Chapter 17 #3
He was taking care of him right that very moment, Nikky was sure. What he wasn’t sure about was whether it was a good idea.
“I’m glad you’ve found someone who makes you happy,” Drew said. “Social media loves the two of you together.”
“It does?” Instead of making him happy, knowing that caused a sinking feeling in Nikky’s gut.
“Yeah,” Drew went on. “Pics of the two of you doing things together are all over. And those pics from the club.”
The pics from the club. Photos that were taken deliberately to mislead everyone.
His entire relationship with Harry was supposed to be as fake as half the people he’d met in Hollywood.
Only now, Harry was the only thing that felt real to him while his life and the image Albion was trying to force on him felt made up.
Having a stalker definitely felt surreal.
“Listen, Drew,” he started, reaching into his newfound well of courage to find the strength to confess everything.
Before he could get farther, there was a knock on the door. Given the mood he was in, it had him jumping out of his skin.
“What’s up?” Drew asked.
“Someone is at the door,” Nikky said, standing and walking over as whoever it was knocked again. “I’ve got to go,” he said, then ended the call as Drew said something else. He leaned closer to the door, fear hitting him so hard that he felt shaky, and asked, “Hello?”
“Is that Nikky Smith?” Maggie’s colorful voice called from the hallway. “Are you keeping our boy company?”
Relief spilled through Nikky so hard and fast that his knees nearly gave out. He unlocked the door and threw it wide, revealing the brightly colored, eccentric forms of Maggie and Laura.
“Hello, Mr. Smith,” Laura said with a teasing smile. “Can Harry come out and play?”
“I—” Nikky had no idea how to reply to that.
“Stop being silly.” Maggie swatted at her wife. “We’re here on serious business.” She stepped into the flat, Laura following her.
Nikky shut and locked the door behind them. “Harry isn’t home. He went out for—” He had no idea how to answer that.
“Well, as long as you’re here,” Maggie said, turning to face him once she was in the middle of the room. “There’s been a strange American loitering outside the building.”
“He’s quite handsome,” Laura added, “though decidedly menacing.”
“Our flat faces the street, and since it’s a lovely day, we have our windows open,” Maggie said. “We overheard him asking someone earlier if they knew anything about you being here. He’s gone now, but he seemed very threatening.”
Again, Nikky’s knees threatened to give out. “I know who he is,” he said, crossing past the ladies to sink onto the sofa. He should have offered them a seat, too, but he could barely think.
The ladies took up seats on the sofa on either side of him.
“If you need us to grab brollies and head down to see if he’s still there and to beat the man senseless, we will,” Laura said.
Of all things, that made Nikky laugh.
That outburst dredged up more emotion, and within seconds, he was on the verge of tears.
Maggie rested a hand on his arm and gazed at him with motherly sympathy. “I think you’d better tell us what’s going on,” she said.
Nikky looked at her and swallowed. His instinct to keep quiet and get along was strong, but the burning need to confide in someone, someone who felt maternal, was too much to resist.
“I’ve got a stalker,” he said, voice hoarse, hands shaking.
“My poor boy,” Maggie said, coming forward to hug him at once.
“Is it that American outside?” Laura asked.
Nikky glanced to her, then back at Maggie, then nodded. “He’s been hounding me since Cooked became a success, trying to get me to either pay him off to go away or to feed him inside information on my costars that he can use to make money.”
“The bastard,” Maggie huffed.
“I…I sort of accepted the deal to record with Albion so I could run away to a different country to avoid him. But now recording is not going the way I want it to. And—” Nikky dropped his head, heat flaring in his face.
This was the hardest part to admit. He sucked in a breath and straightened, facing the weird things he’d done so he could own them.
“I hired Harry to pretend to be my boyfriend and to get caught with me in compromising situations so the fans would turn on me and leave me alone. But now I’ve fallen in love with him, and I don’t know what to do about it.
Plus, I know there’s something he isn’t telling me, and it eats me up inside. ”
He was shaking by the time he finished as the bundle of emotions he’d kept inside for too long unraveled. He shouldn’t have let it get tangled up so tightly to begin with, but now he couldn’t stop his tears from coming, not when Maggie and Laura felt exactly what mothers should feel like.
Laura took Nikky’s other hand. “It’s alright, love. But I think you’d better tell us the whole story.”
Nikky nodded and let his tears flow. She was absolutely right. It was about time he stopped bottling everything inside and told people what was going on so it couldn’t be used against him or Harry.