Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 68743 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 344(@200wpm)___ 275(@250wpm)___ 229(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68743 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 344(@200wpm)___ 275(@250wpm)___ 229(@300wpm)
They’d been casual, and Nikki always had a hunch he’d been with her for the wrong reasons. Namely her family name and modeling connections. But she’d been lonely and he’d been there. Eventually, they’d argued more often than not and she broke up with him. He’d seemed to agree it was over and that was that.
“I’ll be right back.” She rushed to the bathroom and grabbed some tissues, blotting her eyes and wetting her face before rejoining her brother in the family room.
“Have you spoken to Lance lately?”
“No. I ended things and it was as amicable as a breakup could be.” She lifted her shoulders. “That was it. I swear to you I have no idea how anyone got in here while I was sleeping. And that had to be what happened, right?” She shivered at the possibility.
Derek’s scowl would scare anyone except her. Nikki knew he wasn’t angry at her, he was pissed at the situation and worried. “I’ll figure that part out.”
Her phone rang from the bedroom and she groaned. “Mom’s been calling nonstop. So has my agent. I didn’t look to see who else left messages. I just know I’ve been slammed with notifications, too. I don’t want to deal with any of it.” She grew queasy at the thought of people viewing those photos, yet she knew half the world had seen them by now. God, what if the pictures had been uploaded somewhere without the black bars covering her most private parts? What if she was truly naked online for the world to see? Nausea filled her at the violation that was even worse than the fact that Senator Corbin Bettencourt’s daughter was in the headlines again.
Derek put a calming hand on her shoulder. “Go get your phone and call Mom while I’m here. Then we’ll figure out our next move.”
Knowing he was right, she nodded. She walked to her room and picked up her cell, suddenly uncomfortable being in the bedroom that had always been her comfort space.
She returned to Derek, who’d taken or made a phone call of his own.
Her cell rang again and Mom showed up on the screen. “Might as well get it over with,” she muttered. Drawing a deep breath, she took the call. “Hello?”
“Nicolette Anne,” her mother cried out, her voice shrill, as she used the longer, proper name her parents preferred, refusing to call her Nikki, the shortened version she’d chosen. “How could you let such a thing happen? Do you have any idea how mortifying this is for your father and me?”
What about what how awful it is for me? Nikki wondered, not voicing the thought out loud. Her mother wouldn’t care. Thank God she had Derek by her side and always had.
Seeing he’d put a hand to his ear to block her voice while he spoke on his phone, she took a few steps away so they could each hear their respective callers.
“It’s not like I posed for the photo, Mother. Someone somehow took pictures of me when I was sleeping. They violated my privacy!”
“Come now. Do you really think I believe such a thing? You’ve constantly disappointed us. Between your grades in school and the issues with being on time for modeling shoots, your name in the papers when your contract details leaked–”
Nikki blinked, hating the tears her mother managed to bring out so easily. Normally she tried to be immune to the you’re a disappointment theme, but she was in a vulnerable place and her mother was using it against her.
“There were legitimate reasons for those things, too,” Nikki reminded her mother. But heaven forbid Collette Bettencourt acknowledged her daughter’s issues.
Nikki had inherited dyslexia from her mother’s side of the family, since her uncle suffered from it as well, and Nikki’s inability to read well had resulted in poor grades in school. Her mother had never allowed tutors because nobody could find out Nicolette wasn’t perfect.
“Nicolette, are you listening?” her mother asked, her annoyed tone one Nikki was used to hearing.
“I’m here.”
Her mother had been asking how they were going to explain naked pictures of their daughter to the press and digging in on what an embarrassment Nicolette was to the family. She’d tuned her mother out.
“I’m not interested in anything but making this go away. Who took the pictures?” her mother asked.
“I told you, I don’t know.”
Derek finished his call, slipped his phone into his pants pocket, and walked over, holding out his arm, palm up.
Nikki handed him the phone, their mother’s tone loud as her complaining continued.
“Mother.”
At the sound of Derek’s voice, Collette stopped her berating and changed her inflection. “Derek, honey, please help us. Your sister–”
“Is in trouble, or don’t you care? Her privacy has been violated, she’s scared to death, and all you can think about is Dad’s career. If you can’t find compassion for your daughter, leave her alone. Goodbye, Mother.” He disconnected the call and turned to Nikki. “Now that’s taken care of. Let’s talk.”