He reached for her, and she dissolved into his embrace. With one arm around her, he walked her into the bedroom, dropped his clothes into a pile on the floor, crawled into bed with her in his arms and fell instantly into a peaceful, dreamless sleep.

Nick stared out the window in Sam’s room but could see nothing through the rage. That someone could do this to her…He checked on her, confirmed she was still asleep and stepped out of the room. Scrolling through the numbers on his phone, he found his attorney friend Andy, one of the guys he played basketball with. Andy and his wife recently had a baby, so he hesitated to wake them up. But then he thought of Sam, sobbing at the Lincoln Memorial the night she told him her darkest secret, and made the call.

“I’m sorry to bother you, Andy. It’s Nick Cappuano.”

“Senator,” Andy said, sounding groggy and surprised to hear from him—especially at that hour. “Are you all right? I heard about the accident.”

“I’m banged up, but I’ll survive. Sam’s a little worse off.”

“Sounds like it was quite a wreck.”

“Yeah, it was. So listen, I’ve got a problem I could use your help with.”

“Sure, Nick, er, Senator. Whatever you need.”

“Nick is fine, and it’s about Sam.” Nick told him about the tabloid. “Tell me there’s something we can do. An injunction. Something. If this comes out, it’ll kill her.”

“Is it true?”

Nick hesitated, hating this more with every passing second. “Yes and no. She had an appointment for the procedure, but miscarried beforehand. It sounds like the source only passed along the first half of the story.”

“If it’s true, it’s harder to claim libel. And since she’s a public figure, that further complicates things.”

“How can that be? This is her private medical history that someone sold to a tabloid for personal gain. How can that be legal?”

“You can file for an injunction since medical records are private, but I doubt you’d get it in time to stop publication.”

Nick released a ragged deep breath. “So because she’s with me, because I’m in the Senate now and we’ve gotten all this attention, she forfeits her basic right to privacy?”

“It’s more like it can be taken from her without notice. I can file for an emergency injunction in the morning. The best we can hope for is a sympathetic judge who will move swiftly. Be advised, though, the injunction will make news, too. It’ll all but confirm that the story is true—and in this case, partially true is enough to be damaging. She can also sue the asses off the clinic and the tabloid—and she absolutely should—but again, that’ll only perpetuate the story.”

Nick ran a hand through his hair. “I can’t believe this is happening.”