Page 124 of Ruin

“No, it’s not!” I yell at him. But I’m not yelling at him; I’m yelling at the asshole who printed this story. “It’s not your name that’s currently getting tarnished. It’s mine!” I bang a hand to my chest, tears trying to force their way up.

I grab my cell from my pajama pocket and pull up a search engine. I type my name in it.

“What are you doing?” Zeus steps closer.

“Finding out exactly what people are saying about me.”

“That’s not a good idea.”

He goes to wrap his hand over my phone, but I move it out of the way.

“I have to know.”

My page fills with news stories, the headlines screaming at me.

Zeus Kincaid Has a Secret Child! Click here to read all about his secret daughter and the stripper who kept his baby from him.

Zeus Kincaid and the Stripper Who Had His Baby and Kept It Secret for Four Years—Until Now. Click here for the full exposé.

Everything You Need to Know About Cameron Reed, Stripper and Zeus Kincaid’s Baby Mama. Click here to read more.

I click on the third link. The page loads, and the first thing I see is a picture of me—a seriously unflattering picture of me dancing on a podium at the club. There’s a pole, and I’m holding on to it, head thrown back, leg curled around it. I’m wearing sparkly hot pants and a matching bra top. I look like I could be pole-dancing. Or stripping.

“Jesus…” I groan, staring at the picture, unable to look away.

Zeus slides my phone from my hand and from my view, and I let him. “You don’t need to see those.”

“I never stripped.” I look up at him with imploring eyes, knowing how incriminating that picture looks.

“I know that. But, even if you had, it wouldn’t have mattered. What you do is no one’s business but yours.”

“I know. But…I just wanted to keep dancing, and it was fun. If I’d known…I never would have taken the job. Fuck!” I cry out.

He takes my face in his hands, staring into my eyes. “And, if you’d never taken that job, I wouldn’t have seen you that night. I wouldn’t have known about Gigi. And we wouldn’t be together right now.”

The front door flies open. Zeus releases me, turning to the door. Probably thinking the same as me—that it’s Gigi. But it’s not. It’s Aunt Elle.

“What the hell is going on out here?” she hisses. “I could hear you yelling from upstairs. FYI, you woke up Gigi. You’ve about six seconds before she’s down here.”

“Fuck,” I whisper. I press my hand to my forehead, turning to Aunt Elle. “The press has put out a story about me. They’re saying I’m a stripper and that I didn’t tell Zeus about Gigi. Jesus, they’re painting me out to be a terrible mother.” Angry tears fill my eyes.

I honestly don’t think I’ve ever seen Aunt Elle look as livid as she does right now.

Her eyes flick to Zeus. “What are you doing about this? You have people, right? Can they put a stop to this?”

“I spent all night trying to put a stop to it. My publicist is still on it now, and my lawyer is talking to their lawyers. But I don’t know what good it’ll do. Pharos says they’ve got credible info and story corroboration from people who know Cam well.”

“Bullshit,” Aunt Elle says, sounding as dismayed as I feel.

“People like who?” I say. “No one knows about our history, about you not knowing about Gigi until recently. Well, apart from the three of us standing here. And Ares, Lo, and Missy.”

“Who would never talk to the press,” Zeus affirms.

I nod in agreement.

“Your dad?” I say, hating to say it, but it has to be said.

“He’s too drunk to know the time of day. He barely remembers he has kids, let alone a granddaughter. So, that leaves…”