The cab drove away, and Eleanor’s mind raced with confusion. Stinger knew about Ivan, and if she didn’t do something to stop him, he was going to tell the world. Well, if Stinger wanted a front page scoop, that’s what she’d give him. But not by hurting Joseph’s family. No. She was going to do what she’d always dreamed of. She was going to be an investigative journalist and bring down the entire apparatus of News Scape. Hopefully that would wipe the smug grin off of Blair Robertson’s face and land Stinger in jail – right where he belonged. It sounded impossible, but she knew one person could make a difference. And today, that person was going to be her.
Chapter Sixteen
While Joseph was waiting for Ellie to return, he showered then dressed in his leather trousers and designer shirt. As he gazed into the bedroom mirror, he ran his fingers through his blond hair, and decided he looked smart enough for a family dinner, so he grabbed his acoustic guitar and sat in the living room strumming distractedly, until her knock made him grin again.
He forced himself to act casual as he grabbed the door handle, set his smile to supercool, pulled open the door, and –
“Ellie, oh my god! What did he do to you?”
A shot of fury zig-zagged through his chest, as he saw the red mark on her cheek. He vowed to seek revenge on Matthew for this. Why the hell hadn’t he gone with her? Every cell in his body was poised to go round there now and rip off Matthew’s nuts – then pummel his stupid face into the ground. He reined in his anger – Eleanor needed him to comfort her right now – she didn’t need another thug to throw his weight around. Matthew could wait. He gazed at Ellie and saw that she was fighting back the tears and trying to speak, but no words were coming out, so he put his arms around her and led her into the living room.
She sat down on the couch, trying to stop her hands from shaking. “He scared me.”
“I’ll kill him,” he said, kn
eeling at her feet. “I honestly will.”
Her emotion cracked and she started to whimper, so he pulled her close, which made her cries gush out in a sob. He held her tight as she allowed her sobs to purge, nuzzling her face into his neck, and making his skin wet with her tears. Eventually, she cried it all out, and rested her head on his shoulder, breathing softly in the aftermath.
Her weary body shuddered and she sat up. “Something terrible’s happened. I’m so sorry.”
He gently ran his fingers over the red mark on her cheek. “Worse than what Matthew did?”
She nodded sadly and opened her mouth to explain, but then she suddenly gasped. “Oh shit!” She scrambled to her feet and strode towards the bedroom, so he followed and watched as she searched frantically behind closets and under the bed.
“Ellie, what’s–”
She spun to face him and put her finger to her lips. “Shh!”
The tension bounced around the room between them like an unstable nuclear reactor. He planted his feet firmly on the carpet, waiting to find out what the fuck was going on. Then he saw it. A matchbox-sized plastic device, with a flashing light on the top, stuck to the wall behind the headboard. Joseph frowned… what the fuck?
Ellie yanked the device off the wall, glaring at it as if it was the source of all evil. She dropped it to the carpet and stamped on it hard, impaling it with her stiletto heel and smashing it to smithereens.
She composed herself and focused on Joseph. “Gone.”
“What was it?” he asked, dreading the answer.
“A bug.”
“Holy shit…”
“Yep. A bugging device. Stinger knows everything about Ivan, and–”
Joseph’s brain howled like a bomb alert. “What!”
“–and about us. I can’t believe I’m now involved in one of the biggest celebrity scandals of the year. I can imagine the headlines already.”
Joseph’s mind swam with worry. “He can’t hear us anymore?”
“No.”
“So what happened? After you found out about the bug?”
“I had to think of something fast, so I told him I’m using you to get more information about Ivan’s story – and if he gives me more time I’ll give him the best scoop ever. He’s basically stealing it from me. I’ve bought us some time to figure out how to protect Ivan… but I don’t know how long.”
Joseph’s muscles tensed. “It was Stinger who hit you?”
“No, it was Matthew. Stinger played him the recording of you and me making love.”