Page 21 of Kissed and Missed

No, I didn’t, but I was naive. In the back of my mind, I thought we were safe out here, an entire country away from the madness that is my life. I thought laying low until the gala would be enough.

Picking up my phone again, I fire off a few more messages. “I’m sending a few staff members to see to your sister. You may want to warn her, though.”

Just as I’ve finished speaking, however, a phone begins ringing in Honor’s purse and she dives for it, fumbling around until she pulls it out to see the name on the screen.

Leni “The Buttface” Vogel

“Hello?” Honor asks as she lifts the phone to her ear, her voice shaky. I go to stand up, to give her some space to talk to her sister, but Honor’s hand darts out to stop me. The sad, watery smile she gives me makes my chest ache. “Just a second. I’m putting you on speakerphone.”

“Okay,” a clear female voice comes from the speaker, “so, the internet seems pretty split on whether you’re a legend or a slut. The pictures areeverywhere, though. How the actual fuck did this happen? When you left the apartment this morning you were still rocking the sad puppy look.”

“Pictures?” I demand, my heart sinking like a stone.

Lenora lets out an incredulous laugh. “You haven’t seen them yet? Oh boy. They’re pretty incriminating, to be honest. I mean, dude, did you have to fondle her in the middle of a freaking ballroom?”

It’s been a long time since anyone called medude, but I have more pressing concerns at the moment. Picking up my phone again, I perform a rapid Google search of my name, and am met with dozens of recent videos, articles, and celebrity news releases, all with headlines saying more or less the same thing: Julian Ballard, CEO of Ballard Enterprises, spotted getting cozy with his daughter’s ex-girlfriend.

The pictures Lenora mentioned are at the very top of the first article I click, and it couldn’t be clearer that she was correct. Incriminating might even be an understatement. Judging bythe angle, they were taken from the darkened stage area in the ballroom by a cell phone camera. The first shows Honor and I intertwined, her expression unguarded and radiant as she looks up at me. Next, our lips are about to meet. In the third, we’re kissing. The fourth is a grainy close-up of my hands gripping her ass.

Rage is an understatement for how I feel right now.

“Oh my god. Someone was watching us?” Out of the corner of my eye, I see Honor’s hands fly up to cover her mouth in horror.

I have never in my life felt the need to ruin someone, but when I find out who took these images, I will make them regret it. The violation of having my picture taken when I’m not aware has become so commonplace to me, I hardly think about it anymore. To know it happened to Honor, however, and that as a result, the entire internet is saying God knows what about it…

My stomach churns as Lenora’s voice issues from Honor’s phone again. “Dad is going to lose his mind. Mom is at that meditation retreat, though, so hopefully you’ll have time to get this under control before she reemerges as a more enlightened human being.”

Pressed against me as she is, I feel Honor tremble. “Um.” Her voice cracks. “I’ll call him so he doesn’t hear it on the news or anything.”

“I’ll call Sophie. We can make it her problem,” Lenora advises with a snort. “Do you need me to do anything else?”

Honor opens her mouth and closes it again but doesn’t make a sound. Sensing she’s too shaken up to speak, I take over. “Not at the moment. I’ll make sure to keep you updated as my team learns more.”

“You do that.” There’s a note of animosity in her voice, and I can hardly blame her for it. I doubt I would feel any different if my sister got caught up in something like this. “I know you’re super rich and master of the universe and all that, but if youshow up here, ruin her life, and leave, I will track you down and shove a pineapple up your ass.”

Beside me, Honor lets out a watery little giggle, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. “It’s not his fault, Len.”

“It kind of is,” Lenora bites back. “And not to freak you out, but I just looked outside and there are a bunch of sketchy guys in black coats, holding cameras. So, probably not a good idea to come home.”

We hang up, and nearly the moment the screen of her phone goes black, Honor slumps forward, head in her hands. “I can’t believe this is happening,” she says weakly. “It doesn’t feel real.”

“I’m going to deal with it. I swear, Honor.”

She peeks up at me, smiling weakly. “I guess the cat is out of the bag, huh? The worst thing that could come of this has happened. So now, if we get through this, it’s home free.”

“It’s not anif,” I assure her gravely as I brush hair back from her beautiful, tear-streaked face. “I wouldn’t have come if there was a question in my mind that this can work.”

Honor gazes back at me. “How can you be so sure, though? We barely know each other, and now there’s no wading in or testing the waters, you know? The whole world knows, and if either of us walks away, we’ll look even worse.”

She’s not wrong, and I hate the thought of her feeling even slightly trapped with me. I want her, yes, but not like this.

“Whatever happens, I’ll make sure the burden of guilt is on me.” I weave my fingers through hers, squeezing slightly. “For the record, though, it’s been a long time since I felt as sure about anything as I am about you. I’m so sorry you had to go through this, and that the world knows before you’re ready, but it hasn’t changed what I feel for you.”

Sniffing, she searches my face, obviously looking for signs I’m not being completely genuine. I can’t blame her for it. After all, wasn’t it my daughter who lied, cheated, and gaslit her?Even if their relationship was never going to go the distance—a fact I can’t pretend I’m not happy about now—it ending the way it did had to leave some scars. Now, with this horrible fucking development, of course she’s scared.

Which means it’s my job to make her feel as secure and certain of our future as I am.

“I want to believe you,” she begins cautiously, as if waiting for me to get angry at her for being honest. “It’s just a lot, you know? Not even twenty-four hours ago I thought it was never going to happen. Now, you’re here saying all these perfect things and we’re having the best sex ever, and the entire world knows we’re together…” She trails off with a tight, miserable smile.

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