Alpha Billionaire Series

KAYLA

“Mom, 'm home," I announced as I walked in the door. It really felt more like waddling. Between all the corn chips and the monstrous burrito, I was full. But everything tasted so good, I didn't want to stop eating.

I felt better having verbally dumped everything wrong with my trip to Amber. She was right. I should go back and not visit my family. Just because these are my cousins, it doesn't automatically make them my friends. I hadn't confessed too much about what happened between Nick and I. I really just wanted to get all of that behind me.

Now that I was back, I told Mom once I was feeling better, I would start my new job. The opportunity to fly out to California had been fortuitously timed. I lost my job with Stole Brothers when they closed one hundred and thirty locations, including the one in our local mall. I had been out of a job and job searching when Uncle Dave convinced Mom to let me go to Los Angeles.

After my first week in Los Angeles, the local craft store called to hire me. I explained that I was out of town but could start as soon as I got back. Since they only wanted me for a seasonal position, they agreed. I was back early, I needed to check in with them and see if I could take care of my paperwork. But I was back, and it was time to stop feeling sorry for myself. It was time to step up and behave like the adult I was.

“How are you feeling?” Mom asked, coming out from the kitchen.

“Much, much better. I think the fresh air really helped. 'm going to go to my room and call that job I got, see if I can start carly”

I had gone up two steps when she held out the big envelope from earlier. “Don't forget your mail”

“Oh, right, thank you." I peeled back the flap and ripped open the end of the envelope wondering what it could be.

I slid out the contents. It was a stack of large format photographs and a piece of folded notebook paper.

The top photo was in black and white and kind of blurry. It was from the Halloween party. I was standing with Gabe and talking to that creepy man he knew. I didn't remember seeing a party photographer there. But pretty much everyone had a phone.

But... I didn't understand. It wasn't a particularly good image.Property of Nô)(velDr(a)ma.Org.

I opened my bedroom door and tossed the stack of photos onto my bed while I opened the note.

“I know why you did. If you don't want me to tell, call” And then listed a phone number.

it didn't make any sense. I hadn't done anything.

I picked up the photos and began looking through them.

Another photo of that creep opening a door. That was when I had to go to the bathroom and wanted to cry. I flipped to the next photo, and everything stopped. My world went dark around me. I couldn't breathe.

I think I fell, more than sat on the edge of the bed. The photos were of Nick and me. Most of the time we just looked like a random couple. I wasn't recognizable, and it was only Nick's back. But then, the photos changed and, well, the memory I wanted nothing more than to completely erase from my mind glared up at me in vivid color. Nick had a fist full of my dress, and I was naked. The photographer had changed their position so that his face was visible in the picture.

There was no doubt about what was happening in the picture. Nick had clearly just ripped my dress off. The next picture was almost worse, his hands were on me.

There were no more images. No photos of him trying to protect me and cover me. No photos of me wearing his pants like some upside-down shirt. Just the damning images of him and me. I didn't understand why they had sent pictures of me with that creep.

I thought I had cried all the tears in my body out earlier, but clearly, that was not the case. I gulped lung-fulls of air trying to breathe. I looked around my room, I had nothing that could provide answers.

I didn't even know what I was looking for.

What was I supposed to do? If someone had these pictures, they could sell them. Out of context, it looked very bad for Nick. it was worse for me, I was the one exposed, but I also knew I was a nobody. He was a movie star.

I spread out the note that had gotten somewhat crumpled in my distraught state. I pulled my phone from my purse, and with shaky fingers I dialed the listed phone number.

it rang and then was picked up by voicemail. The voice was somehow masked, it sounded like an automated computer voice. “This message is for Kayla. You have twenty minutes before we return your call. Tell no one. Be somewhere alone. We will know if you're not.”

The message ended. Twenty minutes? Where was I going to go? Amber had already left, and I couldn't drive. I sure as hell wasn't about to tell Mom about this.

This felt like something out of a suspense novel. I wasn't built for this. I read those books for enjoyment, not because I thought I was a spy. I wasn't a spy, not even close.

I took the photos and slid them under my mattress. There was no way Mom could ever see those.

I took my phone and went down the stairs as quietly as possible. Mom was still in the kitchen. I never understood why she would rather sit and read in the kitchen when she had a living room, she could relax in. The living room was for guests.

As quietly as I possibly could, I eased the front door open and went outside. I ran to the playground two blocks away. My breathing was all huffing and puffing when the phone rang. Caller ID said “Unknown!

“Hello?” I panted hard. It seemed like the more I tried to settle my breathing, the harder I struggled.

The voice was foreign and robotic. “Kayla.”

“Yes, this is me. What do you want?”

“What do you think stupid girlz"

“Hey, if you are looking for money, then I can’t as I don't have a job" I couldn't stop heavy breathing from turning into crying. “The man in the photos does."

There were two men. Who were they... oh, I was stupid. “I don't know him. And those pictures don’t show what really happened”

I don't know why I was trying to explain anything to this person. They didn’t care.

“You will be contacted with where and when to deliver—"

“Can I make payments? Please, I don't know how to contact him. It was an accident.”

The caller on the other end of the line was silent.

They were silent for too long. I sobbed. I didn't have a savings account with that kind of money. I didn’t even know how to get a job that would pay anything like that. I would barely be making over minimum wage. How the hell was I supposed to come up with almost a hundred thousand dollars?

“Not our concern. You have been given our offer. You will be contacted. If you tell anyone about this, the photos will be sold to the tabloids” There was a long pause. “And sent to your mother”

The phone call ended. They called that an offer? I couldn't breathe. I had been given a threat. How was I supposed to come up with that kind of money? Even if I sent them everything I made, it would take me years to pay them what they wanted.

I was going to have to tell Nick. This was a threat against him as much as it was one against me. Maybe even more so. He would blame me; I knew he would. I hadn't called him back or returned any of his messages. How would he react to this? If I called him now, out of the blue asking for money... I couldn't do that. Could I7

How did they know if I really knew him or not? I had so many questions and even more fears. I couldn't even think about what would happen if I didn't do this. I sat on the end of the slide and cried. It was cold and getting dark. I was grateful for that, it meant kids were not out here playing. That would have been even more horrible, sitting out here in the cold surrounded by happy kids.

I was being stupid, and I knew it. I couldn't stop the tears or the sobbing. I hurt in every way possible. My very bones felt the pressure of the universe bearing down on me. This threat was insurmountable. I didn't know how I was going to survive.

My phone started ringing again. I tried to stop crying, but it only made everything worse. The call ended without me picking it up. The panic I felt over possibly missing a call from my new job just made everything worse. I had to stop crying. Breathe in, hold, breathe out. Breathe out. I pushed my air out with a whoosh and opened my eyes.

Looking up was supposed to help. The sky was white with glare and overcast with clouds. That miserable winter combination that didn't give us blue skies. I blinked hard against the brightness.

My phone rang again.

“Hello?” I really hoped I didn't sound like I was crying. What a crappy first impression I was making, crying while I answered the phone to my new employer.

“Is this Kayla?" I didn't recognize the man's voice.

“Yes. Who is this, how can I help you?"

“You are one difficult woman to get a hold of. I have got a proposition for you.”