6. Marx
six
Marx
Lana wakes, sprawled across me, one leg over mine, her hair splayed across my chest, my arm numb from holding her in this position all night, but I wouldn’t change a thing.
“Good morning.” She kisses my lips, sighs, and snuggles deeper into my arms.
As much as I want to stay here with her, I know I need to get back to reality.
My phone has been off for most of the week—hers has too.
But I need to check my messages. I turn on my phone and scroll through hundreds of messages, news alerts, photos, and headlines speculating about my canceled wedding.
Well, not exactly a canceled wedding—it seems my father replaced me as the groom and married Rachel in my place.
Then I see a photograph of Lana and me leaving a restaurant, with the headline: RUNAWAY GROOM ALREADY WITH ANOTHER WOMAN. My stomach drops as I read another headline asking whether a mystery woman caused the groom-switch. I skim the article, which is even worse than I expected.
I need to fix this—I need to tell the world I called off the wedding before anything happened. But the truth is less interesting than a scandal. I turn my phone face down on the nightstand.
Tell her now.
The thought comes fast and sharp, but fear shuts it down before I can say anything.
"Everything okay?" Lana’s sleepy voice grounds me, and I know I need to protect her and her family’s winery, no matter the cost.
"Yeah." The lie tastes awful on my tongue. I never wanted to lie to her. I tell myself I'll explain once I fix it.
I’ll make one phone call, make one statement, and this will all go away. Until I remember how vicious the article was, blaming Lana for stealing me away, and how romantic it was of my father to step in and save the wedding by marrying Rachel.
The headlines somehow found her name and her family’s winery. Words like home-wrecker, other woman, and opportunist filled the screen. It's all lies, but gossip sells.
A message from my publicist says that distance from Lana will cool the story. A message from my father says that the Callahans will become collateral damage if I keep feeding the scandal, and that I need to return to the city without Lana.
I should show Lana all the messages and headlines and ask what she wants. Instead, I make the same mistake I've made my whole life—I decide I know what's best.
Protecting Lana should mean staying by her side.
But fear changes that, making it feel like leaving her is the right thing to do.
Suddenly, all I can think about is the world I ran from reaching for Lana and ripping her to pieces.
I can handle their gossip. But the thought of their cruelty reaching Lana makes panic claw at my chest. And I do the only thing I can think of to protect her—I shut down and push her out of my world and out of my life.