Page 78 of The Desire

“Don’t give me any bullshit. Follow him, and don’t say a fucking word to him or let him see us. He wants to be an asshole, then it’s about time he meets my inner bitch too!”

Not a word was uttered as Art drove the Range Rover down the street quicker than usual. At least Art takes his job seriously, being my driver and personal security, which I hope means that his loyalty is with me first and the asshole in the black Porsche second.

Now to find out who this woman is!

Chapter Seventeen

REMINGTON

All night her words kept going around in my head.

At a time when I should be able to completely shut all thoughts out of my head and just be focused on the problem at hand, and instead, all I keep thinking about is her agreeing to a date with another man.

Her words repeating over and over, “I suppose it’s just one night, one dinner…”

This stupid little charade of hers has to stop. I’m not letting another man touch what’s mine or even think he has a possibility of it.

And if El thinks I’m letting her anywhere near Dr. Dropkick, then she can think again. From the first moment I met him, I knew he had a thing for her, and while I wasn’t in a place to make a stance then, I sure as shit am now.

I’m sitting in my office on my third strong coffee for the night. I’m pissed as hell at the situation we are all in now, scrambling to stop Flynn from being dragged down by a video that is already viral. Before I even made it to my office, I paid Ewan Kentwall a little visit and told him what I thought of him and his useless security team. His reaction to me was not what I wanted. In fact, there was no reaction at all. I was waiting for a screaming match or one of the guys he surrounds himself with to take a swing at me, because although I don’t like to fight like that, I was ready to release hell’s fury on someone.

All I could do was continue working all night, and even if it wasn’t on the Flynn saga, I found things that needed my attention at other hotels. I woke staff up with pointless calls at a ridiculous time of night, but I couldn’t give a fuck. I’m up, so they can be too. It’s part of the job you take on when you get involved in security. Especially in a business that runs twenty-four hours a day, three hundred and sixty-five days of the year. But all that has done is left me alone in the office after I sent the others home to get some sleep, because there is nothing they can do now. It’s my responsibility to fix this, and although I can’t stop that video from being out there forever, I’ll be damned if I don’t find the real fucker who uploaded it and make them pay, big time.

Broderick found the influencer who was paid a measly two thousand pounds to send the emails to both Flynn and Felisha from her account. She claims she never had the file in the first place, and the bank account listed for the blackmail money is some anonymous offshore bank account. She swears she didn’t upload it, and she has no idea who it was that contacted her. Through all the tracing Broderick and my team did, it just sent them in circles which just pissed me off more. But that doesn’t mean I’m giving up.

So now I’m sitting on my couch in my office at seven am after my team has managed to get as many sites to take the video down as we can and have the PR department preparing a statement to be released this morning. We need to be on the front foot with this and drive the narrative. I’ve had no sleep, and I just want to go home, but I know it’s not a good idea. I can’t face Elouise yet.

There is something I need to do first. Well, two things in fact, but the first is to take a session with Cherie to calm the adrenaline that is coursing through my body. Nothing good is going to come from seeing El while I’m this ramped up. I’ll say things I don’t want to and act in a way I shouldn’t, to El or in front of Blaise.

Going home and sleeping is probably the smartest option, but I know I won’t be able to do that either. Picking up my phone, I call Flynn to check in on him. As much as he is a thorn in my side, it’s not his fault, nor does he even know that now. And regardless of him having a thing for the woman who he doesn’t know is my girlfriend, he is also my friend and one I will protect no matter what. No woman will come between my friendship or the vow I took when I accepted Nic’s job. To protect all of us, it’s my job and my life’s mission.

“Hey,” he says as he answers my call. His voice is not like I’ve ever heard from Flynn before.

This has really hit him hard. All the bravado and cockiness he displays on a daily basis is gone, and on the other end of my call is the rawness of a man who is feeling vulnerable.

“Hey, buddy, how are you doing? Get any sleep?” Looking out the window across from me, I know while London is waking up, this is going to hit the papers and is about to get worse before it gets any better.

“I don’t know, maybe, I couldn’t tell you. I feel like I have just stared at my ceiling for a few hours, but there may have been a few naps in there. To be honest, I’m pretty numb right now.” And that is the voice of a broken man. We need to fix this. We can’t let him fall into the bottomless pit that is the repercussions of social media and the internet.

“Have you spoken to Felisha? Is she doing okay?” Because I know her father didn’t appear to be give a shit when I was there. I hope to hell that it was his poker face when he felt backed against a wall, otherwise he is an even bigger dick than I thought he was.

“Not good. Shattered, actually. We are meeting up this morning.”

“I don’t think that is a good idea, Flynn. Today you both need to just lie low at home, don’t leave your apartments, and avoid all chance of the media getting hold of you.” I’m waiting for Flynn to tell me to fuck off, but instead, the words I hear confirm what I was thinking.

“Yeah, okay, whatever you think is best.” Flynn is defeated. The world is completely off kilter because this is not normal. He should be yelling, objecting, and telling me he’s a grown man and will do what he likes.

I need to call Nic and get him over there. I don’t have time to look after him, and Nic knows him far better than all of us. He knows how to handle him.

“Alright, I’m going to let you try to get some more sleep. I have things I need to do. But like we told you last night, don’t answer the phone unless it is one of us. Don’t answer the door, and let the doorman downstairs deal with anyone who tries to get into the building. We have posted extra security on the door to help them, so there is no way some sleazy reporter can pay off the doorman to sneak in. We both know everyone has a price, and whoever this was will regret not asking for more, because no amount of money is going to be worth the hellfire about to hit them when I find them. And I will find them!” No matter how exhausted I am or how the rage I feel is coming up and boiling just below the surface again.

“Rem?”

“Yeah.”

“Thanks, and I’m sorry. And for what’s it worth, I know I joked about this happening, but I didn’t think it ever would. I’m sorry you have to clean up my shit. You are a good friend.” This poor man is in the worst moment of his life, and he has no idea he has just made me feel like the lowest man on this planet. How can I be a good friend to him when I’m fucking the woman he has been infatuated with since the moment she walked in the door with Tori?

If I didn’t feel like I wanted to explode before, then I do now.

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