Akara frowns. “Do you know anything about one or two?”
I shake my head. Maximoff’s decision about going back to H.M.C Philanthropies has been up in the air for a while, and as far as I know, Jane was still conducting interviews with cat sitters. I didn’t think she hired one yet.
Akara’s nose flares. “Could someone be making shit up?”
“How would they know she’s on birth control?” I ask since this recently happened. After Akara and Sulli had sex without a condom at his gym, she wanted to be on the pill.
Her gynecologist wrote her the prescription. I picked up the pills from the pharmacy.
Sulli’s footprint is nowhere near birth control. So how the hell did that leak?
“It’s a good guess,” Akara says tightly. “She did have a boyfriend.”
I want to correct him that she has two boyfriends, but I can’t do that in public. We’re still just her bodyguards to the world.
I study the website. Colorful doodles of crowns, lipstick smudges, and the words shhh! make up a graphic header. Someone put effort into this shit.
Akara frowns and stares harder at his phone. “The thing is, if it’s all true, it doesn’t make it gossip.”
I rake a rough hand across my jaw. “And if it’s all true, how did they find out this information before us?”
Security’s motto has always been stay ahead of the media.
Is the leaker even a part of the media? Who’s running the site?
Akara motions me back towards a water fountain as a few swimmers climb out of the pool. I huddle closer to him as he lifts his mic to his lips. “Akara to Farrow and Thatcher, check the link Donnelly sent and confirm whether your client’s leaks are real or rumor.”
No surprise, Thatcher rogers up first. “Real. Jane just hired a cat sitter.” My brother sounds tense. “She only told her family over the phone.”
A phone leak?
Farrow comes in next. “Real.”
“Redford,” Oscar speaks. “The Husband is going back to H.M.C.?”
“Yeah. He already put in his final notice at the aquatic club.” Maximoff teaches little kids how to swim. Guess that’s ending.
Akara tips his head to me. “It might be a leak at Maximoff’s workplace.”
Kinda seems likely.
Oscar asks, “Kitsuwon, Real or Rumor?”
We exchange a hard look. Neither of us want to air Sulli’s birth control on comms, but for the sake of letting SFO know all the leaks are real, Akara has to make that plunge into cement.
“I hate this,” he tells me before he clicks his mic and tells them, “Real.”
Before anyone else can interject, Akara adds, “I’m contacting the tech team. They’ll trace the IP address. Until we know more, the site is flagged as a watch. Nice find, Donnelly.”
“Thanks, boss.”
I scroll through The Royal Leaks again. “I don’t know much about gossip sites like this,” I admit to my friend. I doubt it’s high-trafficked like Celebrity Crush or Us Weekly. “Unless you’re someone like Donnelly, will anyone find it?”
“If you’re someone like Donnelly, you know how to make shit go viral,” Akara says as he texts the tech team. “But there’s only one post. Let’s hope the leaker is either good at guessing or no one will take them seriously.”
Yeah.
Let’s hope.
Feels like that’s where my chips are these days. All-in on hope.
16
SULLIVAN MEADOWS
“You already warmed up at the barre?” I ask Beckett as he fixes his white tunic over ballet tights. His dressing room is small, complete with a vanity and clothes rack.
I sit on the extra stool. I haven’t been backstage long, but I hoped to spend some time with my best friend before his performance as Romeo tonight.
Being around Beckett for so long, I quickly memorized his pre-performance schedule.
Hair and makeup. (He does his own.)
Warm-up with the other dancers at the barre.
Costume.
Take the stage.
“Yeah.” He checks the analog clock ticking on the wall among ballet posters of Swan Lake and Cinderella. “I have about twenty minutes left. Never feels long enough.” His yellow-green eyes land softly on me. “It’s been a full week since you told your dad about your boyfriends.”
He remembered. Beckett is hard on himself about using all his energy on ballet rather than family, but he is a great friend with the time he has.
Right now, my two boyfriends stand outside the closed dressing room with Beckett’s 24/7 bodyguard, O’Malley. On-duty, they guard the door and give me some privacy with Beckett.
“Yep, one full fucking week.” I lift my foot to the stool, hugging my leg. “And I’m nowhere closer to bridging any kind of silence. Even harder is still confronting my mom.”
“I’d be shell-shocked if your mom didn’t support you dating both Akara and Banks. She’s a bigger risk-taker than you’ve ever been.”
“I know,” I say in a deep breath. “I hoped she’d understand me chasing after my heart, but I thought after a week, my dad would too.”