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Doesn’t help. It never helps. Not when it comes to my babygirl.

My. Babygirl.

Fuck yes.

My poor dick has waited so long, as well as my heart. My eyes travel up the stairs as I grab the railing. Coming down is the group of wannabes who were sizing me up at the table a few minutes ago.

The one in a bright yellow mini dress sucks on a straw, eyes lighting up. Pupils huge. She’s high as fuck. Snorting Adderall is the newest thing and this whole group looks as fucking tweaked as they come. Two others catch my eye, and there’s a whisper in slow motion.

Lennie sees me, shoots me a quick smile on a little happy bounce with a two-finger wave, then…

Yellow dress’s arms loop around my neck, gloss-slicked lips pressing into mine as my gag reflex kicks in hard. The others surround me at the base of the stairs, the girl on my face pushing her tongue forward as her hand slips down and takes a handful of the hard-on I’m sporting with Lennie’s name written all over it.

I’ve never hit a girl. A woman. Female of any age, shape or color.

But, fuck, this is fucking assault. I’ve never taken a handful of ass or anything that wasn’t offered. Over the last ten years since I started my agency, where sex is currency, I’ve not touchedanyone. Work was my life, but in all that time, I’ve never had to deal with this shit.

Women have always had my support and admiration but now knowing they deal with this all the fucking time? Tenfold.

The flicker cheer in Lennie’s wide eyes fades. She’s watching,her face twisting into that ‘I’m going to cry’ look I know too well, as Ryan Nolan smiles my way.

The group of females closes in, laughing, pushing, and grabbing for a piece themselves.

I fling them off, spitting on the floor, my mouth defiled. Yellow dress stumbles back into her crew, who gasp and stare. Cameras are up and recording, but I don’t give a shit.

They curse and shove at me as I take the stairs two at a time, but Lennie is gone.

I barrel around the curve at the top of the stairs. Nothing.

I stomp down one hallway, opening doors, seeing all the glory of what goes on at these events, and my heart speeds, knowing she’s here somewhere. Without me. Without the protection I provide in person or with the bodyguards I attach to her whenever she’s out of my sight.

“Lennie!” I bellow, drawing looks, phones raised all around recording. Everything is a fucking event these days and no publicity is bad. At least, that’s what I tell my agents, but it’s not true.

Another hallway, glass walls with curtains veiling drug-fueled orgies, and my panic pushes into the red. If anyone has touched her or harmed her…

Ten minutes later, I’m on the last hallway in this monstrosity of a home, banging on doors, when I hear it.

I’d know that chirping sound anywhere. Like a beacon in a dark sky, it’s Lennie’s voice. It’s not a scream, but it’s one of her noises that tells me, something is not right.

“No, I mean yes, I—” she says as I barrel through the door without a knock. She’s mine and where she goes, I go, no quarter.

What greets me buckles my fucking knees.

A glass of champagne is spilled on the table. Ryan Nolan’s arm is around her shoulders, her blue shirt torn with the black ribbon discarded on the white carpet.

And his hand, hisfucking hand…

From there, it’s fists and the sound of bones breaking. His scream echoes through the mansion when I smash his head against the wall. He drops to the floor in a ball, saliva, and blood dripping from his gaping lips as I break every finger in that hand that was touching Lennie with a snap, crackle and pop.

“Stop!” Her voice stalls me for a breath as Ryan’s bloodied face turns the carpet red. “Don’t!You have to stop, or they’ll take you away from me!” She taps her fingers on the sides of her head, her wide gray eyes narrow with fear.

Take you away from me.

The room fills with muscle as I instinctively grab a random thumb drive lying on the floor and brush myself down. Ryan must have dropped it. It’s probably nothing, but I slip it into my pocket anyway since nobody else seems to have noticed. Both my security guys and ten others that belong to the host, or who the fuck knows, drag me back, but my only focus is her.

There are other strangers in the room, phones raised, when I shove through everyone, covering Lennie with my body and hauling her ass into the bathroom across the hall as I listen to Ryan Nolan puking behind us.

“Baby.” I close the door, turning to hold her face in my palms. The blood rushing through my ears is a roaring river of rage. Her warm, soft skin in my hands lights up my heart and my soul. “Are you okay?”