Chapter 28 #3
“Rhys was going to tell you, but I figured, might as well bite the bullet.” Keira soldiers on.
She has no fear.
“I’ve waited my whole life for him to see me as more than your untouchable little sister.
I don’t want to not be able to kiss him, or hug him, or touch him, just because you decided to drop by unannounced.
I don’t want to pretend just because you think I should live in a bubble and remain a virgin until I’m forty.
Out of respect, I’ll sleep in my bedroom while you’re here instead of sleeping in Rhys’s bed. ”
For fuck’s sake, woman.
It’s as if she punched me. A solid blow right to the gut, followed by an uppercut to the chin.
If you look up, ‘Best ways to infuriate an enraged grizzly bear’, that little speech was it.
“First, I’m not talking to you, Keira,” Noah says through clenched teeth. “I’m talking to him.” He points a finger at me, his eyes flashing with anger. “You’re sleeping with my sister, Hartford?”
I stare at him, struck dumb, struggling to find the words that would appease him.
“I asked you a fucking question, Rhys.”
I clear my throat. “I’m not sleeping with your sister—”
“Rhys, how could you—”
“That’s what she said—”
“Shut up!” I interrupt Noah. “Stop talking. Both of you.”
There’s a three-way standoff that lasts a few long seconds as we all glare at each other.
Tempers are flared.
Emotions running high.
Nothing between the three of us will ever be the same.
“Noah, your words imply I’m having a good time in the sack with your sister,” I say, willing myself to calm the fuck down. “I’m dating Keira. Not just sleeping with her. Big difference.”
He scuffs. “She’s convenient because she’s living under your roof?”
Keira makes a face. “You’re an idiot, Noah.”
I narrow my eyes at him. “What do you take me for?”
“This bombshell makes me reconsider everything I ever knew about you, Hartford.”
“How dare you?”
“You couldn’t even man up and tell me. You prefer to hide behind my sister’s skirt. She has more balls than you do, coward.”
“Newsflash. It’s unlikely you’d take a swing at her. I’m sure you’re dying to rearrange my face.” I rake my fingers through my hair and exhale a long breath. “I was going to tell you––”
“When? When you knocked her up?” Noah’s eyes are wild.
I’m dumbfounded.
“I’m not Mom.” Keira points a finger at her brother. “I’m not her.”
I understand the issues he has with his mother, but I resent the implication.
I don’t say a thing.
A retort would require me to reveal too many intimate details. Instead, I glare at him, nostrils flaring. Judging by the twitching of his upper lip, I suspect his erratic heartbeat is as frantic as mine.
That icy stare is reserved for assholes.
I’ve been demoted.
I never thought he’d put me in that undesirable box one day.
From the dark cloud veiling his blue eyes, I wonder if he isn’t plotting my death, and subsequently, how he’ll dispose of the body.
“How long has this been going on?”
“We’ve been dating since Sunday,” Keira says.
“It’s fairly new,” I say.
“Is he your first?” Noah points a finger at me.
Whoa. “You’re out of line.”
“Fuck off, Noah—”
“No, you fuck off, Keira.” He shifts his finger in her direction. “My job is to protect you—”
“You retired from that position when I turned eighteen—”
“This wasn’t what I had in mind when I called you and asked if she could stay with you.” His face is so red, it’s almost purple. “You betrayed our friendship, Rhys.”
“I didn’t,” I say. “I’ve always kept my feelings in check in regard to Keira—”
“So, you lied to me. This shit has been going on for a while?”
He infuriates me sometimes. “You’re not listening, Noah.”
“I understand exactly what’s happening here. You took advantage of my sister.”
I shake my head. “You’re talking shit.”
“Rhys didn’t take advantage of me. This is mutual—”
“Mutual my ass.” He scoffs.
If I thought I had a shot, I’d punch his lights out for that snide remark.
“You’re so obsessed in your crusade to prevent me from ending up like our mother, you smother me.
” Keira jumps to her feet. “For years, you’ve shoved your indoctrination down my throat.
” She leans over the table and points an agitated finger at Noah.
“I heard you loud and clear, big brother. I kept my legs closed. Rhys isn’t my first because he was too loyal to you and turned me down flat every single time I threw myself at him.
And trust me, I tried, and I tried, and I tried.
His answer—and loyalty to you—never wavered.
” She grunts in frustration. “I’ve always had respect for myself—even in London, your warnings rang in my ears—but I’m allowed to be with someone, Noah. ” That last part comes out as a plea.
“You want to be together? Knock yourself out.” He stands up. “I don’t have to stick around to watch this… this… this… this…” I swear he’s about to blow a gasket. “This should never have happened. Fuck this shit.”
Noah storms out of the kitchen, snatching his phone from the kitchen island on his way towards the hallway.
The front door slams.
It’s just Keira and me.
I place my elbows on the kitchen table and hide my face in the palm of my hand, exhaling.
I’m glad we were able to talk this through in a calm and collected manner. Not.
Fuck.
“You didn’t fight for us, Rhys.” Keira’s accusation is like a slug to the chest.
I meet her gaze.
She’s still wearing that same choleric expression on her face.
“Are you fucking kidding me right now?” I’m incensed. She’s unable to see her part in this. “I told you to give him time.”
“I didn’t want you to change your mind and back down from telling him,” she says.
I groan, rubbing a hand over my face.
“It’s like you’re afraid of him,” she says.
“For good reason. Your brother would walk barefoot on hot coals to save you. He’d take a bullet straight in the heart to protect you.
He’d tear a man who’s done you wrong from limb to limb and face jail time without batting an eyelash.
He’d swim across an ocean if he thought you were in danger.
Surely, you’re aware of his devotion to you—”
“So I ripped the Band Aid off—”
“I wanted to ease him into it.”
“He has to let me grow up—”
“You didn’t even give him time to finish breakfast before you slapped him across the face with news you knew wouldn’t go down easy.”
“Once I came clean, you were supposed to back me up. Instead, you chickened out.”
“I didn’t chicken out. We had that conversation a couple hours ago in my bed. We agreed you’d let me lead—”
“I agreed to nothing. I didn’t argue with you because my brother was waiting at the door—”
“You’re driving me mad right now, Keira.”
“I didn’t want to pretend—”
“I asked for a couple of days. You couldn’t wait?”
“But—”
“Your stubbornness may have cost me a long-standing friendship—”
“You choose Noah over me? Over us?”
“For fuck’s sake, Keira. You’re not listening—”
She lifts a hand up. “If we break things off now, you can still salvage your precious friendship. It hasn’t been that long between us, anyway. I’ll get over you. I can find some place else to stay.”
She torpedoes out of the kitchen in a whirlwind of anger.
Keira stomping up the stairs and slamming her door shut after our fight was the straw that broke the camel’s back.
I’d reached my quota.
I sprinted upstairs, took a two-minute shower, and adorned a suit.
Then, I grabbed my keys and burst out of my house, fury riding my coat tail.
I slipped behind the wheel of my Aston Martin, desperate for speed.
I didn’t head to the office. I went for a long drive to let off some steam.
I was still a ball of frustration when I got to SCORE HQ.
If only this morning’s blow up was all I had to worry about.
A wall of reporters, content creators, and paparazzi were awaiting my arrival. As soon as they saw me, questions were volleyed like balls bursting from a tennis ball machine.
“Rhys, are you off the market?” Someone shouts the question.
Huh?
“Did you propose last night?” Another one shouts.
What are they talking about?
“Rhys, are the rumors true? Did you break things off with Addison for another woman?” That’s from another reporter.
A man adjusts his huge glasses. “Is this the death of #AddRhys?”
What the fuck?
It was a mad frenzy at the security gate. Thank God, our security team is highly efficient. I was able to get into the building without being assaulted with more questions.
Between this morning’s shit storm and driving around with my phone turned off, I missed the breaking news. Unbeknownst to me, last night’s showdown with Addison went viral.
‘ADDISON MOODY CRASHES ON BILLIONAIRE RHYS HARTFORD’S DATE WITH MYSTERY WOMAN’
‘ADDISON MOODY FORCED TO DO WALK OF SHAME’
‘RHYS HARTFORD CANOODLING WITH MYSTERY BLONDE WHO LOOKS EERILY FAMILIAR’
‘A BILLION DOLLARS SAYS MYSTERY BLONDE SEEN WITH RHYS HARTFORD IS KEIRA WEATHERLY’
‘BILLIONAIRE RHYS HARTFORD’S MYSTERY WOMAN IDENTIFIED. KEIRA WEATHERLY AIMS HIGH’
‘KEIRA WEATHERLY HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT IN LA’
‘KEIRA WEATHERLY. DRAMATIC NEW LOOK. SAME LEVEL OF HOTNESS’
More fucking drama to add to the list.
Keira was certain she was incognito. She probably was until last night. When the spotlight shines on Addison Moody, no one is spared.
When I got to my office, Cecilia wasn’t her usual cool self.
Dare I say, she looked frazzled. Calls from the press were pouring in.
It wasn’t even ten in the morning and the day was spinning out of control.
As much as I hated being dragged into Addison’s circus act, I had to rein things in and protect Keira.
I had no other choice but to open up to Beckett and Arianne.
With some quick and ingenuous thinking, Arianne came up with a plan.
The three of us had an emergency meeting with our marketing team and our point person at the PR firm.
An hour later, we managed to redirect the unwanted attention to an upcoming splashy mystery announcement––SCORE Yours.