“How can you feel sorry for him after what he did?”
“Because I remember the man I first knew before fame went to his head. The man who taught me and gave me a chance.”
“And almost killed you in the end.”
“I’m still here,” she protested.
I cupped her face, holding it between my palms. “Thank God.”
“When I woke up in the hospital, all I could think of was seeing you again,” she whispered. “I had missed you so much.”
“I would have come to you. Helped you.”
“Would you?” she whispered, tears filling her eyes again.
“I’ll always come to you, Shutterbug.”
She broke. A wild sob escaped her mouth, and tears poured down her cheeks. I gathered her in my arms, sitting on the sofa, holding her close. I let her cry. I didn’t tell her everything was all right. I didn’t lie and say I was okay, because I wasn’t. I was angrier than I had ever been in my life. If Carl appeared in front of me right now, he would be dead for what he did to her. For some photographs. Because his overinflated ego couldn’t handle the fact that he failed. He stole from her to cover up his own inadequacies. He lied. He covered it up, and then instead of admitting what he did, he hurt her. Blackmailed her. Even worse was the fact that he could have easily killed her with his callousness.
I held her a little closer, letting her cry and thanking God she was here. Safe. With me. Now that I knew what happened, I could help her. Be the man she needed me to be and show her nothing had changed.
Except perhaps the fact that I was deeper in love with her than ever. And this time, I wasn’t letting her go.
I wasn’t sure how she would take that news. Except, given her confession, I felt that spark of hope light up again. I only prayed that, this time, I wasn’t wrong.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Brett
Kelly cried herself out in my arms. I let her go when she pushed away, knowing she wasn’t going far. She slipped to the bathroom, and after she left, I went to the kitchen, opening the cupboards and fridge. There was little, but I knew where to find supplies.
I hurried over to Maxx’s house, walking in the side door. Charly was in the kitchen, talking to Maxx. He held Vivvy in his arms and was listening to Charly intently. They both looked upset.
“How is she?” Charly asked.
“She’ll be fine. I’ll make sure of it. I can’t guarantee the same for that asshole.”
Maxx nodded. “I’m with you on that.”
“Charly just told you?”
He nodded.
I looked at Charly in surprise. She shrugged.
“Kelly made me promise. I don’t break my promises. But since she told you, I decided to tell Maxx the whole story. He only knew the basics.”
“She needs all the support she can get,” I replied. “She’s been carrying this too long.” I scrubbed my face. “You got all her pictures?”
“Yes. I deleted them from his Dropbox. I wish I could get my hands on his computer and erase anything he has there. Plus those damn SD cards.”
“Did you see the pictures?” I asked, knowing she would understand which images I was referring to.
“Quickly, to make sure I had the right files.”
“They’re bad?”
“They are to Kelly. The way he staged them, he knew how to get the best effect.”
“In other words, the worst one.”
“Yes.”
“Will he know you took her work?”
“He’ll know it’s gone. He may figure it out. I’m watching her website and emails. I know she blocked his number and him on every social media outlet she could.” She shook her head. “I am going to help her fix all the metadata he changed. Luckily, he was lazy and only changed the ones he sold. Kelly had way more pictures of the same shoot plus similar ones, so hopefully if it ever came down to proving ownership, she has the upper hand.”
“Okay, good.”
“What do you need?”
“I need to feed her, and I need a fucking drink,” I admitted. “There’s hardly anything in her fridge.”
“She often comes here.” Charly turned and pulled a casserole out of the oven. “I made this for you to eat. Take whatever liquor you want.”
I took the still-hot dish and tucked a half bottle of scotch from the cupboard under my arm. “Thanks.”
“You need us, we’re here,” Maxx offered. “Don’t drink and drive.”
“I’m not going anywhere tonight.”
Charly nodded, looking relieved. I headed back to the apartment, climbing the stairs and letting myself back in. Kelly was on the sofa, her head in her hands, and I hurried to her side.
“Shutterbug? What is it?”
She looked up, wiping her face. “I thought—” she swallowed “—I thought you left.”
“No, I went to scrounge food from Charly and liquor from Maxx. I need both.” I traced my finger over her cheek. “I told you I’m not leaving you.”