“Then I’ll make you sure.” I kissed the top of her head, and the image of Piper grabbing her by the hair flashed through my head.

I tried holding in my amusement at how Tate hauled off and brought her down.

“You’re laughing right now?” She pulled back and looked at me, half-angry and half-confused.

Yeah, I definitely shouldn’t be laughing right now.

“Well, I was kind of worried about my anger issues, but now I’m kind of worried about yours. You like to hit people.” I couldn’t hold back the huge grin on my face.

She rolled her eyes. “I’m not angry. She got what she deserved, and I was attacked first.”

I picked Tate up, guiding her legs around my waist and carried her down the hall, unable to not touch her anymore.

I was so afraid I’d never get to again.

“It’s your fault, you know?” she said against my ear.

“What?” I asked.

“You made me mean. And now I pummel poor, defenseless girls…and guys,” she added, and I wanted to laugh again, thinking of the damage she’d done to Madoc.

“You might say that I turned metal into steel.”

She kissed the ridge of my ear, and a shudder rocked through my body.

“Whatever helps you sleep at night, you big bully,” she teased.

And I gripped her tighter, hoping I could, someday, right all the wrongs.

Chapter 38

Over the next week, we worked hard to take down the video or report it to the host site.

Tate handled it with a straight face until she read the comments on the video on one of the sites. Some were cruel. Some were twisted. All of them were sordid.

She was ready to torch the entire internet, so I ended up just telling her to leave it, and I’d handle the rest of it myself. Actually, I passed the task to Jax. He knew his way around that shit better than I did. And he’d be faster at it.

Piper’s parents found out about the video and her involvement. They took her out of school for the rest of the year. She’d be home-schooled until she graduated.

Nate was another matter. He’d been MIA since the shit went down in the hallway last week, so I put him on the back burner for now.

But he’d show up eventually, and I wasn’t anywhere near over it.

Tate’s dad, on the other hand, was the hardest part to deal with. He supported our new relationship, but we had to “slow the hell down.”

He and I took Tate to Chicago last weekend to buy the R8 she’d been eyeing online. He wasn’t thrilled with spending that much money on a car for her, but he wanted to see her smile. Keep busy. Focus on another project.

Some people might consider his therapeutic tactics hiding, but it wasn’t. The Nova project he invented for me last year was a way for me to not think constantly. I could get space, distance, and perspective.

It was already working on Tate. I couldn’t believe how quickly she was getting over the video.

“What’s this?” Her curious eyes smiled at the box I’d just placed in her hands.

I sat on my knees on her bed, leaning back on my feet. “Open it.”

Tate had been in bed when I climbed through the tree—and the rain—to sneak in a visit.

I had dragged Jax with me to some outlet mall Madoc told me about. Not normally a shopper, but I’d bit the f**king bullet and asked for ideas.

I wanted to give Tate something special.

She slid the top off the box and picked out the charm bracelet, her eyes sparkling with surprise and a little confusion.

I watched her study the four charms hanging off the bracelet: a key, a coin, a cell phone, and a heart.

I kept my expression flat, still uneasy about anyone knowing how weak I was. How my hopes rested on this girl thinking I was worth a damn.

After a few moments, her eyes widened, and realization hit her. “My lifelines!” she blurted out, smiling, and I exhaled a relieved breath.

I didn’t know, until recently, about Tate’s survival tactics with me. They were things she always carried on her when she went to parties or other social gatherings in high school.

Emergency type objects that she used to escape me if she needed. Money, phone, and car keys.

“Yeah.” I ran a hand through my hair, droplets falling to my face. “When you told me on our way to Chicago about how you always wanted your escape plans when dealing with me in the past, I didn’t want you to see me that way anymore.”

“I don’t—” She shook her head.

“I know,” I interrupted. “But I want to make sure I never lose your trust again. I want to be one of your lifelines, Tate. I want you to need me. So...” I pointed to the bracelet. “The heart is me. One of your lifelines. I took Jax with me today to pick it out.”

I should’ve just gotten her a bracelet with a heart. That’s it. A f**king heart. That was all she needed. I was the one to keep her safe. I was the one she’d run to—if Tate ran to anybody at all—for help or comfort.

“How is your brother?” She brought me out of my thoughts.

“He’s hanging in there,” I offered. “My mom is working with a lawyer to try to get custody. He wants to meet you.”

And he did. My brother’s words, “I wanna meet the girl that’s made you so boring.”

Such a little shit.

“I’d love to,” she said softly, and my heart swelled as I watched her twirl the bracelet around her fingers, studying it with a twinkle in her eyes.