Page 52 of I Want Crazy (Loco, Texas 3)

“No, just you. You’re the one who opened your fucking mouth and stirred up shit.”

Red started forward, and she grabbed his arm. “Don’t.”

“Don’t be a hero, big guy. Not for her,” Will said.

“Get out of here, Will, before I call the cops.”

Will spit on the ground, shooting her a piercing glare. “I’ll be back, Jess.”

Jessie kept her hand on Red’s arm as Will got into his car and drove away. When he was gone, she let him go and unlocked the door.

“What was he talking about?” Red asked, following her inside.

Jessie sighed. “Which part?”

“Why don’t we start with the ‘baby’ part?”

She shut the door behind them and leaned back against it. “He’s my ex-boyfriend.”

“How ex?” Red growled.

“Several years ex.”

“And did I hear you say parole?”

“Yeah, he was just released early from prison.” Jess ran her free hand over her face, wanting to laugh and cry at the same time. This was not how she imagined her day starting out.

“What did he do?”

She didn’t want to t

ell him. “Isn’t that enough?”

“What about the money? Did you steal from him or something?”

“No, he stole something from me.” Tears threatened to well up in her eyes, and she cursed herself for being so weak.

“What are you talking about?” Red asked, his voice so gentle and caring, all she could think about was how she was about to lose him.

“He stole any chance I had for a normal life.”

Red looked puzzled at her words but didn’t press for more. Instead, he waited quietly for her to choose to share her dirty and not so little secret.

“God, fine, you want to know? You want to know all the details?” she asked loudly. “He recorded videos of us having sex. He had several hidden cameras around our bedroom that he used to record his own little pornos without me knowing. And if that weren’t bad enough, I wasn’t the only one. He cheated on me and recorded other women in our bed and sold them too. So I walk into an interview after graduation, and the man interviewing me turned out to be a huge fan of my work. Only the joke was on me, because I had no idea what he was talking about.”

“Fuck…”

“Yep. And when Will was arrested, they found eight other women he’d videotaped. We all got restitution, and they took down most of the videos, but they couldn’t get to the ones that had already been downloaded. There are videos of me out there for the world to see. And now every time I meet someone, I wonder if they recognize me. If they’ve seen me, and it’s just so embarrassing.”

“I’ll kill him,” Red said, his fists clenched. As he started back toward the car, she held out her hand to stop him.

“Don’t. He’ll go away. He just wanted to rattle me. I moved here so he wouldn’t be able to find me. Apparently, one of his genius friends tracked me down.”

He reached out for her, and she shied away. “Don’t. Don’t feel sorry for me.”

“I don’t. I just need you right now, because if I don’t hold on to you, I’ll go out there and show him a little Texas justice.”

She choked on a sob as he gathered her close. “He’s the dirt bag, Jessie. Not you.”

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