For a moment, Ryan floundered. Then regret skipped across his face before he forced outraged into it and stiffened. “Fuck you, old man. I don’t fucking answer to you. So what if I looked at these bitches buck ass naked? They’re fucking whores—”
Val’s one punch sent Ryan flying into two brothers. Their chairs tipped back and they sprawled on the floor. Ryan grabbed one of the empty chairs and threw at Val, who dodged it.
As if Val’s anger freed something inside her, Rebel’s anguish finally appeared, looking as betrayed and close to tears as Mattie and Harley.
Christopher wanted to fucking kill Ryan.
Dragging Ryan to the door, Val opened it, then kicked him right in his ass and outside.
“Give me the IP addresses, domain names, everything you can—”
Rebel shook her head, refusing to let a tear fall, despite how watery her eyes were. “No, Uncle Stretch. We’re fuckingnakedin the majority of the videos.” Her voice cracked but she swallowed and looked at Harley. “And…and…Never mind.”
Harley trembled, and Christopher fuckingknewHarley was more than just naked on those fucking videos.
“Fuck,” Val grumbled and covered his face. “Fuck that motherfucker.”
“Uncle Val.” Mattie hesitated before tipping to him and touching his arm. “We didn’t mean to out Ryan here. We texted him, but he didn’t answer us.”
Shoving his hands in his pockets, Val pressed his lips together and nodded.
She looked at Christopher, fear in her eyes.
“Baby, nobody mad at you,” he said, staring at her, knowing she held something back and hoping to reassure her so she’d feel safe enough to talk.
“Say what you have to say,” CJ encouraged.
“I think Ryan did it for Molly,” she said quietly. “Before Harley and me went to Rebel, I did other scans. I was able to get one message between Ryan and Willard, and he told him to meet him at Turn Creek Bridge. He’d have her with him for all his good video work.” She blushed. “The databases for the cameras are registered to the same IP address as that incoming text message. When…when I looked up the whois data for the camera database, it is registered to…to Wally Bart, Jr.”
“That’s not fucking okay, Mattie,” Rory snapped. “That motherfucker took videos…”
Turning, Rebel hugged Harley.
“Tell them the rest, Harley,” Mattie said miserably.
“I-I can’t.”
“Can I?” Rebel asked. “Somebody needs to fucking know.”
“One of you fuckin’ talk now,” Christopher ordered, losing his patience, despite how badly he knew they needed it. But what happened to them was fucking unimaginable and it left him reeling. Once again wishing Rebel was still a small girl. He rubbed the back of his neck. “It’s okay. Tell me.”
“It’s so bad, Daddy,” Rebel whispered, tears spiking her lashes. “Super bad.”
Val sat heavily in a chair.
Harley ran to Val and hugged him. “It wasn’t all Ryan, Uncle Val.”
“For me and Reb it was,” Mattie added, pretending it didn’t matter but Christopher saw her shame.
“And for Harley?” Val croaked, returning Harley’s hug in a distracted manner and then releasing her to look at Mattie. “Someone helped Ryan?”
“Ryan helpedsomeone,”Rebel corrected.“Mattie thinks Willard was cyberbullying Harley. His username is Pillar of Earth. He made her undress and do all kinds of stuff. Just to humiliate her. All kinds of stuff,” she reiterated, blushing. “Even in the shower.”
“Did you say in the fucking shower?” CJ asked.
Ignoring him, Rebel swiped her cheeks. “And he,Pillar of Earth, sent the videos to Nardo. That’s why he started beating up Harley.”
“Nardo beat you up because of lewd videos you were forced to do?” Val asked.
