Chapter 28
ETHAN
I barked a cocky laugh, concealing the panic creeping up my throat.
Put on a show, Ethan. The best fucking performance you’ve ever done in your life.
“Now, let me get this straight,” I said with false bravado. “Poor pathetic Jake here wants my position. Mother dearest is getting paid for the trouble of causing mayhem. But what’s in it for you?” I asked the influencer, her expression faltering beneath my evil-eyed scrutinisation.
I clucked. “Ahh, a typical clout chaser, am I right? You know, you don’t have to sleep with him to become something. He can’t even make first-string without the use of blackmail.”
I winked as her face drained of colour.
“And now what?” I asked, raising my arms wide to address my audience. “You think I’m just gonna step aside while you rip the flesh from my bones? Just because you know who my girl is? Think a-fucking-gain.”
I moved to push past them when Jake slapped the manila folder on the lone desk, pictures scattering over the surface with technicoloured finesse.
My step faltered—her beautiful face shining up at me like a pleading promise.
Photo after photo was discarded on the hard surface, each dropping like a loaded grenade, ready to detonate my heart.
Alicia straddling my lap in the front seat of my car... Taken the night I found her crying outside her work building.
Alicia having dinner with Jake, their heads leaning together as if they were conspiring lovers … I recognised her outfit and the setting. It was the same dinner I had overheard her shut him down.
And the worst of all—me staring at Alicia with guilty eyes, stroking her bleeding brow as she looked up at me in anger… The time I accidentally hit her in the head with a football.
They were all taken out of context and staged. Shot from an angle that didn’t reflect the reality in front of the lens.
Though I knew what others would see when they looked upon them, the image those locusts were trying to sell. That Alicia was sleeping with her clients, and that I was abusive.
Even so, I didn’t care about me.
All I could focus on was my girl and how those pictures would blow up her life. She would lose her anonymity, lose her privacy, and the worst one—her career.
That was one of the main reasons we kept our relationship under wraps for so long. I’d seen firsthand how hard she worked, how much time and effort she had invested into her position. There was no greater loss that I cared about, even when faced with the threat and severity of my own downfall.
I had to protect her.
In that interview, I had proclaimed to the world that nothing else mattered if I didn’t have her… And I meant it.
“Time’s nearly up, baby boy. What is your decision? We have more photos, and you know what we will do if you refuse.”
Yeah. Release those images and let the masses fucking annihilate my girl. And no matter how fast she was, she couldn’t run away from that.
My jaw clenched, my teeth straining from the added pressure.
“When’s the press conference?” I asked, my tone laced with frustration and rage.
“Now—”
I didn’t deem them with a reply, instead storming out the door, away from the demons demanding my soul. They didn’t follow, knowing I’d probably fucking kill them if they did.
My mind was spinning. There was no time to think. No time to figure out a plan.
It may have been stupid—impulsive, even. But with the proof right in front of me, I couldn’t think of an escape without Alicia becoming collateral damage.
I had to prevent that at all costs.
I turned down one corridor, then the next. Blindly finding my way through the underground maze, searching for the conference room that was going to be my end.
Until a lone mirage appeared right before me. A favoured dream—one I always searched for and wanted.
As if she could sense my attention, my desperation, my eyes, Alicia turned, her face lighting up as I ventured closer.
We were on our own, the light reprieve allowing me to breathe for the first time since I entered the stadium.
Within seconds, Alicia launched into my chest as I caught her against me. My heart pummelling behind my rib cage from the mere contact of having her nearby.
Our foreheads met as our eyes drank into one another. My hands raised to bracket her face, imploring her to stay—to remain in that space created just for us.
“You came?”
Alicia gave a cheeky smile. “Of course I came. I came for you .”
That’s when I pressed forward, my mouth capturing hers in a desperate, yearning kiss. And as soon as my lips touched hers, my resolve solidified into granite.
“ I love you, ” I whispered. Despite the quiet declaration, those three words held the power of the almighty sun. And just like that star, Life would be unsustainable without her in it.
So, I repeated those words like a mantra, chanting them into creation where they always should have been.
“I love you.” I stole her gasp by caressing her tongue with mine. “I love you.” I reverently chased her flushed cheeks with my seeking mouth. “I love you.”
Each kiss was reverent. Every touch was meaningful.
We were utterly consumed by one another when I heard the distant rumblings of a crowd, my name carried through the air like the slice of a blunt knife.
I gave myself a second, one more beat to soak in her gaze, then reluctantly detangled.
As I went to pull away, she called out in hesitation. “Ethan, what—”
I cut her off with a quick peck. Then left her behind.
I didn’t look back. Didn’t even spare a glance. And with each step away from her, I knew I was making the right decision.
Alicia was worth it— she was worth everything.