“I’m sending through some photos that you’ll want to bleach from your brain. They were sent to Willow just now. All of me, from an unknown number. I need to know where these came from.”
He’s all work now, his voice hard and cold.
“Send me everything you’ve got. I might need her phone to trace the caller, but I’ll reach out to the cell provider first.”
“Whatever you need. Find this asshole. They hurt my girl, and now we hurt them.”
“Understood. I’ll be in touch.”
I forward everything to Gideon, who replies with one word.
Gideon:Fuck.
Yeah, fuck.
Gideon:Are we going to find out that there are photos of you fucking Willow that get leaked to the goddamn media?
Fuck.
Me:There better not be, but I don’t know anything right now. Jesus fucking Christ, Gid.
Willow’s standing by the windows, looking out into the darkness. Her arms are wrapped around her, and she’s rocking back and forth, as if she’s trying to soothe herself.
“Sweetheart.”
She shakes her head. “Don’t apologize. You didn’t do anything wrong. I just can’t unsee that, and Ineverwanted to know—”
“Hey, I know.” I want someone to bleed for this. Anger is a living thing inside me, but I need to reassure her, to remind her that she’s all that matters.
“They were in your house. Do you film the women you fuck? Christ, did you film us—”
“Absolutely fucking not.”
I turn her to face me and hold her neck and jaw between my hands, gently rubbing her lips with my thumb.
“Look at me right now. In my eyes, Trouble.” Her stormy gaze finds mine. She looksscared, and that fuels my rage. “I didnottake those photos. Someone planted that camera in my place, and I’m going to find out who, and when I do, they’re going to regret it. I wouldneverviolate someone that way. What happens between you and me is just that: between you and me.”
She swallows hard and closes her eyes again before she nods and another tear escapes, spiraling down her cheek.
“I know you wouldn’t do that.”
“That’s right, youknow me. Christ, baby, just the thought of it makes me sick. Those women might not have meant more to me than that one night, but they absolutely did not deserve that, and I will make sure those images are destroyed. He violated meandthem, and he’ll pay for it.”
“Oh, God, you’re right. Those poor women. I’m so selfish.”
“Stop it.” I kiss her forehead, and then her nose. “Come here.”
She walks right into my arms, and the relief is immediate. She’s not running away from me, even after my past was literally thrown in her face in glaring detail. She’s right. She can’t unsee that.
But I can do my best to wipe it from her memory.
I lift her bridal-style and walk up the stairs and to our bedroom. It’s no longer mine. It’s been ours for weeks now, and that’s what it will always be.
She’s clinging to me, her face buried in my neck, her hands in my hair.
When I get to the foot of the bed, I set her on her feet, and then I peel my shirt over my head and toss it aside.
Her hands immediately fall to my chest.
