“Question is, how do we capitalize on it?”Roman wonders aloud.
“We throw another tournament,” Jagger decides.
“Yeah.”I nod.“Something bigger.Better.More memorable.”
“Not sure how you’re gonna beat your house of horrors, Ford,” Roman says.
He’s right.The haunted house was pretty damn incredible.At one point, we even had pig’s blood raining down from the rafters.It was insane.I scrub my hand over my face, considering my options.“What if…”
“What?”Jagger pushes.
“What if we do the haunted house again, but this time…” I push to my feet and begin pacing in front of the fireplace.How can we make it better?How can we make it more epic?What would take the event to the next level?“Let’s see,” I mumble.“What sells?What sells?”I let the question ruminate as my footsteps echo off the hardwood floor, mingling with the crackling of the fire.“What if…what if this time, we invite girls and guys to sign up,” I say.“The girls who play get money for their time, and the guys who pay get…get a prize.”
Hawke frowns.“What kind of prize?”
I shake my head, both disgusted and a little impressed.“I’m just brainstorming here, but what sells, you know?Sex sells.And if we give the people a safe word or something, and can make sure everything stays…I don’t know…that it stays consensual,” I clarify.“You can watch or you can participate or you can make a bet to see who ends up with who or…”
“So a sex club.”Jagger scoffs.“You want to start a sex club.”
I look around the room, gauging my brothers’ expressions.“What?Too far?”
“I mean…maybe a little,” Roman laughs.
“Not sure I’m ready to cross into prostitution, Ford,” Jagger decides.“Any other ideas?”
He’s right.What was I thinking?
“I’ll keep brainstorming,” I tell him.
“Good,” Hawke mutters.He clears his throat.“And, uh, speaking of bad news…”
My head falls forward.“There’s more?”
“Maybe give them a day,” Roman suggests.
Hawke shakes his head.“Jag.”
Jagger goes to pinch the bridge of his nose before flinching, as if he’d forgotten he had the shit kicked out of him last night.Dropping his hand back to his lap, he mutters, “Yeah?”
“You know the footage from the haunted house?When you snuck in and helped Violet win?”
Jagger’s body locks.“What about it?”
Hawke has the decency to look apologetic as he eyes our big brother.“I was doing some surveillance and, uh, I’m pretty sure Ethan has the footage.”
“He has video evidence?”Jagger demands.“Proof we rigged the bet?”
Hawke’s head bobs as if he doesn’t have the heart to confirm the truth out loud.
Yeah, that’ll do it.I clench my hands into fists, fighting the urge to strangle my oldest brother with my own two hands.Don’t get me wrong.I like Vi, really, I do, but I fucking told him.I knew this would happen.I knew him riding in and saving the day was gonna bite us—and our business—in the ass.I just never figured we’d be screwed so thoroughly and so soon after our business already took a major hit.Hell, it’s like I’m taking it up the ass with no lube.Not exactly a pleasant experience.
What the hell are we supposed to do?
“Fuck.”Jagger’s chin falls to his chest.Hell, it’s as if Hawke threw the final punch, and Jagger’s out for the count.“Any idea how he got it?”
“Checked our encryptions.We had a strange power surge I couldn’t account for.Guessing that’s when he grabbed it.Either that, or he snuck in his own phone and recorded the footage during the livestream.And before you ask, yes, I already hacked into his computer, but nothing was there.”
Nothing?Why would nothing be on Ethan’s laptop?
