In Bed With Her Shithead Boss (By Ellie Wynters) novel Chapter 274

"How did they know you were here?" Keira's voice came out strangled, her hands clutching the lapels of her robe tighter. This was a goddamn nightmare.

Alexei's jaw clenched as he peered through the peephole. "They didn't. They look shocked to see me. The fact we got kidnapped must have gotten out. It was only a matter of time." He turned back to her, his expression darkening. "They came for you…to talk about the kidnapping. Finding me here just gave them a much bigger story."

"But how did they get my address?" Keira's mind raced. "I'm not listed anywhere."

"Being kidnapped with a prince makes you newsworthy. Determined reporters can find almost anyone." His voice was tight, controlled fury vibrating beneath the surface. "Your name was probably in the hospital records, and they worked from there."

"So now instead of just being the assistant who got kidnapped, I'm the slut who's sleeping with her royal boss." The panic was morphing into anger. "My entire life is about to be dissected by tabloids, and for what? Some sex with the playboy Prince?"

His expression hardened. "Is that all last night was to you? Some sex?"

"That's not what I meant, and you know it." She paced across the small living room. When she was angry or upset, she got mouthy. "But it doesn't matter what it meant to us…out there, they're already creating their own story."

"This will blow over in a few days," he said, though his tone lacked conviction.

"For you, maybe!" She threw her hands up. "You'll fly back to your castle and your adoring subjects. I'll be the whore who slept with her boss. The gold-digger who seduced a prince."

"Don't use that word." His voice dropped dangerously.

"Which one? Whore? Or gold-digger? Because those are exactly the words they'll use." She gestured wildly toward the door where reporters continued shouting questions. "I've seen how the media treats women who get involved with powerful men. I'll just be the nobody assistant who spread her legs—"

"Enough!" Alexei's voice cracked like a whip. "I won't let that happen."

"You can't stop it. You've made sure of that by coming here!"

His eyes narrowed. "I seem to recall you begging me last night. Multiple times, in fact."

The low blow landed perfectly. Keira recoiled as if he'd struck her.

"Get out." Her voice trembled.

"Keira—"

"I said get out!" She was shaking now, rage and humiliation swirling into something toxic. "Go back to your perfect royal life and leave me to clean up this mess."

Through the walls of her apartment, they could hear the reporters' voices growing louder, more insistent. Someone was pounding on her neighbor's door, probably trying to get quotes about the "royal romance."

"They're not going anywhere," Alexei said quietly, checking the peephole again. "There are at least twenty of them out there."

Keira sank onto her couch, head in her hands. "This is a disaster."

"It doesn't have to be." He moved toward her cautiously. "We can control the narrative—"

"Control the narrative?" She looked up at him incredulously. "I'm standing here in a bathrobe looking like I just had the best sex of my life, which I did, and you think we can control anything? They have pictures, Alexei. Pictures of you trying to leave my apartment just after dawn."

The weight of it hit her fully. Her privacy, gone. Her anonymity, destroyed. Her life was about to become public property, dissected and analyzed by strangers who would reduce her to nothing more than the prince's latest conquest. Her sisters had been in the public eye. Keira just never thought it would happen to her. At least not like this.

He was fortunate his next words didn't question her comment about the best sex of her life statement, because Keira felt she might have killed him. "I'm sorry," he said, and for the first time since she'd known him, Alexei looked disappointed. She didn't know if it was directed at her or the situation they now found themselves in. "I'm so fucking sorry, Keira. You didn't ask for this."

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