Jay shared a quick glance with Grayson that made Dakota even madder.

'No one thinks you're dumb,' Grayson said carefully. 'It's just that sometimes your nice streak stops you seeing the worst in people.'

'Great, now you sound just like Robyn. That's all I need.'

Impatiently Dakota looked back at the door. A swirl of movement caught his attention. Their host's bald head and Stephanie's bright-red hair showed clearly against the white drapes surrounding the large picture windows. A swathe of photographers were shouting and snapping pictures.

'Holy s.h.i.t,' Jay breathed. 'Now I know who Robyn reminded me of. She's Robyn Sparrow.'

'Yeah, I know,' Grayson said. 'I was just telling Dakota I'd found that out.'

Dakota shoved Jay out of the way and focused his attention on the woman hanging on Damien's right arm. It was hard to see her clearly through the barrage of flashlights but Dakota would've known that superior smile anywhere.

'What the h.e.l.l is your woman doing?' Jay muttered.

'She's not my woman.'

Dakota wrapped his hand around the back of the chair and gripped the metal as hard as he could. That wasn't his Robyn. That was some kind of clone or waxwork. What the f.u.c.k was going on? He'd told her he loved her and she responded by doing this?

The anger he'd failed to hide from his brothers coalesced into a swirling heated ma.s.s in the pit of his gut. She'd said she had another party to attend to, not that she was going to show up with another man at this one. And not just any man the host of the whole event.

He nudged Grayson in the ribs. 'What's the agent guy's first name?'

'Damien, Damien Pardini. Why?'

Dakota didn't answer, his attention on the couple who were slowly but inexorably moving through the throng toward him. There was no way in h.e.l.l Robyn would voluntarily go back to Damien, was there? Or had his declaration of love scared her so much that she'd run back to the b.a.s.t.a.r.d? Dammit he couldn't think straight. He was so unused to controlling the molten anger trembling through him that he just wanted to grab Damien and beat the c.r.a.p out of him.

Grayson touched his shoulder. 'Are you OK? Do you have any idea what's going on?'

Dakota managed a shrug. 'Beats me.'

Grayson frowned. 'Do you want to go?'

'Why would I want to do that? I'm such a nice guy, why wouldn't I be perfectly OK watching my girlfriend f.u.c.k me over for another guy?'

'Um, Dakota . . . you don't sound too nice at the moment.'

He glared at Jay. 'I wonder why? But you don't need to worry about me. I'm way too sweet to let this bother me. Ask anyone.'

Out of the corner of his eye he noticed Damien and Robyn getting closer. Damien was grinning like he'd won first prize in a beauty pageant. Robyn, G.o.d he could hardly bear to look at her, Robyn looked . . . He stared intently at her profile.

She wasn't herself. Her face frozen, her smile a grimace to anyone who knew her as well as he did. Her expression reminded him of the first time he'd met her at the convenience store: a mixture of desperation and defiance and a refusal to give in. The s.e.xy dress she wore was obviously expensive but not something he imagined she'd chosen for herself. What the f.u.c.k was going on? He braced himself as Damien swept forward, arm outstretched to shake Jay and Grayson's hands.

'So glad you could make it. Have you met my girlfriend and client, Robyn Sparrow?'

'Yeah, we've met, although she didn't bother to use her real name.' Jay's glare at Robyn could've cut through gla.s.s.

Damien laughed and put his arm around Robyn. 'She fooled you, did she? It's a little game of hers, seeing if she can pa.s.s as a normal person. Usually she gets bored of being ignored and runs back home to be pampered and treated like the star she is.'

'I bet she does,' Jay said.

Damien looked at Dakota. 'Hey! Here's my favorite future movie star!' He shoved Robyn forward with him, moving past Grayson and Jay to create a small gap between them and Dakota. 'You know Robyn quite well, don't you?'

Dakota fixed his gaze on Robyn. 'I thought I did.'

'Don't tell me she fooled you too.'

'Nope, she didn't fool me for a minute.'

Her gaze flicked over him as if she was bored, but he noticed the tension in her clenched fists and the set of her shoulders.

He faked a smile at Damien. 'I suppose I have you to thank for sending me such a great acting coach?'

Damien blinked and looked down at Robyn. 'She helped you?'

'Yeah, she was great.'

'That's a surprise. I've always seen Robyn as the kind of actress who gets away with murder by just standing there looking cute and s.e.xy.' He leant closer and lowered his voice. 'After she's finished up a couple of more "adult" films she wants to make, how about we talk about putting you two in a movie together?'

'Robyn wants to make adult movies, does she?'

Damien pinched Robyn's cheek. 'Yeah, she likes making out with complete strangers, don't you, babe?' He slanted a glance at Dakota and winked. 'You should know that. Isn't she a great f.u.c.k?'

Dakota fought to control his breathing. 'Would you mind if I talked to Robyn alone for a moment? She forgot to tell me what to do with a few of her things.'

Damien hesitated. 'Just for a second then. We have a lot of people to meet and I know you said you weren't going to stay long.'

Robyn didn't resist as he took her hand and drew her into the darkest corner of the room near the restrooms. Her skin was freezing, the dress barely covered her a.s.s. He wanted to take off his jacket, wrap her up in it and run for the hills.

'I didn't plan this.'

Her softly spoken words surprised him into stillness.

'I didn't know that Damien knew who you were or what I'd been doing.' She sighed. 'I apologize for that.'

'Let me guess, you were trying to protect me. Why does everyone treat me like a kid?'

She flinched at his biting tone and wrapped her arms around her waist. 'What's wrong with that?'

'Nothing.' He struggled to find words, struggled to reach her. 'Why are you with him?'

'Because I want to be.'

'I don't believe you.'

She held his gaze, swallowed hard. 'Because I have to be.'

'I don't get it, Robyn. He's a complete b.a.s.t.a.r.d and an abuser. Why would you want to be with him?'

She shrugged. 'Maybe he can make me famous again.'

Frustration rose inside him and he had to put his hands in his pockets to stop himself from reaching out and shaking her. 'You said you didn't want that anymore.'

'I said a lot of things.'

'So that's it, is it? We're done?'

'Yeah.' She half turned away from him.

Before he could stop himself his hand slammed on to the wall in front of her blocking her escape. 'Tell me what the f.u.c.k is going on.'

She wouldn't look at him, her gaze lowered to the busy patterned carpet.

'Tell me you don't love me and I'll walk away, I swear it.' He waited, each second an eternity. 'Robyn . . .'

She shoved his arm away and pushed past him. 'Stop it, Dakota.'

'Stop loving you? Stop wishing you'd trust me and ask for my help?'

'Just stop.' Her head came up. The grief in her eyes made him feel sick. 'Please.'

He took a step back and manufactured a smile. 'I'll stop, honey. I'm way too nice to wish you anything but the best. So go ahead, walk away from me, turn your back on what we could have together.'

He let her go, watched as she walked past a grinning Damien and headed to the bar. Dammit, was she going to start drinking again? She loved him but she didn't trust him to make things right for her. Did she think he was too weak to deal with a minor s.h.i.thead like Damien? She had no idea who his father was, no idea how frightening a man could really be.

Damien caught his gaze and gave him a thumbs-up. Dakota smiled and walked slowly toward him.

'Everything OK between you two lovebirds?'

'Yeah, you b.a.s.t.a.r.d.'

Dakota drove his fist into Damien's face, watched him fall to the ground and blood spurt out from his damaged lip. Oblivious to the screaming mayhem around him he knelt and grabbed Damien around the throat.

'If you lay another finger on Robyn before I convince her to leave you, I'll rip your f.u.c.king head off. Got it?'

He was aware of Grayson and Jay dragging him away from Damien's rec.u.mbent form. Two security guards appeared in the doorway followed by a jabbering and pointing Stephanie. As he was forced out of the room, he looked desperately around but there was no sign of Robyn in the melee.

An hour later, still nursing his bruised knuckles, Dakota sat and listened as Damien whined to the police about wanting to press charges. The younger of the two men, who looked Latino, came over. Jay and Grayson stood on either side of Dakota, each with a hand on his shoulder.

'Sir, did you hit this guy?'

Dakota got to his feet. 'Yes, officer, I did.'

The officer got out his notepad. 'Can you tell me what happened?'

'I was just explaining to him that if he abused any other women I'd rip his head off.'

'You do realize, sir, that violence isn't the answer.'

Grayson cleared his throat. 'Yeah, officer, he does. And I can guarantee it won't happen again. This is way out of character for my brother, believe me.'

The officer looked skeptical as he continued to write up his notes.

Dakota cleared his throat. 'I can't guarantee I won't hit the little s.h.i.t again. But he's not worth going to jail for and I'm done for tonight.'

The police officer nodded and jerked his head in the direction of Damien. 'Despite the fact that this guy wants us to throw the book at you, we're going to treat this as a misdemeanor rather than a felony.'

'What exactly does that mean?' Dakota asked.

'You're going to come down to the station with us to be booked, cited and given a court date on which you must appear, got it?'

'Yes, officer.'

'We'll make sure he behaves himself after that, officer,' Jay said. 'No worries about him losing it again.'

Dakota nursed the large brandy Grayson had given him between his hands. He was in Lauren and Grayson's penthouse suite, several floors above his own room and several times more luxurious. After his detour to the police station, it was already two o'clock in the morning. Lauren had given him a bag of ice for his hand, kissed his cheek and gone to bed leaving him with Jay.

Grayson came back into the sitting area from the bedroom. He had the contented look of a man who'd been well kissed. He took the chair opposite Dakota. Jay sat on the carpet, his back against the wall.

'Cheers, Dakota.'

Grayson held up his gla.s.s and Jay joined in. Dakota couldn't even be bothered to pretend to drink in response. Jay grinned at him anyway.

'That was one of the best punches I've ever seen you throw.'

'That was the only punch you've ever seen me throw.'

'There is that. What the h.e.l.l were you thinking?'

'That I wanted to f.u.c.king kill him?'

'And he seemed like such a nice guy . . .'

Grayson shot Jay an irritated look. 'Shut up, bro. I need to talk to Dakota.'

'If I owe you or anyone else any money after tonight's little episode, just tell Jay to take it out of my wages for the shoot,' Dakota muttered.

'That's not what I wanted to talk about.'

Dakota raised his eyes to meet Grayson's. 'Are you going to start on Robyn again?'

'Are you still in love with her?'

Dakota stared into s.p.a.ce for a long minute. 'Yeah. Not that it matters.'

'It might. Do you really think she wants to be with that d.i.c.khead?'

'She must, otherwise why stick around?'