Dirty Secret (The Burke Brothers #1)(66)
Author: Emma Hart

I frown at him. “I don’t get it.”

“Facebook.” He sits down next to me triumphantly. “You post a picture of her and Conner on the Dirty B. fan page. We have like twenty million likers on that thing. It’ll go viral from there, and none of the media will get their famed shot of the ‘Dirty B. secret baby.’ ”

I put my phone down on the table and stare at him, my mouth dropping. “Tate! That’s brilliant!”

He sits back smugly. “It’s been known to happen now and then.”

I look at Conner. “Do you think it’ll work?”

He nods. “We have a lot of messages and posts asking to see her. It’s like they don’t really believe it. We can post it there, then go out straight after.”

“They’ll all think they’re getting the pictures, but there’ll already be one online.” Tate taps his fist against the table. “Hey, Mila.”

“Yeah, Tay?”

“You want a picture with Daddy?”

“Picker?” she gasps, her eyes lighting up.

“Yeah. Picker.” Tate leans forward. “You want Mommy in it?”

“Mama picker, too.” She gasps again, her hands on her cheeks.

I laugh at the cute, surprised expression on her face. “I’m not being in it.”

“Yeah, you are,” Conner tells me, his eyes burning into mine. “Both of you are.”

“Picker now! Picker now!” Mila chants.

“Uh, not until your face is clean.” I grab a wipe and get up. I scrub her face, holding the back of her head steady as she shakes it in defiance.

I drop the wipe in the trash can and Conner lifts her out of her high chair. I follow them into the front room and sit on the sofa next to Conner. He sets Mila on his lap, her legs out to one side, then wraps his arm around me. He nudges me into him.

“Ready?” Tate asks, holding up the camera.

“Do I have to?” I ask.

“Yes,” he and Conner both say simultaneously.

“Picker!” Mila shouts. “Now!”

“Okay, okay.” I sigh and settle into Conner’s side.

“Hey!” Tate says to her. “Shhh and cheese for me.”

“Cheeeeeeeez!” Mila gives a big grin.

Tate laughs. “Smile.”

He doesn’t have to tell me, because her “cheese” already has me doing it. Tate takes a few photos, then comes over, bringing them up on the screen.

“I like the third one,” I say. “I look constipated in the last one.”

Conner snorts. “Okay, we’ll use the third one.”

He passes me Mila, then plugs the camera into the laptop and copies the picture into another folder. Then he brings up the browser, goes to Facebook, and heads to the Dirty B. fan page.

Whoa. So, he wasn’t joking about the questions. They have hundreds of notifications and messages, and it looks like they’re all asking about Mila.

Conner skips them over and attaches the photo to a new post.

Hey, Divas! he types.

“Divas?”

Tate shrugs. “You called them Dirty B. Divas when me and Aidan crashed your burger date with Kye. It kind of stuck with us, so we renamed our fans the Divas.”

Conner here. I have a special post today. Y’all keep asking us for a photo of my daughter, and I’m happy to finally introduce her to you. You’re all great and we wanted you to meet her first. So here she is, the littlest Diva, with me and her amazing mama, Sofie. This is my Mila.

I swallow my nerves as he clicks “post.”

He turns his face to me and our daughter. “There. Done.”

“She’s not a secret anymore,” I whisper, running my fingers through her unruly dark hair.

“No,” he agrees, kissing Mila’s cheek.

She squirms, so I let her down. The comments and likes start rolling in instantly, inundating the page with yet more notifications.

Conner shuts the laptop. “Nobody wants to see their crazy-ass comments. They ain’t all gonna be nice.”

I shrug. “I don’t care. Not anymore. It ain’t their business.”

He smiles. “Hey, Mila?”

“Dadda?”

“You wanna go to the toy store?”

She gasps for the third time this morning. Freakin’ hell, today’s like toddler heaven.

Relief replaces my nerves at the smile on her face. She’s genuinely excited to go, and not just because she knows she’ll get spoiled, but because she gets to leave the house.

“I’ll get Ajax and everyone here.” Tate pulls out his phone.

Conner grits his teeth. I put my hand on his arm, and he relaxes a little. We both know it’s necessary.

We might know Mila’s out there, but the vultures outside don’t.

“They’ll be here in two minutes.” Tate tucks the phone back into his pocket. “You sure you wanna do this?”

“Yes,” I say before Conner can. “It’s time we got to act like a proper family.”

Conner’s hand tenses on my lower back.

“You know what?” Tate smirks, looking at me. “I might finally be starting to like you.”

“Well, what do you know? I might finally like you, too.”

He laughs and looks out of the window. “That’s a damn short two minutes.”

“It’s why we pay them.” Conner bends down and picks up Mila.

I meet his eyes. Apprehension is bright in them, and it brings back my nerves. He knows better than I do how intense this is going to be.

Ajax knocks at the door and opens it. “Ready?”

I nod and take Conner’s hand. I pull him toward the door, being the pillar of strength for the first time, and Ajax sees us out.

Hell breaks loose.

They scramble and fight against the security and the police, desperate for a photo of her. They scream and yell, shouting harshly.

“Keep your head down and get in the car,” Ajax orders us, opening the back door so Conner can buckle her into her car seat. “I’ll be in front and Gareth will be behind you. There are four of us with y’all, keeping her safe.” He looks at me. “Don’t let ’em get to you.”

“They’re the ones who should be afraid if they get too close to my daughter.” I smile and open my door. “Con, pull her shade down.”

I shove the keys in and Conner gets in next to me.

“Go,” he says, seeing Ajax pull out.

I follow the black 4×4 onto the street. Cameras chase us and there’s a mad scramble.