Alpha Billionaire Series
Hot Mess Chapter 27

KAYLA

Three weeks later...

was fun.

Igot out of the car and thanked the driver. I really did need to learn how to drive. I was bored, so Isaac had arranged for me to actually get a part time job with one of the stylists he knew. Not Grace, not someone so high profile. I spent my days shopping for looks. It I climbed the few steps up to my porch and noticed a large manilla envelope.

My heart sank. I knew what was in that envelope, and I hated it. I hated that someone out there held power over me. I was lying to my mother, and lying to Nick, and Isaac. I wasn't bored, I was broke. I needed to work so that I could have some money to eat. With Nick away at his shoot, I wasn't cooking him dinner. We weren't ordering in, or going out. Without Nick around, I had to pay for my own food. Everything he was paying me I immediately forwarded to the blackmailer.

I hated how lonely I was without him. I had even called my cousin.

"I can't believe you took so long to call me back," Jessie said.

"Sorry, the whole move here has been overwhelming."

"Oh, so Nick Sadler has nothing to do with you ignoring me?"

"What would Nick have to do with that?" I asked.

"I've seen you in the paps. You're with him on the red carpet. That's not something you can hide Kayla "Because I don't. I work with his assistant." That wasn't a complete lie. But I wouldn't trust Jessie with

That particular lunch hadn't gone well. She complained that I was being stingy and that I should invite "So, what's this I hear, you're engaged?"

Why don't you just admit you have something going with him?"

spects of my private life even if I wasn't involved with Nick.

her over to meet Nick. For some reason she seemed to think I lived with him. I hadn't told her he bought me a house. I hadn't told her anything.

Panic shot through me like lightning. The last thing I needed was for her to tell Mom. I started laughing because I didn't know what else to do. If I reacted the way my gut churned, she would know something was up. I shook my head. "Yeah, I heard that too. No." I shook my head.

When we parted ways, I really hoped that would keep Jessie happy and off my back for at least another month. Hopefully longer. At least I didn't have to deal with Gabe. Everything she told me about him just made him seem even more of a creep than I realized. I closed and locked my front door behind me. I threw the dreaded envelope on the coffee table and went into my room to change. My clothes felt constricting. I should have been losing weight with how much I wasn't eating, so I didn't understand why things felt tight.

I checked my phone for the millionth time that day. It still wasn't after nine. I could start texting Nick at nine at night. Before then, he wouldn't see any of my messages because he was filming.

Changed, I walked back through the living room to get to the kitchen. I glared at the envelope.

I really should just look in it, see what they want now.

I hesitated.

No, it could wait. The last envelope had just been a reminder of what was at stake and that I needed to make the payments more frequently. I was already wiring them money twice a month. There really wasn't a way to speed the process up.

I hovered at the entrance to the kitchen. No, I needed to know what they wanted so that I could do whatever online banking they required or call if that's what the instructions were.

With shaking hands, I folded back the metal prongs that kept the envelope closed. I sat before I let the contents slip into my hand.

The cry that escaped my lips was one of shock and hurt. The photos were new ones. At least I didn't have to look at my most humiliating moment captured on camera again. But somehow these were worse.

The photographer had clearly used a telephoto lens. The images were grainy, but it was obvious who the people were. Well, who the man was. I didn't recognize the woman. She was perfectly Hollywood thin. With long legs and...

They had clearly wanted to have some privacy. That hadn't happened. I had the proof in my hands. The shots showed a progression of the two of them hiking. The photographer had probably passed them on the trail and recognized Nick- I knew he thought he wasn't recognizable, but he was- and then followed them.

I didn't want to think about the rest of what I saw. Nick was fooling around with someone else. I closed my eyes against the sting. We never had talked about exclusivity, and I knew I was there to be a consistent person on the red carpet. That had never meant consistency in his bed.

I should have realized that my presence on the red carpet meant he could hook up with whoever he wanted, whenever he wanted.

Logic did not help the hurt as my heart broke. I had fallen head over heels for the man. He was charming, and handsome, and made me feel special. Made me feel beautiful.

I looked around my living room and was hit by the realization that it wasn't mine. I was allowed to live here, but it wasn't mine. I felt sick to my stomach. It wasn't the first time the nerves from having to deal with the blackmailer had upset my tummy, but this was the first time I actually had to throw up. After rinsing out my mouth I returned to the couch. The photos had spilled when I dashed to the bathroom.

As I picked them up, I saw one I had missed earlier. Nick leaving my house. Damn it. I shuffled through the stack and looked for the note. There was always a note.

I read it a few times before the words registered.

"Why are you protecting him? You are nothing to him, yet he seems to be everything to you. Your fee has doubled. It's time for Nick Sadler to pay his dues."

All I could do was laugh. And then I was crying. I curled in on myself and cried until I passed out or fell asleep. Either way the results were the same. I woke up in the morning physically sore with a raging headache.

I staggered into the kitchen and found some pills and juice to wash them down. I crawled into my bed and went to sleep until I couldn't sleep any longer.

When I got up I felt like some kind of zombie, only taking actions because something compelled me to do so. I didn't have a drive, just a need. After making myself a grilled cheese sandwich I got online and got a cheap plane ticket home. It wasn't until that night, so I had plenty of time to pack and do what I needed to do.

I didn't bother with attempting to recycle. I simply tossed the contents of the refrigerator into the garbage. I took the rest of the garbage out. All of my belongings were shoved back into my two suitcases. I left the bathroom stuff. It was generic enough, and I could get more at home.

Home. That word hurt. For a few weeks this little house had been home. It felt like one. Nick made me happy here. I thought I could stay here and have a future in LA.

I would miss my burnt orange Le Creuset, but they were just fancy pots. I'd miss Isaac. But I had to leave this all behind. I couldn't do it. I wasn't cut out for a life of pretending. The lies were weighing on me, they were heavy enough. There was no way I would be able to pretend I was okay with Nick sleeping with other women.

I just couldn't.

My trust in him was shattered.

I got on my phone and ordered a car. I needed to make sure I had plenty of time to account for traffic. I put my suitcases on the front porch. I wanted to be ready to leave. I would mail the key to Isaac when I got home.

While I waited for my car, and my escape from the lies my life had become, I got online. The blackmailer had a special wire transfer system they used. It also let me send them messages attached to the payments. For some reason they had stopped letting me call. The typical message I sent was 'why are you doing this?' or 'I can't afford these payments; this is the best I can do!

I emptied everything in my account that was left. It wasn't much, only a couple of hundred dollars. I didn't know how soon before I had another job. I certainly wasn't going to have a job that would let me make the payments I had been maintaining.

I sent everything I had. All of it.

"I am not associated with Nick Sadler. I'm not trying to protect him. I can't pay double. I can barely pay what you want. This is everything I have. I'll send whatever I can get from my next job. You win."

I hit send.

Maybe I should just let them publish the images. I couldn't feel any more humiliated and used than I did right then.