Page 76 of Overexposed

“Unfortunately… Oh, the dark room.” That reality sank in and I hurried in, avoiding Gem trying to snag my arm. My new camera and equipment was all secured in the new camera safe in the car, in the garage that was also locked. I also used mostly digital for pap shots.

The dark room was just for me…

The door of the second bedroom that I’d converted was off its hinges and the smell of the chemicals was eye-wateringly bad. I’d almost missed it in the other room because of the urine smell, but in the hall, it was impossible to miss.

So much wasted film. Canisters ripped open and exposed. Images torn up and shredded. Everything had been overturned or broken. Glass was everywhere. The chances of recovering anything were slim to none.

“I’m sorry, Slick. Come on,” Gem said, tugging me with him. The brief look I got in my bedroom said that room had fared the worst of all of it. My clothes were also part of the mass destruction, along with the bed, the pillows, and everything.

“This is Gemini Harrison. I need to report a break-in, burglary, and destruction of property.” He kept talking, andit gradually sank in that he was calling the cops. When the call ended, he pulled me against him, where we stood in the courtyard outside the apartment. “I need to make a couple more calls, then you’re going home with me.”

“Gem…”

“No,” he said, shaking his head. His grim expression and firm tone allowed for no argument. “Someone broke into your place and did that.” His phone buzzed and he swore. When he showed me the screen, I wanted to swear too.

Get the Inside Scoop on Seven Harrison’s new mystery woman, celebrity photographer Stella Charles…

“Oh my god.”

“We’re going to take care of this,” Gem said. “We’re going to take care of everything.”

Dillon had something to do with this. He had to have.

Right?

chapter

twenty-eight

Olivier

“You know what’s at stake,” Seven said, arms folded as he glared at me. “Still you showed up to, what? Bring her home to just get laid? What happened to bro code?”

I’d grabbed a shower and a change of clothes. Now I was attempting to relax before I crashed. I did have a junket the next day, and I wasn’t remotely interested in any of it, not when I was waiting for confirmation that Stella was home safe and sound. My glance at the phone went unrewarded.

Knowing my luck, Gem was just going to spend the night there. Lucky bastard. I’d be stuck here with Sev and his bitching.

“Are you even listening to me?” Seven demanded.

“You’re going to have a heart attack before forty if you don’t find some Zen.” I decided to get a drink if I had to listen to him bitch much longer. “No one saw us. She’s with Gem, which is the same as being with you right now, as far as the press is concerned, and I’m not a complete moron. I do know how to keep my personal life out of the press.”

Seven’s expression tightened. Good, that meant he understood the dig. Our careers were important to us. I loved acting. I loved the art of filmmaking. Playing the media gameand walking the tightrope between public and private personas was also the job.

I’d controlled that narrative, thank you very much, and cultivated the playboy image. It meant no long-term commitments on display even when I’d had them. Seven couldn’t take a shit without it making Page Six. That was never going to be me.

The alarm let out a warning beep to let us know Gem was back. Good. I swapped the unopened beer out for water and turned to the door from the garage.

“Hey,” I said as she came through the door. “Snow, baby, I wasn’t expecting you back so soon! I am, however, not all sad to see Gem persuaded you to stay here tonight.”

“I’m not sad,” Seven added as he joined us. “I’m pissed. So much for not being on the clock.”

“Sev,” Gem snapped. The warning in his tone suggested Seven had pushed his twin about as far as Gem was willing to let him. Better he figured it out now before he ended up with a broken nose. “I insisted she come back after what we found at her apartment.”

“What did you find?” I crossed to where Stella stood, arms wrapped loosely around herself. For the first time since I’d met her—and that included when that prick had been strangling her—she seemed fragile and lost. “Hey,” I murmured, rubbing my hands against her biceps. “You’re freezing.”

Her hair was also still damp. They couldn’t have been gone more than ninety minutes.

“Someone broke into her place,” Gem said as he started some coffee. “Trashed it. Tore everything up. Someone dumped all the chemicals and it smelled like cat piss everywhere.”

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