I started drafting an email to him that I wouldn’t send without Zolt’s approval, but every word made us either sound like we were nearly married or just a lust-filled phase.
My eyes ping-ponged from the email to the magazine. Livie had always told me there were three ways to handle the media — deny, deflect, or own it.
But there wasn’t anything to deny, deflect, or own just yet. I might want to beat them to it.
I flipped through the magazine, but the tab in Livie’s handwriting that said‘Fia!!!’for Everly made my skin crawl.
And I kept flicking through to stare at his hand on my hip.
Really, it was surprising it hadn’t received more attention. It did look innocent enough.
It was only when I threw it onto Everly’s desk that I looked at my notifications.
NADIA: Hope you’re okay! Told Nora she’s a bitch. She wasn’t surprised. Here, if you ever need to talk xx
Thank god.
I was typing my reply when I heard fast footsteps.
“Fia?”
Zolt.
“I’m in here.”
He was breathless when he rounded the corner in his leathers. He blinked as he saw me and dropped to his knees, wiping at where my tears had been.
“What’s happened? Why have you been crying?”
Great.So my mascara had run.
“Look at the tabbed page.”
He frowned and looked around, but I didn’t have the energy to explain it any more than that.
When he found the magazine, he turned to the image that would haunt my nightmares. “You look cute.”
I shook my head with a breath of laughter through my nose. “The caption calls me your step-sister.”
He sat back on his heels. “Ah.”
“Yes.”
His finger brushed the word before he chucked the magazine aside.“You don’t like that.”
“Puts a dampener on how happy I’ve been,” I sighed. “If we were to come out as… well, everyone would know. Doesn’t help that Nora came shouting her mouth off, telling everyone I’m Imre’s daughter.”
He nodded.“I’ll talk to her.”
“I’d rather you didn’t.”
He rubbed circles over my thighs, warming me up. “What can I do?”
“Nothing,” I sighed. “I just need to get out of my head. Or in it. I think this has put me back a bit. I keep seeing the word and—and…”
He leaned forward to kiss my cheek.“And?” he askedsoftly.
“And I feel sick.”
