Page 108 of New Nebraska Heat

Scowling at me, her eyes iced over. “When he’s elected governor next fall, we’ll be putting an end to police brutality. How dare you, you grubby little street grunt!”

Bryce’s pained face appeared from behind his security team. “Ifhe’s elected governor next fall,” he countered calmly. “Assumption makes a fool of many. Now, it’s cold out here, let’s make our way back to the hotel. Mr. Winterborn, you’re no longer welcome on any of my properties. I’d like you to leave immediately. You’ll have your ticket money refunded. Good evening,sir.”

“He’s my date.” The blond from TV protested.

“Doesn’t matter.”

She shut her hole, but her stare at Bryce was icy.

The night was ruined now. Bryce and his team escorted us back, with Serenity now cradled against Hunter in a bridal carry. My twin was steaming, casting irritated, accusatory glances at me for not letting him pummel her would-be kidnapper.

I’d have told him to stuff it… if I wasn’t so rattled by all the threats coming out of the woodwork. And how close this newest one had come to taking Serenity.

Serenity

Ihad sympathy for Cinderella.

No pumpkins, wicked stepsisters or midnight curfews were involved, but my dream evening had been turned upside down all the same. The fairytale was a flop.

For a while there, I’d been crazy enough to think I could put my past in my rearview without leaving New Nebraska. That I could dance the night away with the four men who had all begun to write their names on my heart. That we could be a big, happy family who didn’t have to worry about tomorrow or about the demons of my past or about the fact that I’d ignored the unspoken, fragile compromise they’d all smoothed over their differences like a varnish for my sake.

Tonight’s emergency had exposed the glossed-over cracks, and I wasn’t sure if things would ever truly be right. Especially between Hunter and Dagger.

I sighed inside.

They’d been getting along better and better too.

Now, all of us but Dagger were in the penthouse suite of theCorn Exchange Plaza and Spa, with the party still going on, twenty-five floors below. Bryce estimated the last stragglers would be down there until three or four in the morning, but even with the deceitful Alexander Winterborn being banned from Bryce’s hotel, escorted out with the icy reporter in tow, I had no more desire to mix with strangers for now.

Bryce had let his security team in for a gangster vamp sniff and search, then I’d asked if the grizzly squad could be stationed outside, my paranoia running rampant after having my trust taken advantage of so callously. You never knew who a Temple fanatic might be or who might have been bribed by Conrad or Winterborn, elite bodyguards or not.

Life in New Nebraska came with zero safety guarantees.

Conrad had come for me tonight. I felt certain—proof or no proof. Xander, Ceci’s vamp lover, had been so right: Conrad was the sort who had no limits to what he’d do. And he’d keep coming until I put a border between us. Or maybe even that was wishful thinking.

A terrifying image from all those years in the feeding den flashed through my mind. Conrad’s fangs at full length, ready to sink into my flesh. The attack had left a lifelong reminder on my neck. One of the scars that would never leave my skin. Or psyche.

I might never be free of him. And I’d dragged all my guys into the dangerous mix.

Of course, none of them had complained. Even after tonight. They were too loving and gracious for that. But much as I wanted more and more to let them in, to say “fuck it,” cast aside my plans to head for new horizons, and see where these relationships might lead, trying my damndest to love them all as well as they deserved… it sounded too moronically optimistic. My life never went according to plan.

Peeling off my gloves, I slumped onto one of the living room’s ornate purple couches. My body gave a sigh of ease, but my nerveswould need more consoling. I plucked my heels off and placed them underneath, lying back, sliding my bare soles across the velvet.

How spoiled was I these days? Lounging in the most luxuriant hotel room in the state, romantic partner to one of the richest men in the world.

Feeling sorry for myself.

Bryce walked over to stand beside me, his smile kind as always. “May I sit beside you?”

I rubbed my palm in a circle across the upholstery and patted the spot next to me.

He perched on the edge and opened his arms. I curled into the embrace, sobbing lightly. “I ruined the whole evening, didn’t I? Following that fraud outside.”

Bryce kissed my forehead and raised my chin with his finger. “You ruined nothing. That slime Winterborn tried to ruin it. But you’re unharmed, he’s gone, and I’m here with you. I wouldn’t count it a loss.”

“But now Dagger and Hunter are fighting again.” I wiped away tear.

He cupped my cheek with a bare palm and dried another with his soft thumb. “They just had the scare of their life, thinking you were in danger. They’re reactive right now, but they’ll calm down.”