Page 78 of Ruin Me, Daddy

He wanted to say more, to tell her Daddy would take care of it. But the fact of the matter was, they’d been in a race against the clock from the moment she’d gotten on her knees for him at Black Light all those months ago. And now it was all set to blow up in their faces, just like he’d always known it would.

As soon as Silver hung up, he hit the button to dial the one person who might be able to help him mitigate the shitstorm headed their way.

“Elias.” Simon’s voice, tinged with amusement, came through the phone. “I was wondering when I would finally hear from you. How’s South Carolina? Is Amanda with you?”

“She is. Which is part of what I’m calling you about.”

Simon’s sigh of exasperation probably would have made him laugh under less dire circumstances. “Let me guess. You two finally got your head out of your asses and fucked, and now you need me to make sure Ace doesn’t lose his mind when you inevitably tell him, because you’re such a goddamn boy scout there’s no possible way you’re going to keep it a secret, even if it would make my life easier.”

“That’s… not too far off, actually. How did you?—”

“Please. Everyone knows you’ve been mooning over that girl since you were teenagers. Well, everyone but Ace, maybe.”

“Crash?”

“Are you kidding me? He’s been taking bets on you two hooking up since your first tour.”

So much for their big secret. “That’s… We can talk about that later. Someone outed us, Simon. Sold a picture of me and Silver to one of those online gossip sites.”

“Fucking hell. Okay.” Simon blew out a breath and Ace could picture him in his head, pinching his nose the way he did when he was stressed about something. Which was ninety percent of the time. “I’ll head over to Ace’s, keep him contained. If he calls either of you, texts you, whatever, do not answer until I give you the all-clear. Got it?”

“I’m not going to ignore him, Simon. He’s my best friend and he deserves to hear the truth from me.”

“I swear you four live to complicate my life,” Simon muttered. “Fine. Do whatever you feel you have to.”

“Thanks, Simon. I know this isn’t how you wanted to spend your Sunday.”

“Just another day in paradise.”

No sooner had the call ended, than the sound of Lottie calling her for her Daddy echoed through the club. Rising to his feet, Braden strode toward the steps. “Up here, Lottie-bug.”

A few seconds later, the five of them appeared at the top of the stairs, with a furious Lottie leading the charge. “I told you those assholes were bad news! But nobody wanted to listen to me!”

“What assholes?” Braden asked, his mouth dipping down into a frown.

“The church or cult or whatever the fuck it is outside! I tried to tell you we needed to get rid of them, and now look what they’ve done!”

It struck Ice then that he’d expected to be greeted by a pack of hysterical women. When, in fact, they were being greeted by a pack of vengeful Valkyries ready to battle. Even sweet little Ivy looked ready to rip someone’s throat out.

Hell hath no wrath.

Sighing heavily, Braden pinched the bridge of his nose, and Ice nearly laughed at how much it reminded him of Simon. “Lottie-bug, there’s no proof those pictures came from the people hassling us.”

“Oh my god, who else would they have come from?”

“Anyone,” Silver said, stepping forward to take Ice’s hand. He pulled her close, tucking her up under his arm, needing the feel of her pressed against him to quell the erratic beating of his heart. Which it did, somewhat, when she snuggled closer. “Doesn’t matter where we go, there are always going to be people with cameras waiting to catch us doing something headline-worthy. Could be the people harassing you, could just be some regular Joe off the street.”

Lottie’s shoulders drooped. “It’s them,” she muttered, her bottom lip puffing out a bit. “I know it’s them.”

“It might be,” Braden conceded, pulling her into his arms and dropping a kiss on the top of her head. “I’ll send another email out to the club members, letting them know to be extra vigilant.”

“The good news is, even if it is them, I don’t think they have any incriminating evidence about the club.” Rising from the table, Holden scanned the screen in his hand. “All the article says is you two were spotted outside an ‘exclusive club in downtown Charleston’. There’s some speculation you’re here for some kind of romantic getaway, a few rumors swirling you secretly got married and you’re on your honeymoon, but nothing about the club itself. If the people harassing you had any real info on the club, it would be plastered all over the internet.”

“Oh.” Lottie’s pout deepened. “They still could have taken the picture.”

“Certainly, and I’ll let my men know to be on the lookout for cameras pointed our way going forward. We may not have many members with Ice and Silver’s level of celebrity, but we have plenty who value their privacy.” Holden glanced over at Braden, one brow raised in question. “You still want my men to keep their distance, or you want to try confronting them? They might run if they realize we aren’t going to stand back and do nothing.”

“Fuck.” Looking more stressed than Ice could ever remember seeing him, Braden ran a hand through his hair, leaving it uncharacteristically mussed. “Let me call my brothers, see what they think.”

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