Page 1 of Wicked Devotions: Part 2

Chapter

One

DECLAN

The sound of my phone continuously vibrating on the floor beside Harper’s bed pulls me slowly into consciousness. Blinking against the morning sun, I look at the screen through groggy eyes. It takes a couple tries, but I shoot into a sitting position as soon as the message sinks in.

I look over on the bed and only see Cyrus draped over Emerson. Harper’s nowhere to be found. I toss the covers off and grab my shirt from the floor, pulling it on as I look in the bathroom. There’s no sign of her.

“Wake up,” I say loudly and swat at their entangled feet under the covers. “We have a problem.”

Cyrus mumbles something as Emerson awakens beneath him. He gives Cy a gentle nudge and shoots out of the bed to follow me downstairs.

“Harper?” I call out as we pound down the steps.

“What’s going on?”

“Someone recorded us last night. It’s all over the internet.”

“Fuck. Who told you?”

“Banks. He’s sent a bunch of messages saying that he can’t get ahold of Harper.”

I run into the kitchen and stop dead in my tracks at the sight of Harper’s phone on the floor. All it takes is a quick scan of the kitchen and connected living room to know she’s not in either place. I pick up her phone and unlock it. A Google screen immediately shows up on the screen with dozens of search results with her name. Headline after headline about the four of us fucking last night appear.

“She got sick in the sink.” Emerson turns on the faucet and sprays it out.

“Here’s why.” I hand the phone to him and run to the first-floor bathroom to see if she’s in there.

“What’s happening?” Cyrus asks with a yawn as he walks down the stairs.

“Harper’s missing.” I push the door open to find it empty.

Fuck.

Unease swims in my gut as I look in the library. Empty. Game room, also empty.

“I’ll look outside,” Cyrus throws open the door and runs outside barefoot and shirtless.

“How can we stop this?” Emerson asks as he meets me in the foyer following his own search. “The spread of the video?”

I’m already pulling my phone out and calling my cousin. One of his metamours has connections to the biggest news and broadcasting companies in the country. Hopefully he can get a catch and kill or at least help us spin it.

“Good morning, Declan,” Sawyer greets.

“Hey, sorry for the early call, but we need help.”

“What’s going on?” His voice goes from friendly to serious in seconds.

“Is Grant still good friends with the owner of National News Corp?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Someone took a video of Harper and us having sex last night. They uploaded it to the internet overnight. Harper saw it and now she’s missing.”

“Fuck.” The sound of his fingers flying over a keyboard fill the tense silence. “I’ll get on this right away.”

“Can we get stories planted that the video is AI generated? The last thing Harper needs is a sex tape scandal.”

---