Exposed (Ethan Frost 3)

“What does that even mean? You want to help?”

“I don’t know. But I can’t stand seeing her get ripped apart when she did nothing wrong. When she caved to parents who made her life a living hell until she did. I want people to know that. I want people to know the real Chloe Girard, not the one your mother—and the press—is painting her as. I was there, man. I watched your mother rip her to shreds, then came home and watched my parents do the same thing. And I did nothing. I was so caught up in my inventions, so caught up in my head, that the change in my sister barely registered. Until it was too late.”

His words have fresh guilt washing over me. Because it was my mother who put things in motion, my mother who tore Chloe apart. And she used my money to do it. Some days—and today is definitely one of those days—the shame is so great that I can barely look at myself in the mirror.

“I can’t absolve you of your guilt, Miles. I have my own.”

“I’m not looking for redemption, man.”

“Then what are you looking for?”

“Restitution, maybe. A chance to help, definitely.” He pauses, waits for me to say something. But I don’t know what to say. “Tell me what to do, man. I know you’ve got stuff planned. You said you’ve got a meeting planned to figure out how to fix this. Let me help you, help her. Tell me what to do.”

The request is so unexpected that for long seconds, I don’t know how to reply. Don’t know what to tell him to do. I’ve got the release of information planned down to the second—and to the most minute detail. But Miles—or anyone from Chloe’s family, really—never factored in. Until now. And the truth is, he can help. He can tell the story that I’m not willing to let Chloe tell. And because he’s a man, and because he’ll be admitting his own culpability in the situation, he’ll be believed. It sucks, but that’s the way the world works.

But more than that, Chloe is still his sister. And he wants to help her. Who am I to turn him down just because of the anger I have for him? He has the right to defend his sister if he wants to.

“You need to talk to the press,” I tell him.

“That’s easy. They’re camped outside my doorstep right now.”

“Yeah, that’s pretty much the epidemic going around.”

“So what? You want me to just open the door and tell them my story?”

“No! No, that’s the last thing I want you to do.” Already I’m texting Stu his number, filling him in on the situation as briefly as I can. “My publicist is going to call you in a few minutes. I want you to tell him what happened, how it happened, how you feel about what happened. And then I want you to let him help you. He’ll polish up your statement, make sure you’re putting the most tragic, most convincing story forward. And then he’ll pick the best place to release your statement. He’s very good at his job, so I’m going to need you to trust him, to listen to what he tells you. Can you do that for me?”

“Yeah.” There’s no pause, no hesitation at all. Just firm, absolute resolve. It’s enough to convince me when his words didn’t.

“I’ll make sure Stu gets you started with whatever you need.”

“I don’t need anything,” he tells me, and for the first time I hear the tears in his voice. “I’m just tired of watching my sister get kicked.”

“Yeah. Me, too.” I consider it admirable restraint not to mention that he’s done some of the kicking. But then, again, so did I. I wrote the check, after all.

“Thanks for your help, Ethan. I didn’t know who else to call.”

“You’re welcome. I know you didn’t have to do this—”

“I do love her, man, and it kills me that I let her go through this alone for so long.” He clears his throat. “Okay, I’ll let you go. But I’ll be waiting for that call from your publicist.”

“Good. And, Miles, thank you, for stepping forward to help your sister.”

“Yeah. I just wish it wasn’t seven years too late.”

Chapter 23

I don’t make it home until well after seven. I left LA at three-thirty, but I stopped by Frost Industries for one last meeting with Stu before making my way back to our house. Back to Chloe.

On the plus side, the narrative is changing. My lawyers got two girls to come forward and speak out against Brandon—which isn’t as many as I’d like, but that doesn’t mean I’m not exceptionally grateful to the two of them for the sacrifices they’re making. Marybeth appeared on CNN at five and Lisa just finished being interviewed live on the nine o’clock EST show MSNBC was doing. Besides, there might very well be more as the days go on and the ones who don’t want to step forward see others speaking out.

Stu and his team have been working via social media all day to get all the new information disseminated and half an hour ago, three major news stations led with the information that FBI agents had just shown up at Brandon’s house with a search warrant. He wasn’t there, but that didn’t stop them from entering the property. Pictures of the whole thing are all over the internet. On the negative side, so are disgusting, vile Tumblrs and Instagrams devoted to objectifying Chloe and calling her unimaginable names.

Stu has a team member doing nothing but scouting for sites like that, and still we can’t get them taken down fast enough. Every time we get the plug pulled on one, three more crop up. We’re still trying, though, and will continue to scout for them. I never again want to see the look on Chloe’s face that I saw this morning when she was on social media.

Fuck. Sometimes I just don’t get people. I don’t understand what makes them want to lash out at some woman they don’t even know. Why they want to hurt her just because they can.

It’s always been like that, though, and probably always will be. Nothing I say or do is going to be able to change it. Which is why I spend too much of the day reminding myself to concentrate on the things I can change and to let the rest take care of itself.