Page 123 of Bae

“He has no idea what you mean, Rome. He’s stupid,” Braeden put in.

“If you give the interview, take the money, you’ll never have another day of peace,” I intoned, flexing my hands. “I’ll always be around. Not physically, but you’ll know I’m there. You know I can’t stop you from selling your lies to the press, so you know you can’t stop me from doing it either.”

“I’m not lying. I popped her cherry.”

“You got any proof?” I asked, wanting so badly to hit him again. The thought of this guy touching my girl made me want to kill. “Any evidence?”

“I have a picture.”

I stilled.

Braeden made a sound and jumped forward, grabbing him up by the front of his shirt. “Men who take pictures of women in vulnerable positions make me sick.” He reared his fist back.

Oh shit, this idiot went and triggered Braeden’s memories of everything Ivy had been through.

I stepped forward in case I had to pull him off.

“She’s got clothes on!” Kane screeched and winced, waiting for the hit.

“What?” Braeden paused.

“It’s not from that time…” Kane slid his eyes to me. “It’s a group shot of her with me and my friends.”

Braeden dropped him. He sagged into the chair, relieved. Kane looked at me. “It’s proof I knew her back then.”

I shrugged. “So you knew her. Big deal. Doesn’t prove shit. I have a lot of money, Kane. I have a lot of lawyers. I know people. I’ll sue you so much and so hard you’ll live inside a courtroom. Slander, harassment, falsifying information—I’ll get you on it all.”

Note: I didn’t know if I could sue him for all that shit. I wasn’t a lawyer, but he wasn’t either, so whatever.

“Then there’s the fact that you’ll be labeled a sexual predator,” Trent added.

Everyone looked at him.

Kane sucked in a breath.

“You were seventeen years old. She was thirteen. I’m pretty sure that’s considered molestation, statutory rape… or at the very least, assault,” I said, adding to Trent’s words. “You know what the media will do to someone like you?”

He swallowed thickly.

“I’ll make you burn through all that money in court fees, and then when that’s over, you can live for the rest of your life as a registered sex offender.”

“No,” he said, his eyes wide like it never even crossed his mind.

“You know what they do to child rapists in jail?” Braeden asked quietly.

He paled.

“I know it seems like the press hates Rimmel right now, but they don’t. She’s their little darling. You come out with this, and they will turn on you faster than you even know is possible. She’ll become a victim, and you… you’ll be tried and sentenced before I even get you into court.”

Beside me, Trent spoke. “Seven hundred and fifty grand don’t seem like very much now, does it?”

“I’ll ask for more,” he said, angry. “I’ll get it.”

“Wonder how much I’ll get when I leak your arrest record to the press,” Drew mused behind us all.

Everyone turned to look.

He smiled from behind the laptop. “Breaking and entering, car boosting, assault, and… wait for it… solicitation of a minor.”

---