I thought of the implications of what she’d just done. We’d narrowly escaped her being exposed as The Socialmedialite when her laptop was stolen, but now she’d come out of the proverbial virtual closet. She’d signed off as Annie Catrel, and the media was going to be all over it. All over her.

I had to find her.

Quick as a flash, I was out of my seat and pulling on my boots, rummaging in my coat pockets, trying to find my car keys.

“Hey, hold up, mate,” said Tom, placing himself in front of me. “Where do you think you’re going?”

“To find Annie.”

“Not right away, you’re not. Maybe sit down and take a breather for a minute, yeah?”

“I don’t want a breather. I need to see her,” I said and tried to push past him. Unfortunately for me, Tom was a tall fucker, and my head was all over the shop.

“This woman means the world to you—I can see that—but I’m sure she’s feeling pretty delicate right now. Such a big confession will do that to a person. Maybe wait ’til you’ve both had time to process. Otherwise, you might fuck things up worse than before.”

I lost some of my steam as his words took root, my brows furrowing in frustration. I had fucked things up with Annie the last few times I’d seen her. I’d pushed her. Then I pushed her away. And fuck if she didn’t just push me back.

“And anyway, you need to shower before you go anywhere,” he said and steered me in the direction of the bathroom.

Before I knew it, I was standing under the spray, drowning my need to see her in hot water and soap. What Annie had written was running through my head in a loop. I already knew that she loved me; the struggle was in getting her to admit it, both to me and to herself, and now she’d just told the whole world. I couldn’t believe how much everything had changed in such a short amount of time. I was still wondering if this was a dream. Yesterday I was comatose, heartbroken and depressed beyond measure. Now I couldn’t stop grinning as I punched my fist into the air in victory.

Yeah, that’s right, I just victory-punched, butt-naked in the shower.

I just loved her so much I felt I was going to burst with it.

I’d been wrong. She was so fucking brave. I was going to kiss her all night once I got my hands on her just to show her how proud I was. Shit, I’d buy her a thousand roses and a shop full of éclairs in appreciation of her bravery. I knew it had taken everything for her to do what she’d done.

Screw Tom. I was going to find her right now.

Five minutes later, I was dressed and out the door, Tom calling after me to wait. He might have been taller than I was; but I was faster and sneakier, and I managed to make it to the elevator before he could catch up. Before I knew it, I was burning rubber on the road to Annie’s. I found myself with one hand on the steering wheel, the other at my mouth as I chewed half my fingernails off with nerves.

The last time we’d spoken, emotions had been running high for both of us. I’d said things I shouldn’t have said. I just hoped that what she’d written meant she’d forgiven me and it wasn’t just some way of coming clean to the world about who she really was.

No, that definitely wasn’t it. If it were, then she wouldn’t have included all the stuff about loving me.

When I got there, I had to park across the road from her apartment building because there were vans and cars blocking half the street. Curious. I got out and strode across, only to see the paparazzi crowded around the door to the lobby when I got closer.

Fuck.

I was about to turn around and get back in my car because if I approached them I’d be swamped in seconds; but then I heard her, and my heart exploded.

“Please, let me by. You’re crushing me,” Annie demanded, and my feet were moving again, my hands balling into fists. Those fuckers had clearly caught her leaving the building and had pounced like a pack of ravenous wolves.

“Socialmedialite, tell us why you came clean?”

“Annie, have you spoken to Ronan yet?”

“Did you write the post to win him back?”

They all threw questions at her, one after the other in a never-ending stream, cameras flashing rapidly, the lights blinding. She must have been terrified, though she was hiding it well; she’d lifted her chin in defiance. There were at least thirty of the fuckers, all surrounding her. When I reached them, I began pulling them back one by one. It only took a moment for them to recognize who I was because seconds later the cameras were flashing at me and questions were being thrown in my direction.

They cleared back a little when they saw the murderous look on my face, and when I finally got to Annie, I found her against the wall, clutching her handbag, her eyes wide as she tried to hide her fear. They’d cornered her away from the door so she couldn’t get back in after she’d left. The moment her eyes connected with mine, I saw a myriad of emotions flash across her face, the most powerful of which was relief.

“Ronan,” she breathed as I took her into my arms, shielding her from the horde. I ran my hands down her face to her neck and then along her body, an all-consuming instinct to check if she’d been hurt.

“Are you all right?” I asked, my voice coming out in a growl since I was so pissed. One guy was hovering over my shoulder to try to get a shot, and I felt like hitting him, making an example to the rest of them to back the fuck up.

Annie brought her hands to my chest, and I looked down to see they were shaking, her eyes wide and flickering between mine as if to ask, What have I done?