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“We found it on the New York Star website. You told us to monitor it twenty-four hours a day, so we were able to act quickly. It was published five minutes ago. We can use a distributed denial of service attack to take it down.”
I scroll with shaking hands. Callie’s website. My stomach sours as the photos load. The photos I sent her. My nude torso is displayed in grainy quality on the screen. And the other photo. The one where I’m hard under my sweats. Fuck. There’s an article accompanying the photos, but the words blur before my eyes. I can’t read this.
The photo quality is better, but I could substitute this moment for that morning six years ago. The sinking feeling in my stomach. The ache of betrayal. The shame of being exposed. The only difference is now no one will see the evidence. I hope.
“What the fuck?” I whisper. My blood rushes in my ears. She betrayed me. After all her promises, she fucking betrayed me. Just like Annalise. Just like I knew she would if I let her get close to me.
I’m going to be sick. I swallow to clear the saliva in my mouth.
“Print the article. Save it. I want this preserved.” So I never forget what she did.
“Very good, sir. And what do you want us to do about the website?”
My pulse thuds. I would never sell photos of you again. I’d sooner publish them myself. She told me exactly who she was. She loves the paper. She picked it over me. I pushed her and she picked it over me. Damn her.
“Shut it down. We own the LLC. Do whatever you have to do, but I want it gone.” My voice is hoarse. Pain and anger dig twin claws into me. I want to rage, I want to find Callie and shake her. I never want to see her again. Fuck.
“Understood, sir.”
I hang up and call Miles again and again until he answers. I’m on the verge of shutting down. My hands shake.
“Everything okay?”
“I’m sorry to call you. I don’t know what to do. Callie betrayed me.”
“Fuck. What happened?” Miles is whispering. He’s probably in bed with Lane. I shouldn’t be bothering him but I don’t know what to do. He’s been through this before with me. This is the exact conversation we had years ago. And just like then, I’m gutted, my heart cut open for the world to see. I thought it would hurt less the second time around.
“The photos. She published photos I sent her.”
“What kind of—oh shit.”
“Yeah.”
“Shit.” I hear him rustling around, and then a door shutting. “What can I do?”
“Nothing. I’m going to call Aiden. Her paper is done.”
“Are you sure?” He’s silent for a minute. “She’ll never forgive you.”
I let out a hoarse, unhappy laugh. “I don’t care. We’re through. I never want to see her again.” I let my head hang down. “I thought she was one of the good ones. I told her I loved her.” My breath is ragged in my chest. She said she would never betray me.
“I’m sorry, man. Are you sure I can’t help?”
I shut my eyes, drawing in deep breaths. “I need a minute. I can deal with the fallout later. I just need some time.” To get myself together. To see if there’s anything in the first aid kit in my bathroom to tape me back together.
“I’ll be here when you need me.” Miles hangs up. I let my head drop into my hands.
She fucking betrayed me. After all her promises otherwise.
I’m not like that.
I would never.
Her outrage that I was comparing her and Annalise when they are exactly the fucking same. How could I be such a fool? Callie met my family. She saw ultrasounds of the baby. My blood slows in my veins. My family. The baby. What if she went after them? What if she goes after them?
She still has a badge. She can still get into my office. She could be there right now, plotting to take me down. My breaths come short in my chest. She has a fucking video. She could make millions from the video. And now she needs the money, because the paper is gone, and her loan was never settled. I never fucking paid it, because I’m an asshole, and she definitely deserved it, but this is a fucking mess.
Adrenaline courses through me. I fire off messages to my mom and Christine and Mia.
