Page 20 of Puck You Very Much

Oh man, oh man, oh man.

Lucy gasped and her surroundings blurred. Did Jack West just say he…and Dax…werebrothers?

No. That couldn’t be. She would have known. The whole world would have known! The two were famous. They couldn’t have kept this a secret. And anyway, if they were brothers, they wouldn’t hate each other so much.

Would they?

But why would Jack West claim to be Dax’s brother if it wasn’t true? Oh God, they were both staring at her.

Awkward. Intense. Jack, curious, and Dax…reproachful. Her cheeks became inflamed. Quickly, she cleared her throat. “Um, I’m sorry,” she said hesitantly, wringing her trembling fingers together. “I’m late. Traffic was hell and…you don’t care about that, do you?”

They didn’t answer.

“Well, whatever,” she continued hastily, raising her hands defensively. “What I meant to say was, don’t worry, I didn’t hear anything. Nothing at all! Nothing about brothers or family or…anything.”

“Oh, good God,” Dax muttered darkly as he abruptly started off, dragging her by the arm past Jack West into the darkest corner the entrance hall had to offer, which wasn’t particularly dark, with the dozens of halogen lights hanging over their heads.

“Ow,” she said in surprise and tried to shake him off. “Let go!”

“And what if I do?” he replied suspiciously and let go of her arm with a dismissive gesture, causing her to stumble back a step. “When you told me you were my babysitter, I didn’t expect that included eavesdropping on private conversations!”

“It doesn’t,” she replied hastily, her breathing hectic, her thoughts like rubber balls bouncing around uncontrollably in her head. “It was an accident, I…I…I…” She was at a loss for words. She lacked air. Her heart was beating at triple speed because Dax seemed angry and serious and…shit, what if it was true? What if they were brothers?

That would cause a shitstorm! The press would be fighting fist over claw for this information.

Her whole damn job right now was to stop Dax from being caught up in another scandal, and on the first day she finds out he has a secret brother? And it was Jack West, his declared nemesis?

What kind of soap opera was Dax living in?

“Oh God,” she whispered, pressing a hand to her forehead. “Oh God, oh God…”

That was a disaster! A PR nightmare.

Crap! She would never get a promotion. On the contrary, Leslie would fire her if Dax started a media circus on her watch. She was supposed to save Dax’s image, not watch it go up in flames!

What to do?What to do?

White dots danced in front of her eyes and blood roared in her ears. Her hands were tingling, her mouth was dry…oh no, she was having a panic attack, wasn’t she? Because the wordcatastrophewas now flashing in three different colors through her mind and…

“Breathe, Lucy,” Dax instructed her roughly, squeezing her shoulders tightly and looking her intently in the eyes. “Breathe before you pass out. I really don’t feel like catching you right now.”

In one loud whoosh, she released the air from her lungs.

“You…and Jack West,” she blurted out. “You… No!”

Groaning, Dax narrowed his eyes, and she could tell he didn’t want to have this conversation.

Tough luck! Next time he would just have to reveal his secrets more quietly!

“No!” she repeated, wiping her damp palms on her skirt. “No, no. The press would have found out! Someone would have known and spread the word long ago. Anyone… No! That doesn’t make any sense, and…”

“Okay, calm down,” Dax said urgently, and the next moment he was cupping her face with both large hands, forcing her to be still. “Man. You’re about to give yourself a concussion. The point is: No one knows and it will stay that way. It’s nobody’s business what Jack and I…” He stopped and took a deep breath. “It’s nobody’s business. End of discussion.”

“Oh my God, the press would go crazy if they found out,” she breathed. “They would—they would—”

“I know what they would do,” he whispered sharply. “None of us could step foot out the door without a camera in our face. That’s why you won’t tell anyone, right?”

She opened her mouth to reply—but was at a loss for words. She couldn’t think clearly.

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