Lonzo: Book 1 (Tycoon Series Book 1) Read Free Page B

being candid when they asked me,” she cried after realizing her mistake. She was used to the spotlight and the scrutiny of the public, including the legitimate press but she was always careful with her public persona. She led an almost boring existence so as to not attract unwanted attention. The media had maintained a certain distance. Until now.
    Now they swarmed like a pack of piranhas and she was their meal.
    Stupid!
    “Slow down. What exactly did you tell and to whom?”
    “It was an interview for Entertainment Tonight . They were doing a story about my recent SI cover. I already answered all of their questions. I thought their cameras had stopped rolling when the reporter asked me something uhm…personal,” she relayed.
    “And?”
    “She asked me if there’s any truth that I have a sex video with James Knossos…you remember him?”
    She heard him snort in disgust.
    “Yeah, I remembered that asshole. I was tempted to run him over.”
    Leandro openly despised her ex-boyfriend who was also a model. He warned her early on that male models only loved one thing—themselves. She refused to listen. She thought she was in love. In the end she got burned. Her male bestfriend was right all along. Three months into their relationship, she broke up with the Calvin Klein underwear model when she found him in bed with an actress.
    “Her question came out of nowhere…and I opened my mouth without thinking. Told her I don’t believe in premarital sex and that I’ll pay anyone a cool million if they can provide me a copy of a sex video,” she continued.
    “And?”
    Must he drill her? This is so embarrassing!
    This was Leandro. He was the nearest thing to a sibling that she had. Even so, she wanted to bury her head beneath the sand.
    “She asked me if I’m still a virgin,” she blurted.
    “Tell me you didn’t answer that!” Leandro sounded exasperated.
    “Of course I didn’t! I pretended I didn’t hear. They may have aired the entire thing and edited the footage to make it sound like I’m dangling this…this… state ! And the bloodhounds outside picked it up! I can’t think of any other reason why they would zero in on me! It’s stupid, I know. I’m sorry I got myself in this mess.”
    “Calm down. Let me take care of it…but you have to leave your house for the meantime,” he suggested.
    “Do I really have to? Can’t I just file something in the courts to bar them from my property?” she asked but she already knew the answer to that.
    “Kid, you know that’s next to impossible. You’ll only whet their appetite. Think Britney and Lindsey. Let’s just wait this out. I’ll arrange for you to stay at The Plaza until this boils over. By then, they’ll have another target that they can lock their cross hairs on.”
    She didn’t want to go anywhere but she was left without a choice.
    She took a deep, frustrated breath.
    She bought this house, located in the Tribeca district in Manhattan just a couple of months ago. She’d grown tired of sleeping in hotels or leasing flats while in New York, where she was generally based when she was not jetting all over the world for fashion shows and photo shoots.
    This was the place she could finally call her own. And here she was now—being evicted by the meddling paparazzi.
    It was entirely her fault. And her big mouth!
    “I should’ve gotten a unit at the Trump Plaza. Ivanka offered me a fair price. Then, I wouldn’t be having this problem,” she said regretfully. Security around that New Jersey development was top notch.
    “Give it a few weeks or about two months and they’ll forget you ever said anything.”
    “You can say that again,” she glumly said.
    “Cheer up, kid…this is temporary. I’ll send Penny and the limo over so she can stay behind and pack things up for you.”
    She rubbed her temple, dismayed at the disruption in her life. She felt embarrassed at her behavior, calling him like a damsel in distress. She wasn’t one. Even with her