“Watch your mouth, Savannah.” My mother scowls and pushes past me, uninvited.
“Sorry, Savy girl.” My father leans down and plants a kiss on my cheek. “We just came to check on you.”
“No,” my mother snaps. “We are here to clean up her mess. She’s an absolute disgrace.”
Ignoring my mother, I turn to Charlotte and Denver. My head swivels between the two, waiting for one of them to tell me what the hell is going on.
“To be clear, I did not want to be here. And I got us up here. The doorman remembered that I’m your brother. Sorry, sis.” Denver pats my shoulder and walks past me to join my father on the couch in the living room, as my mother stares at her phone, pacing.
I turn to my sister. “Char, please tell me what’s going on. Why are all of you here?”
“Didn’t you see the news?” Charlotte nibbles her bottom lip.
“What news? I’ve been asleep since I left the hospital after being on shift for over twenty-four hours straight.”
“Where’s your phone?” she asks.
“Lost in the melee. Gosh, it was awful, Charlotte. I just need to sleep.” For the first time since I left the supply closet, I regret not getting my phone out of the water bucket. If I had, I might have been able to avoid my family banging at my door.
She frowns with a harsh exhale. “I think you’d better sit down for this.”
I follow Charlotte into the living room. My mother’s phone rings, and she answers it as my dad winks at me and pats the seat beside him on the couch. Ignoring my mother’s whispered call, I take the spot beside Dad and wait for someone to explain.
“I’m too tired to deal with all the cloak and dagger, so please say what you all came to say and get it over with.” The fact my mother is here has me worried it’s about Gran, my maternal grandmother, whom I adore. The woman whose very last name I changed mine to. “Is it Gran?”
“No, Gran is fine.” Charlotte sits beside me and places her hand on mine. “A story has made it to the press, and the family has been pulled in. It’s…” She pauses and nervously licks her lips then continues. “It’s about Nico.”
Dread punches me in the gut, stealing my breath, and tears sting my eyes. I haven’t spoken to him since our text exchange, which was hours ago. Which can only mean… “Did something happen to him?”
“That piece of scum brings shame to our families’ good name, and you’re worried about him?” My mother sneers.
“Now, Sarah, calm down. I don’t think Savannah is aware of what’s been going on,” Dad says in a chiding yet calming voice, ever the mediator.
I turn to Charlotte. “Please tell me what’s going on.”
Charlotte closes her eyes but nods. “A video was released by multiple media outlets, showing Nico with another woman. It was very…private.”
My brain freezes like a browser open with too many tabs.Private?
“Stop sugarcoating it, Charlotte, and just rip off the Band-Aid. It was a sex tape, Sav. There is a video of Nico and a model named Alessia all over the internet. Metadata says the video was made twoweeks ago in Seattle,” Denver states. His voice is cold and devoid of emotion.
Or is that just me?
Numbness washes over me.
Nico? Sex tape? Seattle?
What the actual fuck is going on? There is no way he would cheat on me, right? Two weeks ago, he was in Seattle. It was after I walked out on him, but sleep with someone else? Would he do that? My gut says no, but if there’s video?
My brain feels like it’s going to explode as I wrap my head around what I just heard.
“There’s more,” Charlotte says. “A picture of you and Nico dancing at some gala was also posted online. Everyone knows your name, who you are, and your connection to the family. They are calling you ‘the black-sheep doctor and the black-hearted baseball player’. The article claims you broke off your engagement with Bradley for Nico. It’s a mess, Savannah. And since you haven’t been honest with any of us, we don’t know what is fact or fiction. We need your help to clean this up with the press.”
“Thank you so much for that, Savannah. I hope you’re happy. Besmirching the family name yet again.” Mother smiles cruelly.
I should be appalled by her callousness, but I’m not. Over the years, since I moved away from San Francisco, away from her, I stopped seeking her approval. I stopped caring whether I made her proud or that she treated me poorly. I like who I am. I love my job, Los Angeles, and my life.
Like the butterflies I love so much, I’ve left my chrysalis reborn and ready to spread my wings. I’m finally happy. A weight settles in my heart. I’ve been happy because I found Nico. My grumpy, rude baseball boy, who changed everything.
