Chapter 24 Lainey
LAINEY
I pulled another tray of cupcakes from the oven and set them on the cooling rack.
The bakery smelled like vanilla and chocolate and the overly sweet haze of powdered sugar in the air from this morning's rush to stock shelves.
But we were almost done. Just a hundred or so more to bake and freeze and we'd be ready for the final push toward icing them before the fundraiser.
"Hand me the mixer," I called to Wren over the music blasting from the TV in the corner.
She tossed it to me and I caught it, grinning. We'd been at this for hours, but I felt so energized. Aside from a small roll of nausea now and then that the medicine prescribed to me couldn't stop, I felt better and happier than I had in months.
When Kade forced me to take his debit card I swore to myself I wouldn’t use it, but with the few cupcakes we'd eaten in taste testing, and a dropped batch yesterday when I burned my hand on a hot pan, I’d needed a few more things.
I couldn’t believe he'd given me his personal debit card and trusted me.
It made me feel like maybe we really had something after all.
"I can't believe we're almost finished," Wren said, lining a cooled batch into one of the freezer containers. "Two weeks ago I thought we'd never pull this off."
"Two weeks ago I thought I'd lose the bakery." I turned on the mixer and started whipping up the next batch as I said loudly, "This fundraiser's going to save us."
"Kade's gonna save you, you mean." Wren gave me a knowing look that faded into a sly grin. "When are you going to admit you're in love with him?"
I threw a dish towel at her. "Shut up and bake."
She laughed and turned back to her work as the music on MTV switched to a commercial, and then a perky voice announced the celebrity gossip segment. I had my back to the TV when Wren gasped.
"Wait, turn that up," Wren said, reaching for the remote. I turned around and shut off the mixer, but my eyes caught what she was gasping at mid-sentence.
"Why? I don't care about—"
My words died in my throat as the screen filled with a grainy photo. It was taken in a hallway—a picture of two people, one of them clearly Kade. The other was a woman with her face turned away from the camera, and it made my gut sink.
"Mystery woman spotted with billionaire playboy Kade Kingston at Atlas Hotel and Casino last week," the host announced with barely contained glee. "Sources say the two were seen getting cozy in a private VIP area before heading upstairs together."
The photo zoomed in and my stomach dropped. That was me—my hair, my clothes, my body pressed against his as he kissed me goodbye at the elevator. And thank God his face obscured the view so no one could see it was me. I was horrified.
"Oh my God," Wren breathed, staring at the screen.
"Insiders report that Kingston has been wearing a gold wedding band for weeks now," the host continued, "leading to speculation about a secret marriage. But who is this mystery woman? And why is Kingston keeping her identity under wraps?"
They showed another photo. This one zoomed in on Kade's left hand where his wedding ring caught the light. It made my throat constrict and my pulse hammer.
"Some are calling her a gold digger looking to cash in on the Kingston fortune. Others speculate she could be the reason Kingston's parents recently cut him off financially. Whatever the truth is, one thing's for certain—Kingston's mystery woman is causing quite a stir."
Wren grabbed the remote and shut off the TV before things could get any worse, and silence filled the bakery except for the hum of the ovens.
"Oh my god," I mumbled. I felt lightheaded and leaned on the counter. This wasn't happening; it couldn’t be. I was so happy and things were going well.
"Lainey—" Wren started.
"Don't." I set down the measuring cup and gripped the edge of the counter. My hands were shaking. "Just don't."
"That was you. Everyone's going to know it was you." Her eyes were wide, eyebrows high.
"They can't see my face." My voice sounded hollow even to my own ears. I stared blankly at the timer on the oven indicating a few minutes left on this batch. "They don't know who I am."
"Yet." Wren moved closer. "But they will. And when they do—"
"I know." I pressed my hands to my face and tried to breathe. "I know."
Millions of people had just watched that segment and formed opinions about me based on a grainy photo and speculation. It was my worst nightmare just waiting to happen. Wren was right; if people found out it was me, I wouldn't be able to go home. People would swarm my parents' house.
"Have you told Kade about the baby yet?" Wren asked quietly.
I dropped my hands and looked at her. "Are you serious right now?"
"I'm serious." She crossed her arms. "Because this is going to explode, hon. You know that, right? The media's already digging. What if they find out you're pregnant? What if they connect the dots?"
"I can't think about that right now." I shook my head and started tearing at the apron. My mind was reeling and my heart felt like it could explode.
"Babe, Kade's a playboy with money and power and connections..." Now she looked concerned. My little sister, worried about me.
I didn't want to hear it, but I had to ask. "What are you saying?"
"I'm saying what if he takes the baby?" She looked at me with fear in her eyes. "What if he uses his money and his lawyers to take your child away from you?"
My stomach twisted and bile rose in my throat. "He wouldn't do that." The apron fell off in a heap as I turned toward the sink to wash my hands, thinking the cold water might help shock me out of this anxiety attack.
"You don't know what he'd do." Wren's expression softened. "I'm not trying to hurt you. I'm trying to protect you. You're my sister and I love you... I just—"
"Stop." I grabbed my purse and headed for the back door. "I need air." My hands dripped as I clung to my purse and stomped away.
"Lainey—"
"Can you finish up please? Lock up?" I pushed through the door and into the alley behind the bakery. The cool night air was refreshing but did nothing to stop the anxiety attack. I had to talk to him and find out if he knew about that. I didn’t think for a second he’d set me up, but he knew better than I would ever know how to stop something like this in its tracks. Maybe he knew a reporter or something.
My phone was in my hand before I realized I'd pulled it out. I scrolled to Kade's number and hit call. It rang a few times before a woman answered.
"Hello?" The voice was cold and clipped and definitely not Kade.
I swallowed hard but managed to squeak out, "I'm sorry, I was trying to reach Kade Kingston."
"This is his mother." Her words were like ice. "And you must be the little gold digger my son's been wasting his time with."
My breath caught. "I'm not—"
"I don't care what you think you are." Her voice cut through my protest. "I know exactly what you are. You're a nobody from nowhere who saw an opportunity and took it. Well, let me make something very clear. Keep your grubby paws off my son or I'll make your life a living nightmare."
"Where's Kade?" I managed to ask in a shaking voice.
But instead of answering my question she continued harping at me. "I suggest you pretend you never met my boy, sweetheart. We have lawyers who eat girls like you for breakfast."
Then the line went dead before I got another word out. I knew it was useless to try calling him again. I didn't know how his mother got his phone, and I couldn’t even ask him.
I felt devastated and paralyzed. I stumbled to my car and climbed in, locking the door. It was dark enough no one could see me, though Wren would assume I was still here since my car was still here. But I knew I was in no shape to drive yet.
The shock of seeing that on the television had wrecked my mood entirely, and not just my cloud-nine feeling of being on the same page with Kade finally. It ruined everything I thought about what it meant to be part of Kade's life.
Wren's comment about Kade being so upset he'd take the baby hadn't helped.
He wouldn’t do that to me, would he? And if he did, the judge would never allow him to cut me out of my child's life. Would they?
My head spun and my chest hurt. I felt like I was on a roller-coaster of horrible emotions.
One minute the world was fine, and the next everything was falling apart again.
This was the way things were around Kade.
I'd seen the tabloids light up his life with drama over and over just by following him on social media.
Was this what I really wanted from my life?
It didn't seem fair at all.
The thing I wanted most in my life seemed unattainable in any healthy way. And the thing life was offering me seemed so toxic.
All I could do was cry. For myself and for my unborn baby, and for my future.
Maybe having anything to do with Kade Kingston really was a very bad idea.