Page 4 of Too Far

“There’s a lot I can control, Siren. But this is out of my hands. It’s a legally binding contract. It’s a rider for the guys, too. It’s in the NDA they signed when they moved in with me. Misty knows she crossed a dozen lines and that I’m fucking furious with her, but she’s not going anywhere, and she knows it, since she represents my dad, too.”

“Decker,” I plead, not even sure what I want him to do. “You know what the cameras and the scrutiny trigger for me. Allowing this means they’ll have the ability to take my picture and use it however they want.”

“I have final editorial approval on the feature. But that’s the extent of what I can control. We don’t have a choice,” he grumbles.

“Youdon’t have a choice,” I correct, my heart aching. “I don’t have to be involved.”

When he says nothing, I push harder.

“When were you going to share the magnitude of this feature with me? They’re already here setting up, yet until now, you’ve only given me vague details. Did you think I wouldn’t notice the cameras following you around all week?”

“They have access for ten days,” he corrects.

“Ten days?”

Huffing, he pulls out of my hold and frowns down his nose at me.

“I planned to tell you. But I was still working out the specifics and putting fail safes in place to protect you,Josephine.”

The frustration in his tone when he says my name sends me.

As if he’s scolding me. As ifI’mthe one who’s being unreasonable.

I plant my hands on my hips and prepare to square off. It’s a position I’ve found myself in often when in Decker’s presence, though not as often lately.

It’s not that Idon’tbelieve him or trust him to take care of us the best he can. I believe he was working on a way to make this as painless as possible for all of us.

But people we both love have already gotten hurt because of it.

“Are there any off hours to the coverage? Timeouts from the monitoring? Safe places where they aren’t allowed to follow us or photograph us?”

“Of course. They’re not allowed to follow us into the bathrooms.”

Now it makes sense why we’re in here.

“And they’re forbidden from photographing us, pursuing us, or using footage of us when we’re out on the lake,” he recites coolly. “My room is off limits unless I’m in here.” He grits his teeth. “Kylian is working out a few other accommodations as well.”

My stomach lurches as reality sets in. The lake exception makes sense, given the details of his mom’s death, but besides that, this guarded man has agreed to give them unprecedented access to his life… to ourlives. Why?

“I never thought about it before you,” he offers, answering the question I didn’t ask. “I cared how intrusive it can all be. I grew up living in the spotlight, and I’ve always been expected to go along with what Misty and my dad suggest. I resigned myself to being the rising star with the golden arm a long time ago. I didn’t care if they wanted to follow me, photograph me, put pictures of me all over the Internet. I never cared before. Not like I care now.”

“How are we supposed to—”

With a shake of his head, he silences me. “We just have to be careful.” He takes a deep breath, his chest rising, then falling. “We’re safe in here.”

I scoff and fight back an eye roll. By “in here,” he means his bathroom.

“It’s only ten days, Siren. Ten days, then they’re gone.”

Silence shrouds us. There’s nothing left to say. We’re at an impasse—one where he’s not in control, and for once, I wish he was.

Relenting, I rest my forehead against his sternum and will myself not to cry.

“I want more of you,” I confess into the fabric of his shirt.

Humming, he bows down and kisses the top of my head. “You have me, Siren. Any minute we’re not together—every hour they keep us apart—you’re where I want to be.”

For a long moment, we stay like that, my face buried in his chest and his arms holding me steady.