Page 93 of Devious Temptation
“Well, I think everyone knows about you and Lucy now, Law. This is bad, man,” Cameron states.
“What is bad? What are you two—?” My question dies in my throat as I see an email in my sent folder dated earlier today. It’s to the entire Chicago office. The only thing in it is a familiar thumbnail of a video of me and Lucy. “Jesus fucking Christ.”
“Yeah,” Jules drawls. “Lawson, you’ll likely lose your job for this.”
“I have to go.” I don’t wait for them to reply before Iend the call and pull up Lucy’s number. I couldn’t care fucking less about my job, but this will destroy her.
My stomach twists, bile rising in my throat as I grab the charger and run to the rental truck. Lucy’s cell keeps going to voicemail. I try Rhys, but his doesn’t even ring, and I think about calling Charlotte to see if she’s heard from him.
A text comes through from Cameron.
Cameron
They’ve got Tailor Tech on it. The video will be wiped clean from everyone’s emails within the hour. It will be harder to track who opened it already… or worse… saved it.
“Fuck!” I hit the dashboard.
There’s no doubt in my mind, after seeing the state of my office, what happened. Rhys must have trashed the place before finding the videos.
Cameron is right. Thisisbad. My thoughts don’t even linger on the fact that I’m probably now jobless—my son could face jail time for distributing revenge porn.
Only if you tell people it was him who sent it.
I keep trying Lucy on my way to her house, mentally preparing myself for the shit storm I’m no doubt about to walk into. M.I.G. headquarters calls, but I send it to voicemail. I can’t deal with them right now. I need to get to Lucy, and I need to find Rhys—wherever the fuck he is.
Will’s truck is next to my car in their driveway. I throw my rental into park, ripping the keys from the ignition before jogging across the lawn to pound on the front door.Seconds barely pass before it opens, revealing Liam with an unamused glare pasted across his face.
We stare silently at each other briefly before he rolls his eyes and steps aside. As I enter the Bradee home, I hear Bree and Will arguing with Lucy, her pained cries echoing throughout the large space. Charleigh and Kendall speak into their phones, respectively, in opposite corners of the kitchen, and I can make out words and phrases like “felony” and “pressing charges.”
“I don’t know!” Lucy is crying when I enter the dining room, and her hazel eyes dart to me, crinkling at the corners with a fresh batch of tears.
All eyes turn to me, but I only have eyes for her. Rushing to her side, I ignore Will’s outraged protest.
“You have some fucking nerve, Lawson.” In my peripheral, I can see him move toward me, but Liam grabs his arm to keep him in place.
“Baby, I’m so sorry,” I sink to my knees before Lucy, grasping her face in my hands. “I’m so sorry.”
She launches herself at my chest. “How did this happen?” she cries, clutching me like I’m her only lifeline.
Part of me calms now that she’s in my arms, even if every other part is in utter chaos. “Rhys found out. I’m so fucking sorry, Lucy. This is everything I didn’t want to happen.”
“You have a lot of fucking explaining to do,” Bree snaps, standing at the other end of the table with her hands on her hips.
I look at both of Lucy’s parents as I smooth her hair back and continue to whisper how sorry I am until she’scalmed down. “The video will be wiped from everything soon. We have people working on it.”
“There shouldn’t be a video in the first place! I trusted you with my daughter, Lawson! What the fuck is wrong with you?” Bree screams, causing Lucy to flinch in my arms.
“The second you let go of my little girl, I swear to God I will give you a black eye to match the other one,” Will growls.
Her father’s threat causes Lucy to pull away from me slightly, lifting her hands to my face. “What happened? How did Rhys find out? How did he find the videos?”
“Lucy, I think you need to go upstairs,” her mother suggests.
This beautiful woman—this radiant artwork, even in her deepest despair, turns in my arms to glower at her parents. “I’m not a little girl. Ilovehim.”
“Over my dead fucking body,” her father exclaims, trying to come toward me again.
“Dad, stop!” Liam shouts.
