Chased by the Paparazzi
Chapter 21
Addison’s POV
Two Months Later:
I ended up living with my aunt and uncle. I had nightmares at least three times a week. She
wanted to keep me close by for months after the incident and insisted I stay in her home. She
gave the two–bedroom condo to her sons, even though they still had their old rooms at her
house. They split time between their house and the condo. It was downtown, near the college and the company headquarters, that I found out my family owned. They had started their
business in construction. So, it worked out well for them to have some freedom and still be
able to come back home.
What surprised me was that my cousins completely accepted me from the moment I arrived.
They became the big brothers I didn’t realize I wanted or needed. They made me feel safe and
protected. Being around them helped me to heal, along with the therapy. My grandparents,
Montgomery and Gwendolyn, cried when they saw me–hugging me repeatedly. I could feel
the pain that they had at losing my mother.
I knew now that the private conversation Mom wanted to have with me had been about the
family I never knew. Mom was also going to tell me we were making a semi–permanent move
to Dallas. So many things had happened in such a short amount of time that I was glad that
my therapy started the day after I arrived. I was okay that she had let them know what
happened with the video without going too in–depth with them. She didn’t tell my cousins or
my grandparents about the assault. She said that they would end up getting arrested to get justice for me, and I didn’t want that.
I am sure that my Uncle Nash knew the whole story. The sympathy he had in his eyes for me
was clear from the moment we met. He was protective of me from the day we met. I knew my
cousins, Bryson and Evan, knew I had been given a hard time, but my aunt had omitted telling
them who had done it. They instantly protected me, and wanted to go and teach whoever had hurt me a lesson. They had heard some of the details, but my grandparents were not.
My aunt told me that my grandfather would go to Frisco and push much harder than she had,
I thought she had applied a lot of pressure on her own. But she assured me it would be much
worse for them all if he became involved. The guilt he felt at having lost contact with my
mother would make him take it out on them. She warned me that he would go there and make
sure all four of the families involved suffer.
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When I asked her, “Four?” She told me he would also include the Pearsons in that. Garrett would veer the brunt of it for allowing me to be bullied. Let alone for taking advantage of me while I was actively mourning. She told me that, due to losing my mother, I was not fully aware of what I was doing. But she was wrong. I wanted him. I had for years. So, even though he had broken my heart, I would have done it all over again given the chance. My traitorous heart still loved Garrett with every beat it took, no matter how upset I was with him.
After speaking with my grandfather, I knew she was telling the truth. I asked him to just let my aunt deal with it. When I told him I was worried about the stress it would cause him, he deferred to us. My grandparents had always wanted a granddaughter. They were able to see me growing up in pictures but were upset at not having been able to meet me yet. My mother had been very hurt by their ultimatum to her. She felt they were treating her as if she could not decide for herself how she should live her life.
She had cut men who dated her for her money out of her life. She knew what they were after. She was hurt that her parents had refused to even meet my father. Even more hurt that they had already branded him a gold–digger in their minds. It didn’t matter that his family had a business that was doing well. To them, my mother was too flighty to be able to make a proper decision on her own. They had picked out a few men more on par with what they wanted for
her.
My mother was a beautiful woman. She could have had any man she wanted. Yet she chose a man she loved with all her heart over one vetted by her parents. At one point, I was going to do the same. Choose to marry for love, but now, I was just going to focus on myself. Getting past the nightmare I experienced these last two months and getting healthy again. My mental state had taken a beating after that horrible week. I could see the worry and concern in my aunt and uncle’s eyes each time they looked at me.
My aunt’s driver took me to therapy when she was too busy to go, but she watched over me like a mother hen guarding her chick. My uncle was right there with her. Doting on me now like I was his own child. I don’t know if it was because they always wanted a daughter, but it was never in the cards for them. Now that I have been here with them for two months, it is normal
to be given affection from them both. Their hugs bring me a great deal of comfort. I still miss my parents, but that pain is more of a dull ache now than the piercing one that it was.
My grandparents offered to buy me a car for graduating from high school, but I was a little scared to drive now. My mother was a careful driver, and I was worried about driving myself around this new city. So I rode with Charles, especially if I was going to work with my aunt. Either that or my Uncle or cousins drove me around. They all told me it was not a rush, and my grandparents said they would buy me the vehicle of my choice when I graduated from college.
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I was surprised at how quickly my cousins became a massive part of my life. My oldest cousin, Bryson, was twenty–two. He had just graduated from college with a degree in
business. He had already started work at Dawson Industries alongside his father. Learning
about business as he went to college. He was also going for his master’s in business starting
this fall. He had already set his schedule in stone where he would work three days a week at the company, on Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday. He would go to school the other three days, taking Sunday off, until he earned his master’s degree.
Evan was just as great as Bryson was, just more outgoing. Bryson was more driven to succeed and reserved. He didn’t make friends very quickly. Evan, on the other hand, was also
smart, but he was the life of the party. He never met a stranger, and he was very
compassionate. From a young age, he knew that the family business would always be passed down to Bryson to run as the next CEO, and he was fine with it. Evan didn’t want that kind of
pressure on him.
Plus, Evan was more focused on the finance side of it. Numbers were his thing; he had already
promised to help me with my accounting classes if I needed help. I was good at math, but I was nervous about taking accounting. It was sweet that they had both offered to help me in
school. They were so proud of me for getting into Texas University on my own merits. Evan
was more easygoing and was perfectly content to be the CFO.
Bryson was what you would call tall, dark, and handsome. He had dark hair, just like his father, but he had his mother’s piercing blue eyes. At 6’2” tall, he looked very intimidating. His aura
told
you not to approach him, but when he smiled, which was rare, he was gorgeous. He knew he always had to act as a CEO, even before receiving the official title. He smiled at me, though,
and I was in my safe place when I was standing between them. My grandfather had the same
blue eyes, and they seemed to have the ability to be able to see right through you.
Evan had the same dark hair as his brother but had his father’s dark gray eyes. At 6’1” tall he
also had an imposing aura, but he smiled a lot more than Bryson did. Evan will be starting his junior year, as I began as a first–year student. I was pleased about that. Bryson would not be
there as much but assured me he would see me there.
Evan liked to train in martial arts. He had told me that when I felt up to it, I could join him in a
class. I wasn’t very interested in it, but they all agreed that I needed to learn some form of
self–defense. Now that I am around the family, it is a matter of time before other, more dangerous people figure out I am a family member and not just dating Evan or Bryson. I didn’t put much stock in it. Not until my aunt told me that if I didn’t see Charles or one of my family
members, I should run away and not get into the car.
I found out that Bryson and Even were both sought–after bachelors pretty quickly. When we
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went out for lunch or dinner, I learned just how jealous some women were of me being with them. It was a very unwelcome reminder of how Tammy had acted over Garrett, and it made me very anxious each time it happened. I got used to being ignored, as waitresses would take their orders but not mine. Those were the easier incidents. Some would throw vile words at
me as we returned to our vehicles.
Whoever I was with, they always shielded me from the paparazzi as we left restaurants either by putting their jackets over me or just shielding me by placing themselves between me and the cameras. I had no idea that they were so popular. I really didn’t follow gossip magazines or know about bachelor lists that noted who was the most eligible in the city. I finally accepted his offer one night by attending class one night with Evan. I was trying to attempt to make a sidekick after being given instructions, when I felt a sharp pain in my abdomen. I fell to my knees on the floor, gasping in pain and holding my stomach, before Evan picked me up bridal style to take me to the hospital.
He bent his head over mine to try to protect me from the photos being taken, which made them even more suggestive. I had to admit that it did look intimate. You couldn’t see my face, but you could see my hair hanging down as he ran to his vehicle with me in his arms. He had tint on his windows, but the flashes made it almost bright as day as he tried to drive away with them all surrounding the vehicle. The last thing I heard was him rolling down his window and yelling at them as he said, “If something happens to my cousin. My family will deal with all of you.” The pain became overwhelming, and I just let it take me away into the darkness.
