Alpha Billionaire Series

KAYLA

I couldn't believe Nick was here. He was sitting in my house with me, and the photos were just pictures from the set. He was here.

“I'm sorry," I said again.

“Babe, you have nothing to be sorry for. I'm with you now, and together we will beat this."

“You aren't mad that I ran away?"

He let out a frustrated breath with a groan.

“I'm mad that you felt that you couldn't come to me. Kayla, 'm mad at me. I'm really angry at the people behind all of this. ¥'m mad that I wasn't there for you. But I am not mad at you at all. You were scared and you did what you thought you had to!

“You should be mad at me though. I'm a mess.”

“You're a hot mess, but that's nothing I can't handle”

Nick wiped away my tears. He didn't look mad at me. He was smiling. Tears sparkled on his lashes. He cried prettier than I did. Maybe it was a professional hazard, he had to look good doing most things.

“I only took that job from you because I needed to pay the blackmailer. I couldn't imagine why you would want to be seen with me again after that party. And then, you actually wanted me to be the person who kept the studio off your back. And that seemed almost unreal. And you bought me that house!” I swiped at my tears. It was hard trying to tell him what I was feeling. I wasn't doing a very good job of it. “When I saw those pictures of you and May. I couldn't live with all the lies I had been telling everyone, including myself. I tried to pay the blackmailer off. 'm sorry. I gave them everything I had. I wanted to protect you."This content provided by N(o)velDrama].[Org.

“Why should you protect him?”

Iturned to look at Mom.

“Because those horrible pictures were of him trying to protect me. Obviously, nothing went quite right. But he wasn't touching me to be perverted or inappropriate. He was trying to cover me up. It's what he had to work with in the heat of the moment. He tried to protect me, so I wanted to protect his reputation.” I gulped. “I was trying to protect you, Mom. So that you didn't have to see your daughter in a compromising situation.”

“I don't understand. You didn’t even know me. We had just met," Nick said.

“Hey, I do know how to use the internet. I may have been too embarrassed to talk to you, but I looked you up” I turned my attention back to Mom. “Nick is the new Captain Wonder”

“Really? I love Captain Wonder. He's always been a favorite character of mine.” Mom lit up and looked at Nick with sudden respect. I knew she loved the Captain Wonder show from when she was a kid. She took me to the movies every time they remade a Captain Wonder movie. She would sit and have conversations with little boys at church over the virtues of the character. Telling them to grow into men like the character Captain Tony Peale.

“You're the new Captain Wonder? You should have said something.” Suddenly she wasn't so angry with Nick.

“When the first letter with the photos arrived at the house, I didn't really know you, but I knew I couldn't let them get out. They could have destroyed your career”

“They didn't. The studio hasn't made an official statement, but my agent said everything looks promising. The studio is probably going to side with me. They are aware that you were being blackmailed. The entire situation is not our doing. It's going to come down to whether or not they feel that I acted as Captain Wonder would have."

Nick reached up and brushed hair away from my face.

“You were too scared to face me after everything that happened at the party, but you were still willing to try to protect me? You didn’t even know me,” he said.

“I knew enough. Maybe I didn't know anything. Mostly panic was involved.”

Ilooked at him and took him in. There was so much more I had to tell him, but I didn’t know if I could do that now with Mon right there.

“Nick, I love you so much. I'm—"

“Don’t say you're sorry again. I love you!” He leaned into me and I kissed him.

Mom cleared her throat, but I didn't care. She was just going to have to accept that I was kissing Nick. She was going to have to accept a whole lot more.

“What were you saying about hiring an investigator?” Mom interrupted.

“What?”

It wasn't fair, I wanted to keep kissing him and forget all of my troubles.

“Yeah, I hired an investigator. And I got a good legal team on it. The best that money can buy. And money can buy a lot. Righ now, the lawyers are going after any site that posts the image. It's a violation of privacy laws. They are ready to hit anyone with a lawsuit if the image is still on their site tomorrow.”

“But I can't afford to sue anyone. I don't have any money. I sent it all to the blackmailer.’

Nick shook his head. “It's okay. I do.”

“You can't sue every entertainment website out there. That will keep you tied up in court. You don't have that kind of money Nick made a funny face and started laughing. “Actually, I do."

I covered my open mouth with my fingers. Jessie had been right, Nick had money.

“But it won't come to that. They know posting the photos was wrong. Look, Kayla, with as much as I can do to have the photos removed from certain websites, I have no control over the people who shared, downloaded and posted to other places”

“I know that. I do know how things work.”

“Okay, good. I can't make it go away completely. But 'm doing my best”

“Thank you. Thank you for at least trying”

“Have you kept any documentation on what you paid out?”

I nodded.

“We'll need that. They found out who was blackmailing you. They were sloppy, and not as anonymous as they thought they were when they sold the pictures.’

Ibit my lip and held my breath.

“Who? Why?"

“You are not going to like this."

“What do you mean? Who is itz”

“What's your relationship with Gabe Mitchellz"

“Gabe? He's my nephew, Kayla's cousin. His sister, Jessie, was visiting over the weekend. She left this morning Mom clearly didn't understand what Nick was saying.

Rage blinded me. I was on my feet in a flash. I wanted to smash something. “I told you she wasn't trustworthy. She lies about everything”

“Your cousin came to check on you. She said you left LA so suddenly, she was concerned.”

“She was blackmailing me, Mom. She probably took the pictures herself. Or Gabe took them.”

“Not Jessie. I don't believe it” Mom could be in denial if she wanted, but this felt like vindication.

Jessie had only ever rubbed me the wrong way.

“She only came so she could see my reaction when the pictures were released. She's never been concerned with anyone but herself. She was always trying to get me to introduce her to Nick. Oh, my God. All this time she was the one threatening me and taking my money!”

turned to Nick.

“I had no way of knowing. I didn’t know.” Tears streamed down my face.

He stood and looked down at me. I expected him to be angry, to blame me, but he pulled me to him and wrapped me in his arms.

“I know. I know. She was here? Well, I'm glad that I missed her. That could have been awkward. Considering she’s also wante for questioning, along with Gabe."

“I don't understand, why would they do something like that. They're good children,’ Mom continued to defend them.

“They aren't good people, Mom. Why won't you listen to me?”

“Your Uncle Dave would never tolerate that.”

“Uncle Dave doesn't care” I sighed and rested my forehead against Nick's chest. He was so sturdy and strong. He felt like a pillar of support when I needed him most.

“Your niece and nephew have been in trouble like this before. They've been involved in credit card fraud and trying to rip people off with phone scams. It seems Gabe has quite the reputation for underground gambling. He owes some frightening people a lot of money.”

“What's going to happen?” Mom asked.

Nick shrugged. “jail time? I don't know. But I will be prosecuting. I'm not dropping this. They crossed the line when they triec t0 go through Kayla to get at me.”

He smiled down at me. “They had no idea what they were going up against with you, did they? They thought you were some scared meek little girl!” He laughed. “They never saw the fierce woman you really are.”

“I'm not fierce. I'm not strong. Nick, I ran away,” I was nothing but a coward.

He shook his head. “There is nothing wrong with retreating to regroup, to assess your situation. Your cousins can't see that, they aren't looking. They don’t know you. You never once caved and asked me for money. You stood your ground to protect people. That's nothing to be ashamed of, Kayla."

I glanced over at Mom. I needed to be able to talk to Nick without her right there. I looked down at what I was wearing. I was still in my pajamas, with house slippers on.

“I need to change. Give me a minute, and then we need to go out and talk”

“You can continue your conversation in the kitchen,” Mom said. She looked like she wasn't going to budge.

“No, Mom, there are some things I need to speak with Nick about in private. I'l be right back, and we can go."