“It’s fully possible,” I whisper. “If they have the right source.”
Stone’s eyes flare. “You think I had something to do with this? Noa, I received an alert on my phone as soon as you left this morning. I get one every time my name is in the press, and I had to read an article naming you as my high school sweetheart, who I’m rekindling with. There’s a picture of you walking through town with me. I came to find you as soon as I saw it. I don’t know how they … Someone in town must’ve talked. Maybe fucking Carly.”
“Carly would never,” I hiss. “I trust her like a sister. She’s the only other person who knew about us, and I told her about it last night.”
“Then how?” Stone throws his hands up.
He stares past me, noticing the reinvigorated paparazzi, and draws me forward again.
“Fuck this,” he mutters. “This is just the start. We need to get inside. Now.”
“What about your guy?” I retort. “Aaron. He’s wanted to spin why you’re here in Falcon Haven for months.”
Stone doesn’t answer. He storms to the house with me firmly in his hand. This isn’t like all those other times he grabbed me by the wrist. This is a command, tight and final, and if I don’t do what he says, I’ll be lost to the public eye.
Memories of the five months I had a baby inside me and the agonizing five months after they removed her from me resurface, reddening my vision and making me stumble.
I lost my mother and my baby. It took me so long to live with that grief and now these strangers want to make it theirs.
Stone rights me, and when I buckle, when I sob harder, he picks me up and carries me into the house.
He sets me on the couch, keeping his arms around me as I cry into his neck. His tendons strain, but his hand rubs circles on my back. I don’t want to see his face. I’m worried it’ll be the same as mine—wounded with shock and horror.
“Noa, what’s wrong?”
Mrs. Stalinski’s soft voice comes from the corner.
I raise my head.
She’s sitting in the sofa chair, comfortable under a heavy blanket and holding a steaming cup of tea. Stone must have carried her down.
“They know,” Stone croaks over my head.
Mrs. Stalinski’s expression falls. “Oh no.” She looks past us out the window, probably watching the vultures circle. Her face hardens. “There’s only one thing to do. Get out of here, Noa.”
I sniffle, collecting myself. “I’m not leaving you.”
“That’s not your choice. It’s mine and I’m telling you to get out of this house and go somewhere safe. Not home, but a hotel out of town. Somewhere you’ll be out of view until we can get this under control.”
“Ma, I don’t know if Noa should be left alone right now.”
NotI don’t want to leave Noa, I note.
“She damn well does.” Mrs. Stalinski’s voice rises to a level I haven’t heard in over a year, full of conviction. “I love you, son, more than my own life, but involving yourself with her has made her endure pain all over again. I was hoping it would be different. Seeing you two the way you were, even yesterday, was like a healing balm on my soul. If you two were happy, that’s all I need to know before I let go. But this …” She shakes her head as her eyes water. “I don’t want this for you. I don’t want people feasting on Noa’s tragedy or my son’s perceived coldness. To have my two favorite people picked over—no. Just as it is Noa’s job to care for me, it is your job to protect her, my boy.”
“I get a decision in this,” I protest, “and I’m not going anywhere without you.”
“I accepted my boy’s infamy a long time ago,” Mrs. Stalinski says levelly. “You did not, nor do you have to. And if you stay, it will be all people will talk about. They knew he was herefor months, yet only came at the mention of a high school sweetheart and a secret pregnancy. And they will stay for as long as they can get at that meat.”
I can’t argue with her. I drift away from Stone.
“Noa.” Stone’s words come out strangled. “I don’t want you to go. I do not want you to go out there. Stay with me. I’ll protect you.”
“Son,” Mrs. Stalinski warns.
I give a solemn shake of my head in her direction, communicating that I agree with her. I say to Stone, “If they ask me more questions about my daughter, I won’t be able to take it. Especially,especiallyif they call her unwanted.” My voice cracks. It hurts to breathe.
“Lavender …” Stone reaches for me.
