Page 158 of Gilt

“I already have people working on it,” he reassures me.

“Then why do we need to go home?” I ask after a long pause, “Let’s go to the Mediterranean. Let’s run away.”

The truth is that the baby and wedding rumors are easy to face compared to what’s going on with my stepfather. I can’t bring myself to ask more about Hans. If I call my mother, will she want to talk about it?

“Wait,” I say as realization dawns on me. “What do you know about the charges against Hans?”

If he already has people working on the fallout, it must be bad.

“We don’t need to think about that right now.”

“Now is a pretty good time. There’s no food in my stomach. I’m less likely to throw up all over you.”

“That’s not it,” he hedges. “I need confirmation before ...”

“Before what?” My eyes narrow and I advance on him. If Jameson West thinks he’s going to keep a secret from me right now, he’s very much mistaken.

“I can’t say this with absolute certainty,” he says as I continue to corner him, “but the information we’ve gotten so far suggests your mother turned him into the FBI.”

If Jameson thinks this is going to upset me, he’s wrong.

“She did?” I ask, awestruck.

“It’s not confirmed, but it seems like it.”

It hardly seems possible that I could ask so much. First, my dad showed up at the cemetery, remembering my birthday. Now, my mother has put aside her selfish fear of embarrassment and done the right thing.

“My parents are finally growing up,” I whisper. I just had to show them how. Jameson doesn’t respond. He simply wraps two strong arms around my shoulders and draws me close.

We stay like that for a long moment, gathering strength from one another. Then we walk out of this hotel. There will be more scandals to face, more questions, and more scrutiny, but at least we’ll face them together this time. It’s a comforting thought.

Jameson’s cell phone begins to buzz in his pocket. “Sorry, Duchess.”

He kisses me quickly before he answers it. He remains silent for so long that I begin to question if there’s anyone on the other line. But I know from the way his face goes blank that he’s listening.

“I understand. I can assure you that’s not the case,” he says in a clipped tone. “Of course, we’ll see you soon.”

“What was that about?” I ask as he pockets his phone.

“Time to pack. We’ve been called to a family meeting.”

CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR

My dreams of joining the Mile-High Club are dashed by the perpetual influx of calls Jameson takes on the way back to Las Vegas. Considering the shock numbing my body, it’s probably for the best.

The entire cabin of the West private jet has been turned into a miniature war room. The stack of newspapers waiting on the table when we boarded has been strewn across its entire surface. Each of the headlines is a glimpse into the situation awaiting us at home, and the picture it paints is bleak. Not only are the allegations against Hans as sickening as expected, but the reporters are doing an admirable job of tying all of the summer scandals into one big story.

Nathaniel West’s murder has nothing to do with Hans van Essen, but the fact that my former step-father had been planning to make a movie based on his death has encouraged journalists to jump to bizarre conclusions. The coincidence might have been left at that if it weren’t for one common denominator between the two stories: me.

The milder features and editorials are in reputable newspapers. But the stack of gossip magazines delivered fresh from the presses takes a bad situation and turns it into a nightmare. I’d been kidding when I joked earlier that the tabloids were reporting that I murdered Nathaniel West and was pregnant with Jameson’s baby. Apparently, I have a knack for creative journalism, but the tales the tabloids spun of treachery, and twisted family loyalties were beyond my scope of imagination.

Jameson takes another call, and I sneak one of the gossip rags off the table and begin to read the cover story.

Summer arrived with murder in Belle Mère, Nevada, Las Vegas’s most exclusive enclave. In a crime that shocked the nation, real estate mogul Nathaniel West was found murdered in his home atop the West Casino and Resort on the Las Vegas Strip. The discovery was made after his daughter, former reality star Monroe West, threw an end-of-the-year party for her classmates at Belle Mère Prep.

The bizarre story doesn’t end there. Initial investigation seemed to be directed at Nathaniel’s son, heir to the West real estate empire. But what young billionaire is going to get his own hands dirty? Sources close to the investigation say that Emma Southerly, a friend of West’s sister and a party-goer that fateful night, was so lovesick over Jameson that she agreed to carry out his plans for Nathaniel’s murder.

What’s in it for her? Newly released pictures have us speculating that she’s providing Jameson West with more than an alibi. Is that a baby bump we spot? The two were seen canoodling in a New York eatery this weekend. According to a friend of Southerly, the couple was in New York to quietly elope. Has Emma Southerly seduced Jameson West, or is this simply an attempt to secure their love child’s future claim to the West fortune?