Page 10 of Claim to Fame

“I don’t understand what’s happening,” she said for what felt like the hundredth time.

“I already talked to Micah. He’s on his way,” Daemon said.

Hannah and Daemon shared a manager. It was how she’d met Liv originally.

“This will blow over. I’m sure by tomorrow—” Liv stopped as Daemon shook his head, rolling his lips between his teeth. Hannah sank onto their couch, a squeaky stuffed duck protesting beneath her.

The doorbell rang and Daemon excused himself. “That’ll be Micah.”

Liv sat down next to Hannah, bouncing her youngest in her arms. “Are you alright?”

“I’m waiting for the anger to hit. I should be angry, right?”

But all she felt was numb. She’d trusted Jackson, fallen for his stories about cleaning up his reputation, tied her public image to his. It was the least she could do after he’d helped her pay for the expensive outpatient eating disorder treatment she’d needed, but now—

“I’ve been trying to get that little shit’s publicist on the phone for the last twenty minutes,” Micah said as he blew into the room.

“Shit!” Liv and Daemon’s oldest, a bright-eyed toddler with curly dark brown hair, echoes, clapping happily.

Daemon scowled at his manager as he turned up the volume on theBlueyepisode playing on the television in the corner.

“Sorry,” Micah said. He paused to drop a kiss on Liv’s cheek. “Hi, Liv. Hannah, have you heard from him?”

“He’s not answering his phone,” she said.

“Probably for the best. We need to distance you from this.”

“How? Everyone thinks we’re dating.”

“You could make a statement. Tell the truth,” Liv offered.

“That’ll kick up another frenzy. Right now, at least, you look sympathetic. You’re the victim.”

“They’re hounding me out of sympathy?” Hannah asked in disbelief.

“They want a photo of the devastated girlfriend to put on their covers. And in those stories, Jackson will be the bad guy, but if you admit you lied…” Micah shook his head.

“Right. Not an option.” Hannah’s gaze bounced between her friends and her manager. “So what do I do?”

Micah glanced uneasily at Daemon. “I think you just have to ride it out.”

“No,” Liv said. “They surrounded our cab outside her apartment building. She can’t go back there when they’re like this.”

“It could be days before they settle down,” Micah said.

“A week if there are more photos that haven’t been released yet,” Daemon added.

“A week?” Something at the back of her mind thrashed and flailed, trying to get her attention through the detached calm settling over her, but she couldn’t give in to that now. If she did, she’d never stop panicking. She could panic later.

Micah pinched the bridge of his nose, his thumbs dragging over his closed eyes. “Daemon’s right. And with the premiere only a few weeks away, there’s a good chance Jackson’s team will feed the fire to keep him in the press.”

“You think he did this on purpose?” Hannah’s entire body went cold, her toes turning to ice in her shoes. Daemon and Micah exchanged another one of those glances. “What? Tellme.”

“I think you should stay here for a bit,” Micah said. “Just until this dies down and it’s safe for you to go back to your apartment.”

“How long will that be?” Hannah asked.

“A couple days,” Micah said.

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