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I’m more concerned with the way he waves it at me so violently, the resultingwhooshlifts my wet hair off my shoulders. It’s likely doing the same to Kara, since she shivers violently against my back. Protective anger comes in another consuming surge. I have to focus on whatever he’s brandishing whether I like it or not.
I definitely don’t like it.
Not when I can already see it’s a print copy of some top Hollywood gossip magazine. And I know it’s recent because it’s flipped open to a half-page photo of Kara and me from the EmStars red carpet, just a couple of nights ago. It’s the exact moment in which I dipped her down for that hot kiss, all but pounding my chest with the she-is-mine-see-it-now stunt.
Stupid, stupid, stupid.
Because the media scarfed that stuff up like boxes of extra creamy mac and cheese—andespeciallybecause one of those on-the-stick photographers caught the shot of a lifetime. A moment in which the corset under Kara’s gown shifted in ways it wasn’t supposed to.
Revealing what the magazine claims to be a “love glow” in her midsection.
While I keep gawking as if my stare will magically erase the image, Kara finally pushes in. “What…is… Oh, my God,” she croaks. “No. Oh, no, no,no.” Her anxiety doesn’t abate even after I gather her close again, rubbing firm fingers around the ball of her shoulder.
“Hey.Hey, beautiful. It’s going to be okay.”
“No,” Z spits. “It’s definitelynotgoing to be okay.”
“What? Why?” I volley. “Even if this is viral, it only looks like a trick of the bright lights on that carpet. The caption here is a bunch of word winks and innuendos.”
My father rips the magazine from my hand. It vanishes as swiftly as he made it show up. “Winks and whispers, eh? You think that’s it? Wait. Let’s rephrase.Isthat it, Maximus?”
Heat burns deeper into my face, and I’m gladder than ever that this grandiose asshole wasn’t present as I grew up. It feels shitty enough tofeellike a teenager on the verge of a year-long grounding. If he’d actually been around when Iwasone… I push down the sudden temptation to shudder.
But I’ll give back as good as I get on his judge-and-jury glare. No way is he privileged to see my shame. Or my secrets.
“You know what, Pops? It’s absolutely none of your business.”
Z’s nostrils flare. His lips part until I can see the white clench of his teeth. “Open your stubborn eyes, boy. It’sallof my business.”
I clench a fist. “Screw you.”
“Damn it, Maximus. Did you knock her up or not?”
Tension takes over my own face, so brutal it hurts. Is the king of wandering cocks actually playing Saint Peter about where mine has been? I roll my wrist, already anticipating how satisfying it’ll be to break his jaw for this, but fate intervenes with self-control I never knew I had.
I nearly crow with pride as I lower my arm. Granted, I’m slow about it. Very slow.
In corresponding measure, words seethe up my throat. “Were you listening? I said it’s none of your bus—”
“Maximus.” Kara’s voice is quiet but as firm as her touch, palming wide on my chest. Fingers that start to visibly tremble. “He’s…right.”
I shake my head. “What?”
“I’m sorry.” Tears push at her words. “But he is.”
“What are you—”
“I grew up watching my mother having to handle situations like this.” Inscrutable emotions pinch her face for a second. “We always tried to be conscious about hiding things. Concealing the parts that humans would never understand. We were more vigilant during high-volume photo shoots, but sometimes things slipped through. A comment we’d make or a look we’d give. The fires that snuck through in our eyes… Veronica would have to work with the underworld high council on plans to explain it away.”
I hate that her confession makes sense. I hate it even more for the distress it keeps dunking her into. But there’s a mild silver lining. The mollifying effect it brings to Z.
He doesn’t relax all the way, but when he kicks the pebbled sand again, it’s not directed at us. “This time, that council is the least of our worries.”
More than Kara’s face is tense now. “I was afraid you’d say that,” she rasps.
Before she’s done, I’m fighting for more air in my chest and calm in my veins. “Somebody want to shed some light for the clueless guy on the beach here?”
The incrimination continues across Z’s face, but he’s finally killed the tinge on the entrance smoke. “If I’m aware of this and have guessed what it really is, guess who else has?”
