Hayes looked next and went rigid. He slid the folder towards me before turning on Sam. “What. The. Fuck?”
I took a deep breath and opened the folder. There was a stack of photos but the one on top told me everything I needed to know. Cassidy, naked in the mud, being mauled by the three of us. There was no doubt about the fact that we were fucking her. The photo had been altered, though. Our faces and bodies, Cash’s tattoos, were different enough that it didn’t look like we were the ones fucking her.
I stood up fast enough to knock my chair over. “You have seconds to explain yourself before there’s a body to hide.”
“Relax, boys. I’m not going to do anything with them. Not unless you don’t start following some simple instructions.” He was still grinning, so fucking proud of himself. “I’ve gotta say. I think I was wrong about the girl. She’s a hot piece of ass under all that attitude, isn’t she? Y’all shouldn’t let her hide that body. People would like her more if they saw those tits.”
Cash’s fist connected with Sam’s face hard enough to crack his nose and send blood pouring all down the front of Sam’s shirt. “Watch your fucking mouth!”
Still laughing, Sam held his nose and shook his head. “Touchy, huh? So you’d probably really hate it if someone uploaded a video of her getting fucked in the ass in the mud like a little pig, wouldn’t you?”
I moved closer and leveled a cold stare at him. “Hurt her and I’ll make it my fucking goal in life to start talking and never fucking stop talking about the piece of shit you truly are. Startingwith threatening your own sons with revenge porn of their girlfriend.”
“It’s just to motivate you boys to start doing the right things. Your reputation has taken a hit and we’ve got to make sure your standing isn’t hurt. I’m just going to take a few steps to improve your image. That’s all. Do what I want and yourgirlfriendis safe.”
“Our image, Sam? Really?” Hayes still had the knife he’d been cutting his sandwich with in his hand and he clenched it in the fist he pressed into the wall next to Sam’s head. “You don’t realize what a joke you’ve become, do you? Everyone knows you’re a fucking drunk who likes to diddle barely legal girls. When your name is brought up now, it’s not about your ancient football talents, Sam. It’s about how long people think until you make a public mistake.”
I watched the words sink in and crawl around under his skin. He swallowed and shook his head, still clutching his bleeding nose. “I’m going to clear all that up. I have a plan in action. All I need to do is remind people that I’m a family man.”
“And how the fuck do you plan on doing that?” I let out a sharp laugh. “We’re not good enough actors to make people think we give a shit about you.”
“Oh, no, you won’t be an important part of this plan. I just need you to smile pretty at a few photo ops. Starting next weekend. We’re having a family dinner.” He saw the three of us start to decline and grinned at us with bloody teeth. “Think about those pictures before you say no. Plus, your sister already agreed to come. This is a mandatory family dinner. You either show up or I release all the dirty details.”
“Delete the photos and we’ll show up.” Hayes grabbed the folder and shook it. “All of them. With proof that you did.”
Sam just laughed and pushed Cash away. “I think you’re forgetting who has the power here, boys. Show up at the dinner and we’ll start negotiations.”
I grabbed him when he tried to pass me. “You think you have the power but power is a fickle thing, Sam. How much power do you think a dead man has?”
He patted my cheek. “You always were a psycho, weren’t you?”
Sam left and the three of us stood around staring at each other until Hayes swore and shoved the folder down the garbage disposal. We listened as it was turned to nothing and then continued standing there in silence. Once again we’d potentially ruined Cassidy’s life. We hadn’t thought about cameras but we should have.
“We have to fix this.” Cash ran his hands through his hair. “There’s no way we’ll be able to do everything he wants and it’ll never stop. We can’t let him keep that footage of Cassidy and we can’t let her know about it. She’d fucking hate us.”
“No. I’m not going to let that fucker take her from us.” I forced myself to sit at the island and breathe. “We’ll figure it out. We have to.”
“Do we know anyone with computer skills?” Hayes pulled out his phone. “Someone we can trust?”
62
***Cass***
I’d changed locations but my secret joy couldn’t be contained to just Aunt Jolene’s house. I was stretched out across Hayes on their couch as we watched trash TV. He tried to say it was just for me but I felt like he had a secret addiction to the shows, too. Their house was cleaner than Aunt Jolene’s since she was prepping for a big show so I’d commandeered their television. I felt like they were proud of how clean they’d kept their house after I’d chewed them out about it before so I was telling myself I was doing them a favor by being there.
The credits were rolling on another episode when I finally decided to bring up the topic I’d been dying to ask about. The Fords were experiencing their own version of my trashy TV. “So…”
Hayes paused in stroking my back and grunted. “What?”
I paused the TV and sat up so I was straddling him. “I was waiting on you to mention it but since you’re being coy, I’ll do it. Sam’s dating Kelly Dunn?”
His jaw hardened but he started stroking me again. “I guess so. The piece of shit.”
My eyebrows climbed up my forehead. “Is everything okay?”
He sighed and moved us both higher so he could lean against the arm of the couch. “Same old shit, different day. Sam’s a bastard and nothing will ever change that but he’s on a new kick lately that’s making me nuts. I don’t know what he’s doing dating a TikTok influencer as a grown ass man but he mentioned something about changing his reputation and image. He wants to look like a family man again.”
I scrunched up my nose and faked a gag. “His choice to look like a family man is taking him down the path of a twenty-two-year-old influencer who once filmed herself riding a fake bull while naked? As a promotion for the beef industry?”
