.

Unfortunately for my emotional stability, the comments are somehow worse.

Someone made an entire slow-motion edit of him stepping in front of me when Caitlyn started filming.

Another person zoomed in on the exact moment he looked down at me afterward and captioned it: HE LOOKS LIKE HER SAFETY IS HIS RELIGION.

Which is objectively insane.

I throw my phone onto the bed dramatically. “This is a nightmare.”

Daisy lifts her head from the rug.