Total pages in book: 47
Estimated words: 45972 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 230(@200wpm)___ 184(@250wpm)___ 153(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 45972 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 230(@200wpm)___ 184(@250wpm)___ 153(@300wpm)
“He hasn’t shared it,” Porter says slowly. “But he says he will if I don’t pay him.”
She frowns, shaking a little before I come up behind her and place my hands on her waist, which seems to make her steady herself.
“How much does he want?”
“Two million.”
Even with how much money she comes from, Kempton’s jaw drops.
“Are you fucking kidding me?!”
“A million a tape,” I growl.
“That’s—oh my God,” she whispers quietly. “I mean, I have my trust fund, but I don’t know how much I could take out before my dad—”
“I’m paying him.”
Her mouth snaps shut, and she stares as she looks up at Porter.
“You… what?”
“I’m paying him. I don’t care about the money, Kempton, I just want to protect you and Beckett. You’re young, and this could seriously fuck things up for both of you.”
“What about you?”
He frowns, shrugging. “I’m older. This would fuck my life up some, but it wouldn’t wreck it. Not like it would for you two.”
She shakes her head, biting her lip.
“Do you… I mean—” She frowns. “Look, I’m not trying to be condescending—”
“Do I even have two million dollars?” Porter says with a thin smile, and she nods.
“Look I don’t mean anything by that, it’s just that it’s—”
“A shitload of money,” I growl quietly, and she nods as she reaches back and takes my hand with one of hers.
Porter nods. “It is. But I did very, very well when I was on Wall Street, Kempton.”
“Two million dollars well?”
“Well enough that two million stings but doesn’t ruin me.”
But Kempton’s barely listening, and I can see why. I can see her face turning whiter and whiter, her jaw grinding and her eyes darting everywhere. I can see her pulse thundering in the hollow of her neck, and I can see the nervous, stressed way she’s rocking side to side, clenching and unclenching her muscles.
And it starts to get worse.
Her breathing gets faster, her eyes darting all over the place. But before she completely loses it, I hold her, pulling her against me tightly with my hands on her waist. My lips kiss the back of her neck before dropping to her neck.
“Breathe, beautiful,” I purr quietly. “Just breathe, Kempton.”
A single sob tumbles from her lips, and Porter’s face hardens as he draws close to her front, his hands sliding up into her hair as he pulls her closer and kisses her gently.
“We’re right here, baby,” he growls. “We’re both right here, and we’re not going to let anything hurt you. I promise.”
“So do I,” I grunt, gently twisting her head around to kiss her deeply myself.
“Nothing is going to happen. Look, Porter knows this asshole.”
“And all he wants is money,” Porter grunts. “He takes the money, he’ll give us the tapes, and that’s it.”
She nods slowly, looking up at him with a scared look on her face before she looks back at me.
“Look, it’s not…” she frowns, shaking her head and turning so that she’s sideways between us, glancing up at each of us.
“It’s not that I’m embarrassed by… well, whatever this is.”
I grin. “What this is, is that we’re both crazy about you, Kempton.”
She smiles softly, biting her lip as her eyes spark.
“I’m crazy about you, too,” she whispers, turning to look at Porter. “About both of you. I just—”
“You’d rather sex tapes of you sleeping with both of us not leak out?” I frown. “Kemp, that doesn’t mean you’re ashamed of us, that means you’re human. Fuckin’ no one wants a sex tape of themselves leaked. Well, most people don’t.”
“And this one sure as fuck isn’t going to leak, beautiful,” Porter says softly, reaching out and cupping her jaw to tilt her head up at him. “I swear to you.”
He kisses her slow and deep, and she moans softly before she pulls away. She turns to me with a fire in her eyes before she pulls me down and kisses me too, her tongue dancing gently with mine before suddenly, she pulls away with a jolt.
“Oh my God.”
I frown. “What?”
“I—” she suddenly beams, the shadows falling from her face.
“I think I have an idea.”
Porter arches a brow. “Kempton, there’s one fix to this, and it’s paying the shithead. After that, it’s over.”
“But what if you don’t have to pay him?”
He looks at her skeptically. “Kempton, I know it’s extortion, but it’s not like we can go to the cops. Not unless we want all of this aired out for everyone to know about.”
She shakes her head.
“No, not that. A different idea.”
I chuckle quietly. “Well, you want to fill us in?”
“I need to go see Justin Lowe.”
Porter scowls, shaking his head.
“The fuck you do.”
“Listen,” she presses. “Trust me on this.”
I frown. “I’m with Porter. It’s a fucking terrible idea, whatever you’re thinking. And I hate the idea of him staring at you with that smug look after what he’s seen.”