Chapter 39
Beatrix
“Lizzy.I need to take you over to your mom’s. Something’s come up, and I’ve gotta run to Madison’s house.”
“I can stay here on my own for a while. Dad and I have already talked about it now that I’m in high school.”
“No. We need to get you to your mom’s. Your dad is letting her know that’s where we’re headed.”
She drops the stylus to her tablet and looks up at me, her brows drawing together.
“Why are you being so weird? You look… panicked or something. What happened? Is someone hurt? Is dad hurt?”
“No. He’s fine. He’s completely fine, and he’s getting ready to play. If we get you to your mom’s soon, you can probably still catch some of the first half while you work. I’m fine too; I just have some… work emergency stuff that’s come up that I want to take care of.” I didn’t mean to scare her. I thought I’d kept my tone in check, but apparently, I’m transparent in my worries.
Lizzy eyes me warily, but she starts to pack up her homework and put it back in her school bag along with her computer and tablet.
“Do you have stuff to stay overnight?” I ask quietly as I start to gather my own things from around the room.
“Overnight?” There’s a hint of incredulity to her tone.
“I might have to stay at Mads’s house to finish working on things, and if you’ve got all your stuff and that happens, no one will have to run back. You know your dad will be in late when he gets home after the game.”
“I guess. I just have to get some things out of my room.”
“Okay. Just be quick, all right? And thank you. I appreciate you doing this for me. I’m really sorry. I was looking forward to working on this with you.”
“It’s okay.” Her eyes search my face, and I can tell she knows there’s more going on, but she’s being kind enough not to press the issue with me. Which I’m more grateful for than I can say because I’d love to get out of this house without bringing any attention to why we’re doing it. Knowing that the stalker could be watching us even as we pack up has me rattled.
My heart races in my chest at what all this means as I pack my own bag. By the time we get in the car, it’s hitting hard that there are pictures of Cooper and me circulating out there somewhere. That people we don’t know have them and could release them to anyone. My heart skips a beat. That Lizzy could accidentally stumble on them or worse that someone at her school could have them and taunt her about it. Kids are fucking cruel in high school, and I don’t wish her any of that heartbreak, let alone the kind that we’ve inadvertently fueled. I know Cooper must be panicking about all of it.
I can only imagine what my own father will think when he finds out because it’s not a matter of if but a matter of when. When the tabloids or the opposition get wind of it, they’ll use it to smear him. Paint a picture of what an immoral, reckless heathen I am and how our family doesn’t deserve where his career has taken us.
There’s going to be so much fallout.
My phone rings with a call from Madison, and I answer it despite not wanting to in front of Lizzy. Because if I don’t answer, she’ll go into a full-blown panic.
“Hey, Mads. You’re on speakerphone. I’m driving Lizzy to her mom’s house, and then I’ll head your way so we can get started on the work thing.” I try to prepare her and pray that she doesn’t slip up and say the wrong thing.
“Oh good. Just wanted to make sure. The client already called, and I’m just worried about timing is all. I’m glad to hear you’re on your way.”
Despite her catching and landing that perfectly, Lizzy’s eyes are still on me, giving me a once-over that tells me she still doesn’t really buy our little ruse. We’re pulling into her mom’s driveway, though, and I’m hopeful that that’s going to give me the break I need.
“No problem. Hey! I’ll call you back. I’m in the driveway to drop her off.”
“Sounds good. Talk to you in a few.” Madison disconnects the call, and I look to Lizzy.
“Text me if you need anything, okay? I’ll still be around.” I see Lizzy’s mom in the doorway and I leave it up to her if she wants to chat about this in front of Lizzy.
“But you’ll be busy.” Lizzy’s eyes are on me and mine soften as I look back at her. I feel like I’m disappointing her. I want to explain everything so she knows I’m not just ditching her tonight, but I want her parents to have the say in how much she knows.
“Yes, but I’m never too busy for you, and you know I want to help with this. So if you need anything, text me.” I make a face, letting her know I mean business, and she nods.
“All right. I hope whatever’s going on with your client gets resolved.”
“Thank you. Have a good one at your mom’s.”
Lizzy hops out of the car and waves before she goes up the driveway. I watch her pause and talk to her mom at the doorway. She ushers her inside, and then her mom walks down the steps and heads toward the car. My stomach tumbles, and my nerves start because I’ve only had brief interactions with Lizzy’s mom so far, and this seems like a terrible time for us to have our first real conversation.
“Hi,”she says flatly as she approaches the car, a small smile appearing and fading almost immediately.
“Hi. I’m so sorry to bring Lizzy by so abruptly. I hope Cooper had a chance to explain.”
“He told me the basics. I’m honestly really frightened for Lizzy, and I just wanted to make sure to say that I hope the two of you will communicate with me more freely in the future. Cooper and I have had a really good run of co-parenting, and I hate to see that breaking down now. I understand you might have privacy concerns, but nothing should be trumping Lizzy’s safety.”
“Oh, I’m not sure what he told you, but we didn’t know any of these details until today. The second he told me what was happening, I got Lizzy out of there.”
“You had no idea you were having these problems before? Someone just installed cameras in the house out of nowhere?”
“Well, no, we had cameras installed as a security measure after some strange things happened. We thought that and the extra security around the house would help if he had an overexuberant fan. Cooper told me he’d explained that to you.”
“Cooper told me you were having issues that required extra security. That there had been social media messages, which I understand can happen with people of your celebrity, but I didn’t realize you two believed there was a physical threat at the house. I would have insisted Lizzy stay with me until you resolved it.”
I open my mouth to speak and then close it again. I’m not sure what to say, and the last thing I want to do is get between Cooper and her on how they handle Lizzy and her safety.
“I’m sorry for anything I’ve done to make you feel that way. I will talk to Cooper when he’s home, and hopefully, this will all be over soon.”
“Tell Cooper to call me when he gets home. I need to make plans if she needs to stay with me for the foreseeable future. I also need reassurance that my daughter isn’t on any of these cameras in a way that’s going to endanger her or her future. I need that to be higher on his priority list than it seems to be at the moment.”
“I’ll tell him.”
“Thanks for bringing Lizzy home.”
I nod at her, and she turns and walks back up the driveway. I let out a long sigh and let my head hit the back of the seat as I try to let my nerves return to normal. I’m not cut out for this; being in the middle of parental arrangements and feeling like I’m the asshole when I’ve been trying to do everything right. If I’m the reason Lizzy was put in danger, I’ll never be able to live with myself.
By the timeI get to Madison’s house, I’m in tears. She pulls me inside and wraps her arms around me, giving me a tight hug before she leads me into the living room and has me sit down. The game’s playing on the TV in the background, but it’s muted. I have to stare out the window because I can’t bear to see Cooper right now.
“What do you want to drink? Wine? Iced tea? Something stronger?”
“Just some tea, maybe.”
Madison disappears into her kitchen for a few moments and reappears with two glasses of tea before she sits down across from me. The look on her face is thoughtful, but I can tell she’s worried.
“Do you want to talk or just sit for a bit?”
“I just came from dropping Lizzy off. Her mom is furious. I think she blames me, and I don’t know that she’s wrong.”
“Oh, Bea, you can’t blame yourself for this.”
“I mean, whatever’s happening… it’s because of me. It wasn’t happening to Cooper before. It’s obvious whoever is doing this doesn’t want me with him. They’ve done everything they can to make that happen, and now they’re going to hurt everyone else around us. Can you imagine being Lizzy right now? Her mom is going to have to explain to her. I’m sure it’s going to be the talk of school tomorrow.”
“That’s assuming it gets out of the locker room.”
I give her a look that tells her we both know that it’s impossible it won’t. Some of the guys might have a conscience, but inevitably, one of them will slip up and share it with a friend or a nosy tabloid willing to pay a price.
“Even if the pictures don’t, everyone will still be talking about it. Some of the other students are bound to hear, and the rumor will spread.”
“The rumor that two adults who are dating were having sex in their home unaware they were being violated by having someone film them and disseminate the photos?”
“What if they filmed Lizzy too? Someone’s going to have to sweep the house to see where all the cameras are. I can’t believe the security team didn’t check for that. I guess… I guess they couldn’t have suspected at the time. We didn’t suspect, but still.”
“Do you want me to send someone over? I have some connections I’ve been working on in town for when we launch the PR firm. If Cooper’s investigator isn’t able to do it, I’ve got someone.”
“I don’t know. We didn’t discuss everything the person he has on it is doing yet. We didn’t get that far with how busy this week has been. If you have someone, yes… I say let’s get them over there sooner rather than later. I want to make sure there’s nothing that could hurt Lizzy. I’m sure Cooper would feel better knowing that as well.”
“All right. I’ll make some phone calls. You sit tight, okay?”
I nod and take a sip of my tea, watching as she moves to her office and picks up her phone. She paces the room as she talks, and I’m grateful I have a friend like her to run to. Out of the corner of my eye, I see a commotion on the screen, players involved in a scuffle, and my heart skips when I see the two Rawlings brothers are at the center of it.
I don’t have to have the sound on to see how loudly one of the refs is blowing the whistle or hear the yelling that’s taking place as they try to pull them apart. Yellow flags are flying through the air, and now even the coaches are on the field trying to break up the mess.
Tears form in my eyes because all of this is because of me. If I’d just stayed away from Cooper, if I had leaned on literally anyone else for help, they wouldn’t be getting penalized in a game right now. Lizzy wouldn’t be at her mom’s, and her parents wouldn’t be stressing over what sort of life-altering photos or information is lurking out there in the hands of someone who wants to do us all harm.
My phone buzzes in my purse and jolts me back to the present. I pick it up and see that it’s my mom.
“Hello?”
“Bea? Honey, are you okay?” My mom immediately launches into sensitive mode, and for a woman who’s well practiced at maintaining a calm and poise demeanor, it chills me to hear it.
“Yes.” My heart bottoms out. She knows. Somehow, she already knows. “How do you know already?”
“They sent the images to your father as well. To his phone somehow. His team is already on it.”
“Oh my god.” I start to cry. It was humiliating enough to know a whole football team I worked for had seen me half-dressed, but knowing they sent them to my father too? “I could die. Did they send them to Xander?”
“I don’t know, honey. You know he won’t care about that. Your dad doesn’t either. Someone violated your privacy. He’s furious on your behalf. Whoever is at the bottom of this, we’re going to make sure they pay for all of it. Don’t you worry.”
“Mom… It’s impossible not to worry right now.” My voice is shaky from how hard I’m trying not to sob into the phone. “Cooper. Dad. Lizzy. Everyone is going to suffer from this, and I can’t do anything to stop it. I kept thinking it was nothing, and I didn’t do something fast enough. I should have told Madison. I should have done more. I should have gone home when you asked me to.”
“Honey… None of that matters right now, okay? You did the best you could with what you knew at the time. You’re a strong woman, and you have a lot of people who love you and will help you get through this. None of this is your fault. Absolutely none of it, do you hear me?”
“I wish that were true. But I’ve ruined so much just being here.” I can’t help the flow of guilt and self-flagellation that follows, and I just start bawling while she sits with me on the phone. She’s mostly quiet, telling me in intervals it’s not my fault. There’s a flash on the screen that distracts me.
My eyes lift to see it’s already halftime. The banner at the bottom of the TV declares, “Rawlings Brothers ejected from the game.”
“Oh my god.” My heart drops in my chest.
“What is it?”
“Cooper and Rob were both ejected from the game. I told you. All of this for what? Because I was stupid and selfish.”
“Bea?” Madison enters the room again and looks at me with worry. Her eyes dart to the screen and back to me, and she hurries over and hugs me. “Who are you talking to?”
“My mom.” I barely get the words out because my throat is so scratchy, thick with mucus, and my eyes are swollen as I rub at them again.
“Okay. Let me talk to her for a minute, and you just sit here with me.” Madison pulls me onto the couch next to her and takes the phone from me. I curl my legs up under myself and lean my head on her shoulder. I’m busy worrying about Cooper’s likely looming suspension and fines. How the team, and more importantly Coach Undergrove, must be feeling given that Westfield and Rawlings have gone back-to-back weekends with more drama than most teams have in an entire year—on a team he’s desperately trying to reform into a playoff team.
Worse yet for Quentin, who is doing so well despite everything. Another rack of guilt runs through me. Cooper is a good guy. He doesn’t get into trouble. No fights and certainly no ejections.
Madison and my mom would never blame me. I have a solid record of always being the good one which gives me passes for situations like this. But objectively, this is my fault. I could have done more. I should have done more. I would’ve scoffed at a client trying to play this all off like I did.
I barely hear anything Madison says after she gets off the phone with my mom. At some point, she helps me up to the guest room. I curl up, and she puts a blanket over me, promising me that she’s going to fix everything, and I have nothing to worry about. But it feels like everything is coming apart at the seams, and I have no faith that even our dynamic duo can fix it this time.