Page 74 of Tainted Tempos

Flip’s obnoxious laughter.

“Remember when you fucked the Senator’s wife?”

Yeah. I remember that.

I wake up four days later with a raging headache, a dry throat, and my brother’s furious expression.

“Get the fuck out!” Jameson demands.

I lift my head, shaking the fog from my mind. Damn, I crashed on the couch and the space is crawling with people. With strangers.

“And you.” He points at me. “Get in the goddamn shower.”

“Jess and Aiden are on their way,” Levi states.

“Christ, the media is going to have a fucking field day with this,” Reign laments.

I lay back down and close my eyes.

Everything spins, and bile crawls up my dry throat.

Fuck.

TWENTY-ONE

MCKENNA

“Son of a bitch,”Dad’s voice bellows through my closed bedroom door.

I force my eyes open and sit up in bed.

“I really thought he had his shit together,” Dad continues.

“He’s hurting too,” Jeannie’s voice is softer. She’s more compassionate than Dad and I combined.

“But that’s my baby girl in there.”

“I know,” Jeannie’s voice drifts away.

My baby girl.Dad cares about me, in his own way.

The confirmation soothes some of my panic and I reach for my phone on the nightstand.

My heart leaps into my throat as my eyes scan the messages, the news headlines, popping up on my screen. There are too many. They appear too quickly to absorb.

Nova

What the fuck? Are you okay?

Ivy

Kenny, there’s always two sides to every story.

My heart stutters, and I straighten in bed. My fingers begin to tremble.

Headline: Tate Marriage on the Rocks

I blink rapidly, trying to keep my tears at bay.

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