“I own the building,” Ash interrupted calmly.

What the fuck? I stared at him. He owned my building?

He didn’t even glance at me.

Marcum leaned back in the chair, her dark eyes speculative. “You own her apartment building.”

“It was a Phenecie-Lang investment back in the eighties, along with hundreds of other properties.” He shrugged.

I actually felt a bit of relief at the explanation. At least he hadn't bought it after we'd met. That would've made things even more awkward between us than they already were.

“Technically, I should say my family’s company owns it. It amounts to the same thing.”

Marcum shook her head, chuckling. “Well, that would definitely simplify things if you could find a subtle way to get us the video feed without making anybody aware of why it’s being taken or who needs it.”

“I’ll get my top security man on it. He’s former NSA. If he can’t do subtle, I don’t know who can. What else?”

I sat there, listening to them talk on and on while my head spun.

This was so far beyond me at this point, I didn’t know what to do or think. Give me a study on the long-term psychological effects of bullying or how to counsel a victim of domestic abuse. Hell, I could even work with Isadora and her post traumatic stress issues. I wasn't prepared to deal with being a victim of stalking.

Maybe I had my own control issues to address.

“Toni.”

I jerked my head, feeling like I’d been in some weird sort of fugue.

Marcum was looking at me and I had a feeling she’d said my name more than once. Probably once times five. At least. “What?”

“You know you can’t go back home.”

No. Actually, I hadn’t figured that part out yet and I swore, feeling like an idiot. “Fine,” I muttered. “I’ll go back to my parents. I’ve got clothes and stuff there–”

“That’s not a good plan,” Ash said. “They know where your parents live.”

Narrowing my eyes, I glared at him. “Yeah. Thanks for that reminder.”

“Toni, you need to think now.” He leaned forward and covered my hands with his.

I pulled my hands away as the reality hit me hard and fast. They knew where my parents lived. My brothers...my nieces, my nephews.

Oh, shit.

My breath started to come in hard, fast pants and I clambered up out of the seat, unable to stay still. Before I could give in to the fear inside me and take off, Ash caught my arms.

“Breathe.”

“I am breathing!” I tried to shout it, but I couldn't get enough air in.

His voice was calm. “No. You’re panting and you’re freaking out. Take a deep breath.”

“Let me go!” I tried to wrench away and couldn’t.

“Sure. But you need to calm down first. I’ll let you go after you take...”

He let out a grunt of pain as I drove my fist into the meaty part of his chest. I wanted to hit him again, but I forced myself to focus on breathing. He'd been right. I really needed to breathe.

“For the record, I don't like being manhandled. Or told to calm down.”

“I’ll keep it in mind.” He rubbed at his shoulder, but I could see a hint of something in his eyes. A hint of something that said he was holding back a comment about manhandling me.

I looked down at my hand as it gave a throb, grateful for a reason to look away from him.

“Are you ready to listen now?”

Moving over to the window, I braced my hands on the broad window sill. Then I forced myself to breathe in – really breathe. With each slow, steady inhale and exhale, the fog cleared from my head. “Yeah.”

“You can’t go home. You know that.” He wasn't being patronizing, but he was talking succinctly.

“I also know that my family's in danger. My family, my brothers...Ash, I’ve got a two year-old niece. Her mom stays at home to take care of her. Who’s going to watch over them?”

“I am.”

At his calm pronouncement, I turned to look at him.

Marcum was shaking her head, but he held up a hand. “Look, I can hire private security, and I know the best. I’ll get teams watching everybody until we get this wrapped up.”

Shivering, I hugged myself, arms crossed over my middle. “And what if it takes years, Ash?”

“Then that’s how long they’ll watch.” He came to me, cupping my cheek in his hand. “You’re in this because of us. Because of me. I told you, I’m not going to let anything happen to you or your family.”

Slowly, I nodded. “Okay. Okay.” I could do this. I looked over at Marcum. “I can probably go to a hotel for a while. Will that–?”

“No hotels.”

I turned toward Ash.

His eyes gleamed as he met my gaze. “You’re coming home with me.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Is that a fact?”

Chapter 4

Ash

“You’ll be comfortable in here.”

Out in the hall, I leaned back against the wall while I listened to my sister chattering on with Toni. Their voices dropped to a lower murmur, and while I knew they probably weren’t talking about me, I had little doubt I was the reason for the lower voices.

“Are you sure you’re okay with all of this? If you want, I can get you into a hotel. I’ll make sure there’s security and everything.” Isadora’s voice was low.

I ground my teeth together. Her offer made me want to storm into the room and tell her she was grounded. Granted, I didn’t exactly have any right to ground her any more. I hadn't had that option for years, unfortunately.

To be fair, I couldn’t really demand Toni stay here if she didn’t want to, but if she tried to leave, there was going to be one hell of a fight. I didn’t want her leaving. I wanted her here. Here where I could protect her and make sure she was safe.

If I was being honest though, I actually wanted her upstairs in my bedroom, but she was taking one of the many guest bedrooms. Not even a minute after she’d declined dessert, she'd asked Isadora where Doug had put her things. She hadn't even looked at me when she'd asked it. And my traitor of a sister had said that Doug had put Toni's things in the biggest guest room...which hadn't been where I'd told him to put them.

She didn’t want to share my bed. Right now, she didn’t want to even be near me. And I couldn't say that I blamed her.

Isadora stepped out into the hallway and slid me a look before heading off. Unfortunately, whatever she was trying to tell me, I couldn’t figure it out. I wasn't going to ask her to explain though. Colton had arrived earlier and was down in the kitchen at the moment, eating a late meal. No doubt the two of them were going to spend a nice, cozy evening together.

Envy was a bitch.

How did this come so easy to Isadora?

Shoving off the wall, I ducked into the bedroom without knocking. The pale ivory walls, the vivid green accents and furniture made Toni's hair look brighter than usual as she stood by the bed, taking clothes out of the hastily packed suitcase. She glanced up and paused expectantly.

When I didn’t say anything right away, she sighed. “I’m tired, you know. I didn’t sleep much last night. I’m planning on soaking in that huge tub and then collapsing on these very expensive sheets.”

“Are we going to finish the conversation we were having in your apartment?” I asked bluntly.

“No.” She met my gaze levelly. There was no pretense in her eyes, no attempt to hide what she was feeling. She looked battered, bruised and, like she’d said, tired. “I get that you want to talk, Ash, but I don’t want to. Maybe you've decided you want to try something new, but it's not about what you want.”

The truth of her words hit me hard. “Toni, I...”