Dane

As soon as the door closed behind her, he slumped, dropped his guard, let his face rest in his hands. His heart pounded against his ribs and he was so damn sick of feeling like something was about to tear out of his chest. But here they were. It was happening again. And there was nothing he could do but walk through it.

​​

She was so proud. So certain of herself. And he was chipping away at her. He hated himself for it. But he had no choice. She was walking into a world of darkness—dark men, dark deeds—like she'd never seen or experienced before. If something happened to her…

Possibilities swam through Dane's head. All the ways he'd seen women hurt. Killed—in spirit, or in truth. All the things that could happen to her now, or any one of his staff if these men perceived that they'd become important . . . and it would be his fault.

The sick pit in his stomach wouldn't ease, but thinking about it wasn't going to help either. Action. Only action had the chance to change any of this.

Dane grunted and forced himself to go back to analyzing the debrief information while he waited for Chris to return with Sam and Tank. He hadn't lied to Lila when he said the risk was very real that these people had manipulated his brother to bring her into their circle.

Chris was sharp and strong. But he hadn't grown up the way Dane had. They had different fathers—both out of the picture by the time Chris was thirteen.

Chris had grown up relatively softly. He still believed in the good in people. Proven by the fact that he'd been taken in by this woman in the first place—and how he wouldn't hurt his friend the other day, even when he was embarrassed.

He was a better man that Dane. Dane had known that for a long time. But that didn't mean he was stronger. Or equipped to deal with this.

Dane on the other hand. . . Dane hadn't had any choice but to learn that very few people were good, that most people's belief in society was based more on an ideal, than fact. And that even when people did have good motives or intentions, they were often weaker than those looking for evil. Most of the good people became victims in this world.

Lila is a good person.

The thought came uninvited, but with complete certainty.

Well, shit.

That just meant it was even more likely she was about to get hurt.

Dane slammed the keys on his laptop so hard one popped off.

*****

Lila

Lila spent a good hour setting up one of her independent contacts with all the information they'd need to dig deeper on Becky's father, his friends, and how Becky had come to be on the set of the television show. The consultant—someone she'd used many times—didn't know what she suspected, only that she was interested in the young star. She wanted to know who was pulling the power strings behind her, how she'd come to be connected to Daniels Security, and what she gained by bringing this to the press.

She knew between her contacts and Dane's they'd be able to tell who was pulling the strings behind all this if they could just get a clear picture of who had circled the woman before it all started.

But that still left the very public press conference and media appearances the woman was using to shift public opinion against Dane and his business. That was something Lila definitely knew how to tackle. And in an effort not to feel so completely out of control, she launched herself into that attack while she waited.

Three hours later she had Dane in the conference room while Tonya and Grant talked him through the different media outlets that had been used by the woman so far, along with their potential reach, and suspected strategy given the narrative she was spouting.

"So what do we do?" he growled when they'd briefed him on all of it.

Lila looked at the whiteboard they'd used to list everything and shook her head. "A week ago I would have said get out there, follow her up. Show yourself to be the measured, educated one. Stifle the intensity of what people were feeling. But she's been out there long enough now, and had a big enough audience, I think the best strategy is an all-out attack."

She stalked to the other end of the table where she'd left a list of media contacts. "I can get you a press conference with all the major news outlets—which automatically gets you on the morning shows, and most of the gossip sites, too. They have to see you, Dane. They have to have something in their minds to balance her story. Questions. Credibility. You have to be the one to speak, because even though this was Chris, it's you that's in their crosshairs."

Dane grimaced. "I could release a statement—"

"No, it's not enough. They have to see you. Read your body language. I can't stress how important it is that you show yourself to be the person in this equation who has everything under control—and who can't be faulted."

"How do I do that?" He looked genuinely shocked.

Lila smiled. "You have to be honest."

"I'm always honest."

"No, I mean, openly honest. You have to show your true self and let them see how much passion you have for keeping your clients safe. Let them see what you showed me the day I arrived."

"Which was?"

"Your offense at the idea that someone would think you'd willingly hurt a woman. Your reasons for starting this company in the first place."

Dane's throat bobbed and he turned away from the others for a second. They all started talking quietly to each other, like they hadn't noticed. But everyone was watching him from the corner of their eyes.

Especially Chris, who was watching Dane with a distinctly uneasy look on his face.