Page 24 of Nathan
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I didn’twantto like her. Not after she played us both. In Spain, she and I were… flirting, and she gave me her number and told me to keep in touch. I thought that maybe, against all odds, I might have a chance with her. I didn’t want to seem desperate, so I waited a full week to contact her, but before I got to it, that awful headline broke of Storm cheating on you with Serena.”
We were all quiet for a long moment before Kit asked me, “Are ye goin’ after her then? I mean, there’s clearly chemistry between ye two or she wouldn’t have brought ye to her room and let ye undress her.”
I didn’t tell Kit and River that I hadn’t undressed Serena. The fact that she had treated me to the most erotic striptease of my life would be a treasured memory for as long as I lived. “That was before it all went south. Serena threw me out of her room, and I’m pretty sure she never wants to see me again.”
River fished her phone out of her pocket. “Argh, my phone keeps vibrating.”
“Maybe it’s Storm tryin’ to reach you to apologize. Tell him from me, it’s about time.”
“No, Kit. It’s not Storm.” River was texting back while talking. “My friends and some journalists I’ve worked with in the past are all spamming me.” Lifting her eyes to meet mine, River asked, “Do you have your laptop close? They’re asking for comments on the latest story about Storm and Serena.”
With a queasy feeling in my stomach, I fetched my computer and let River log on to her social media.
“What’s going on?” I asked as River’s face paled.
She turned the computer and right there on the screen was a picture of Storm looking sad next to a picture of me and Serena kissing.
Kit gasped while I muttered low, “What the fuck?”
Turning to Kit, I narrowed my eyes. “Did you send those pictures to the news?”
“No. Only to Storm.”
River kept smoothing the same lock of her long blond hair while her light brown eyes darted around the room. “I can’t believe it. Bloody hell. The bastard went and sold our photos to the papers. We’ve been outplayed.”
Closing my fist, I groaned, “This is bad!”
“I could have used that cash myself. Can I sue him for copyright infringement or somethin’? Those aremyphotographs.” Kit’s tone was high-pitched.
I couldn’t think about money right now, and exclaimed, “Those photos were supposed to break up Serena and Storm. They weren’t supposed to go online or make the news.” I paced the floor. “Now Serena is going to hate me even more.”
River’s phone kept vibrating and ringing. With annoyance, I pointed at it. “Can’t you shut that thing up?”
“It’s reporters asking for my comments.”
Kit smacked her tongue. “Ignore them. These things always blow over. It’s better to keep out of it.”
“Keep out of it?” River shook her head. “That strategy never works – trust me, I’ve tried. If I don’t speak out, they’ll just fabricate something that a so-calledclosesource told them. You have no idea how out of hand this can get.” She pointed to me. “And you’d better believe that they’re all rushing to find out who the man in the photo is.”
With a frustrated growl, I exclaimed, “Why did I agree to this stupid plan to begin with?”
Kit pointed her finger at me. “I’ll have ye know that there was nothin’ wrong with my plan. How was I supposed to know Serena and Storm were acting both on and off the screen? It’s not my fault that their relationship was all a scam and that Storm would be callous enough to sell my photos!”
“If the journalists start digging in my past…” I locked eyes with River. “They’re going to find out about my dismissal from the army and…”
River’s shoulders sank as she finished my sentence. “The Red Manor Cult.”
