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Dane

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When they'd both gotten off their phone calls, they'd stared at each other. "No more alone time," Lila said sadly.

Dane sighed and nodded. "Chris will be here in a few minutes, he's already on the way."

She sighed. "Should I go home and change or—"

"No!" he snapped. She gave him a look. "I mean… for the sake of my nerves, how about you just put on some of my clothes?"

She laughed, then when he didn't smile, her face fell. "You're serious?"

He pulled her over to stand between his knees where he sat on the couch, his fingers trailing up and down the outside of her thighs again. Damn. She put hands to his head as he looked up at her. "I'm not saying you can't change. I'm asking you… since they'll be here soon, and I really can't go with you… and right at this moment I don't trust you in anyone else's hands. Can you put up with wearing something of mine for a while to keep you warm until we can go down there together?"

She smiled and kissed him once. "I guess," she pretended to groan. "But anything that fits you is going to swim on me."

"I always did enjoy the off-the-shoulder look," he said in a gravelly voice. She laughed and kissed him again, but sighed after. Then kissed him one more time and stepped out of his grip to go search his closet for something she could wear.

He was still sitting on the couch, marinated in dread, when the door banged. Lila, who'd found a sweatshirt to put over her dress, trotted past towards the door. Dane almost didn't move, almost let her get it, until it occurred to him that it could be a trap. So he leapt to his feet and over the back of the couch so fast she startled and stopped in her tracks, hands at her neck. "You scared me." She said.

"Sorry. But let me get it."

She nodded and Dane took a deep breath, then went to the door, checking at the peephole first to make sure it was Chris outside, then opened the lock.

The door flew back so fast it almost smacked him in the face. Then it thumped against the wall as Chris came barreling through, teeth bared, snarling curses and swinging his fists. Dane was only just quick enough to block the right hook coming for his jaw, so it glanced off his temple.

"…when will you start trusting me? Huh? When will you get off that fucking high horse—" Chris swung again, and Dane blocked it again, but only just, "—and let me help you! You can't beat the world on your own, you fucking asshole!"

"Stop!" Lila shrieked.

They tumbled to the tile floor, Chris still swinging, Dane silent, but his anger building. He had enough on his fucking plate without this shit.

"I'll trust you," he said through his teeth, catching Chris's punch, twisting and locking his arm to stop another swing, "when you stop using the company as a dating service, and running off at the mouth anytime you think you're funny, in front of anyone who will listen."

"I swear to god, Dane, if you don't get your head out of your ass—"

"Please," Lila cried from behind them.

Footsteps pounded into the room as three of the security team, obviously hearing the noise from the reception area, finally reached them and pulled Chris off of Dane.

Dane leapt to his feet, his head pounding from the glancing blow Chris had managed to land. He didn't think the skin was split, but it stung, and his head spun a little. Lila was at his side immediately, but he kept pushing her behind him in case she got caught in the crossfire as Chris fought the other three, trying to get to Dane.

"Calm the fuck down, Chris!" Dane yelled.

Chris's eyes bulged, but he stopped trying to claw his way to Dane. "Do you have any idea what you've done?"

"Trust me, I'm aware," Dane croaked, one arm back to keep Lila behind him, though she kept trying to come between them. He didn't trust Chris not to wait until the others had relaxed before coming for him again.

"One word, one warning—a hint! We could have had a plan in place. Been watching. Fuck, Dane, I can't believe you made such a stupid decision."

"Are you referring to the secret, or the woman I love, Chris?" he said very quietly.

Lila heard the warning in his tone and clutched at his arm. "No, Dane, don't—"

Chris shook his head, sneering. "The secret, you dickwad."

They glared at each other then, until Josh put a hand to Chris's chest and made him make eye-contact. "You done?"

Chris scoffed, but nodded. When they let him go he yanked his arms out of their grips, but swore before stalking past them to the dining room, muttering, "…staff already overworked. Double shifts—double teams in some corners—and you've got to hold your cards close because you're fucking Dane Daniels and no one else has a clue, right brother?"

"Wrong."

Chris scoffed and started pacing the wide floor between the living and dining areas. "Josh, call Tank. We need him on this. He's the only one strong enough to tie Dane down when he decides to go after this asshole."

"Yes, sir," Josh replied and, smiling quickly at Lila, ducking back out the door into the reception area, pulling his phone out of his pocket as he walked. Dane glared at him for the grin.

The other two guys—Ben and Jared, Dane thought—stayed near the door watching them warily until Dane shook his head at them and flapped a hand for them to head back out. They needed to make sure no one got in, not guard him from his brother.

Lila stepped up and took his hand, lacing their fingers together. Dane squeezed her hand, but didn't look down at her. Chris turned back to face them and his eyes immediately went to their linked hands, and the way Lila held onto his arm. He huffed, then strode towards the dining table. "Are you coming?" he snapped when they didn't immediately follow. "We have a shitstorm to figure out."

He walked over to Dane's laptop which had been left on the dining table, logged in and brought up a website as they watched over his shoulder.

When the picture came up, Lila gasped, then covered her mouth.

Motherfucker.

The picture was hot as hell. And made him want to kill whoever took it.

It was clear as a bell, though the background was a dark blur. If either of them was coming out of this unidentified it was him. Because his face was buried—and mostly turned away—into her collarbone and cleavage. But Lila… holy shit, Lila's head was thrown back against the wall, her mouth open in a groan. She clung to his shoulders, and her legs were wrapped around his waist—bare to the hip because that damned dress had ridden up when he'd lifted her to the wall.

It looked like they were in the act of having sex. In a Janitor's closet.

Dane swore, and swore again. Then turned to Lila, who just stared at it, the horror in her eyes making him feel sick. He could see everything she was thinking painted on her face. Everything she thought others would say when they saw it.

Slut. Slut. Slut.

He growled and took her hand, pulling it away from her face. "Look at me," he croaked. When she didn't take eyes off the computer, he tugged gently at her hand. "Lila. Look. At. Me."

She snapped her head to him then, her eyes half-filled with tears. Turning away from Chris, he took her face in his hands. "You did nothing wrong," he muttered through his teeth. Her eyes started to slide back to the laptop, but he shifted so he was between her and the screen. "I love you. You looked delicious tonight—so desirable I could barely control myself. Our touching is completely natural. It's what people do when they love each other and want each other. You did nothing wrong."

She blinked and put her hands to his arms. "But people are going to see that and—"

"If anyone sees that and judges you, or any man so much as looks at you sideways, he'll have me to deal with. You did nothing wrong. We did nothing wrong. They all know now. They know we want each other. That's all. Our only sin was doing that where some pervert could take a picture of it. Do you hear me?"

She nodded and tried to smile, but her lip trembled. He kissed her quickly, then pulled her into his chest and whispered in her ear, "You're also the hottest thing I've ever seen. They're all jealous."

She snorted into his chest, and the tension broke. Dane sucked in a deep breath before squeezing her one last time, turning back to Chris, who was standing, staring at them, drop-jawed.

He only let himself feel smug for a second, then he snarled at his brother, "Get that fucking photograph off the internet. Now."