Total pages in book: 98
Estimated words: 91216 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 456(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 304(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91216 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 456(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 304(@300wpm)
I’m going to be sick. My hands start to shake, and I grip the edge of the bar to steady myself. “And what, Sloane?” I manage to choke out.
“He told me that during the holiday time off, our tech department were running an audit or doing some regular maintenance on our computers. Basically, my search history came into question. And well, Tyler was coming in to tell me that he covered for me. That he has friends with HR and he’s tight with Jasmine so even if she gets wind of it, he can soothe the waters. But . . .”
“But what?” I whisper, my heart hammering so hard I can barely hear my own voice.
Sloane takes a shaky breath. “But he saw your profile too. And he recognized a piece of Moth to the Flame jewelry—a necklace you were wearing. And he started to put it together and now suspects it’s you in those videos and pics.”
The room starts to spin. I grip the bar even tighter, my knuckles turning white. “Oh God,” I breathe. “Oh God, no.”
Sloane reaches out to touch my arm, but I flinch away. “I’m so sorry,” she says, her voice cracking. “I never meant for this to happen. I was curious, and I didn’t think—”
“You didn’t think?” I repeat, my voice hollow. “You didn’t think about the consequences? About my privacy? About my job? I signed a contract with a morality clause, Sloane! There’s no way I can walk away from this with my job still intact. Dark Secrets is a kinky sex site! I’m fucked!”
Tears well up in Sloane’s eyes. “I know. I know, and I’m so, so sorry. I told Tyler it wasn’t you. I said it was someone else I knew and well . . . we’ll deny deny, but—”
“But what?” I snap, suddenly angry. “This is Tyler we’re talking about, and there’s no way he’s stupid enough to fall for that. He’ll use this as leverage over me.”
“He doesn’t know. He might suspect—”
“Do you really believe that?”
Sloane looks away, unable to meet my gaze. “I don’t know if he believed me. He didn’t seem convinced, but he has no proof it’s you.”
I close my eyes, trying to steady my breathing. My mind races through all the possible outcomes, each one worse than the last. My career, my reputation, everything I’ve worked for—it could all come crashing down because of one stupid mistake.
I take a deep, shaky breath, trying to calm the panic rising in my chest. “Okay,” I say, more to myself than to Sloane. “Okay. We need to think this through. What exactly did Tyler say?”
Sloane fidgets with her glass, her voice low. “He said he was surprised to see your profile. He made some comments about . . . about your photos. And he said he never would have guessed you were into that kind of thing.”
My cheeks burn with humiliation. The idea of Tyler—awkward, leering Tyler—looking at my private photos and videos makes me want to crawl out of my skin.
Ugh, is he a subscriber of mine now? The idea makes me want to puke.
“I told him I gave the necklace to another friend of mine, the person whose profile it was. I tried. I swear. I never admitted it was you.”
I sigh. “But he knows.” I sigh again to try to steady my breathing. “Did he say anything about telling anyone else?” I ask, dreading the answer.
Sloane shakes her head. “He never made a threat, but . . . you know Tyler. You’re right in your thinking. He likes to have leverage over people.”
I nod, my mind racing. “We need to get ahead of this. Maybe . . . maybe I should talk to HR first? Come clean before Tyler has a chance to spread rumors?”
“I don’t know,” Sloane says, biting her lip. “That could backfire. What if they decide to fire you on the spot?”
I run my hands through my hair, feeling trapped. “You’re right. God, this is such a mess. I can’t believe this is happening.”
Sloane reaches out and squeezes my hand. “I’m so sorry. This is all my fault.”
I want to be angry with her, but I can see the genuine remorse in her eyes. Besides, I need an ally right now. “We’ll figure this out,” I say, trying to sound more confident than I feel.
Sloane nods slowly. “He seemed . . . almost gleeful when he told me. Like he enjoyed having this secret. We need to convince him that it’s not worth the risk of raising it to Jasmine.”
“And if he threatens me?” I ask, voicing the fear that’s been gnawing at me.
Sloane’s expression hardens. “We’ll stick to the story that it’s someone else. Other than the necklace you were wearing, he can’t prove anything.”
I nod, trying to quell the nausea in my stomach.