Alison Storm

Chapter 21

Rhys

"Nothing yet," I tell Allie. She's been pacing up and down her room ever since Vienna admitted to having had sex in public and someone potentially having taken pictures of it.

It's not seven in the morning; so far so good. Not a single gossip website has even mentioned Vienna's name. Apart from the normal amount when it's about the Storms. At recently, they're all just coming up with theories as to why all of them have disappeared.

Ever since Taco's death, neither of the Storm's have been showing themselves in public. Not even Storm himself.

It's just a dog, not even an actual family member they've lost, so I'm a bit surprised by their withdrawal from the outside world. But I do have to say, I've never had a pet, so I have no idea how important one of those can be to a person.

"Nothing yet doesn't mean it'll never come," Allie says. "My father will murder Phoenix. Hell, he will murder my sister!"

"I doubt that," I say. Over the past couple of months, I've gotten to know the man everyone fears a little bit better. Surely, not all enough. We're not some sort of best friends, which would be weird anyway, but I think he tolerates me. I think. I hope.

At least he no longer gives me evil-eyes when I walk past him. Or threatens to decapitate me.

Anyway, my point is, he's not the man to murder someone. I think.

"Why are you so stressed about your sister's life anyway? If Liam had some scandal going, I wouldn't give zero fucks about it."

Allie stops abruptly, her head snapping towards me. "Because I love Vienna. I'm her older sister. I have to protect her."

"You can only do so much, Allie," I remind her. "She's not five anymore. Her actions have consequences. She fucked some guy in public, people took pictures. That's her shit to deal with, not yours."

She walks towards me, plopping down on the best beside me with a deep, long sigh. "Maybe I can say it's me?" She looks up, her eyes meeting mine with what seems to be a mix of confusion and hope. "These People make up stories about me all the time. It would be to no one's surprise when this showed up in the tabloids eventually."

Allie has a point. They do be talking a lot of crap about my girl in the tabloids. And if she's truly that concerned about her sister's social status, then I would totally go along with the story. There's just this one slight issue.

"They'll call you a cheater. This Phoenix guy looks nothing like me. So if it's you in the photos, you're publicly known as a cheater."

She shakes her head at me. "The public doesn't know I'm dating someone."

"How long are you going to keep us a secret for still?" Funny, isn't it? How Allie was so annoyed by the thought of me being embarrassed by her, when she's the one keeping me hidden.

Sure, we don't necessarily hide in public, but she also doesn't show much affection anywhere outside. Not that she has to anyway. I'm not into all that PDA shit anyway.

Allie sits up, eyebrows drawn together. "Im trying to protect my sister, Rhys. This has absolutely nothing to do with you."

"Your sister knew what she was getting herself into. She's not a child anymore," I say. "You're only going to make matters worse by lying about who it is in the platonic pictures?"

"How would I be making things worse?" she asks, her eyes tearing up. I didn't want to make her cry, that was never my intention. It never is. "I take the blame. The media will talk bad about me for a week or two and then it's over. Vienna wouldn't be able to deal with all of that."