Parker’s jaw tightened. “We matched it to another painting of yours. This one isn’t on your website, though.”

“The politician?”

Parker nodded. “That’s the one.”

“I got a lot of grief from the subject’s lawyers, and it wasn’t worth keeping it up on my site. It was a part of a public gallery showing, though. I’m sure there are plenty of photos of it if you searched.”

“I found it on the second search on my phone,” Parker said.

Brody’s hold on me tightened the barest degree. “Sometimes, I hate the internet.”

Parker swiped a hand through his hair as he looked out at the crowd. “Don’t disagree with you there. News of this is going to spread like wildfire.”

I couldn’t help the rush of panic that swept through me. Of course, this kind of thing would spread through a community quickly. But it would spread farther than that, too. Definitely state-wide coverage, possibly national. All it would take was me in the background of one photo for my hiding place to come crashing down.

I focused on the one touchstone I had at my disposal, the sound of the sea. I could just make it out over the din of conversation around us. The slow ebb and flow of the tide. Water lapping against the boats. I inhaled deeply, the scent of the salt air reminding me that I was safe.

Even if Michael did find out where I was, his fear of water would hopefully keep me safe. I held onto that knowledge with everything I had in me. My walls of water would protect me.

Brody’s lips brushed the shell of my ear. “Are you okay?”

I tipped my face up to his, taking in his strong jaw and his dark eyes, the beauty of him and the reassurance of his presence. I didn’t want to lose this. Him. And that meant I had to fight. But the enemy wasn’t my brother, it was me. The fear I’d let have free rein over my entire life, slowly eating away at my very existence. I’d already begun to battle it back. To reclaim pieces of who I had been so I could find out who I might want to be now. But I’d have to fight harder.

I pressed a kiss to the underside of Brody’s jaw. “Just thinking.”

He studied my face as if he could read every thought swirling in my head. “You’re safe here.”

“I know I am. I’m just trying to figure out a way to trust that.”

Brody brushed the hair back from my face. “It’s going to take time.”

“I know.” And in the interim, I’d simply have to live in the unknown and the uncomfortable. Know that the fear would try and battle me into submission, but that I would have to keep walking forward amidst it all.