Forbidden Kiss (Carson Cove Scandals 1)

“It’s not important—what is important is why I’m here.” She walked over and sat down. “Let’s talk business.”

“I don’t do business with you,” I growled under my breath. “Never have—never will.”

“Today you will.” She smiled. “Unless you want me to give you a gift.”

“A gift?” I scoffed and shook my head. “I don’t want shit from you—but I do want you to go.”

“Not even this gift?” Alexis pulled a tablet out of her purse and turned it towards me as she hit play.

I stared at the screen and tried to make sense of what I was seeing. It was a room—I could see a table, a couple of chairs, a couch, and a television. I had no idea why it was important. A couple of seconds later, I watched someone walk into view. It was a large, muscular guy that wasn’t wearing a shirt. He had a lot of ink, but it wasn’t classy—it looked like the kind of ink people got in prison.

There was a woman on the edge of the screen, but all I could see was her leg. The guy held up a baggie with white powder—cocaine or heroin, I wasn’t sure which. He poured some on the table, chopped it up—and snorted it through a straw. He handed the straw to the woman and leaned back as she leaned forward—then I realized who it was—I watched my oldest daughter snort a line of white powder big enough to make an addict cringe.

“What the fuck is this?” I grabbed the tablet out of Alexis’ hand and stared at the video in horror.

“It’s a gift.” She motioned to the tablet. “Like I said…”

“How the hell did you get this video?” I slammed the tablet down hard enough to crack the screen. “Answer me!”

“So—violent.” Alexis’ head snapped back. “We’ll have to work on that temper after we’re married.”

“Married?” I scoffed. “I asked you a question.”

“I came across it.” She shrugged. “Someone thought that a video of Bryant Benson’s oldest daughter doing drugs would be worth something—it was. I now have the only copy.”

“You want money? Fine. Name your fucking price…” I glared at her.

“My price is simple. Marry me. The video will be my wedding present to my new husband.” She smiled and nodded.

“You’re fucking insane.” I shook my head back and forth. “I have to go.”

“If you walk out of this office without giving me what I want, that video will be all over the Internet tonight—everyone in Carson Cove will know your daughter is a drug addict—and isn’t she in law school? I’m pretty sure that would cause problems…” She shrugged.

“This is your copy?” I grabbed the tablet and started smashing it on the desk, then hurled it against the wall.

“I mean, obviously it’s stored in my cloud—but you owe me a tablet now.” She narrowed her eyes and stared at me.

“So, you’re blackmailing me?” I leaned forward and did my best to stare a hole through the bitch in front of me. “You want me to marry you so that this video doesn’t get out?”

“Yes.” She nodded. “That’s it—exactly.”

“You really are insane.” I shook my head back and forth. “I need to go take care of my daughter—and figure out what the hell is going on with her.”

“Okay.” She nodded. “I’ll give you a few days to decide—the video will be safe with me until then. See, I’m not so bad—I’m giving you an extension.”

“I…” There was a lot I wanted to say. “I’ll talk to you when I get back.”

I went my whole life without having true hatred for another human being. I got angry with them—I was certainly angry at Sarah when she left—but I never hated her. Hate was a strong word—but that’s the only thing I felt towards Alexis Devereaux as I stormed out of my office and headed to the car. I booked my flight on the way to the airport, sent a message to Cassie to let her know that I would be away for a few days, and made it to the terminal with an hour to kill before my flight left Carson Cove. My mind started to process everything—and I immediately began to think about my conversation with Sarah. I pulled out my phone and dialed her number.

“Hello?” Sarah’s voice echoed on the other end of the line.

“Hey—this thing you wanted to talk to me about. Did it have something to do with Shaina?” I exhaled sharply.

“It—it isn’t something I want to discuss over the phone.” Her tone was hurried. “I’m at work right now.”

“Well I just saw a video—a really bad one,” I growled under my breath. “Did you know she’s using drugs!?”

“What?” I could tell by her reaction that she didn’t. “No! I knew something was going on with her—that’s why I wanted to talk to you. I thought it was something we needed to address as a family, but I had no idea it was drugs! Bryant, oh my god. Are you sure?”