daily until I cried every day on my way to and from work. He told me he’d stop if I came back to him. How could I go back to him after that?”
“Why didn’t you sue him?”
“He told me he’d destroy me if I did. When we were together, we sexted. He had sent me some sexy photos. I’d reciprocated. Nudes. A video. We were dating, it was fine.” Her voice faltered. “If his nudes got out, he’d be high-fived. If mine got out, I mean, now, yes. I could spin them, it wouldn’t hurt my business. But they’d still be out there. Everyone would see me.” Naked. She shuddered and burrowed deeper into his embrace.
His exhale was long and low. “When we were filming, you said you wanted our footage in your control. Makes sense now, after what he did.”
She nodded. “Quitting felt like I was admitting to everything he was saying about me, but I didn’t know what else to do. He gave me a settlement for a fraction of what I was owed, and I left.” Her smile was bitter. “He kept those photos quiet, but the damage was done. Everyone believed him or, at least, was wary of me. Getting a job at the same or higher position seemed impossible. If it hadn’t been for Katrina putting up the money for Crush, I don’t know what I would have done.”
He kissed her neck. “I’m sorry that happened to you and I’m glad you had your friend. I’m going to punch Peter tomorrow. Don’t worry, I won’t really kill him.”
Her laugh was choked. He sounded suspiciously like Katrina. “Please don’t. No one can know about this, Samson. I mean it. Especially not Annabelle.”
He rubbed his hand up and down her back. “I can’t let Annabelle do business with a predator, Rhi.”
“He’s not a predator, not to anyone else.” She leaned back, more anxiety piling on. Why had she said anything? How could she have abandoned her usual tight-lipped stance on this subject? “He has a vendetta against me, personally, that’s all. Please don’t tell Annabelle. I can’t have him saying I won by snitching on him. I have to beat him fairly. I—”
“Okay, okay.” Samson pressed his finger over her lips. “I won’t tell Annabelle.”
She moved her head away so she could speak. “Promise?”
“Totally promise.”
He sounded sincere. Rhiannon sagged against him and rested her head against his shoulder. “I should have checked to see who it was before I opened the door.” Hadn’t she had the rules of how to be wary drummed into her from the time she was a young girl?
“Don’t blame yourself. He shouldn’t have come to your room.”
“I don’t want to sleep here. Not under the same roof as him. I can’t.”
He brushed a kiss over her head. Either she’d imagined his disinterest earlier in the day, or it was simply gone now, because his response was filled with warmth. “You don’t have to. Grab your sweatshirt and put on your shoes and take anything else you’ll need for the night.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
SAMSON WANTED to run along the beach again, but this time, it wasn’t grief and loneliness guiding him.
It was barely banked rage.
You can’t hit Peter.
He’d wanted to, even before he’d learned of the full extent of Peter’s villainy. The second he’d seen the fear in Rhi’s eyes and put together a rough understanding of why she’d sent him that cryptic text, he’d been ready to smash something.
Samson’s fists clenched.
His threat had only been a mild exaggeration. He may not be in the shape he’d been in during his pro-athlete days, but he could put enough power behind his blow to lay a man out cold.
Samson consciously shortened his stride when he noticed Rhi was trotting to keep up with him. He’d told her to grab her shoes, but she’d yanked them off the second they’d hit the soft sand.
It was silent this time of night, the townspeople snug in the glowing warmth of their houses. The full moon cast a silvery curtain over everything, turning the ocean and the large rock formation in the distance into a magical landscape.
Rhi tilted her head toward the ocean. The moonlight caressed her cheeks and forehead, a natural highlight for her luminous dark brown skin. The vibrating tension that had shaken her body in her room had eased as soon as they’d hit the beach and started walking.
She wasn’t herself, though. Normally, her dynamic personality gave her the illusion of being so much bigger. Tonight, with