He left?

“He went back to Georgia? Will you be joining him?”

Her brows lowered and she stared at me as if I asked her if she was going to Mars.

“Why would I be joining him?” Then her eyes widened. “Oh my God, Drake. Did you think I want to be with him? Even after I told you I love you?”

Uncomfortable, I shrugged. “That was before you knew he was alive. I wasn’t sure what to think.” I ran my hand through my hair. “But I’m so relieved.”

“Greg is my past. He has his life and he’s happy, and I have mine. Yes, it was a complete and utter shock seeing him again after all these years, but we’re different people now. We talked about it this morning on the way from his hotel to the airport.” Her eyes lit up as she added, “He thinks you’re a great man and wishes you luck in the election.”

I stepped forward and took her face in my hands, cupping her cheeks as my mouth covered hers. I’d missed her taste so much, and poured all the love I had for her into that kiss.

When she pulled me closer, I couldn’t let go. There was no way on earth I could lose this woman.

After our lips broke apart, I took her hand and led her to the couch. “I need to tell you something.”

“You can tell me anything.”

“Please sit.” I motioned toward the sofa.

After we both had sat down, she looked at me with such trust and adoration, my heart sank. “You’re not going to like what I have to tell you.”

“Just say it, Drake. You’re scaring me.”

“I went to a fundraiser last night, and Emily was there.”

“Your ex-girlfriend?”

That thought made my stomach roll. “Yes, the one and the same. But she’s engaged to Grissett’s campaign manager.”

“Oh,” she said with a frown, then her eyes shot open wide. “OH!”

“Exactly. But that’s not what I wanted to tell you.” I paused, wondering how in the hell I could tell her what I’d done.

“Drake, whatever it is, you can tell me.” She placed her hand on mine, which was vibrating on my knee.

“Gretchen came as my date,” I said, and Lucy smiled. “I told her what you told me about your past. I just needed to talk to someone. I’m so sorry.”

“It’s fine. I’d never want you to feel as if you couldn’t go to your family. They’re wonderful people. I almost told them myself.”

“Thank you, but that’s not all of it.” I brought her hand to my mouth and kissed her knuckles while inhaling the sweet scent of her skin.

Before I could say more, her phone rang. “Do you need to get that?”

“It’s Mason. I can call him back.” As soon as it stopped ringing, it started again, and she gave me an apologetic look. “I’m sorry, it must be important.”

“Answer it.”

“Hey, Mace. Is everything—” She paused for a moment, the blood draining from her face as she listened. “What?”

Her lips opened and she glanced at me, her eyes glistening with unshed tears. My chest tightened with worry, not knowing what he was saying to her.

“Um, okay. I’ll come home now.” She swiped at her phone to end the call and jumped to her feet, looking completely disoriented. “I need to go. I’m sorry.”

I placed my hand on her elbow. “What happened? Is everything okay?”

She shook her head and grabbed her purse to pull out her keys. “I don’t know. Mason said he went to my apartment to see me, and a reporter stopped him outside and asked him questions about me.”

Damn it! “A reporter from what publication, and what did they want?”

She shook her head. “I don’t know. I’m sorry. Can we finish this later?”

When I noticed she was trembling, I gently took the keys from her hand. “I’ll drive you.”

In the car, her nerves became more evident. Her leg frantically bounced, and if she kept twisting her hair, she’d end up with dreadlocks.

“Lucy, what did Mason say exactly?”

“All he said was a reporter was at my apartment from some tabloid, I think he said, Reveal or something like that. He lied to the reporter and told her I was at the aquarium in Maryland, just to get her away from my home. To be honest, as soon as I heard the word reporter, my head felt fuzzy and everything sounded muffled.” She dropped her head in her hands. “Why is this happening to me?”

When we pulled up in front of her apartment, Mason was on her front porch. He hustled to Lucy’s door, opened it, and pulled her into his arms.

At this point, I was an outsider. All I could do was watch as he rubbed her back, which was now trembling. Mason looked up to me and gave me a tight smile.

“Hey, Drake. Let’s get our girl inside.”

Our girl.

I still had Lucy’s keys, so I unlocked the door and we all walked in. Mason went to the kitchen and grabbed three bottles of water from the refrigerator, and handed us each a bottle as we sat on the sofa with Lucy nestled between us.

“Mason, I need to know what happened.” Lucy’s voice was shaky, at best, but she was holding it together.

“I came by to see how you were doing, and this woman was knocking on your door. When I asked if I could help her with something, she said she was a reporter from National Reveal and wanted to get in touch with you. She asked if I had your phone number, but of course I told her I didn’t. Then I asked what this was about.”

Mason took a breath and gave me a pointed look. “She asked if your boyfriend knew you were two-timing him with me. Then she asked . . .” His voice trailed off, which wasn’t a good sign.

Lucy’s chest rose and fell quickly as she took quick breaths. “She asked what, Mace?”

His jaw clenched, and he shook his head.

“What? Tell me!”

“She wanted to know if I was the baby daddy.” Mason stood. “She knows, Lucy. I told her to get the hell off your property, but she knows.”

The phone rang, and Lucy’s head whipped around. Her eyes widened at the caller ID that read BLOCKED. She stood there, frozen in indecision, as the display blinked that she had seven missed calls. Reaching out a trembling hand, she put the phone on speaker, and we listened to the first message.

“Hi, this is Kendra from the National Reveal. We’d like to get a statement from you in regard to what your boyfriend and Republican US senator thinks about you having an abortion. Please get in touch with me—”

Lucy skipped to the next message.

“Lucy, this is Alistair McMillan—” At the sound of the man’s voice, all the color drained from her face. “The school has received a couple of calls today inquiring about you. Please contact us as soon as possible.”

“Oh my God. How?” Lucy looked at me, her eyes were rimmed in red. “Drake?”

“Did you have something to do with this, Prescott?” Mason’s hands balled into fists as he glared at me.

I got up and knelt next to Lucy, who was a bundle of nerves sitting on the couch. “This is what I wanted to tell you earlier.”

God, how could I say this and not make her hate me? I took both her hands in mine and held on tightly as they rested in her lap. When I looked up at her, my heart splintered into a thousand tiny pieces.

“Emily overheard me telling Gretchen about you last night.”

Her eyes flew open wide, and she jerked her hands away.

“Holy shit!” Mason began to pace, shooting me death glares.

“I didn’t know she was there,” I told Lucy, my heart breaking at the pain I’d caused her. “I’m so sorry. This is all my fault.”

“You better fucking believe it is!” Mason went to Lucy’s side and took her hands in his that had just been in mine. “Come with me to California, Luce. You can stay with me until you get on your feet. The college set me up with an apartment just off campus.”

He’s moving? I watched the woman I loved as she seemed to be contemplating his suggestion.

Before I let her answer, I needed to interject. “I’ll take care of this. I haven’t told you the rest of the story.”

“I can’t wait to hear what’s next.” Mason’s sarcastic tone was punching my buttons. But for Lucy, I kept my anger in check.