“I don’t have the **ing time for this. My girlfriend just got out and a swarm of paps got to her. I have to **ing go. You can fire me or sue me if you want but I am going.” He paused. A car had come to a stop near them. “And if anyone from the crew has a hand in this, I’ll be the one you answer to.”

It was a possible hypothesis. The director knew who she was and Cage had been in the industry for long enough to know how directors did things.

The director blinked a few times, looking like he was going to argue but whatever he saw on Cage’s face stopped him.

“Alright. We’ll shoot some other scenes. I expect you to call as soon as you straighten this out.”

Cage didn’t make any promises as he sped out. He would be back when his girlfriend was safe. He’d never delayed filming before so the industry could suck it up. If they had any choice words to say about his work ethic, they could try. This situation needed to be dealt with first.

The ride seemed to take forever but eventually, he got a call from his PR team.

“What the ** is happening?” Irene asked, she sounded beyond pissed.

“Stephen must have informed you about what happened. They surrounded Katherine. I was hoping you would know why there is news about her!” Cage demanded to know.

“There was nothing last night. I double-checked. Damn it, we were going throughevery channel even this morning.” She paused. “And don’t you look carefree in these pictures. You are even holding her!” she sighed.

“I can hold my girlfriend whenever I want without your permission. I took every measure possible to keep her safe and sound. When my girlfriend looks beautiful, I can kiss her, too. It’s your **ing job to take of these things.”

Irene was silent. “I’m on your side.”

“It doesn’t sound that way!” he protested. He wasn’t pissed at her. It was the media. He knew better than to snap at his team, but all he could think about was how all of them had failed to stop the news from coming out. “I’m sorry,” he said after a long moment. “Katherine is upset and she was crying. I know she is. I’m on my way to her and I can’t think straight.”

He took in a cleansing breath.

“The cat is out of the bag. There is no going back. They will hunt her down until they find her so I’ll sit down with the team and Stephen to figure out how we can make it safer for you two.”

“Stephen is coming back on the first flight,” he informed her. “And thank you.”

“It’s what we are supposed to do. In the meantime, stay away from the pap. We’ll issue a statement that the girl in the picture is your girlfriend but that we will not be releasing her name yet. I’ll also tell the media that we will publicly condemn any publication that outs her. Have Katherine tell all her friends and family to not disclose her identity or talk to the media.”

“Understood,” Cage said quickly. Just as he was about to hang up, the manager spoke up.

“It’s a beautiful picture. You two look very much in love.” Of course, they did. “Go be with her. We’ll make some calls and figure things out.”

Stephen’s call came in next. “You’re going to need to do an interview with GC. You promised them that you would give them Katherine’s identity first in an exclusive.”

Cage remembered that conversation. “Let me talk to Katherine first. And once you get here, we can have a team meeting and figure out how to disclose the news.” It was up to Katherine whether she wanted to talk to the media directly or not. Cage couldn’t take the call on that.

The call ended quickly and the car pulled up in front of the hotel. Cage saw the press gathered across the street and there were a lot of them. Cage cursed internally as he wondered how these people had gotten wind of the situation. It was ridiculous.

As soon as he stepped out, they started shouting. Fortunately, the cops had already been called and the security was waiting outside taking care of the other clients. Cage hurried up the steps. Before he could go inside, he turned to face the cameras. Not once since they started following them did he behave poorly with them. This time, he snapped. He flipped them off and glared.

“Hope you got a good picture of that,” he called before entering the hotel. His PR team would lose their minds, but he needed a place to bestow his anger.

“Sir, we have returned Miss Austen to her room and placed a couple of security guards outside,” the manager spoke as soon as he saw Cage.

“Thank you for handling everything. I’ll want the footage from the scuffle. Please send it to my room once you have it.” He didn’t bother sticking around. He hurried to the elevator and hit the button for his floor.

‘I’m here. You’ll be in my arms within a few minutes,’ he reminded himself.

The door opened and he sprinted down the hall, yanking out his key card as he went. He shoved it in without paying the security any attention and threw the door open. “Katherine?” he called out, as loud as possible.

“Cage!” And there she was, embedded in his arms. Finally, his world was in balance again. Safe and sound.

He hugged her close to him, burying his nose in her hair.

She was fine.

Thank God she was fine.

She pulled away and looked at her face. Her eyes were wide and slightly unfocused but she looked unharmed. “Where are you hurt?” he demanded.

“I’m fine, just a few scratches here and there. I’m so glad that you are here. I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know it could be like that.”

Scratches? He quickly looked over her and tugged at the hem of her hoodie. He pulled it over her head, leaving her in her bra. Not a scratch. There were bruises. Rage shot through him at the fact that she had been injured no matter how ‘minor.’