D A L L A S • P O V

I wasn't going to do this because Dallas and Drayton had their books. But all your comments about missing Drayton and Dallas made my heart soar. So here's a lil Easter egg for you beautiful deserving readers.

Don't forget you're reading Dallas' POV

"Are people seriously still talking about this?" Drayton walked into our bedroom where another media outlet was talking about his violent outburst at the grocery store.

I narrowed my glare at him. "Drayton, it happened less than twenty four hours ago."

He waved a dismissive hand and collapsed onto the bed. He put his hands behind his head and I continued tapping out an email to our manager from where I sat in the love seat beside the window.

"Joseph seems confident that he can control the situation at the moment. He paid for a copy of the video where you can hear what the pap is saying beside the car. Before you push his head into it," I peered up at noted his amused grin as he stared at the ceiling. "So he's pushing that video at all corners of social media to ensure that the argument isn't just one sided. He's also heard nothing of official charges from the pap."

"It really makes no difference to me," he said.

I put my phone down and stood up, staring down at my floor length satin dress while I processed how I was going to proceed with this conversation.

"Baby, this is important," I met his bored stare. "This impacts your reputation which can impact your career which ultimately impacts your life. Your public persona matters."

He stood up and started towards the en-suite as he pulled his black t shirt over his head and discarded it on the floor. "Na it really doesn't matter."

"Yes it does," I followed him but he spun around at the threshold and looked down at me with tired but fierce eyes.

"No it doesn't, Dallas. You wanna know what matters to me?" His inked skin pulled against his arm muscles as he pointed at my chest. "You matter. My children matter. I need you all to be happy. I need you to be healthy. And I need my baby girl to get better."

His voice hitched and he lowered his head. His shoulders dropped and my throat felt thick as I watched him hold on to the door frame.

"I can't lose another one, Dallas," he lifted his head and my heart shattered into a million fragments at the red in his tortured gaze. "I can't go through that again."

"I know—"

"So no. What millions of strangers think of me is nothing compared to how my family is doing. I'll protect their safety. Their mental health. Their happiness no matter what," he ran his finger down the length of my face. "And if people don't get that, if I don't get hired for public appearance shit, if the media wants to push us out of the spotlight because I'll fuck someone up who's threatening the people I love, so be it. Maybe that's for the best."

I stepped forward and cupped his jaw, feeling the short stubble beneath my fingertips as I smiled at him. "You're right," I said. "I'm sorry, Dray. I just— I want to—"

"Protect me," he grinned and placed his hand over mine, moving my palm down to his lips and placing tender kisses.

"Yes. As much as you want to protect me."

"I know. And I love you for it. But you best believe that if I ever see the paparazzi harassing you like that again, someone's going to die."

I sighed. "I believe you."

He pulled me in, wrapping his arms around my shoulders. I rested my head on his chest and squeezed him back.

"I miss her, Dallas. I'm so fucking worried."

I nodded, biting down on my lip while I attempted to get control of myself so I didn't burst into ugly tears. "We'll go and visit her as soon as we can," I squeezed him tighter. "She'll pull through though. I know she will."

He kissed the top of my head and we stood like that for a while. Just allowing ourselves to hold each other and offer each other the strength we needed.

Abby was in safe hands and we both knew that. But it hurt more than either of us had words for.

It had happened so fast. One minute she was our happy healthy girl and the next she was so thin that she was barely able to hold up her own weight.

Flynn was fairly certain that in the end she'd resorted to both starving herself as well as throwing up when she did eat. Whenever I imagined it, my entire body ached with pain.

It wasn't just emotional. It was physical. It made me sick because all I wanted to do was make it better and I couldn't.

But we wouldn't stop being there for her and making sure that whatever she needed to heal, she'd have.

"We should go to Lucas' game tomorrow night?" Dray suggested after a while of quiet. He leaned back and looked down at me. "We can take Max. Or maybe not. Might be a bit shit to get everyone together without Abby."

"We can't avoid getting the family together while she's gone, Dray. That's a bit unrealistic."

"Yeah I suppose," he sighed.

"It's not wrong for us to carry on with our lives when there's nothing else we can do right now."

He nodded and leaned down to give me a kiss. "You're right. We should stay positive for her anyway. Even if she can't see it right now. It'll help in the long run."

"It will."

He gave me another kiss and trailed his quick pecks on to my cheeks and forehead.

It didn't seem to matter that we'd been married for almost twenty years not including high school.

He still gave me butterflies. And it was a testament to what an amazing husband he was.

The love he gave was so attractive that I could never lose interest in the man I married.

Plus it helped that he aged like a fine wine.

He tipped his head back and ran his hand across his chiselled torso. "I'm hungry."

I gestured for him to follow me. "I'll make you a grilled cheese."

He grabbed my hand and spun me back around. "That's not exactly what I had in mind, baby."

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No I wasn't going to do descriptive sex scenes for the parents in the same book as the child. Too much. Too weird. You can go back and read one of their old scenes. 😂