Page 79 of The Omega's Surprise Baby
“Thank you.”
Once I got off the phone with Michelle, I left the bed behind and dug through my bag for my laptop. I needed to see for myself just how bad this was. God, why couldn't people keep their noses out of my relationships?
“What's going on?” Shane climbed out of the bed to join me on the floor. “You look like it was bad news.”
“Kind of. Some bastard's spreading gossip on the internet.” I clicked over to Google and typed in my own name.
“There's always some bastard spreading gossip on the internet,” Shane reminded me. “How bad can it be?”
“You tell me,” I said, pointing to that damn airport picture of us that loaded on the screen as soon as I clicked on the first website that showed up in the search.
“That picture again...” Shane sounded slightly exasperated, but not nearly as agitated as I could feel myself get. “Are they using that for everything now? Almost makes me wish they'd gotten a better quality shot. The pixelated look doesn't suit me.”
I ignored his joke as my eyes flew over the lines of text underneath the picture. “They're saying I'm only dating you because I need the public to forget about my sex tape. I'm not to be trusted, apparently. 'Cause, you know, I'm a promiscuous omega and all, and...” I stopped, mouth running dry as I scrolled lower on the screen and the picture of a different alpha showed up.
“Kade?” Shane asked, obviously concerned by my sudden stillness.
“I...” I shook my head, still staring at the picture. “That's Harvey.”
“Harvey?”
“My ex-husband. Although, this article likes to emphasize the fact that we're still married.” I held a hand in front of my mouth, suddenly afraid I was going to be sick. It felt like everything I'd been running from was catching up to me, like maybe, I couldneveroutrun my past and I'd been foolish to believe I could. In some shape or form, it would always come back to haunt me.
Shane wrapped his arms around me from behind, my back to his chest. “He looks like a total douche.”
I tried to laugh but the sound I made came closer to a choked sob. “I can't believe they got a statement from him.” It was there, right in front of my eyes.Mr. Miller has confirmed that the marriage between him and Kade Ashton is still valid, and he has no intentions of signing a divorce.”Of course he didn't. The fucker. He was never going to give me my freedom. I used to tell myself that didn't matter because I'dtakenit, regardless, but had I really?
“Does it matter what he's saying?” Shane asked, stroking my hair.
I wasn't sure whether it was the pregnancy messing with my hormone levels or the warmth of Shane's body melting the walls I'd put up around this topic, but I wanted nothing more than to bury my head in his shoulder and cry. As if he could sense this, he tightened his arms around me. When I glanced back at him, I saw him looking at the screen. There was something almost feral about his features, as if he wanted to sink his teeth into Harvey, and not in a good way.
“It's not his fault he's the way he is,” I muttered, feeling defeated. “It's that whole damn community.”
Shane pressed a kiss to the back of my neck. “You're too nice, you know that?”
I huffed. I wasn't feeling particularly nice. I simply knew too much about being raised in a Vinist community to blame everything that had happened to me on one person, even if it felt good to have a concrete target for my frustration.
Shane placed his fingers on the laptop’s touchpad and closed the browser. I exhaled, glad that the picture was gone.
That moment, the doorbell rang.
I looked at Shane. “Are we expecting anyone?”
He shook his head, as surprised as me.
“Dad!” Conner called from downstairs. “There's someone at the door!”
I wanted to yell at him not to open the door, but I wasn't fast enough. Having grown up in Oceanport, Conner didn't think twice about answering the door. I couldn't blame him, not really. Still I wished he'd waited just a few seconds. I had a majorly bad feeling about who was at the door.
And my fears were only confirmed when I threw on some clothes and rushed downstairs to see Conner crowded by three women with cameras.
“Get away from him!” I snapped, drawing Conner back and behind me. “You can't publish his picture anyway. He's not a person of public interest.”
The journalists—for some gossip mags, no doubt—looked taken aback, but only for a moment. Then they swooped in on me like harpies. And I wassonot in the mood to deal with them right now. “Conner, go to your room.”
“His name is Conner?” One of the reporters, a green-haired lady, asked.
I ignored her to glance at Conner, who was still looking at the ladies dumbfounded. “Now,” I added shortly.
