Page 8 of Confused AF (At First #2)

eight

~ Vaden ~

O ver the course of the day, I found myself forced into the startling realization that I had, unknowingly, mated an evil genius.

Scheduling the meeting with Chloe Rae had been easy enough. As Otto had pointed out, because it had been her own line of products that had caused the reaction, that put her reputation on the line as well. It seemed only natural that she would want answers.

I just hadn’t understood how she and Otto planned to get them.

Frankly, I didn’t need proof, not when all of my instincts pointed to Kassidy Bassiago as the culprit. She’d had motive, opportunity, and a history of bad behavior. But while I had already tried and convicted her, I knew my opinion alone wouldn’t be enough to sway the masses.

Then again, we wouldn’t have to convince anyone if the faery just admitted to wrongdoing. Following that line of thinking, I had offered to persuade a confession from her, but Otto had steadfastly refused that solution.

Instead, he had suggested a far more devious plan.

Despite her appearance—red, puffy skin around her eyes with visibly raised white bumps—Chloe had agreed to go live. Her willingness had surprised me, but I had to admit that it also impressed me.

She had access to a team of attorneys and PR reps who could have made the whole incident quietly disappear. She could have shifted the blame and pointed the finger at Otto while absolving herself in the process. No one would have questioned or blamed her.

The fact that she did none of those things told me a lot more about her character than the size of her bank account or online following.

She and Otto hadn’t bothered with staging or lighting. They hadn’t written anything down. Using only her phone’s camera, the pair had appeared onscreen together to tell their story.

Chloe had urged her followers to temporarily discontinue use of Chloe Couture products until further notice. Otto had promised to conduct a full review of his inventory and practices.

Then they had launched the “scavenger hunt.”

Utilizing Chloe’s legion of fans, they had asked viewers to search their camera rolls for videos and photos of Otto’s table. Particularly, they had wanted footage taken the previous evening, and they had encouraged people to send them anything that looked even mildly suspicious.

They hadn’t offered any kind of incentive or reward, just the chance to be part of the investigation. And the community had risen to the occasion.

Against my better judgment, we had returned to the convention center after our meeting with Chloe. While I would have preferred to shield him from the undeserved scrutiny he would undoubtedly face, Otto had refused to hide, and I respected that choice.

Even if I didn’t fully agree with it.

It hadn’t been as bad as I’d anticipated, though. Apparently, enough people had seen the livestream to create a thread of doubt about Otto’s guilt. So, while I wouldn’t say his return had been met with a warm welcome, there had at least been a lack of open hostility.

Upon entering the building, we made a detour to the deli for a late lunch, then carried the sandwiches back to Otto’s table. While we ate, we scrolled through the hundreds of images that had already started flooding into the comment section of Chloe’s post.

It had taken only an hour to receive the damning evidence we needed, and interestingly enough, it had come from another influencer.

At first glance, it hadn’t appeared helpful, or even all that interesting, and I had actually dismissed it as a ploy designed to take advantage of the situation. Otto, however, had seen something I hadn’t.

“Wait. Go back.” Seated beside me at the table, he grabbed the tablet from my hand. After enlarging the video and focusing it on the background behind the female speaker, he restarted the clip. “That’s us.”

Yes, but it was also so much more. It had been cut to start playing at the exact moment everything between us had changed.

Muting the volume, I watched as Otto turned to face me in the video, his lips moving in silent question before stopping abruptly as they collided with mine.

In the moment, it had felt like an eternity as I’d fought for control, torn between the right choice and the easy one. As I watch now, however, I could see that no more than a couple of seconds passed between the accidental kiss and when I had dragged Otto away from the table.

“You look angry,” he commented with a chuckle. “People probably thought you were kidnapping me.”

“If I had been kidnapping you, I would have been a lot more subtle about it.” I shrugged and pressed a kiss to his temple. “I was just focused.”

Laughing again, he leaned into my side. “More like impatient.”

“And you weren’t?”

“I never said that.” The words still hung between us when he suddenly stiffened. “Oh, my god. Look.”

We had barely disappeared offscreen when a familiar figure approached Otto’s table. The petite blonde seemed to be watching us leave, and in doing so, had her face turned to the camera, providing a clear view of her identity.

Kassidy Bassiago.

She waited for a moment, probably to make sure we wouldn’t return, then slipped behind the table to rummage through the open boxes. Her eyes darted around the room as she unpacked a handful of different items and spread them out in front of her.

I couldn’t fully make out what happened after that, but it looked suspicious as hell. One by one, she opened the various products before reaching into her pocket for…something. Whatever she had retrieved, she kept it hidden in her palm as she waved her hand across the table.

When she finished, she returned the mysterious substance to her pocket and carefully repacked everything she had taken out of the case.

With one last glance at the crowd, she pasted on a bright smile, straightened her spine, and strode away, clearly confident that she had just gotten away with her crime.

Being right never really got old. In fact, it felt pretty damn vindicating. Otto didn’t need to hear that, though.

“Are you okay?” I asked instead.

He rested his head against my shoulder and sighed. “On the bright side, at least I don’t have to throw away everything .”

“Otto.”

“I know.” He sighed again and burrowed closer. “I guess we should tell Chloe.”

“I’ll send the video to her assistant,” I promised. “What do you want to do about Kassidy?”

I voted for public shame and exile, but something told me my forgiving mate wouldn’t agree.

He turned his head and nuzzled into my shoulder with a quiet groan. “I don’t know what to do. Obviously, I want to clear my name, but…”

Winding my arm around him, I held him close, pulled between indulgence and exasperation. I didn’t know if his hesitation came from generosity or fear, but it frustrated the hell out of me.

He had nothing to be afraid of, and the faery damn sure didn’t deserve his kindness.

At the same time, I wouldn’t change anything about him. I had fallen in love with who he was, not who I wanted him to be, including all the little things that drove me crazy.

Besides, the truth would come out one way or another.

That video had been posted for millions to see, and I would bet money Otto hadn’t been the only one to catch Kassidy in the act.

While it would be satisfying to watch her squirm as she tried to lie her way out of the accusations, confronting her directly wouldn’t actually accomplish anything.

So, if he wanted to leave her fate to karma and the court of public opinion, I could probably learn to live with it.

“Chloe’s the one who was hurt,” he said as if reading my mind. “Maybe we should leave it up to her. I don’t want to mess up anything if she decides to press charges.”

It sounded like a copout, but a considerate one, and he did have a point.

“If that’s what you want to do.”

“Yeah, I think it is.”

I choked back a sigh as I pressed a kiss to the top of his head. He deserved more, but I supposed restoring his reputation would have to be enough for now.

Having spoken everything that needed to be said, we fell into a comfortable silence. While I would have been perfectly content to sit there and hold him for the rest of the day, the universe seemingly had other plans.

It started small, a subtle, almost imperceptible shift in the energy.

More people smiled when they passed by the table. Some waved. A couple of teenage girls slowed and pointed at us.

“Oh, my god, that’s them,” one of them said to her friend. Then they both giggled and hurried away.

“What’s going on?” Otto asked, easing away to sit upright in his chair. “Please don’t tell me something else happened.”

Before I could form a response or try to reassure him, the jumbo screens mounted to the ceiling all suddenly lit up with an image of Kassidy Bassiago.

“Oh,” Otto breathed, his hand fluttering near his mouth. “Oh, god.”

The faery’s smiling face stared down at everyone for almost an full minute before the screens changed again, this time to the video showing her tampering with Otto’s table. And just to be sure that no one missed it, a giant red arrow followed her throughout the entire clip.

I turned my head and coughed to hide my laughter. It might not have been how I would have chosen to handle things, but Chloe Rae had style. I’d give her that.

A hush fell over the room, and everyone seemed frozen in place as they turned their gazes to the giant screens. Even those who hadn’t yet heard about the scandal looked disgusted by what they saw. The stillness stretched on, even after the video ended, as if no one really knew what to say.

Then the murmurs started. The whispers. The gasps. With every added voice, the volume rose until the noise returned to its usual dull roar.

“Otto.” I rested my hand on his back and used my other to point at a spot near the center of the room. “Look.”

I knew the moment he spotted her because his spine stiffened, and the muscles in his back flexed beneath my palm.

Kassidy hurried through the throng of people, her head down and her translucent wings fluttering with agitation behind her. No one tried to stop her. No one yelled insults at her. They just let her go with disdainful stares and pointed fingers.

“Don’t feel bad for her,” I warned. I would absolutely lose my mind if he shed even one tear for the conniving faery.

“I don’t,” he said after a brief hesitation, and he sounded like he meant it. “She did this to herself.”

“Yes, exactly. She shit the bed, and now she has to sleep in it.”

Otto barked out a laugh and shook his head. “I don’t think that’s how that saying goes.”

I shrugged. I liked my version better. “So, what do you want to do now? There’s still a couple of hours before they kick us out.” Pushing forward in my chair, I let my gaze wander to the empty table in front of us. “Do you want to try to set up a tutorial?”

“Not today,” he answered. “I think I just want to go back to the hotel, if that’s okay?”

I instantly pushed to my feet and held my hand out to him. “Let’s go.”