I swallow, struggling to digest what she’s saying. I can’t even imagine her doing that. The thought makes me sick. How bad could things have possibly been that she would consider that an answer to her problems?
“How did Tony know what room you would be in?”
“I’d sneak a look at the guy’s room key and text it to him. I don't know how he got inside. I never asked.”
“Okay,” I say, trying to process everything she's telling me. “So then what? What was his endgame? Blackmail?”
“Bingo,” she says with a sad smile.
“It's always been about money with Tony, and this was no exception. Once the deed was done, he’d reveal himself and announce that he had footage of our target fucking an underage girl. He’d scare the guy with the usual ‘contact your wife, the police, FBI’ . . . Whatever needed to be done to secure a large payment.”
“Fuck. He was whoring you out,” I mutter. I'm beyond pissed. Thank God I have no fucking idea where this cunt is, because I would kill him.
“I was a willing participant, Ryder. He didn’t force me to do anything.”
“Then why did you do it?” I growl, frustrated.
“Because it was the only way I could get rid of him. I didn’t want the money. I wanted nothing to do with it. I just wanted him gone, and I thought that this would do it.”
“Did it?”
“Yes. Until now, at least.”
“Okay,” I sigh. I need to think. I’m trying so hard to get my brain around this, but fuck it’s hard. My whole perception of her has changed in an instant. “So how many guys did you blackmail?”
“Four. The final one, he was the last straw. When Tony burst in, the guy literally broke down and started crying. He kept saying he had kids, and a wife who he loved—and I k
now you don’t do that to someone you love, but it got to me, you know?”
I don’t answer, because I don’t understand. I’m trying, but I really don’t.
How she could be so stupid as to get mixed up in this. What the fuck was she thinking? And it took fucking four guys for her to grow a conscious?
“Fuck, Scarlett,” I say, resting my head in my hands. “This is some seriously messed up shit.”
“I know,” she whispers. Her gaze drops. She won’t look at me. She can’t even look me in the eye.
“I understand how this is something you wouldn't want me to know, but what I don't get is how this can jeopardize your relationship with Jake. You fucked up, but fucking up isn’t a crime.”
“No,” she agrees, “but blackmail is. We blackmailed some pretty powerful men. I’m talking one or two big names in politics and the judicial system. Men who have since split up with their wives, and have nothing to lose if this story breaks.”
She takes a breath and looks me in the eye. “This is fraud, Ryder. This is big. It doesn't matter if Tony organized the whole thing, benefited from the whole thing. I'm on those tapes. If he goes down, I go down. I lose my son. I lose you.”
I lean forward and hug her again. I want to reassure her; I want to tell her I’m there for her, and that everything is okay, but I need to think. I need to process all of this, because it’s not only her, it’s me, too. It's my career, and in the end it could be my high profile that brings her down. Could I live with myself if that happened?
“Wow,” I mumble. “I think I prefer this sex tape idea I had going on in my head.”
She manages a smile. “Well, it's not far from it.”
Chapter Eleven
Ryder
“Shit,” I mumble.
I’m sitting outside, my head resting in my arms, letting her words sink in. Scar is at the hospital with Jake for his pre-admission paperwork, and they won't be back for hours. I’m glad she's not here, because I need the space. I need to figure this out before she gets back. I need to make sure I can handle this.
Of all the things I’d fabricated in my head, this isn’t something I’d ever considered. I’m pissed that she could be so damn stupid, but now I understand her fear. No wonder Tony had her under his thumb with this shit. If he still has the tapes, as he claimed, then he has enough evidence to land them both in jail. What a fucking wanker. Why keep hold of something like that? If it's possible, I dislike Tony even more now. What a fucking bastard.