“I’ll explain later. Listen, I’m sure the media will be waiting for us. Hang tight to my hand, keep your head down, and don’t say shit to anyone. Sterling will protect us; we just need to stay close to him. Okay?” he asked, referring to his bodyguard.
“Okay,” I replied hesitantly.
I climbed out, and he was right behind me.
“Reighvyn! What do you think about the decision?” a man called out, appearing from seemingly nowhere the minute we stepped into the airport.
“Reighvyn, did you ever doubt that you would clear your name?” another man asked.
“Who’s next on your list to fight?” a blonde woman asked.
“Reighvyn, you never give interviews. Don’t you think it’s time to speak up with all that’s going on around you? The suspension, the termination, Daniella, and now Kevin.”
As soon as we stepped inside of the airport, we werebombarded by photographers and reporters on all sides. There was only so much coverage Sterling could provide. Besides the reporters and photographers, his fans were there too. Someone had to have leaked that he was coming here, and I hated that for him.
“Hey, it’s Rose the Recker! Rose, are you still involved with Neal Cunningham?”
I stumbled because I was caught off guard, but I kept moving forward.
“Dove, are you and Reighvyn dating?” a tall, reed-thin man with pockmarked pale skin, red hair, and pale blue eyes asked.
I snatched my hand free from Reighvyn’s at that question, which caused me to become separated from him and Sterling. Although vloggers and reporters knew my name, they seldom called me by it. Hearing him refer to me by my actual name threw me for a loop. I couldn’t seem to move my feet. Guilt and shame washed over me along with fear for Reighvyn’s reputation by being associated with me.
People pushed between us, shoving us further apart as they tried to get his autograph and take selfies with him. At six feet and three inches, Reighvyn stood above the crowd, but I blended in at five-six. I saw him looking around, searching for me, but I was still stunned.
The crowd moved toward him, and I found myself alone with the red-haired reporter.
“Are you the reason Reighvyn and supermodel Daniella Pearce are broken up? Dove, did you cheat with him like you did Neal?” the reporter asked.
“Leave me alone,” I muttered, turning away from him.
“Dove, people have referred to you as a professional gold digger. You’ve had a reporter, now an athlete. Who’s next?” the red-haired reporter asked.
Reighvyn spotted me at that moment as my stomach knotted in dread and embarrassment. I finally found my footing and tried to move forward, but the reporter grabbed my arm. Reighvyn’s eyes seemed to go blank as he stalked toward me, almost like he was operating outside of himself.
“Let me go!” I snatched free of the reporter’s grasp.
“Well, you can’t deny screwing someone like Reighvyn is a come up; it’s better than being a poor man’s whore,” the reporter quipped.
Reighvyn reached us at that moment and popped the man in the mouth with a hard fist.
The reporter fell, I gasped, and Sterling rushed in and hustled us away. We shoved our way through the crowd, and the chaos surrounding us became more dramatic. The moment Sterling rushed us into the VIP suite, he pulled out his phone and made a call.
There was so much pandemonium on the other side of those doors that I was about to have a meltdown.
“Fuck! This is bullshit!” Reighvyn grumbled, pacing back and forth.
His hands were balled in fury, and his jaw clenched and unclenched repeatedly. Two airline personnel rushed toward us. Sterling and Reighvyn had an animated conversation with them, while I sat in a lush club chair in a state of shock.
I couldn’t believe that things had spiraled out of control so quickly.
“Let’s go,” Reighvyn demanded in a surly tone after a few minutes. I looked up to see Sterling leaving the VIP suite with one of the airline personnel, while the other team member led Reighvyn and me through a doorway.
Reighvyn’s phone rang as we walked down a long hallway to board a plane.
“Hey. Yeah, we’re heading to the plane now. Thanks for getting this for me so quickly. Yeah.”
I zoned out as he continued talking. When we stepped onto the plane, I noticed that it was a private one, not the public plane that we had taken before in the first-class section. As the airline personnel turned us over to the airline attendants on the plane, I was left to get settled in, while Reighvyn’s attention was consumed by his manager who patched in members of Reighvyn’s PR team onto the call. I only knew because he had the call on speaker phone.
