Ever growing 2

Chapter 41

A month later

Life slowly went back to a regular schedule which doesn't mean much for us between celebrating his birthday in London, filming his new movie, a premiere coming soon, and my workload. Fortunately, I was able to come with him to Texas for the shoot of his movie. He has been in a good mood back to his strong, confident self. Having Zoom meetings scheduled, I stayed at the hotel while he went to work. After the first few meetings, I'm taking a break scrolling through Instagram when a direct message request pops up.

-Do you know about Mindy? He's been hiding a secret.

I get many requests on a daily basis, I shouldn't be affected by it but for an unknown reason, it's making me feel uneasy. The sender's handle reads "Iwantyouback". Trying to shake it off because my next meeting is scheduled to start in ten minutes, I put the phone down to have a quick snack. The rest of my day is business as usual, meetings, projects, training.

I'm surprised when Ryan walks through the door at 4:30 PM, his days are usually longer. He grins making his sexy dimples pop while looking at the blue v-neck top I'm wearing. His gaze wanders down my breasts as he walks to me. He licks his lips before landing a kiss on my mouth lingering for a moment. "Are you almost done?" he asks me. "Yeah, maybe another five minutes, why?" it's my turn to let my eyes have a peek at his lean body. "I have to do a "live" to promote the movie, remember?" I had forgotten about it being today so I rush to send the last email I was working on so he can use the desk to set up the phone he'll be using.

He starts his "live" and I sit on a chair near him outside of the frame. He goes through a series of questions that were sent to him in advance to help him come up with good answers. Looking at him, I suddenly see something flash through his eyes, it's so brief I can't put my finger on it. "Was someone out of line again?" Although most of his fans are sweet and respectful, he does have crazy fans always trying to create drama. Suddenly, he says the questions are meant to be about the movie. We exchange a quick look, me being confused, him annoyed. Soon after he's done with the questions, he ends the "live" with a smile on his face. I see through it.

"What happened?" I move to his lap, his arms wrap around me.

"Someone kept on asking for you saying they have a secret to reveal..." he trails off.

"Babe? Is it...umm... Who's Mindy?" I tread carefully unsure if I should have even asked.

"How? Did Sam fucking tell you? He said he didn't!" His eyes are now dark filled with anger.

"No he didn't but I got a private message earlier,"

"Handle name: Iwantyouback?" He barks at me, I reach for my phone to show him the message. His knuckles go white from the pressure he's applying holding my phone in his hand. Still unsure of what to do, I try to get off his lap to give him space but he digs his fingers into my hip bringing me back against his chest. "Stay here," He begs, I nod. He runs his hand through his hair, licks his lips, takes a deep breath before his eyes bore into mine. "Mindy, she umm... was... she... Mindy was," He's struggling to get the words out. "Did he lie about never being in love before?" I wonder. "No, she was my sister," he blurbs out. My brain forms a thousand questions right away about his father and sister wondering how that creep knows anything about it. His arms wrap tighter around me trapping me into his chest, his face hides in my hair. I know he needs a moment.

"She was 6 years old when..." he says against my hair. "I don't know who got the information I've been trying to keep it out of the public eye."

"Do you want to tell me what happened?" I ask softly.

"I do but I've been trying to let it out, even at the center and I can't! I swear Ella, I can't. I'm sorry," His body is shaking.

"Ryan, it's okay, we don't have to talk about it." I run my fingers on his arms, he holds me for a while.

Notifications keep on making his phone go off all of a sudden. He moves so he can grab it and see what's going on making sure we can both see the screen. Text messages are asking if I know about Mindy but also asking if I know about his father, threatening to leak the information online. Ryan starts typing a reply to ask who is doing this but I stop him telling him we should go to the police. He looks so tormented trying to figure out who's texting him and what he should do about it. "Why are they asking if I know before releasing the information? How did the person get his number?" He calls the police station asking for advice. They'll track the number. They advise him to change his number and we both block the account on Instagram. Ryan doesn't say much about the information they're threatening to release just stating it's a family matter after explaining what his work consists of.

Ryan then calls his mother in London without worrying about what time it is for her.

"Mum, someone is threatening to leak information on Mindy and my father," Panic is thick in his accented voice. His mother goes silent before asking.

"Have you ever told Ella about it, son?"

"No, I...Mum, I can't get it out!" His eyes are scanning my face as his hand cups my cheek.

"She loves you, take your time she'll understand, you'll feel better, son," I hear his mother say.