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Victor nods. “I’ll go get on it, then.”
He leaves my office. I sit back and rub my temples.
Why on earth can’t people just mind their own business? Why do they have to drag a kid into this?
I should have known this would happen, though. My company is just starting out, and it’s already doing well. I’m the face of my company, the captain at the helm. People can’t find fault with my products so they’ll try to find fault with me. But I won’t let them win.
I’m fine. I can deal with this. It’s Jenna I’m worried about.
Chapter Fourteen
Jenna
“Of course I’m worried, Dax,” I tell him over the phone as I brush the curtain aside to glance out the window. Again. “I keep thinking reporters are going to show up on our lawn. Or some crazy person who wants to step into the spotlight.”
I can’t believe someone would make up a story about Dax, Shanna and me, or that someone was in this town taking pictures of Dax, Shanna and me when we weren’t looking. What do they hope to gain from invading our privacy?
And yes, I know Dax may enjoy less of that because he’s a CEO and the son of a CEO and somewhat of a celebrity in the business world, if not royalty, but I am a private citizen. Just a librarian who was supposed to go to work today but can’t get out of the house for fear of getting ambushed. And Shanna? She’s just a baby.
“I understand that you’re scared,” Dax tells me.
Unlike me, he seems utterly calm. How can he stay calm when the whole world is spreading lies about him?
“But you don’t have to be. A security team is on its way.”
A security team? Like my own Secret Service detail?
I frown. “Do you really think telling me you’re sending me a group of bodyguards is going to make me panic less?”
It just confirms the danger I’m in.
“I just wanted you to know that I’m going to protect you, Jenna,” Dax tells me. “I’m not going to let anything bad happen to you.”
“Well, something bad has already happened to me, hasn’t it?” I snap at him.
Dax doesn’t answer.
I sit on the couch and let out a sigh. “I’m sorry. I know none of this is your fault. I’m just…”
I draw a deep breath and touch my forehead.
“How did this happen, Dax? Did they follow you here?”
“Probably. Those pictures were taken at the graveyard, so yeah, whoever’s behind this story followed us there.”
And took a picture of us while we were paying our respects to Mom and Sarah. I guess it’s a good thing my dad didn’t pay them with us. He stood back, waiting for his own turn.
But God, why would they intrude on that private moment? Why would they steal it?
“Do you know who’s behind this?” I ask Dax.
“Not yet. But I will, and whoever it is will pay.”
That’s good. I want him to. I want to put him in his own grave. Or at least strip him naked for the whole world to see, because that’s how I feel right now. That doesn’t make all this go away, though.
“Are you going to give an interview?” I ask. “Tell people the truth?”
“That Shanna isn’t my child?”
“Well, that is the truth, isn’t it?”
“Yes,” Dax answers. “But the fact remains that I care about her, about you. Both of you will still be targets, and if I say something, more people will just want to take a shot.”
“Because they know how much you care.”
“Something like that.”
So the more Dax cares about Shanna and me, the more we’re in danger of being ambushed by reporters and God knows who else, which means it’s better for him to not say anything. It’s better to let people believe in a lie? This is all so fucked up.
“I know you’re upset, Jenna,” Dax says. “But don’t say anything. Whatever you say, they’ll just twist it and make both of us look bad.”
Like Chloe said, people will believe the worst even if the truth is in front of their eyes.
“I understand,” I tell him. “I wasn’t going to talk to anyone.”
Hopefully, those bodyguards will keep reporters away so I won’t have to.
“The article was inaccurate but not offensive,” Dax tells me.
My eyebrows crease. “Really? It implied I was a whore and you a man with no morals.”
“It implied that, yes,” Dax agrees. “But it didn’t say anything outright. Believe me, it could have been nastier.”
I believe him.
“And things might get nastier if either of us respond.”
“I got it, okay?”
I feel like a little girl being told to shut up in class.
Dax draws a deep breath. “Just leave everything to me, Jenna. Okay?”
I sigh. “Okay.”
It’s not like I have a choice anyway. There doesn’t seem to be anything I can do.
“I’m sorry for all this, but we will get through it, okay? Everything will be alright. Trust me.”
