Mr. Bad Influence

Chapter 18 - Part 2

He leaned back and tipped her chin up to him. "I'm not going to be the boy I used to be. I won't walk away and leave you in a mess. I'll get you out of this."

"It's almost over. There are just two more things I need to do."

"I'll do them, whatever they are."

She straightened and licked her lips. "I need to download a virus onto the dealer's phone so Stephanie can track him."

"This Stephanie, does she actually think you're a trained professional?"

Kerri laughed softly.

"Oh, Kerri." He ran his hand through her hair. "What did I ever do for God to give you to me?"

Nick stepped away from her when his phone vibrated. He took out the phone and checked Roland's text message. "This can't be good."

"What's wrong?"

"Your mom's appearing in an interview with Hannah. Actually, she's crashing an interview that Hannah's doing."

Kerri groaned. "I had hoped the whole third party thing would just go away. I guess it isn't going away fast enough."

"Have you seen what Hannah has been posting?" They moved to the couch, and Nick switched on the TV.

"No."

"At first, when the photos of the scratches surfaced, she said she acted out of impulse because she loved me so much and she never meant to hurt you." He scanned through the channels. "Then when the photos of us kissing leaked—"

"Let me guess, she played the victim."

Nick put the remote down when he saw Claudia on screen. "Yup."

"And welcome back. I'm sure everyone's really interested to know what Claudia Adams has to say about the situation with Nick, Kerri, and Hannah."

Kerri buried her face in her hands.

"It'll be fine." Nick rubbed his hand down Kerri's back. "If anyone can fix this, it'll be your mom."

"But she was so strange just now."

Kerri's mother smiled sweetly to the camera. "First of all, I'd like to apologize to Hannah. I don't know what Kerri said to you, neither do I know exactly what's going on between Nick and her, but I am sure that this situation wouldn't have occurred if I hadn't meddled in their relationship three years ago."

"I don't understand," the interviewer said, and her mother nodded.

"I was the reason behind their breakup. I was the one who convinced my husband and our pastor that the best thing for Kerri was for her to have a clean break with Nick. I transferred her to another hospital, and I made sure she and Nick dropped all contact. They never had a chance to end things properly because of me. I'm not giving any excuses; I'm not saying she is or isn't at fault."

"Oh, mom." Kerri ran her hand through her hair.

Her mother paused and looked down at her clasped hands. "There's always been something between Nick and Kerri," her mother said, almost in a whisper, and Nick found himself leaning forward, getting drawn into whatever Claudia was saying. "Something so strong that I thought the best way to end things was for her to cut him off completely."

"She told me that nothing was going on between the two of them, but the photos proved she was lying," Hannah spat.

Claudia nodded slowly. "As I said, I don't know what happened. But the two of them, it seems their destiny is written in the stars." Her mother laughed. "I don't believe in astrology, but when I see the two of them together, I get the feeling that they are meant for each other, which was what I was worried about, especially since Nick wasn't at a very good place then."