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My heart wrung itself at his obvious exhaustion.
He’d returned to New York that afternoon and texted me asking to meet. It was the first time we’d spoken since the latest round ofNational Starhits, which didn’t bode well for us.
I accepted the tea in silence.
Kai sat next to me on the couch, his brows furrowed.
“How are you doing?” he asked.
An embarrassing wave of emotion crested at the sound of his voice. He’d been gone for less than a week, but it felt like a lifetime.
“I’m okay.” I let out a weak laugh. “I became famous while you were gone. Celebrity takes its toll.”
He didn’t smile at my lame attempt at a joke. “I’m dealing with Black. TheStarwill retract its stories.”
My forced humor slipped. “But not the one about my family,” I said quietly. “That one’s true.”
A muscle flexed in his jaw. “No. Not that one.” He set his drink on the coffee table and rubbed a hand over his face. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I…” I faltered. “I don’t know. I’ve kept it a secret for so long that it didn’t even cross my mind to say anything. I know it seems like a silly thing to hide, but my family isextremelyprivate. The past week must be killing them.”
Guilt and shame bubbled in an unsettling stew in my stomach. “When I first moved to New York, I was pretty wild, and I didn’t want my actions to reflect poorly on them. If people knew who I was, I would’ve been all over the gossip sites. I also swore I wouldn’t rely on my family’s name and money to make my way, and I haven’t. Some people might think I’m stupid for not taking advantage of what I had, but I didn’t want to be one of those rich kids who lived off their parents’ wealth withoutdoinganything.”
My mother had kept our personal lives out of the press for decades. Even Felix, my most high-profile brother, focused on his work in interviews. I wanted to explore the city and justlivewithout worrying about sullying the family name, and I didn’t want people to treat me differently because I was an heiress.
No scrutiny, no expectations, no pressure.
It worked…until it didn’t.
“Did anyone know before the piece?” Kai asked, his face unreadable.
“Viv and Sloane.” I curled my hands around my mug and took solace in the warmth. “They found out organically when my mother dropped by for a surprise visit a few years ago. Sloane recognized her. Parker knew too since she ran my pre-employment background check, but she promised not to say anything.”
My trust fund was both a blessing and a curse. I didn’t have access to it yet; it would kick in if and when I “settled” into a career I loved, as determined by my mother and Gabriel. If I was still floating from job to job by the time I turned thirty, I forfeited the money to charity.
Theoretically, it was nice knowing I had money to fall back on. In reality, the age stipulation amplified the pressure. I tried not to think too much about it because when I did, I couldn’t breathe.
It wasn’t even about the trust fund as much as it was about the symbolism. If I lost it, it would mean I had failed, and failing when every door was open to me felt like a special kind of hell.
“I spoke to your brother when I was in California.”
Kai’s admission snapped me out of my spiraling self-pity.
My head jerked up. “What?”
I listened with mounting disbelief and anger as he explained what happened, from Rohan Mishra’s ultimatum to Gabriel’s appearance at the bar.
No wonder he looked so stressed. The past few days had been as shitty to him as they had been to me.
“He had no right,” I fumed. “He had absolutelynoright to ambush you like that.”
“He’s your brother. He’s protective,” Kai said mildly.
Protective? Gabriel had better learn to protect himself because I was going to strangle him with one of those stupid silk ties he loved so much.
“He also mentioned someone named Easton.” Kai’s gaze remained steady while my blood solidified into ice. “Who is that?”
My heart pounded in my ears.
