“What? That’s bullshit!” I cry out, but I simply can’t shake off that deep-seated anxiety. How could I? There a dozen federal agents going through everything in my apartment! They’re even rummaging through my panties drawer, for God’s sake!
I lock eyes with the leading officer, and his cold gaze seems to pierce my very soul. Whatever I try to tell her, I know he won’t listen. He’s probably hardened by the hundreds of people he put under cuffs, all of them yelling out the mythical ‘I didn’t do it.’
“Cara, right?” He asks me, taking one step toward me, his hulking shadow making my mouth turn dry. He places one hand on his belt, and I notice the glint of cold metal, the handcuffs he has there jingling softly as he moves toward me.
“Yes, but —” I try to say, taking one step back to create some distance between me and him.
“She’s the one,” Sienna repeats, that evil grin back to her lips. “I fired her because I knew what she planning…” She continues, her tone almost too tragic to bear. Is this the way she’s going to try and spin things? I would find it hilarious, except there’s a six-foot tall giant right in front of me, his expression one as cold as ice. “I tried to give her one last chance to come clean but, ah...she’s just too greedy, I think. She stole all of the books in the Naughty Angel Publishing catalog, and now she has published them all on that pirate website.”
“Why would I do something like that, Sienna? Are you out of your damn mind?” I ask her, but I know that this is an uphill struggle. Whatever web of lies she weaved, it must have been a good one; you don’t get a court’s stamp of approval without a solid case.
“Cara, Cara,” she tsks, shaking her head as if she was disappointed by my question. “Just come clean already. Admit it: you were about to publish all of these books you stole under the Cara Unger name, on Pure Smut For You.”
“What? I don’t even know what the hell Pure Smut For You is!” I cry out, taking one more step back. By now though, my back is against the wall and there’s nowhere I can escape to. “That’s a lie and you know it! You have no proof, you have no —”
“Witnesses?” She smirks, finishing my own sentence. “That’s where you’re wrong,” she whispers, the tone of her voice dropping in such a way that the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. As she finishes speaking, she takes one step to the side and a man steps inside my apartment. There’s a smirk on his face, one borne out of contempt, and his right hand is wrapped in bandages.
“Hello, Cara,” Trevor grins, placing his left hand in one of Sienna’s shoulders. “Long time, no see.”
No, this can’t be happening. It’s too unreal.
To cheat on me, to have me fired…that’s already bad enough. But plotting with Sienna to throw me into jail? No, that’s not something I ever expected out of Trevor. Not because he has a good character (but you already know that by now), but because he’s a spineless coward. To make such a bold play…
“I’m sorry, Cara. You should've listened to me,” Sienna tells me, and that’s when the officer in front of me takes the handcuffs from his belt and dangles it in front of my face.
“Your hands,” he growls, and I have no other choice but to obey. As I feel the tight cold metal closing around my wrists; I close my eyes and pray.
Please, God, this is a nightmare, isn’t it?
God must be asleep at this hour of the day, as no one answers. This might be a nightmare, but it’s a very real one.
Chapter 22
Mason
Three.
That’s how many weeks ago Cara was arrested. She was interrogated, put in a holding cell until arraignment, bailed out, called in for more questioning, and now has been forbidden from engaging in any authorship or publishing activity until her court date. It’s killing her. I can tell. And there’s not a damn thing that Parker or Derek and I can do to make it better in the moment.
Four.
That’s how many authors have reached out to Cara and offered her support. Although a part of me is happy to have Cara out of jail, I can’t help but cringe because the general indie publishing community has no idea what to make of her now. Are the allegations true? Did Cara really rip off Naughty Angel Publishing and begin selling those titles under her own name? It’s so brazen and so outrageous. But the community has been shocked before. And they’re in a state of denial.
Fourteen thousand.
That’s how many emails have poured in from readers. While authors are largely staying silent, it’s pretty obvious that Cara was loved amongst the readers that she worked with when she was managing the ARC teams for Sienna. They’ve almost all been unanimously letters of support and encouragement. Telling her to hang in there. Telling her that things would get better. Telling her that she has nothing to worry about and that they didn’t believe for a moment that Cara would do something as bad as was being discussed all over Facebook and the news feeds. No way Cara could be a pirate.
Fifty.
That’s what Abby Angel announced was the revenue drop of the entire Naughty Angel Publishing catalog after the announcement of the pirated books that were available for purchase. Her company has been hit hard. People don’t realize they’re purchasing books from a pirate. They don’t realize that she’s selling her books only on Rainforest.com. They see it on Pure Smut For You and they get really excited thinking that she’s offering her books on multiple platforms. What they don’t realize till it’s too late is that they’re getting ripped off along with Abby and Lana.
One.
That’s the rank for Sienna Sinner’s new book that’s tearing up the charts. That’s right. She’s number 1 in the Rainforest.com store and she couldn’t be happier. She makes sure that everyone fucking knows it too. Makes sure they know that they’re talking with a bestselling Rainforest.com author. Of course, what she doesn’t say is that had Naughty Angel Publishing been operating as per expectations, she would most likely be #5. Because the top four books would be belonging to Abby at that point. What she doesn’t say is that with the Naughty Angel books being purchased elsewhere, they’re not counting toward the bestselling status on the Rainforest website.
What Sienna does say though is that she thwarted a pirate. That’s right. She thwarted a pirate from carrying out her final plans. She may not have done it in time to save Naughty Angel Publishing, which Sienna claims to love and respect and fucking admire. But she managed to lead the authorities based on clues to the home of the pirate and get her arrested before she could attack any other innocent indie authors.
And thanks to Sienna apparently the publishing world is safe again. You know those fourteen thousand emails that Cara got in support and expressing love?