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I felt the guys stop walking behind me and glanced back at them to see them scowling at the TV. I smiled at their protective nature and walked back to them to kiss each of them on the cheek. “I’m going ahead to see Jag. Don’t get worked up over whatever nonsense he’s spouting.”
A few people in the waiting room watched me kiss each guy and quickly looked away. The sensation of being judged threatened to get under my skin, but I ignored it. I was in an unconventional relationship and people were bound to have thoughts. I wasn’t going to worry about it. Not when I was so loved.
Despite it being so early in the day, Jagger’s room was full. Grandma was sitting with Xavier’s dad, something I felt the need to investigate further, especially when I noticed the way his hand rested low on Grandma’s back. Cammie was standing next to Jagger, her hands wrapped around his. Even Nick and Hilary were already sitting in one corner of the room, with her in his lap. They all turned to me when I walked in and the expressions on their faces gave me pause in a way that the people in the waiting room hadn’t been able to.
“What?” I hurried over to Jagger’s free side and looked him over. I brushed his hair off his forehead and checked him over, looking for new damage or any kind of sign that things were worse. “Are you okay? What is it?”
Jagger’s frown was deep as he took my hand. “I’m fine, Lala. The new doctors have already been in today, checking me over.”
I let out a breath I hadn’t even realized I’d been holding. “Thank god. Y’all scared the shit out of me.”
He scowled at the TV and shook his head. “Matthew has been on TV all morning, Layla. He’s saying shit.”
I didn’t even bother glancing at the TV. “And? I don’t care what he says, Jag. As long as you’re okay, I’m okay.”
Grandma growled angrily. “That little fucker is saying things about you, Layla Rose. He’s saying things that aren’t true.”
My stomach tightened at the tone of her voice. Grandma got pissed plenty, but she didn’t sound that furious very often. If ever. I saw Alex’s face darken and watched him stand to his full height.
“Layla, I think you should find the guys and sit down together to hear this shit. You shouldn’t have to hear it alone.” He looked out towards the hallway. “Are they out there?”
I nodded and looked over at Nick and Hilary. They both looked just as angry. “Okay, y’all are freaking me out. Matthew is a piece of shit, but how bad can it be?”
Xavier appeared in the room in front of his dad, eyes blazing. He glared at everyone in the room, including his father. “You’d all better know that shit isn’t true. If a single one of you questions Layla for a second, you need your heads checked. Understand me?”
“Whoa, Xavier!” I hurried over to him. “Just breathe for me. Okay? Whatever it is, it’s fine. You don’t have to hulk out on our family, though.”
Jagger let out a humorless laugh. “He’s right. People are going to think Matthew is telling the truth. Anyone who knows you at all will know better, though. Unfortunately, not enough people know you that well.”
I held up my hands and swore. “Okay, I need to know what the hell Matthew is saying. Y’all are acting like he accused me of murder.”
Hilary handed me the remote to the TV and squeezed my hand. “Bitter men, Layla. We all know better.”
I unmuted the TV with a sinking feeling deep in my chest. Matthew’s voice filled the room instantly as the news replayed his interview with a popular journalist.
“My entire life has been ruined by this. I trusted the wrong person and I feel like such a fool for it. This is all my fault, really. If I hadn’t been so eager to believe her and everything she told me, I wouldn’t be where I am now.” Matthew’s head hung low and when he looked up at the interviewer, there were tears in his eyes. “I loved her. I thought I knew her. I devoted my entire life to her and made plans. If I’m being honest, I still love her. I’m sick. I can’t turn it off.”
The interviewer, Susan Hess, passed Matthew a tissue. “This is all coming out after a video was released last night of the members of JAX playing a charity concert to raise money for her brother, right?”
“Yes. I couldn’t keep quiet anymore. She’s a con artist. She told me her brother was sick when we first met, too. She was trying to get a job at the record label I worked at and when I tried to help her out by telling her that she didn’t have the experience or education to land the higher jobs that she was aiming for, she started crying. She told me her brother was sick and that if she didn’t get him treatment, he’d die and she was just trying her best to hold her family together. Her parents had both died of drug overdoses, supposedly, and she made it feel so real that I went against my better judgment and I hired her on the spot.”
A red haze came over my vision. I could feel my blood burning hotter and my scalp tingled all over as I felt a raging fire inside me.
“I did my work and hers for three years. I paid for everything. I’ve gone into debt and will probably have to file for bankruptcy because of all the money I gave her to help her brother. I’m ruined, Susan. I just wanted to help her and I’ll never recover because of that choice.”
Susan shook her head dramatically. “After she started working for you, you said a romantic relationship was initiated by Ms. Morgan?”
Matthew looked down and nodded. “I’m not proud of that fact. As her boss, I should’ve known better. It was wrong and I’ll never forgive myself for it. I’d just gotten out of an unhealthy relationship, though, and Ms. Morgan was determined. She showed up at my apartment multiple nights a week. She put me in situations that I was afraid to remove myself from too quickly, for fear of upsetting her. I’m aware that some men will poke holes in what I’m about to say and imply that if a beautiful woman kept coming onto me, I had to have reacted positively, but it’s not true. I said no.”
Susan’s gaze turned to the camera and she seemed to look directly into my soul as she said her next words. “Unfortunately, sexual harassment and assault on men go underreported, in large part because of the very stigma that Matthew speaks on now. Statistics on this show a disturbing amount of men face this kind of vile treatment and just deal with it for fear of becoming the butt of a joke. We’ve come a long way as a country in how we treat female victims, but I worry that our male counterparts are greatly suffering in silence because of our refusal to accept that women can also be predators.”
I staggered back a few steps and put my hand over my mouth. The anger was gone and in its place was pure horror and shock. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.
“I can’t talk about the first time she came onto me. I can barely think about it. Every time with Ms. Morgan was painful for me, but that first time… I’m ashamed that I didn’t stop it. I’m embarrassed. Some days I think this is all my fault. I should’ve done something.” Matthew shook his head and held up his hand to stop Susan from comforting him. “Let’s just move on. Please.”
“Whatever you need, Matthew.”
“It was three years of hell for me. I worked painfully long hours to make sure I did both of our jobs. I was under constant pressure from her to continue giving her money and then the pressure shifted to getting her a higher job at the label. She was tired of being under me. I didn’t want to subject anyone else to her vitriol so I tried to put it off as long as I could.” He rubbed his temples and looked exhausted. “She beat me, though. She got around me. She followed me to an event and while I was working, she set up a meeting with JAX. The rest is kind of a blur, honestly. One minute, I was in a relationship and I was so sick that I’d bought a ring and was planning on proposing, even though she made me miserable. The next minute, I hear from Mr. Bingham at the label that JAX wants Ms. Morgan to manage their tour.”
