Page 121 of Unleashed By Eden

“Yes!” Theo slaps both palms down, making the water glasses jump. “I fucking love Vi.”

I glance at my brothers—every single one of them grinning.

“What are you waiting for? Go get your girl,” Kai practically shouts.

“Not yet.” I shake my head and turn to the PrimeTime+ crew.

“Thank you,” I say, meeting their eyes, one by one. “For cutting that. For showing me. It . . . yeah.” I swallow. “It means a lot.”

Mika shrugs one shoulder. “Anything for you. We’ve got your back.”

The doorway fills with four more suits.

Mika yanks the cable out so fast he nearly takes the port with it. The frozen image of me and Vi blinks off the wall, and stupidly, my chest dips like I’ve lost her all over again.

“Sorry to keep you waiting, we didn’t realize you got here early,” the guy in front says, crossing to shake Liam’s hand. “Good to see you.”

“You too, Joel,” Liam replies.

I’d have been here, banging on the door at 6 a.m., if they’d let me. Anything to get this over and done with.

Joel turns to me. “Carter.” He shakes my hand with a firm grip. “I’ve got legal with me to talk through the recent . . . situation.”

They sit across from us with papers and files in front of them. Someone flips open a laptop.

Joel laces his fingers together. “Let me start by saying we’re incredibly sorry this occurred. We’re conducting a full investigation. Violet Henderson has been suspended—”

“I’m going to stop you there,” Liam jumps in. “Violet is not responsible for the breach. And I have the evidence to prove it.”

He stands and slides a folder across the table. Joel opens it. His brows knit as he starts reading.

“Cindy Winters?” He flicks to the next page. “Who is this?”

“I tapped a contact at the magazine,” Liam says. “We threatened to sue for defamation and breach. They folded. Confirmed the seller’s name and handed over proof of payment.”

He raps the table with a bent knuckle. “She’s your leak.”

Joel looks up. “And how did this Ms. Winters obtain the images in the first place?”

“She stole them from Violet’s laptop,” I explain. “It’s my fault Cindy was even there in the first place. I invited her to the Toronto show. It was . . . personal. My fuck-up,” I tack on.

“And I invited her to stay.” Xander rubs the back of his neck with a wince. “That’s on me. I’m sorry, man.”

I wave him off. “It’s not your fault. She’s responsible for her own bullshit.”

Joel’s pen taps the paper. “Why would she do this, though? And more importantly, does she have more?”

“Even if she does, we’ll bury her legally,” Liam promises. “She won’t be able to sneeze without legal repercussions.”

“It was personal,” I repeat, my teeth grinding.

Joel’s gaze lands on me, assessing. “You’re going to have to give me more than that. Where is Ms. Winters now?”

Liam cuts in before I tell the guy to go fuck himself. “Violet, Carter, and I grew up with Cindy. It’s old history. Cindy saw an opening and took it. Like Carter said, this is personal.”

Chris leans forward, elbows on the table. “She’s already back in Toronto. Vanished right after the LA press conference.”

Joel closes the folder. “We’ll lift Violet’s suspension immediately.”