Page 44 of Falling Embers

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Talk about a show-off.

I heard she buys her followers.

She’s always with those two guys. I bet she’s screwing both of them.

Someone needs to take her down a peg.

My hand moved to my phone before I could even think about how late it was.

Hadley’s groggy voice came across the line. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m looking at one of your videos onVoyeur.”

She was quiet for a second as the sheets rustled. “Are you calling to yell at me?”

“I’m calling to ask what the hell is with these disgusting comments on your videos.”

Hadley sighed. “They’re just trolls. Ignore them. I do.”

My gaze swept over the screen, and my hand tightened around the phone. “There’s one here that says you deserve to break your neck.” And there was another from a guy who described exactly what he’d do to her if he got her alone. “Some of this stuff is sick.”

“My team tries to report it. A lot of times, the site will take the comments down. Sometimes, even block the users. But it’s hard to keep up with it all.”

I zoomed in on the user profile pictures. Most of them weren’t actual photos. They were little cartoon drawings—cruel and jealous bastards hiding behind a keyboard.

“Do they contact you anywhere else?”

She was quiet.

“Hadley…”

“I’ve gotten some emails. A couple of texts.”

I pushed off the bed and paced to the door, then back to the bed. “This isn’t normal. And why do you have your phone number listed?”

“I don’t.”

I froze. “Someone texted you on a number that’s unlisted.”

“I blocked them and haven’t heard anything since.”

“We need to tell Hayes.” I had half a mind to do it right now and make him go out to her house. Hadley lived alone with no neighbors within sight of her property. It was how she liked it, but it also meant that no one could help if she needed it.

“Calder, no. No one in my family knows that I do this, and that’s how it’s staying.”

“This is your life we’re talking about—”

“No, this is a bunch of jerks hiding behind their phones. No one is going to hurt me. They just want to knock me down a few pegs.”

I gripped the back of my neck, squeezing hard. “You haven’t received anything in the mail? No weird visits from people you don’t know?”

“Nothing, I promise.”

I blew out a harsh breath. “I won’t tell Hayes on one condition.”

Hadley groaned. “What?”

“You tell me immediately if something happens, even if you think it’s nothing.”


Tags: Catherine Cowles Tattered & Torn Romance