Total pages in book: 36
Estimated words: 33553 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 168(@200wpm)___ 134(@250wpm)___ 112(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 33553 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 168(@200wpm)___ 134(@250wpm)___ 112(@300wpm)
"Let me up, baby."
She grumbles a complaint I don't hear, then reluctantly shifts forward, allowing me to sit up to grab the phone from the nightstand. I grab my hearing aid, too, switching it on while I fumble the phone to my other ear.
"It's about fucking time," Madden growls as soon as I answer. "I've been blowing your phone up for the last hour."
Makenzie steals my pillow, snuggling in with an exaggerated sigh.
"What's wrong?" I ask, fully prepared for the likelihood that I'll be going to jail sometime real soon.
There isn't a single thing I'd change. Actually, that's not true. If I had it to do over, I'd break both of his arms and his jaw. Maybe with it wired shut, he'd learn some manners.
"You haven't seen the video."
"What video?" I growl, instantly fucking worried someone busted me getting her off at the table last night. If some sorry son of a bitch filmed and posted it…
My growl brings Makenzie fully awake. She drags my pillow away from her face, looking at me with wide eyes. I don't have to ask to know her mind is in the same place. It's written all over her face.
"I dropped every shred of evidence my PI dug up against him," Madden says. "The whole goddamn world knows he's been making shady deals for his clients and pocketing most of the money that should have gone to them. They know he's spent a small fortune on coke and has gotten violent with a few female clients. He's pissed."
"Good." I take a certain immense satisfaction knowing his world is falling apart. I take even more knowing he'll never get his hands on Makenzie again.
"Not good. He released a video statement this morning."
"Saying what? That he's a Nice Guy?" I snort. It's the same defense they always use.
Madden doesn't immediately respond, which sets my teeth on edge.
"What's he saying, Banks?" I growl.
"You need to check Makenzie's social media," he says quietly. "It's not good."
My heart sinks into my fucking stomach, settling like a stone. I put the phone on speaker so I can pull up the app. Her profile is already loaded. What? Zayne isn't the only one who knows how to do a little stalking.
I don't immediately see anything out of place. The last thing posted was a picture of her in that damn dress from last night, a playful smile on her face as she poses in front of the door.
"What am I looking for?"
"What's going on?" Makenzie asks.
I hold up a finger, asking for a minute. She doesn't know that Madden and I agreed to publicly release everything his PI dug up on Taggert. Last night was about her and about us, not about him. I wasn't giving him a fucking place in her mind or in our bed. He's stressed her out and worried her for long enough.
"Check her tagged videos."
I tap the icon to take me to her tagged videos. His ugly mug immediately pops up on my screen in half a dozen different videos. What the fuck? I click the first one, and his face fills the screen. It's a repost of his video, along with a caption that's nothing more than a steaming tea cup.
"Why the fuck is he tagging her, Banks?" I demand to know, pissed and suspicious as hell. This isn't how things were supposed to play out. We didn't plan for this.
Makenzie gives up getting an answer from me and scurries to a seating position, peering at the phone over my shoulder. "Why is he tagging me?" she demands. "What's going on?"
"I've had a PI looking into him," Madden says gently. "Yesterday, Zion and I agreed to make the information he uncovered public. I released it last night."
"What?" she whispers, turning wide, startled eyes in my direction. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"Didn't want you worrying about some piece of shit who isn't worth your time."
"So why is he tagging me now?"
"He's claiming that the two of you were sleeping together, Kenz," Madden tells her. "When he found out you were stealing content, he broke up with you. You've been harassing him for the last year, so he threatened to expose you. In retaliation, you fabricated a bunch of evidence against him, trying to discredit him."
"What?" she cries, jumping to her feet. "That's not true! None of it!"
"I know. Everyone who knows you knows it isn't true."
Her expression falls. "But people who don't know me believe it."
"Some of them."
She gets quiet. Too quiet, seeming to fold in on herself.
"This wasn't supposed to happen, angel baby," I swear to her. "He was supposed to come after me. That's what he was threatening to do." That's what we thought he'd do, retaliate by following through on his threat to press charges. With his business already out there, there was nothing stopping him.