The gates swung open and I noticed the color begin to return to his knuckles as we crunched up the gravel. As soon as we stepped into the house and he’d done his ritual with the alarm system, he gathered me into his arms. “I’m so sorry, so fucking sorry about this, Dana,” he whispered into my hair. “I never meant for this to happen, not in a million years.” “It’s not your fault.” He pulled back just far enough to look down into my face. “Of course it is. I was being stubborn, refusing to let her crazy threatening letters and stalking ways impinge on my life. I was determined to carry on as normal, working, playing…dating. Okay, I had to have a few extra security measures but I just accepted that as part of my job, part of being a public figure.” His eyes were tortured and burned with the weight of regret and responsibility. “Rick, shh,” I said, the tip of my index finger resting on his lower lip and over his soul patch. “You had every right to carry on as normal.
