Chapter 13 #3
“He started asking me questions about Drew and Joe and some of my other costars right away,” Nikky went on.
“I might be an idiot when it comes to judging other people’s characters and doing stupid things to make people like me, but I figured out pretty quickly he was using me to get dirt on people I cared about.
I cut things off with him as soon as I figured it out. ”
It hurt something in Harry’s soul to know that Nikky thought so little of himself.
Yes, the man was abnormally innocent about the world, especially for someone who was now smack in the middle of the Hollywood meatgrinder, but it wasn’t completely unusual for a sweet twenty-five-year-old who had been an aspirational nobody just a year ago and who had been raised with the constant instability of the foster care system to be young for his age.
“So what’s the rest of the story?” Harry asked. “You told Holberg to fuck off and he chose to follow your every move and switch up his tactics from coercion to blackmail?”
Nikky’s eyes went wide again. “How did you know?”
Harry huffed an ironic laugh. “Remember, this isn’t my first time on the Ferris wheel,” he said. “I’ve been in this business long enough to have seen this story a dozen times over. Paparazzi are parasites who bottom feed. Fortunately, they’re easy to get rid of.”
“Are they?” Nikky perked up even more. “Because Holberg has been on my case for more than six months, and nothing I do has made him go away and find someone else to bother.”
Something occurred to Harry that almost made him laugh out loud. “Did you go to Rent-A-Boyfriend to find someone like me to ruin your career because you thought it would make Holberg go away?”
One guilty look from Nikky and the whole story took form in Harry’s mind.
A couple things stood out. First was what Harry already knew, that Nikky was adorably innocent and didn’t actually have a clue about how the world he’d been thrust into worked.
He’d been grasping at straws and had probably latched onto the idea of Rent-A-Boyfriend because his buddy Drew had found the solution to his problems, thanks to Javier and Desmond.
The second was related to what Javier had told him in the beginning about Nikky wanting an older man to pretend to date.
Consciously or not, Nikky had known he needed a protector.
He’d sought out someone who could fight the battle for him.
Or rather, Javier had called on someone he trusted to keep Nikky safe from himself.
He owed Javier the biggest fruit basket that had ever been created in thanks.
Harry hated that he’d taken the job solely so he could fuck over the industry that had rejected him all those years ago.
That had been his motivation, but now things were personal.
He cared about Nikky, and if Nikky needed a knight in shining armor, he would don the suit and mount up, sword in hand.
“Right,” Harry said, taking charge of the situation and of Nikky like they’d been in a Dom/sub relationship for years.
“We’re going to deal with this together.
Forget going back to the hotel, you’re staying with me tonight.
Recording is on pause for now. I don’t want you out of my sight until we get rid of this Holberg bastard. ”
“I have to show up for recording,” Nikky said, worry sharp in his expression. “Right now, that’s my job.”
“I’ll deal with Albion,” Harry insisted.
“We have a history. I’m not afraid to stand up to him.
I’ll deal with your manager and your agent and anyone else who thinks they have a stake in your career.
I might just want to review everything you’ve got going on to make sure your team is really looking out for you. ”
Nikky flinched back and looked at Harry with a spark in his eyes that was at odds with the anxiety that still encircled him like a too-hot blanket. “Is this some sort of kink thing?” he asked.
“What if it is?” Harry answered playfully.
Nikky went bright red and glanced off, the barest hint of a smile on his face. He peeked coyly at Harry through his long lashes, and Harry nearly came on the spot.
“I’ll take that as your answer,” he said, laughing breathlessly. “But don’t worry about all that. Right now, the only thing you need to worry about is giving me all the information I need to go after Holberg and get him to leave you the fuck alone.”
“You’d do that?” Nikky asked, meeting Harry’s eyes again.
“Baby, for you I’d do anything,” Harry said, brushing the side of Nikky’s face.
Nikky smiled and relaxed into the touch. The simple gesture had parts of Harry he’d mostly just ignored as entertainment roaring to life. This wasn’t just a game. He could do real good, serve a real, meaningful purpose, by taking charge of Nikky with a firm hand. He’d definitely entertain the idea.
But first, they needed to deal with the mountain of problems Nikky had been collecting for longer than he probably knew. They had to make Holberg go away, like Nikky had set out to do from the beginning, and then he had to take on Albion.