Page 147 of Take What You Want

But at the thought of Kerra, a prickle of suspicion nips at the back of my neck. Nikolai said she accepted his decision easily when he broke it off after the show. But it doesn’t make sense. She was so hungry to cling to his image, to use the idea of their relationship to get herself back in good graces.

Could she be behind the leak?

But then again, how did she get the photos? Was she having Nikolai followed?

“I’m sorry,” I tell them. “This isn’t how I wanted you guys to find out about us. Or ever see me in a position like this at all. I don’t want you to be disappointed in me.”

“What?” Mom cries out. “We’d never be disappointed in you. It’s not like this was your doing.”

“I know, but I’m supposed to be your responsible child.” I laugh through my tears. “James is the one who is supposed to be on tabloids getting felt up.”

My mom laughs with me while my dad exhales. “Oh, there’s been plenty of that over the years,” she says. “But you’re still our responsible child. You always have been. You have a good head on your shoulders. We’d never be angry with you, sweetie.”

I didn’t realize how much I needed to hear that from them.

“You are not to blame for this.” Dad’s tone brokers no arguments. “This is not your fault. Do you understand?”

I nod but then realize he can’t see me. “Yes, I understand.”

“Good.”

“Does your brother know?” Mom asks. I know she’s asking about me and Nikolai and not the photos.

“No.”

After a pause, Dad says, “You need to talk to him. Before he finds out the same way you did. That’s not fair to him.”

“I know, I know. I will as soon as we hang up…” I trail off as Nikolai walks in the door with a bloody cut on his lower lip. His face tells me everything I need to know.

“I have to go,” I tell my parents. “Thank you both for being understanding about this.”

“We love you,” Mom says. “Let us know when you see your brother. I would hate to see you two fight.”

Oh, if only she could see Nikolai’s face right now.

“Love you, too.” I hang up and let out a harsh breath as he approaches gingerly. “Did Walker do that?”

“Yeah,” he says sadly.

“He knows?”

“Yeah.”

Nikolai grabs my hips and pulls me against him. I tentatively touch the cut at his lip and he flinches.

“I need to talk to him.”

“Give him a little bit of space.” I open my mouth to argue but he continues, “Trust me, Jane, he’s not in the place to listen right now.”

I look at my phone, expecting to see him blowing it up, but it’s silent. “We should’ve told him sooner.”

“We should’ve, but we can’t change it now.”

“You need to talk to Arun. Get a game plan.”

He rolls his neck. “I know. I can’t even imagine the shit storm that is going down right now.”

I start to pull back. “You should?—”

---