Page 150 of Ever With Me

Maybe she was in the primary bedroom waiting.

The door was closed, and he tapped on it twice, then turned the knob. Stepping into the darkened room, he flipped the light switch.

The bed was empty.

The door closed behind him. “Ready to get lucky?” a familiar male voice said.

Brooks startled, readying a punch as he turned—then he froze.

Mike stood just off to the side. His hands were wrapped in latex gloves, and there was a gun in his hand.

Oh fuck.

His throat went dry, his heart pounding hard in his chest.

“If you use that, your source of money will quickly run dry, asshole.”

“I’m aware. I only brought it to make sure you didn’t call for your armed brawn.” Mike held out an open Ziploc bag. “Cell phone. Take it out, send one message to your girlfriend.I’m sorry. I had to go. Don’t try to reach me.Then drop it in the bag. No alarm. Nothing else or I’ll shoot. I’m watching.”

Brooks’s jaw clenched.

Goddamn motherfucker.

He did as Mike directed, then dropped the phone in the bag.

Please do your Maddie thing and demand we talk. He sent the silent prayer out, hoping somehow, she’d get it.

“Watch, too. Anything that has Wi-Fi.”

After Brooks had complied, Mike shoved the bag into his jacket pocket.

“How in the hell did you hack into my messages?” Brooks snapped. He was going to have to fire the people he had handling that. Change his number.Fuck.A whole annoying cascade of changes. But if a “normal” guy like Mike could hack into his messages, they clearly weren’t doing their job.

Mike smiled. “Wouldn’t you like to know? Guess you’ll have to keep wondering. Sit on the bed.”

Brooks sat, his eyes trained on the gun. That was one of Mike’s smarter moves. If not for the gun, which he didn’t doubt Mike would use if he wanted, Brooks would have tried to rush him by now. Mike wasn’t much smaller than him, though.

“You get one minute to decide. I’m gonna show you on the TV screen in here some things I have, and if you don’t want them out, you’re paying up. Today. Something happens to me, I have a friend on standby who’ll release them. I get arrested, same. You make a phone call, talk to anyone, same deal. You talk only to me, deal only with me. You have one move, Brooks, and it’s to pay. Once we leave here, you’re gonna be my best buddy and you’re gonna act like it and not one person is going to know a damn thing or these will get out.”

Sweat broke out on Brooks’s forehead.

What the fuck does he have? And how does he really believe this will fly?

Then Mike liftedthe remote and turned on the television and a montage of images started across the screen.

Him and Maddie in the orchard after Applepalooza—with her in a bra and underwear. They got progressively more explicit from there.

The first time they’d had sex on the balcony.

Sext messages they’d sent each other.

Footage from inside the damn lake house.

Oh my God.

Brooks almost vomited at the idea of all of this in Mike’s possession.

He shut the TV off. “You get the idea. I’ll post it to every porn site out there, Brooks. And I’m a man of my word.”

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