Page 47 of Penalty Kill

Brandon

My agent was not amused by our press conference. “You can’t give them anything, Cullen. Nothing. You guys might have thought you were being funny, but mark my word, tomorrow there will be even more rumors. They’re going to say the entire team is a part of some twisted relationship thing.”

I highly doubted that. “Sorry, Ben, but we were all sick of the same questions. They have no information, so they’re just digging.”

“And listening to Olivia. I already had your attorney reach out and threaten a stack of lawsuits if she doesn’t stop.”

Yeah, that wasn’t likely to help. She didn’t care about the consequences; she was too high on the attention right now.

“What do you want me to do?”

“Shut up. That’s what I want. Repeat after me, ‘No comment.’ Can you do that?” Ben wasn’t normally one to lose his cool, so I decided not to poke the bear.

“Fine. I can do that.”

“Good. Just lay low until you get home. Don’t leave the hotel.”

“I wasn’t planning on it.”

“Make sure Sydney stays in too. The boys might have to miss a day or two of school, but the sooner the paps realize they can’t get anything, the sooner they’ll move on.”

“You really think they’ll give up?”

“As soon as someone more famous does something more scandalous they’ll forget all about you.”

“That’s all I could ever want.” I wasn’t normally one to wish ill on someone else, but come on. Why was Hollywood suddenly on good behavior?

“I’m working with Chloe to make this all go away, but for now, make our lives as easy as possible.”

“Got it.” I hung up and tossed my phone on the bed. We were flying out in about six hours, so it wasn’t like I’d have to be on lockdown for long.

There was a knock on my door and when I opened it, Reese, Hartman, and Olli pushed past me.

“Come on in.” I shook my head and closed the door behind them.

“Chloe said you’re grounded, so we’re here to keep you company.”

“Thanks. Not in the mood for Sea World?” I asked with a smirk. San Diego was a fun city to have a few extra hours in, but with how often we were here, it lost some of the excitement. The younger guys still loved exploring and hitting up the main attractions, though.

“Nah.” Olli dropped down on my bed and kicked his feet up.

“We were thinking of ordering in and just relaxing,” Hartman said.

“Sounds good.” I settled on the couch next to Reese while Hartman jumped onto the other side of the bed.

Olli found an old action movie, but it was a weak attempt at distraction.

“Is she worth all this?” Reese asked out of nowhere.

“Who?” I replied.

He shifted to face me. “Sydney. You haven’t known her for that long. Wouldn’t it be easier to just find a new nanny? It wouldn’t get rid of all the rumors, but it would help.”

Was he insane? “I’m not just going to fire her for something she had nothing to do with.”

“It would make it easier if she was out of the picture,” Olli said with a shrug.

“Where is this coming from? You guys have met her. You all like her.” I was stunned they were saying this.