The Arrangement

Nathan whistled. “Then we’re lucky it wasn’t much worse than this.”

Burke shook his head and grumbled something unintelligible under his breath.

“What is it?” asked Chase.

It took him a while before replying. Even then he looked uncomfortable.

“Speak up man. If you have something to say—”

“Think about it,” Burke spat. “You think someone took this one photo of us and just walked off?”

A shiver ran through me. I felt my legs go weak.

“A—Are you saying they might have more?”

“Might?” Burke raised an eyebrow. “Might?”

Holy shit.

My veins ran with ice water. A cold numbness stole over me, and I could feel myself falling away.

“Easy, there.”

Burke was holding me up now. He guided me over to a chair and helped me sit down.

“Who would’ve done this?” Chase asked again. His voice was tight. “Specifically.”

Everyone looked at Nathan. It was no secret he hadn’t spoken to his father in weeks. Aside from Marcy, he was the only person who actually knew our secret. The only one except…

“Jay.”

All three of them spun to look my way. I was rubbing my eyes now. Trying to get some semblance of control back.

“Jay knew,” I said. “And Jay hates us. He hates me for rejecting him. He hates Burke for… well…”

“Rearranging his face?” offered Nathan.

“And smashing his ego, yes.”

“Not to mention,” Chase added thoughtfully, “Jay lost our business.”

I stared back at him curiously. “What’s that got to do with anything?”

“Well the book’s doing well now, right? It’s picking up some traction. Making a little money?”

“Yeah, so?”

“So it’s doing that all on its own,” Chase went on. “All on an anorexic budget, with nothing but our limited marketing skills.” He scratched at his chin. “Now imagine what it would’ve done if it stayed with the publishing house. So doesn’t Jay look like a total asshole for dropping a good thing?”

It was something we hadn’t considered. But we were now.

“Yeah,” Nathan said eventually. “He does.”

“I can totally see him following us,” said Burke. “Or at least having us followed. I can’t imagine he’d do any of the dirty work himself. Scumbag that he is.”

“Okay,” I allowed. “But if so, what’s in it for him?”

“Vindication,” said Chase. “He wants to look like he did the right thing in the eyes of the company. Like he wasn’t making a mistake.”