“She’s fucking amazing,” Slay said, his attention locked on Willow.

Ridge followed Slay’s gaze to the stage where Willow stood, mic in her hand, voice bellowing throughout the large ballroom. She wore a form-fitting strapless black gown that fanned out from her knees to the floor in some type of fluffy material. The way she stood in the center of the stage, the lights dimmed all around but a bright spotlight on her, reminded him of those old black and white movies his mum used to watch.

“She is,” Talaya agreed. “So much talent. I’m so proud of her.”

Ridge’s hands were on Talaya’s waist, her back to his front, as he held her close and they swayed to the music. Willow was a great singer and, in the months since he’d learned she and Slay were a couple, she seemed to be really good for Slay. But Talaya was the one Ridge was proud of. She’d done an amazing job pulling this event together in such a short timeframe.

He recalled his mum and her many different committees planning parties and events for months and months before the event actually came to fruition. Earlier this year, when he asked Talaya to run the foundation she’d given a little pushback, fear and uncertainty guiding her thoughts, but then she’d accepted the position and had been killing it ever since. She knew his vision for the foundation’s purpose almost better than he did and was hiring the best personnel to help run the organization like she’d been meant for the position since her birth. In his mind, she was a natural born leader with a vision that he’d simply provided the canvas for her to create.

And she smelled like heaven.

It was the Tom Ford perfume he’d watched her spritz behind her ears and at her wrists earlier tonight when she was getting ready. Tonight’s gala had a black and white theme, with each of their two hundred and eighty-three guests dressed in either black or white evening wear. He’d put on a white Dior tuxedo while she’d seemed to pour her sensuous body into a white halter top gown that molded her frame and dropped to the floor in a pool of silk. Her back was bare, but thankfully the material picked up again just before the dimples above the curve of her ass where he loved to bury his tongue. He couldn’t keep his hands off her.

“I’m so happy she was able to squeeze this into her schedule,” Talaya said.

Beside him, Slay nodded. “Her agent and manager think it’s good to have her doing these types of community-centered and philanthropic events because it adds to the everyday phenomenal woman brand they’re creating for her. But she would do anything for you,” he said to Talaya. “And I guess for me since she also performed at my friend’s Juneteenth event in Miami this summer.”

“She told me about that,” Talaya said and then turned a bit so she could look back at Ridge. “And she said some people who know your family were there, babe.”

“Yeah,” Slay said. “My friend, Jared is related to, I think her name is Karena. He said her husband is partners with your cousin at some PI firm or something like that.”

Ridge moved one hand around to rest on Talaya’s stomach but he glanced back at Slay again. “That would be Trent. His partner’s name is Sam.”

Slay shrugged. “I met Karena and her sister Monica that night. But I had to get back to work, so we didn’t stay in the States long on that trip. But we’ll be going back just before Christmas for her listening party. You two are coming right?”

“We wouldn’t miss it,” Ridge replied before Talaya could answer. They’d talked about it once right after Willow had given Talaya the dates. It would be the first time Talaya had returned to the States in years, so she was justifiably nervous. But he knew what Willow’s friendship meant to her and that she wouldn’t let the first real friend she’d had in her adult life down.

The warm smile Talaya gave him after his comment said he’d given the right response. And when she covered the hand he had resting on her stomach with hers, his dick jumped. Not that what she’d done had been some great erotic gesture, but it had never taken much for her to turn him on. He always wanted her, always needed to be near and, or inside her.

Two and a half hours into the evening, Ridge had just stepped down from the podium after giving his remarks and receiving a standing ovation. He went to the three tables that had been reserved for his family and gave hugs and kisses to each of them who’d come out tonight to support.

“Gabe’s smiling down on you tonight, Ridge,” Uncle Henry said after he and Ridge hugged. “He’d be proud of the man you’ve become.”

His uncle had no idea how much those words meant to Ridge, how light his heart felt at this moment knowing that he’d finally done something to make his parents proud. While the therapy sessions he still attended were helping him to not search for anyone’s validation anymore, especially not his parents who were no longer here, the boy in him still felt like he had so much to make up for and tonight was a definite start in the right direction.

“I wanted to get this right,” he replied.

“You did,” Aunt Beverly said.

Ridge had already hugged and kissed her several times this evening, enjoying each time he could see or speak to her now because she made him feel closer to his mum.

“And Talaya and I have spoken about doing some collaborative efforts with the Karing 4 Kidz Foundation possibly as soon as next summer. Because our adoption programs might have some overlap, we can make an even bigger impact globally now,” Aunt Beverly said.

Uncle Henry frowned. “I thought you were badgering that girl about setting a date for this wedding and having it on Sansonique.”

Aunt Beverly gave her husband’s shoulder a playful swat. “That’s not all we talked about and you know it,” she said then returned her gaze to Ridge. “Anyway, she doesn’t want an island wedding, but Aunt Birdie and I told her a lovely spring ceremony would be nice.”

“See,” Uncle Henry said to Ridge. “All they’re thinking about is planning another party.”

But Ridge had been thinking about their wedding a lot today. When he first proposed he hadn’t really been pressed about Talaya setting a date. She was living with him and wearing his ring, those two things were so much more than he’d ever imagined having with a woman, so he’d really been content with that. But now, as so many things continued to happen in their lives and as they were talking more and more about adopting Khady and Imani, he wanted to make every part of his family legal and that meant giving Talaya, as well as the girls, his last name.

His cousin, Dane came over to them then, clapping a hand on Ridge’s shoulder. “Hey man, good job,” Dane said.

Ridge leaned in closer and the two hugged. “Thanks, but this was really all Talaya’s doing. She put a lot of work into making this happen tonight.”

When Dane pulled back, he nodded. “Yeah, that’s what Zera just told her.”

Ridge glanced over to the other table where more members of his family were either seated or standing. Talaya was standing next to the mocha-hued beauty that had married Dane almost five years ago.

“And congratulations to you and Zera,” Ridge said as he watched Talaya rub her hand over Zera’s very prominent baby bump. “You’re gonna be a daddy soon! Another Donovan in the works!”

The two shook hands and shared big grins.

“Thanks,” Dane said.

“The family just keeps on growing,” Uncle Henry said. “My father and the Greats would’ve been so proud. Family was and is always first and us sticking together is what keeps us strong.”

It had been so good to hear his uncle mention The Greats, as they called the members of the earlier generations of Donovans. Aunt Birdie was one of The Greats and Ridge couldn’t help but look around until his gaze settled on her. Aunt Birdie was currently sitting at the first table nearest the stage where he, Talaya, and his siblings had been seated. Her black sequin dress fit her well and all the diamonds she wore from her ears, to her neck, wrist and fingers had her blinging all over the place—as Tamala had joked earlier. But their matriarch looked regal as always and tonight, her smile seemed brighter than Ridge had seen it in the past couple of weeks.

A few months ago, Aunt Birdie had given him, Roark, and Suri a scare with her sudden fatigue. She’d been in Sansonique with them on Christmas when Trent had been shot and honestly, hadn’t been acting the same since that trip. But her doctor hadn’t found anything physically wrong with her and had only prescribed rest, which Suri had personally made sure she received. Then, Tamika gave birth to Rayder and Aunt Birdie’s mood seemed to improve. She was still moving slower than normal for her, but she was getting out of bed each day and keeping up with all the things going on with the family here in the UK as well as in the States. They were all still shocked that she hadn’t left to continue her world travels after his mum’s death. No, she’d planted herself here in London under the guise of watching over Ridge and his siblings, but Ridge had wondered a time or two if there were another reason Aunt Birdie had finally decided to settle down in one place. If she didn’t have some other health issues going on that she knew she couldn’t deal with on her own. And since she didn’t have any children, had never married, or made any lasting friendships that any of them knew of, family was the only place she could go.

“That’s right,” Aunt Beverly said. “And since you and Zera are closer in San Francisco, I should go on over there and see when we’re thinking about having her baby shower.”

Uncle Henry shook his head, but it didn’t matter, Aunt Beverly was already heading over to where Zera and Talaya stood.

“Told you,” Uncle Henry said when he was sure she was out of earshot. “All they want to do is plan the next party.”

Ridge and Dane chuckled.

While at the next family table, Adam, his wife Camille, Linc and Jade sat talking and sipping from whatever drinks they’d ordered at the bar. Torian and Tamala were somewhere around here doing whatever teenage girls did when they were wearing designer dresses and what Linc had frowned about and called too much make-up. Bailey and Devlin had moved to the dance floor with Ridge’s other cousins from Houston, Brandon and his wife, Amber. Uncle Bernard and his wife, Mary Lee, were somewhere around here too.

Eventually, Ridge’s eyes found Talaya once more and when she caught him watching her, she smiled. At that moment, his heart felt so full, his life felt so complete. He wanted to yell and scream with elation, hell, he wanted to do a fuckin’ cartwheel or some other silly shit like that. This had been so long coming, this feeling of joy and peace had eluded him most of his life and the things he’d had to do to fight to get to this space had been painful and sometimes exhausting. But, damn, he was glad he’d decided to do the work. He was grateful for the day Talaya had rung his doorbell setting in motion what would be the most rewarding time of his life.

“I love you,” she mouthed to him and he swore his heart was going to simply explode from his chest.

He winked at her and mouthed the same words in response. She blushed and then looked away because Noelle, his cousin Brock’s wife, had appeared at Talaya’s side and was saying something to her. Ridge turned his attention back to whatever his Uncle Henry and Dane were talking about, but paused the moment he heard the crash.

The ballroom of the Vivid Event Center boasted two walls of floor-to-ceiling windows which provided a semi-panoramic view of the city. It was on the ground level and straight to the back opened out to a patio where some of their guests had gone out to enjoy the evening air. But as Ridge turned toward the loud sound of shattering glass and screaming, his vision was blurred by bright light.

“Fuck!” he yelled and heard Dane’s gruff voice muttering something similar from beside him.

Both men immediately covered their uncle and pushed him to the floor as chaos ensued around them. There was even more screaming as another loud crash sounded.

Talaya.

Her name resounded in his head or he was yelling it, he couldn’t tell which, all he knew was that he needed to move, needed to find her. Dane yelled at Uncle Henry for him to stay down. Ridge met his cousin’s gaze seconds before they each got to their feet and moved in different directions. Ridge tried to turn toward the place he thought he’d last seen Talaya, but that blinding light he’d seen moments before had now gone still somewhere to his left. A horn was blaring, people were screaming and more glass shattered.

Ridge’s chest felt tight, his teeth gritted and fists clenched as he turned in one direction and then the next. He didn’t see Talaya.

Hands were on his shoulders immediately, pulling him in the opposite direction. “Let’s go!” Sage yelled into his ear. Then she barked more orders, “Secure her and get to the truck!”

She pulled on Ridge with a strength he often didn’t realize she possessed since he hated sparring with her because she was a woman. There’d been way too many times she’d told him he was foolish for that or simply called him a bitch-ass, but Ridge had a hard time reconciling hitting a woman for any reason.

“We gotta move!” she said and she urged him in one direction.

“Talaya?” he yelled back at her and pulled out of her grasp.

“Dino’s got her,” she informed him. “Let’s move!”

Ridge’s gaze scanned the room again until he caught sight of his very tall beefy guard moving through the crowd. Ridge took off in that direction, dodging others who were trying to get to any exit they could find, jumping over chairs that had fallen to the floor. His feet crunched over glass, those fuckin’ lights cast the room in an eerie glow and that incessant horn rung loud and long in his ears, but he never stopped moving. He knew Sage was behind him, had heard her curse when he’d first pulled away from her, but he kept moving.

Somebody called his name. Roark? Slay? He didn’t know because he could only focus on keeping the top of Dino’s head, the cornrows the guard kept freshly groomed on a bi-weekly basis, in his sight. It felt like an eternity before he reached him, just as the guard was trying to safely clear a path for Talaya and himself through the crowd of people. He pushed at Dino’s wide frame and received a death glare from the man as he turned to look at Ridge over his shoulder.

“What the fuck?” Dino yelled and Ridge knew the guard was wondering where Sage was and why she didn’t have Ridge secured.

Ridge didn’t give a damn when or how the guards worked that out, all he knew was that he had to get to her. He pushed at Dino again. “Fuck outta my way!” he yelled and when Dino finally budged, Ridge reached for Talaya’s arm.

When she turned to see him, her eyes went wide and she fell into him, wrapping her arms around his neck and holding on as she cried out, “Ridge!”

“I got you, baby. I got you.” He breathed the words into her ear as his arms wrapped tightly around her. He kissed the top of her head, willing his heart to relax as he whispered those words again, this time more to himself than to her.

He needed to be convinced, needed to smell her perfume, to feel her warmth against him, before his mind could grasp that he did have her. That she was standing and breathing and that he hadn’t lost her. While his heart continued to thump with relief and adrenaline, he felt himself being pushed again.

“Move! Now!” Sage yelled into his ear from one side, her arms going around one half of him and Talaya.

“Go! Go!” Dino yelled from the other side, mimicking the same protective stance Sage had taken.

Jaheem appeared from somewhere and stepped in front of where Talaya was turned into Ridge’s embrace. Ridge watched Jaheem nod to either Sage or Dino, and then he turned around acting as a shield in front of them as they all began to move. Ridge kept one arm around Talaya as she turned so she could walk. Her arms were still wrapped around his waist.

There were people everywhere, all of them moving toward the doors where they’d come in earlier this evening.

“Suri. Aunt Birdie,” he breathed their names.

“We’re getting everyone out,” Sage yelled over the mayhem. “Just keep moving.”

They’d been here before. That was the thought going through his mind now. They’d been here before, last year on Sansonique, when gunshots had ripped through the air at Uncle Bernard’s wedding reception. He cursed at the memory and tried to look around, to spot his other family members, to make sure they were all safe. It was a futile motion now that they were surrounded by guards and throngs of other people. But his heart still ached, his temples throbbed and rage tore through him like a hot blade.

“Go! Go! Go!” Dino was barking that command when they came to the front door of the venue.

“Transports are coming around!” Sage yelled. “Head to the right! They’re coming up on the sidewalk for pickup.”

More moving, faster now since they’d made it outside. In the next seconds they were being pushed into the back seat of one of the SUVs they’d arrived in. Doors slammed around them and Ridge immediately pulled Talaya into his arms again. He held onto her, his body trembling with the fear he’d felt when he hadn’t seen her, hadn’t known if she were alive or… “I got you,” he muttered, his mouth against her hair. “I got you. I got you.”

His voice cracked on the last words and he rocked her in his grasp. Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!

She trembled in his grasp, holding on just as tightly as he was.

“I know,” she whispered. “I know. But I was so scared. I didn’t see you and I was just so…” Her words trailed off and his heart broke because he knew exactly what he was going to say. Knew what she was feeling because he was feeling the same.

They did that for what seemed like forever, but he suspected wasn’t long at all. Whispering those words and holding on, neither of them willing to let go, willing to accept the thought that maybe this time was the last.

When he finally pulled away from her, he gripped her shoulders and met her teary-eyed gaze. “I want you to stay here,” he said. “Do you hear me? Stay right here. Don’t get out of this truck.”

She shook her head, the diamond hoops she wore in her ears, glowing in the dark interior. “No. What are you doing? Where are you—”

“I have to go see what’s going on. I have to get Suri and my aunt…” Now, it was his turn to let his words drift into the atmosphere because more fear had clogged his throat.

His entire family was in that room, everyone who was closest to him was in there and he needed to see that they were safe, needed to touch them to be assured, and then to find out what the hell had happened.

“Don’t get out of this truck!” He yelled at her this time, giving her shoulders a shake to stop the words she might be ready to speak. “Don’t! Please, baby,” he said, just a little softer this time. “Just stay here until I get back.”

She glared at him then, tears streaming down her face now. She wanted to say something else, he knew. To yell at him not to go, or most likely to tell him she was coming with him, but she didn’t. Instead, she gave him a curt nod and he kissed her. A hard press of his lips to hers as his fingers dug into her arms and he held her close to him. “I love you,” he gritted out the words.

“I love you,” she whispered, their lips still close enough for her to kiss him again quickly.

Ridge moved away then. He turned around and opened the door and jumped out. Another guard was standing by the door but he pushed past him.

“Boss!” the guard yelled.

“I’m going back in! Tell them I’m coming in!” he yelled as he jogged toward the entrance of the venue where people were still pouring out.

He could hear sirens close by but he didn’t turn to look and see how close they were. He just barreled inside the building, moving around other guests who were still trying to get out. Another guard ran over to him. Ridge knew he was a guard because while they’d all dressed in black pants, shirts and suit jackets which was similar to the attire of most of the male attendees thanks to the theme, the guards had a pin of the Donovan family crest in its piercing cobalt blue color, attached to their lapel. According to Sage that pin was a camera which was feeding video into one of the two black vans that had also accompanied them to the venue. Guards were in those vans reporting on anything they saw out of order that the guards inside the venue might’ve missed since their main focus was keeping eyes on their individual clients. Every family member had their normal guards from the Team, but additional support had been brought in tonight to cover the out-of-town Donovans and the perimeter of the room. Que and most of the team had met at Roark’s house last night to go over final plans on how the venue and each client was being secured. Sage and Dino had given Ridge a rundown of the plans this morning after breakfast. They were well prepared for tonight, had taken every contingency into mind and had a plan for dealing with those as well.

So how the fuck had this happened? Whatever this was.

“This way, Mr. Donovan,” the guard said, taking Ridge’s arm and guiding him around another circle of people.

Women were crying, men looked flustered. Dressed in their finery, their pockets a little lighter after the contributions they’d made to his foundation, these people were now rushing to get to safety. His gut clenched at the thought and he forced himself to focus on getting to the rest of his family.

“I got ‘em,” he heard the guard saying and knew he was talking through the earpiece each guard wore. “Heading back there now.”

They rushed through two dark brown doors and moved quickly down a hallway that was surprisingly empty, but for another guard standing by yet another door. Seconds later they were going through that door and Ridge came face-to-face with Roark first. His older brother immediately pulled Ridge into his arms, hugging him just as tightly as Ridge figured he’d just hugged Talaya.

“You good? Where’s Suri?” Ridge asked, his eyes closed briefly as relief over the fact that his brother was close washed over him.

They pulled apart and Roark sighed. “I’m good now that I put eyes on you,” Roark said. “Suri, Aunt Birdie, and Tamika are in the truck. They’re secured.”

Ridge released a heavy breath and nodded. “Good.”

Dane came over and hugged Ridge too. Then Adam and then Uncle Bernard.

“Everybody’s calling in safe,” Adam said. “Linc’s at the truck getting Jade and the girls situated. And he said Brandon and Amber are secure in the truck behind them.”

“And Uncle Henry and Brock have Noelle and Aunt Beverly with them,” Dane reported. “Mary Lee and Zera are with them too.”

“Where’s Talaya?” Roark asked Ridge.

Ridge rubbed a hand down the back of his neck. “She’s in the truck.”

More sighs of relief came as Ridge looked around the small room where they’d assembled. “What the hell?” he asked.

“Dev and Bailey are upstairs with Que, Jus, Sage, Dino and some of the others,” Roark told him. “Jus had a time getting Slay and Willow out because Willow’s got a bad cut on her leg.”

“Dammit!” Ridge cursed and walked over to the door that he then slammed a fist into. “What. The. Hell!” he roared again.

“We’re gonna find out,” Dane said. “Just hold tight. Police are on the way.”

Roark put a hand on Ridge’s shoulder in what Ride recognized as his brother’s attempt to keep him calm. To keep him from going off and punching any and everything in his way until he got the answers he wanted. But Ridge wasn’t going to do that. His therapist had been instructing him on ways to tamp down on his rage, to cope as the therapist called it. At the moment his deep breaths were failing, coming in heavy pants instead. And when he tried to clench and then release his fists with the idea that the tension was being released each time he opened his fingers and told his mind to let it go, his fists remained balled instead. His temples throbbed with the effort to remain calm, but he knew he had no other choice. Going off in this tiny ass room wasn’t going to solve anything.

He breathed out of his nose and rolled his neck from one side to the other until it cracked. “Was that a fucking car I saw in the ballroom?” he asked finally and turned to face the other men in his family.

Adam nodded somberly. “Yeah. I saw that shit, too.”

“A car just drove through the damn wall of windows,” Uncle Bernard said. “Mary Lee and I were heading over to the bar and it just crashed right through the damn windows.”

Ridge’s teeth clenched.

“It might not be connected,” Roark said as if he could read Ridge’s mind. “It might have just been a freak accident.”

Ridge was already shaking his head. “You don’t believe that shit any more than I do.”

Roark remained silent, an admission that Ridge was right.