Nina smiled. ‘Markus, I love him,’ she said, and she felt lighter for having said the words.
‘I know.’ He looked right at her, his brown eyes serious. ‘When are you going to trust him enough to tell him?’
Chapter 22
Benji put his phone down on the table, showing them his open web browser and a zoomed-in phone photo of Nina and Maverick kissing on Zephyr’s back. The caption read:Nina Keller Ropes in Millionaire Cowboy.
Nina’s heart raced, pushing a flush of heat through her entire body. The panic began to creep into her previous calm.
Behind her, Maverick placed both his hands on her shoulders, massaging the tension there. ‘Breathe,’ he commanded.
Nina inhaled a deep breath, held it for three long seconds, and released it again.
Markus said, ‘It must have been someone from the shoot. A model or makeup artist who was watching … We could sue for breaching the NDA – if we found out who it was.’
‘It could have been anyone,’ Nina pointed out tiredly. ‘Even some of the guests stopped to watch the shoot. Honestly, I’m surprised I managed to stay out of the spotlight this long.’
In the chair opposite her, Sierra was pale-faced and quiet.
Mav had put Poppy in front of the TV in the next room with a few of the freshly baked cookies. Eddie Murphy’s distinct voice playing Mushu fromMulantrickling through to where the adults convened around the kitchen table.
Benji picked up his phone. ‘The article was released early this morning, so he must have come straight here once he found out.’
‘Which means he’s been looking for you,’ Maverick pointed out.
‘Yeah. You know how it is. Google any celebrity and the latest news pops up first.’ Benji leaned one hip against the kitchen counter. ‘I’m surprised more people haven’t shown up.’
Maverick paced away before spinning on his heel and coming right back.
‘They will,’ Nina could see the writing on the wall. She watched Maverick and all she could think was:I did this. I brought this here.
It didn’t matter that she hadn’t decided to go public, she had still brought trouble right to the Hunts’ door. To Poppy.
The thought made her nauseous.
‘We lock the gates.’ Sierra met Maverick’s eyes. ‘We keep the public amenities open to resort guests, but we close to the public and further reservations until this is sorted.’
‘No,’ Nina managed to argue through the suffocating weight pressing in on all sides. All eyes turned to her. ‘I won’t have him affecting your business. He’s taken enough from me already. He can’t have this.’
‘I respect that. I do,’ Sierra insisted when Nina opened her mouth to argue. ‘But it’s not only you. We can’t have the press hounding our guests. They come here to relax. It wouldn’t be fair to have the place crawling with media.’
‘It’ll only get worse once Nina goes to the police,’ Mav prophesied. ‘How long could we close for?’
‘Our financials are good. We can afford to close the restaurant and café to the public for a few weeks without hurting, maybe even a month. We keep the gates closed, cross-reference guest IDs with reservations at the gate.’
‘No.’ Nina pushed back from the table. ‘No.’
‘Nina, this isn’t just going to go away,’ Sierra said gently.
‘I know.’ She could already feel that panic and despair threatening to take her under, but she forged ahead, knowing what she had to do. ‘And it isn’t going to go away after a few weeks, or a month. This will be messy. The legal battle alone could lastyears.’
The patient acceptance on both the Hunts’ faces confounded her. Didn’t they realize what they were risking? Everything they had worked for. EverythingMavhad worked for. Their family legacy – the one that he had worked so hard to build.
‘I’ll leave,’ she decided. ‘Tomorrow.’ Grasping ahold of the idea, she continued, ‘And then when I go in to talk to the police—’
‘We.’
She looked across the room at Maverick.
