Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 78054 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 390(@200wpm)___ 312(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78054 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 390(@200wpm)___ 312(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
“It’s his word against mine.”
“You should still face him. Let him know he didn’t win.”
“I don’t want anyone to see those pictures. Staged or not, they look real. They make me look—” There was a beat of silence. “I feel ashamed.”
I was burning with curiosity, my blood rushing through my head. Whatever was happening out there was big. And bad. And I wanted the whole damn story.
I waited patiently, not at all prepared for Charly’s next statement.
“Carl stole your work, Kelly. He drugged you and took those pictures to blackmail you. You’re lucky you didn’t die from the reaction to those drugs. He violated your trust, your health, and your mental well-being.”
The world around me disappeared, Charly’s words exploding in my head.
He drugged you.
Took those pictures.
Blackmail.
Lucky you didn’t die.
Over and over, they spun, overlapping one another, becoming one long sentence.
Images of Kelly when she first returned hit me.
Thin.
Pale.
Ill.
It wasn’t an accident.
It wasn’t a random stranger.
Carl had done that. The man she trusted, idolized. She considered a mentor and friend.
He had done those things to her.
And she had been suffering in silence because of feeling shame.
I was off the bed and in the living room in fast, furious strides. Kelly and Charly looked up, startled. Kelly’s eyes went wide, and she stood.
“Brett,” she breathed out. “I didn’t know—”
I cut her off.
“I am going to kill him,” I snarled.
Charly stood, shaking her head. “No, you’re not.”
Kelly was frozen, staring at me as if she’d seen a ghost.
Charly began to talk, and I held up my hand. “You need to go now, Charly. I need to be alone with Kelly.” I indicated the computer. “Are you done there with whatever you were doing?”
“Yes.”
“Then leave.”
She looked at Kelly, reaching for her hand and squeezing it. “You okay with being alone with Brett?” she asked.
Kelly nodded, still not speaking. Charly headed my way, stopping in front of me.
“She’s already been hurt by this. Do not add to it because as much as I love you, I’m not sure I could forgive you for that.”
I tore my gaze away from Kelly’s pale face and met Charly’s green eyes. “I have no desire to hurt her. I simply want the truth so we can move forward. And I want to help.”
Charly gazed up at me, her voice so low I had to bend to hear it. “You love her,” she whispered.
I only acknowledged her words with the tilt of my chin.
“She needs you,” she added.
“Leave, Charly.”
She walked out, shutting the door behind her.
Kelly and I stared in silence. Then she cleared her throat, straightening her shoulders. “I thought Chase drove you home.”
“I was nauseated in the truck. I decided to stay and rest a bit. I didn’t think you’d mind if I borrowed your place for a bit.”
“And you heard. Everything.”
“I heard, but the only thing I understand is Carl needs to be held responsible for far more than stealing a photograph of yours.”
I narrowed my gaze. “And you’re going to tell me the entire story. I’m not leaving until you do. So, start talking, Kelly.”
I crossed my arms. “Now.”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Brett
Our gazes remained locked as the silence stretched between us. Kelly’s light-blue gaze was rife with anxiety. Mine was furious. I clenched my fists, shutting my eyes and inhaling deeply. I rolled my head on my shoulders and loosened my muscles. When I opened my eyes, Kelly was still frozen to the spot, and her apprehension was obvious.
I held out my hand. “Come here, Shutterbug.”
She looked at my hand, then at me, not moving.
I waggled my fingers. “Please.”
She stepped forward, and with a groan, I met her halfway, encasing her in my arms.
“I need you to tell me. Stop hiding this. Stop hiding from me.”
She nodded against my chest, and I tugged her to the sofa, sitting beside her.
“Tell me. Tell me everything.”
She drew in a deep breath, seemingly gathering her courage.
“After I left last time, something was different,” she began.
“With Carl?”
She shrugged. “With both of us, I think. Usually when I would get to the locale, I was excited. Ready for the next adventure. Happy to be traveling again. My, ah, usual enthusiasm wasn’t there.”
“I see.”
“I did my work, I smiled, everything seemed normal, but I was more withdrawn than usual. Carl was off. Constantly snapping, impatient with me and his other assistant. So much so, in fact, she quit after a couple of months, and it was just him and me again.”
“Extra work for you.”
She shrugged, looking over my shoulder to the window. “We hired people in the different places.”
“You were gone a long time, Kelly.”
“Carl has a place in the Caribbean. When Sal sold his house and my apartment was gone, there didn’t seem to be much reason to come back here. It was winter and blah in Canada, and lovely and sunny in the islands. A far better place to spend the winter months. Carl had lots of jobs lined up, so I stayed busy.” She sighed, plucking at a loose thread on the hem of her T-shirt. “After how I left, I wasn’t sure I’d be welcome here, and I thought the distance was the best thing.”