16. So Much Help

“Well, that’s…” Farren began.

Meika grabbed Sevan’s sleeve and pulled him back through the living room, then out onto the enclosed balcony. He shut the sliding door behind them.

Sevan abruptly jerked his sleeve out of Meika’s grip. He wiped his arm. No physical contact.

“Can you pass as someone else?” Meika’s voice snapped like rubber. He almost sounded panicked. “Can you pass as someone unrelated to her? Is there legal shit they could dig up, tying you two together?”

Sevan gaped for a second. “What do you mean? Me and Lacey? We’re—”

“ Yes. ” Meika’s hands lifted to his face, combed backward through his hair. He paced a semi-circle away from Sevan, then turned stiffly back. He didn’t seem to be breathing as he spoke again. “Were you on a lease together? On tax returns as dependents together? Did you sign anything for her, or her anything for you? Car loans, titles, leases?”

“Y-Yes…” Sevan’s arms twitched. “A bunch of those, actually. W—”

“Fuck.” Meika looked like he was about to puke. He sank into one of the patio chairs, a leaf of one of his houseplants brushing the top of his head.

Loose locks of his hair shifted in the breeze that reached in through the railing, and Sevan watched it for a moment.

“How do you know her, Meikhyel?”

Those dark eyes lifted to Sevan’s face. Dark, beautiful. Morning sun glinted off the little ring in his nose piercing and shone across the stud in his philtrum. “I…” Meika’s hands lifted, touched his face, then sank against it. He shut his eyes. “I don’t know her. I never got to know her.”

Sevan shifted. His arms lifted slowly and locked around himself. “Did you meet her here in LA? Recently? Within the last two months? Where and when, exactly?”

Meika’s brow knit tensely. He took a breath. Then another. He raised his face and met Sevan’s eyes. “I can’t tell you how I know her,” he said finally. And he stopped breathing again.

It was the first solid confirmation that Meika did know her. Of her, at least. And for a fleeting moment, Sevan wondered if it were possible the “Lacey Kang” Meika knew was not his sister.

Meika’s hand moved in a weak, empty gesture. “No one here knows. I…I have to keep it that way. Um.” He took a small inhale, insufficient against how long he had been holding his breath. His gaze fell again. “My parents know. And I’m guessing they know you…you’re her…” He looked up, flinching, at Sevan. “Are you her brother?” And he immediately looked away again.

No. They were talking about the same Lacey. Meika had responded to the post Rick made. He had seen the photos of her. Her wedded last name, her adoptive last name, and the last name she was born into.

And with that realization, bitterness rose like a swamp in Sevan’s chest. He suddenly had the urge to take someone by the throat. And squeeze. He glanced out at the terrifying view of the city beyond the balcony railing. “Did you hook up with her?” Quiet, barely steady.

There was a long silence.

Meika had a look on his face like he was standing in the path of a tsunami when Sevan glanced at him again. Rigid, upright in his chair, hands paralyzed against his thighs, eyes shut on a frozen grimace.

If that wasn’t telling enough…

“Is that what this is? All the secrecy?” And suddenly, some of the ferocity in Sevan’s chest came out in his voice. “You fuck my sister , and then you get caught in the middle of a rumor that you fucked me, too? ”

Something breathless and inaudible escaped Meika’s lips, and his face sank behind his open hand.

“Yeah, I can see how that’s something you don’t want your parents to know about,” Sevan breathed. “I can see why you wouldn’t want your bodyguard, or your housekeeper, or anyone to know about. Well—maybe you should tell them all what actually happened that night, and remove me from your entire—fucked up situation.” He started for the sliding door.

“They wouldn’t believe me.” Meika’s voice was quiet, but it froze Sevan in his tracks.

Sevan turned back. “What do you mean? Who else would they be hearing it from?”

“I’m a liar.” Meika’s shoulders lifted in a small shrug. “I’m crazy.” His fingers moved across the denim of his jeans, pressed into his thigh. “I have terrible judgement, and I can’t function without supervision. That’s what my parents believe. And they can make anyone they want believe it, too. A judge included.”

A judge. Sevan’s lips parted, then shut again.

“Am I crazy?” Lacey had asked him once. “Everyone. Everyone thinks I’m crazy.”

“But if you want me to tell them that we never did anything, I will,” Meika said softly. He was looking at the wooden floorboards, now.

No. No, Sevan didn’t actually want that. Because if the person behind that private number found out there had been no one-night stand, Sevan may be out of a job, and shortly after—out of LA. “You need help,” Sevan murmured darkly.

A small smile twitched Meika’s lips. His eyes lifted a little, barely high enough to see the view beyond the edge of the flooring. “I have so much help,” he whispered.

A long silence followed.

Meika raised his head a little. “Can you please…not tell my parents…that she’s in town? They’re going to think she’s here to cause trouble, and I don’t want them trying to find her, or…doing anything to her…”

Heat burned in Sevan’s chest like magma. Was that a threat? Was Fucking Supernova trying to make his problems Sevan’s by acting like the threat was on Lacey?

But just as quickly, Sevan was swallowing his anger. These people were drastic. They were . He knew it from personal experience. If they weren’t, he wouldn’t be standing here right now, hired by RedViolet to sign NDAs.

“I’m here to find my sister,” Sevan said, his voice quiet to keep it steady. “I don’t care about your personal bullshit. But if you’re honestly trying to protect Lacey, we’re on the same side.

*            *            *            *

A black SUV. A private driver. An extra security guard.

Sevan took a seat in the very back of the vehicle, then watched across a middle aisle most vehicles didn’t have as Meika dropped into the seat closest to the right sliding door.

Meika ran a hand through his hair and took out his phone.

He fucked my sister. Sevan watched the shifting glow across Meika’s face, of whatever he was scrolling through on the screen in front of him. He seriously fucked my sister. My mentally ill, mentally unstable, vulnerable sister.

A lock of hair slipped forward across Meika’s face, and he brushed it back without looking up.

My very beautiful, MARRIED sister.

And then Lacey had proceeded to “break into” the RedViolet corporate building. In a mad rage, according to Jaq. As if at some point in her psychosis, she realized Meika did her wrong.

Splitting rage welled up in Sevan’s core as he stared across the vehicle at Meika. Adrenaline pulsed through his bloodstream. His arms twitched, muscles contracting in short spasms. It flashed red through his mind: the idea of smashing that window next to Meika’s face— with Meika’s face.

And then he was trying to extinguish the fire in his bloodstream. Lacey was crazy when she was off her meds. She couldn’t be expected to be rational. Maybe Meika hadn’t known Lacey was mentally unwell. Maybe he didn’t know she was alone, homeless, and helpless in a foreign city. He probably hadn’t known she was married.

But was the fact that he slept with her—cheated on Zhara—the reason he had wanted to keep Sevan around while he looked for her? Was he trying to do damage control independently of his parents, of his RedViolet management? He wanted Sevan nearby, close enough to control.

The burning sensation welled up in Sevan’s core again, and this time, he felt like he would snap. There was a bottled water in a cupholder near Sevan’s seat, and he seized it, tested the cap, then cracked it open and took a long sip.

A very long sip.

When he finally lowered the bottle, it was three-fourths empty, and he was choking for breath.

When the air finally came back, Sevan leaned back in his seat and pressed his shoulders to the backrest.

He opened his eyes and saw both Meika and Farren looking at him.

“Are you okay?” Meika asked quietly.

Farren turned back to face the windshield.

“I’m fucking fine ,” Sevan whispered. He glared out at the window beside him.

Sevan hadn’t been paying enough attention to even remotely know where they were when the SUV stopped. Farren jumped out and opened the door for Meika like he was some kind of princess.

Meika raised his hand to his forehead against the strengthening morning sun, and Farren produced a pair of sunglasses for him.

Sevan grimaced.

“ Avis! ”

Sevan’s eyes shot up at the sound of a stranger’s voice. He saw Farren’s arm move to create a barrier between two women on the sidewalk and where Meika was starting for the building entrance.

Meika shifted a gym bag over his shoulder and ducked under Farren’s arm to approach the women.

There were communication issues between Meika and Farren, if nothing else. Sevan watched as Meika approached the strangers. Their combined voices rose with excitement, and Meika matched their energy like there was a rechargeable battery built into his chest. He was signing something for them—fliers, maybe. Probably whatever they had on hand—they looked fresh out of a Pilates class.

Farren was hovering close by like he thought the two women might pick Meika up and stuff him in the trunk of their car.

Sevan watched as all three posed for a selfie. “Oh, hang on,” Meika said, and he raised his shades over his head. He posed like he knew them. His bright, flawless smile, glowing eyes, squinting as they were against the sunlight.

It must be so easy for him to pick up women. People recognized him, people loved him. Then why mess with Lacey who didn’t? Was he just one of those insufferable men who needed a conquest? Did he have to fuck everyone in sight?

“Dude, he’s actually so nice,” Sevan heard one of the women say to the other as the two passed him and headed for the parking lot.

“Oh my god,” the other whispered, “that was crazy. ”

There was a different conversation taking place as soon as Sevan stepped into the building behind Meika and Farren.

“Behavior like that encourages people to approach you at inappropriate times. There are designated events for meet and greets. Street interactions like that are dangerous and encourage unsafe expectations from fans.”

Meika was nodding in agreement, but he had a look on his face like he wasn’t listening. He had his phone out and was glancing at it periodically.

They walked down a hallway. Meika didn’t really seem to know where he was going, but Farren was letting him lead anyway.

“Room six, room six…” Meika whispered.

“We passed six,” Sevan finally spoke up, arms folded across his chest.

Meika stopped in his tracks and turned around. His beautiful dark eyes met Sevan’s for a moment. “Really?” He grinned.