Irina:Exactly. It’s not fair, what he’s doing to us both. He’s clearly a monster. He keeps racking up these assaults like it’s a hobby, and he keeps breaking women’s hearts like it’s his job. It has to stop. If it’s me who has to stop it, then so be it.
I slam my finger onto the phone and pause it. My ears are ringing. My blood is hot. What a psychopath. What aliar.
“I am going to destroy this woman,” I bite out.
“I’ve got your back however you want to handle this, but this was only posted an hour ago, Fork. It’s going to take off. You need to get ahead of it.”
“What the fuck am I supposed to do? Call the owner of the World Wide Web?”
“Swing by if you want. We can figure it out. I’ll call Lemmy.”
Lemmy. My godsend. Our lawyer. She’s a menace in the courtroom, and the reason I am likely not getting prison time anytime soon. Yes, calling Lemmy up is exactly what we need to do.
“I’ll be there in an hour, I’ve got to…” I’ve got to fucking deal with the girl that’s fast asleep in bed, the one who just gave me the most mindblowing sex of my life. “Handle things here.”
“I’ll see you in a bit. Good luck.”
I hang up and rest my head in my hands. Irina is not allowed to ruin all the work I’ve put in. All of the genius PR that Arden and I have done together. She is unhinged. She is fucking delusional. I don’t even know if I’ve ever saidhito her before.
She can’t blow this up. Shecan’t.
If Arden believes this, I’m fucked. She’ll never trust me again. I finally manage to pull down the last of those iron walls that she barricaded herself inside of. We had sexjustlast night. I can’t do this to her. I can’t hurt her like this.It’s not true.I have never, and will never, sleep with Irina Coasta. I have a magnitude of witnesses who would testify to that, but I also have an awful fucking reputation hanging over my head like a guillotine.
Public opinion might not side with me.
Shit.
I drag myself back into her bedroom and find her fast asleep in the exact position that I left her in. I crouch next to her bed and sweep my hand over her forehead. Her eyes slowly open, a sleepy and satisfied smile on her mouth.
“Hi.”
“Hi, beautiful,” I say, angling my head to meet her eyes. “How are you feeling?”
She stretches a bit, keeping her head in my hand. “Sore.”
Well, fuck.
“Want me to grab you anything?” I ask, unable to fight the smile at her sweet face.
“No, I’m okay. I’m just tired and I work nights tonight, so I have to stay in bed as long as I can.”
I was hoping to have her to myself tonight. “I have to go out for a bit.”
“Where?” she asks, lifting her head off my palm. Her brow furrows. “I want you to stay.”
My heart lurches at her request. I rest my chin on the back of my free hand and stare at her.
She wants me to stay.
I swallow. I can’t hurt her. I care about her too much to put her through this before I settle it. She’s actually relaxed for once in her life. Would holding off one day before addressing this really hurt? The podcast was posted one hour ago, at five-thirty in the morning. With any luck, Lemmy will have it down before eight. Maybe, this only has to impact me, not Arden.
I want her to stay on this cloud of bliss that she’s sleeping on until it’s unavoidable.
“I know, Bub,” I whisper. “I just have to run to Boston’s to help him with something. Do you want to come to my place after your night shift?”
Her brow is still furrowed. “Did I do something wrong?”
My heart physically aches at that question. At the look on her face. The doubt.
