“Who in the fuck would do a trash piece on Zoey?” Ty demanded.
“As of now, no one,” Jace rubbed his temples like he was getting a migraine. “Guys, if you publish a big, puffy story on Ty and Zoey, you are opening them up to a world of media scrutiny. That will lead to a swarm of media we can’t control. Which will lead to more work for you both—”
Both Sienna and Andrew exchanged glances, however briefly.
Bingo.
“Look, guys—this isn’t my thing. I don’t mean to tell you what to do. I’ll deal with whatever you think is best.” Remembering what Alex had advised, I directed my comment to Jace and Ty. “It’s important to remember that when I take over as CEO of the foundation, as much as it pains me to say this, we have to make sure whatever strategy we land on won’t hurt what Ty has so carefully built.”
“You’re the CEO of his foundation?” Sienna’s disdain for me was clear when she narrowed her eyes at both of us.
“Yes, I offered Zoey the job, and she accepted.” Ty stared Sienna down. “But we’re not making that public just yet.”
“And we’re just learning this now?” Andrew chastised. “Fuck, Tyson.”
“Well, this cements it, we will be doing an article.” Sienna snapped her fingers.
“No,” Ty bellowed. “Sienna, I do not like how you are talking to Zoey. If you have a beef with me, that’s fine. But she doesn’t deserve it. You need to back the fuck off of her.”
“God, you’re such a caveman.” Sienna got up and walked over to where we were standing, took Ty’s elbow, and looked him directly in the eye. “Babe, you need to let us do our jobs.”
Babe?
“Nah, we’re going to handle this.” Jace hovered his finger over his tablet. “Ty and Zoey let me know if this is okay.”
Jace showed us the post to go with the picture he had taken earlier.
She’s finally back in the family. Keep following to learn more. #z #moretothestory #tyloveszoey #zoeylovesty #family #LTZ #ultimatelovestory @tysonrainier @zanerocksseattle @jacedeveraux @connormcloughlinseattle @officialzoeypearson
“Zoey, I shut down your Instagram completely and created a new one,” Jace said. “I’ll work with you on it over the weekend.”
“I like it,” I said. “It’s simple.”
“I love it.” Ty bent down to kiss me. “This feels like us.”
Sienna and Andrew walked over to see it, and after giving each other more secret-squirrel looks. Sienna scoffed, “This is a mistake, Jace.”
“I’ll take the risk. From this point on you guys stick only to the movie coverage. Stay out of Ty and Zoey’s story.” Jace dismissed them, tossing his dark-blond hair over his shoulder, his green eyes flashing. “Andrew, can I get the updated movie press schedule for this weekend please?”
Andrew walked over to his desk and tapped into his laptop, and Jace’s tablet pinged a minute later. “There you go, it’s on the Google Drive.”
We shuffled out without waiting for Katherine to get out of her meeting. While waiting for the elevator, Jace texted our security detail to the driver, muttering under his breath, “Useless fucks.”
I grabbed his arm, and his startling green eyes looked back at me, surprised. “You saved me in there, Jace. Thank you.”
He just shrugged. “We got this. I can’t promise that shit won’t go down, but right now I just want to keep them out of your business.”
To no avail.
When the elevator opened to the lobby, about twenty million flashes went off. Sergey and three other burly security dudes shoved their way into the elevator and shielded us. It was a mob scene. I couldn’t believe how many people were there to catch a glimpse of Ty and Jace.
“Fuckity fuck fuck fuck.” Jace shook his head.
“Someone called the paps.” Ty’s face turned red with anger.
“Looks like it.” Jace read something on his tablet. “Zoey, it’s about to begin, stick close. If we get caught in a shitstorm, paste a pleasant grin on your face like nothing bugs you. Don’t say a word, no matter what horrible shit they yell at you. Ty won’t let you go.”
The elevator door opened into a deserted floor that looked like it was a janitorial floor. Security led us through a long, sterile hallway into a small waiting area. A few minutes later, our black car squealed up, and Sergey ushered us into the vehicle. The driver took us through the loading dock and out into the street. Several more flashes were going off when the car emerged. Zooming off to the hotel, it didn’t appear that anyone followed us, but when I settled back into Ty’s arms, he looked down at me with concern etched on his features.
“I’m fine, babe,” I assured him, resting my hand on his knee.
“I know, Z. You’re very fine.” He covered my hand with his, but the smile on his gorgeous face didn’t quite reach his eyes. He turned and looked out the window, clearly troubled.
“Just be cool, guys. Looks like it’s just going to be one of those weekends.” Jace didn’t look up from his tablet. Contrasted with Ty’s expression, he looked bored. Like someone who had seen it all before.
I took a deep breath and prepared myself for the onslaught.
Chapter 26
TYSON
We managed to get through the side entrance with virtually no detection. Sergey escorted us to our suites without incident. Jace came over for a while to show Zoey her new Instagram page, where he had posted a different photo that he’d taken of us on the plane. In the picture, I had my arms fully wrapped around her, my hair hiding my face. She looked up at me, hazel eyes filled with a cross between desire and mischief, her hands gripped my wrists and her pink lips were slightly parted. He had cropped it tight, so our faces basically filled the entire screen. It read:
“I’m so happy we found each other again. #z #ty #moretothestory #tyloveszoey #zoeylovesty #family #LTZ #ultimatelovestory @tysonrainier @zanerocksseattle @jacedeveraux @connormcloughlinseattle @officialzoeypearson
“That’s the only
