Page 76 of Bae

He nodded, and Trent’s face went sour. “They offered me and T two million dollars for a no-holds-barred exclusive tell-all about you and Romeo.” He cleared his throat. “Mostly about you.”

I felt lightheaded. Two million dollars!

That was insane!

“They’re willing to pay that amount of money just so they can continue to basically bully me in the media?” I asked, my voice slightly hoarse.

B stood, but Romeo was closer and came to my side. “That’s why I didn’t tell you right away, baby. I didn’t want you to get upset.”

“I am upset!” I exclaimed.

Nova made a sound, and I felt contrite. “I’m sorry, sweetheart,” I crooned, stepping away from Romeo and lifting her out of Ivy’s arms.

Ivy smiled at me encouragingly.

I kissed Nova on the head, and we found her a clean spoon and an empty plastic cup to play with. It always amazed me that kids would rather play with random stuff than a bag full of actual toys.

Once she was settled with her new discoveries, I turned back to everyone. Ivy sat forward and cleared her throat. “Rim has a right to be upset.”

“Did you know?” I asked her.

She shook her head slowly. “Not about this. Of course I know the media is always looking for a story. I do work atPeople. But they usually don’t talk about our family in front of me. I think they know it wouldn’t go over very well.” She paused, then cleared her throat. “I do know, though, they would pay a huge sum of money for any kind of exclusive with you guys.”

“And my father?” I turned to Romeo.

“I called him. I wanted to know if the press called him, too. I was concerned.”

“Concerned the addict in him would see all those dollar signs and jump back into gambling.”

“It’s not a stretch,” Romeo said.

“No. It’s not.” I relented. I wouldn’t defend my father. He lost that privilege the second I found out he basically let my mother pay for his gambling debts… with her life.

I pinned Romeo with a stare. “You should have told me.” Then I glanced at all three guys. “Youallshould have told me.”

Ivy made a sound of agreement. “Mm-Hmm.”

We girls had to stick together. We were outnumbered.

“Look,” I said, lowering my voice and trying to sound reasonable. “I know I haven’t been myself since, um, since Evie. But I can’t hide forever. I need to know about this stuff. Otherwise, I get caught off guard, like yesterday at the game.”

Braeden snickered.

I gave him a dirty look. It only made him laugh harder.

“And then again this morning with my father. From now on, no more shielding me. Let’s all just deal with this together, as a family.”

Romeo wrapped his arms around me from behind and hunched in around me. “You got it.”

All my brothers made sounds of agreement.

“Now, is there anything else no one has told me?” I asked, going forward to the coffee Romeo made me.

“I have an ingrown toenail,” Braeden announced and shoved a piece of bacon in his mouth.

“I think my underwear might be too small,” Trent added and shifted uncomfortably.

“Just go commando,” Braeden cracked. “Drew would be thrilled.”

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