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She wanted to smack herself, beat herself up for not telling him about Blake in the first place. She’d been so scared of how he would react.
For good reason. He’d reacted exactly that way.
“You’ve had ample time for hellos and stuff. Now you all just tell us why you’re here.”
Amber recognized the voice of Leon, the general manager of Rachel’s. She moved forward out of the darkness.
“Hello, Amber,” Leon said.
He looked the same. Tall, with dark skin and hair, dressed to the nines. Next to Leon stood none other than Marta. Also tall, but light skinned. And of course, dressed to the nines.
Amber’s hands clenched into fists and her nerves skittered on end. If she were bigger and stronger, she’d take that bitch down right now.
Harper cleared his throat. “I’m an attorney from Colorado, and I represent Miss Cross. This is my…er…investigator, Blake Buchanan. We have reason to believe that someone at this establishment has been taking photos of your girls and posting them on the Internet without their knowledge or permission.”
“I assure you I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Leon said.
“I figured as much,” Harper said. “Blake?”
Blake handed Harper his laptop.
“This, I believe, is one of your girls. A Miss Laura Lee.” He clicked. “Taryn Apart.” He clicked again. His face visibly whitened. “And this is Ambrosia Love, otherwise known as Amber Cross.”
Leon’s forehead wrinkled. “I’m not aware of that web site. But the girls are of course free to pose for any photographers they want when they’re not on duty here. A lot of our girls moonlight. There’s good money in it.”
“Amber and the other girls claim they had no knowledge of these photos ever being taken,” Harper said, “and they certainly never gave permission for them to be posted.”
“Like I said, this web site has no affiliation with this establishment. I’ve never heard of it.”
Harper turned to Marta. “How about you, ma’am? Do you know anything about this?”
“Of course not.” Her deep and accented voice melted over the words. “I trust you haven’t found any photos of me on the site?”
“That is correct.”
Amber seethed inside. Marta wouldn’t sully herself, of course. She’d just sully the other girls and pocket the money.
“I’ll admit to doing some posing during my time off,” Marta continued, “but only for reputable agencies and sites.”
The self-righteous tone nauseated Amber.
Harper let out a sigh. “You’re both answering just as I suspected. Thank you for your time. I’ll be in touch. Come on, you two.”
Seriously? “I’m not going anywhere with you,” Amber said. “And especially not with him.”
“On second thought…you’re right. We need to meet with some men who aren’t so nice. You won’t be safe.” Harper handed a business card to Leon. “We’ll be in touch.”
He and Blake walked out the front door. Amber followed, her fists clenched, her nails digging into her palms.
“You can’t control me, Harper Bay. This has everything to do with me. Neither of you give a damn about it. I’m the one emotionally invested here.”
In more ways than one, but he’d never know that. Harper Bay would never know she’d been stupid enough to let herself fall in love with him. For that was what she’d done.
But that was yesterday’s news. Today’s news was she wasn’t the woman he thought she was. Well, news for him—he wasn’t the man she’d thought he was either. That man would never give up on a woman because of her past—because of photos she hadn’t even known about. And because she’d wanted to have one beautiful evening with her father and one beautiful night with her man before she faced the reality of her bleak situation.
Reality hit her like a freight train. He might never believe her about the photos.
Nope, Harper Bay was not the man she’d thought he was.
