Page 137 of Golden Ruin

I end the call and shove the phone into my pocket as I climb inside the car waiting at the curb.

“Any stops before I take you to your hotel, Mr. Golden?”

“No, I’m going straight there. And I’ll need you to wait for a bit. I’m only going in to pack.”

The driver pauses a moment, maybe confused, probably staring through the rearview mirror, but I don’t look up because I’m scrolling Pandora’s account, looking for whatever post she mentioned about Tiffany.

“Absolutely, sir,” the driver says, then he’s silent as I slip in an earbud, watching as Tiffany’s face fades in.

I listen in horror. To the entire fucking thing. My free hand is in a tight fist, wanting to punch something. Who the fuck does she think she is? The accusations she made… the lies… the way she twisted what was true into some fucked up version to get fake sympathy.

“Shit!”

The driver stays silent, easing into the hotel’s valet lane to let me out.

“I’ll pull ahead and wait to escort you wherever you need to go next.”

I nod, not saying a word as I climb out, rushing through the lobby to the elevator. I feel eyes on me every step of the way, which means this thing has already gone viral. Which is exactly what I don’t need right now. More people passing judgement on a situation they know nothing about, feasting on the bullshit gossip Pandora and this Marla bitch are dishing out like a fucking buffet.

Dodging whispers and side-eyes, I make it to my room, tossing my shit into whatever bag is closest to me. I don’t even do a scan to make sure I have everything, because none of that matters. All I care about right now is Lexi and Jax. That’s it.

I dial her three more times on my way from the elevator back to the car, and it’s no surprise when I get her voicemail again.

I climb in, ask the driver to take me to the airport, and all I can think about is how all the progress we’ve made could be shot to hell because of one reckless upload. Not only did this just pull Lexi into some shit. Tiffany involved Jax.

Lexi’s soft spot.

My soft spot.

She accused her of being a bad mother, completely erasing the fact that she recently saved his life, risking her own because she couldn’t imagine living without him. But I know how this works. People love to forget the good you’ve done the second they think there’s something scandalous to sink their teeth into.

The lies about us piss me off, the ones about my son make me sick to my stomach, but the thing that’s going to destroy Lexi… is Arturo. She trusted me with the story about her dad, but now I’m certain she’ll think I shared it with Tiffany.

I’m already dialing Joss, multitasking by checking the house’s security cameras while her phone rings. The place is completely swarmed with reporters camped out on the street, the front lawn, a few out back. It’s a fucking circus.

“I was just about to call you,” Joss answers.

“I need your help.”

“Name it.”

“First, please tell me you know where Lex is.”

She lets out a breath on the other end, and the pause makes my heart drop. “I wish I did. We’ve all been blowing up her phone, but it goes right to voicemail, and she turned off her location. Her mom hasn’t even heard from her.”

My jaw ticks with frustration.

“You’re still in L.A.?” she asks.

“Headed to the airport to get home as we speak.”

“Good. This thing’s gotten way out of hand.”

“Tell me about it. Which is why I need you to do some digging. Find out how Tiffany knew about Arturo, about what Lexi did to his car. Anything.”

“You’ve got it. I’ll hit you back when I find something.”

“Thanks.”