“Are you happy with your aim?” Kennedy chuckled.
He hadn’t thought of what she’d think watching him jerk off. And certainly, he hadn’t thought about how he’d feel doing it. That was a first for him, he never would’ve allowed anyone in the past to see him vulnerable. But he couldn’t deny that it was hot having Kennedy watch, and he definitely wanted to do that again.
“Oh, yeah. Seeing my come mark your pretty skin is off-the-charts sexy. But next time, I’m aiming for your tits.”
Kennedy smiled at his perverted statement and she quickly retorted, “I’ll make sure I close my eyes then. I’ve heard come in the eyes can sting.”
“Really? And where’d you hear that? One of your good porn movies?”
“Maybe?” She giggled and the sound hit Jameson with the force of a sledgehammer.
It was safe to say that Kennedy was the only woman he’d ever bantered with about sex. The only woman who could make him come hard and laugh in equal measure.
It was insane how happy she made him.
Later that night after Jameson had cleaned up Kennedy and settled her back to his side, she was drawing lazy circles on his chest when she whispered, “I love you, Jameson.”
And just like the time before when she’d told Jameson she loved him, he waited for the panic to come. But just like the first time, it never came. Only peace.
“Love you, too, babe.”
His arm flexed and pulled her closer and he drifted off to sleep.
26
Kennedy
“If it makes you feel any better, Jonas Brown likes you a lot and he genuinely looked sorry,” Chasin told me.
I was at the Gemini Group office. McKenna had asked me if I would help her today and even though I’d planned on working on my garden I couldn’t turn her down.
So I was using the conference room and extra laptop to do basic searches on Gary Earle. McKenna was doing the deep digging, but she explained she liked to have both public record and what she could find to paint the whole picture.
“I like Jonas, too. But I don’t feel any better. Did he tell you why?”
“Nope. And when I brought up Reggie Coleman ownin’ the building, Jonas looked like he wanted to flee.”
“Told you he was sensitive.”
“And the woman, Faye Cook, who owns Willow Realty and she’s the rental agent for Reggie’s property, she visibly paled and asked me to leave the second I mentioned his name.”
“You need to listen to this.” McKenna came into the room with her laptop.
“What’d you tell him?” Reggie’s angry voice boomed from the computer’s speakers.
“Nothing, Mr. Coleman. I asked him to leave.”
“That’s Faye,” Chasin said.
“What’s his name?”
“He said it was Chasin Murray. I’ve never seen him before.”
“Did he tell you why he was asking about me, or who he works for?”
Chasin’s face broke out into a wide smile.
“Yes. He said he works for Kennedy Lane. He’s her personal bodyguard.”
“You did not tell her that?” I laughed.
“Yeah, I did.” Chasin chuckled.
“Thank you,” Reggie clipped. “If he comes back, please let me know. And remember our business is confidential.”
“Yes, Mr. Coleman.”
“You better not forget it either.” Reggie’s voice had taken on a menacing tone. “Or I’ll sink your ass and call my friends at Chesapeake Trust and have your parents’ loan called in early.”
Reggie disconnected the call and McKenna’s eyes went wide.
“Well, there you have it, proof King Dick uses threats to get his way. Makes sense, but now we know he has ties to Chesapeake Trust. Let’s see if he banks there as well.”
A few keystrokes later, McKenna was squinting at her screen. “He banks there. But there’s no line of credit or loans. But you know who does have one? Gary Earle. It’s a construction loan.” McKenna’s eyes scanned back and forth on the monitor. “When did Reggie approach you about buying your land?”
“About six months ago.”
“Same time as this loan. And when did he start putting on the heat?”
“Two months ago.”
“I know why. This loan isn’t paying out yet and the line of credit will close if it’s not used in the next thirty days.”
“Why would a loan expire?” Chasin asked.
“Because the construction loan disperses as the work happens. Reggie can’t break ground on the land behind Kennedy’s because he can’t get a permit without adequate road access,” McKenna explained.
“That’s never stopped him before. He got permits to build condos on marshland,” I told her. “The town had denied every contractor for years. But he got approved.”
McKenna continued to tap on her keyboard. “And Reggie had several loans in his name that are coming up for payment. He’s deferred twice. I bet they need the money from the construction loan to start paying out so they can pay the other loans.”
“Robbing Peter to pay Paul,” Chasin noted.
“That’s what it looks like. In the last year he’s leveraged himself to the max. We need to call Nix and see what he knows about the bank president.” McKenna pulled out her phone and dialed.
“Yeah,” Nixon answered, sounding out of breath.
“You alright?”
“Just got back into the car after a sweet old woman set her seventy-pound German Shepherd loose on me after I asked her about Reggie Coleman. Had to run for my life with the bitch nippin’ at my heels. I think Duke needs a friend, we’re getting you a shepherd.”
“Duke does not need a friend and we’re not getting another dog,” McKenna told him.
“Babe, did you hear me telling you I was running for my life? I wasn’t lying. Duke just licks people. You need a snarly bitch that’s not afraid to bite.”
“Maybe we should talk about this while you’re not on speaker phone and Chasin and Kennedy aren’t listenin’.”
“For the record, I agree with Nix. Duke’s a great dog, but damn if he’s not friendly.”
“Just sayin’, McKenna, I’d feel a lot better when I have to go out of town knowin’ there was a dog in the house that would actually scare someone off.”
“Can we please get back to why I called?” McKenna asked, clearly over the dog conversation.
Though now I was thinking about getting a dog and wondered what Jameson would think of the idea. We’d never talked about animals or if he liked them. If I did get a dog, I want it to live inside. I didn’t see a point of having one if I was going to make it stay outside. And I wouldn’t want it to live in a crate in the house either.
“Oh, hell, now we have to wait. Reggie’s making a call to Gary.”
I glanced at McKenna’s screen and in the corner, there was an open application displaying the number Reggie was calling. I still couldn’t believe how easy it was for her to hack into his phone.
“Yes?” Gary answered.
“We have a problem,” Reggie announced.
“No. You have a problem and by the call I’m assuming you’re making it mine.”
Gary did not sound happy.
“I can assure you it is our problem. His name is Chasin Murray. Kennedy Lane is ready to sell and the only thing standing in our way is her boyfriend who’s now playing bodyguard.”
“He thinks I’m Jameson. Idiot,” Chasin noted.
“I told you he was a problem the first time he was at that bitch’s house. I’ll handle him. But next time I tell you something, fucking listen. And you’d better have her signature by business end tomorrow!” Gary shouted.
The call disconnected and I was stunned.
“Did Reggie just order a hit on Chasin?” Nixon asked.
“Sure did,” Chasin answered.
“Why are you smiling?” I snapped.
“Because he played right into my hands. I could’ve told Faye anything. Instead I told
her who I was and that I worked for you, knowing Reggie was a dumbass and he’d bite,” Chasin explained.
“Gary is going to try and kill you!” I screeched.
Jameson walked into the conference room back from wherever he’d been working, made his way to my side, and put his arm around me.
“What’s going on?” he asked.
“Chasin’s crazy, that’s what’s going on,” I told him.
My heart was thundering in my chest. The thought of anyone getting hurt because of me hurt my heart. I couldn’t live with myself.
Chasin filled Jameson in and when he was done, Jameson was smiling, too.
“Good work,” Jameson commended.
“Are you crazy?” I asked.
Jameson didn’t answer, but his entire body went rigid, then his arm around me tightened to near crushing. When I tried to wiggle away, he held firm.
“Nixon, get to the office, now!” Chasin growled, then for an odd reason he stepped toward me and Jameson. “Lock it down, Grant.”
“What’s—”
“Fuck!” Jameson roared and my body jerked with the force of his yell.
I turned my head to follow Jameson’s gaze to McKenna’s laptop. Her hands were nowhere near the keyboard but pictures were scrolling.
“What is that?” I asked.
“Reggie accessed his cloud.” McKenna’s answer was barely above a whisper.
I watched in horror as images of me and Jameson in my house scrolled down the screen. Some of them had an arrow in the middle of the image indicating they were movies.
“How did he…I don’t understand…” I stuttered.
“Peyton Marshall didn’t take anything, he set up cameras,” McKenna explained.
My knees buckled and I was grateful Jameson had an iron grip around my waist or I would’ve hit the floor.
Reggie continued to scroll and when an image of me naked on the bed with Jameson’s head between my legs filled the screen, I felt sick.
“Turn the fuck around,” Jameson barked.
“Already did, man,” Chasin answered.
“I’m gonna throw up,” I announced but Jameson didn’t let me go.
“Fuck. Goddamn,” Nixon barked from the doorway.
“Jameson. I’m going to throw up. Let me go!” I shouted and wrenched my body away from his.
I pushed past Chasin and when I was halfway to the bathroom I heard him say, “Lock his ass down and don’t let him leave. I’ll call Weston and see to Kennedy.”
I didn’t have time to shut the door before I was on my knees heaving into the toilet.
“Weston. Get to the office now.”
I heard a clatter on the sink basin, then a wet cloth was pressed to the back of my neck.
“Everything’s gonna be okay, Kennedy.” Chasin tried to soothe.
“No, it’s not. He has naked pictures of me and Jameson. Oh, God.” My stomach roiled again and if I’d been in the right frame of mind I would’ve kicked Chasin out.
Sick.
Reggie Coleman was a sick fucking bastard. Oh my God, he’d seen us have sex. He’d seen me naked—having sex. No. This couldn’t be happening. That did not just happen.
“Kennedy. Try to take a breath and hold it, you’re gonna hyperventilate.”
“So?” I panted.
“You’ll pass out, sweetheart. Slow your breathing.”
“At least I would stop thinking about that fucking prick seeing us… seeing…holy shit, Chasin. He saw.”
I must’ve been delirious because one second I was on the floor in front of the toilet emptying the contents of my stomach and the next I was sitting on a counter and Chasin was washing my face like a child. I had no recollection how I got there.
“My mom,” I cried.
“Will never see them. No one will. McKenna will make sure everything is wiped clean.”
“But once it’s on the internet it’s there forever.”
“No, it’s not. McKenna can delete everything.”
Chasin looked to the doorway and took a step back before he nodded to Jameson and the men switched places.
Jameson’s hand went to my face and he wiped the tears off my cheek.
“Kennedy, look at me.” I lifted my eyes to meet his and I flinched at the anger I saw. “I’m going to fix this.”
I nodded because I believed he would, even if I couldn’t see how.
“I’m sorry,” I sobbed.
“You have nothing to be sorry about.”
“He has pictures of you and it’s my fault. If…if…you weren’t with me, he’d never—”
“I don’t give the first fuck he has nude photos of me. I care he has them of you,” he growled. “Don’t bother me one goddamn bit he wants to look at my dick swinging in the wind, but knowing he’s seen you and how he violated your privacy makes me want to rip his fucking head off. And, babe, that option is still on the table.”
That I didn’t believe—he did care, anyone would care that someone had pictures of them naked. Images of last night flashed in my mind.
“Don’t go there, Kennedy. Don’t think about it. We have a plan, and it needs to happen now so McKenna can get to work. We can’t delete those pictures until Reggie is arrested. And unfortunately, how we saw them is illegal. So we need to set Reggie up. That way Jonny can get a search warrant, and McKenna can just happen to find his cloud server.”
“The police have to see those?” I asked in horror.
“Yes. I want his ass nailed on every charge we can get.”
“Ohmygod, I know Jonny and most of the deputies. How will I ever look at them again knowing they saw those pictures?”
I wanted McKenna to delete them now. I didn’t want to press charges.
“You’ll look at them knowing you did not one thing wrong. That fucking pig Reggie infringed on your privacy and invaded our private time. We’re gonna nail his balls to the wall.”
“Get in here!” Nixon yelled from down the hall.
“You ready to go back in?”
“Did they see?”
“I’m not gonna lie to you. Chasin and Nix both caught a glance but McKenna had to watch what he was doing on the screen. I think she’s more disturbed that she had to see me but she was more focused on the URL paths than the pictures.” Jameson’s lips formed two flat lines and his face was set in stone.
Maybe Jameson didn’t care that Reggie saw him naked, but he did care that his friend’s woman had. He cared that McKenna was forced to advert her eyes the best she could but still watch what Reggie was doing. And Jameson allowed it, because the alternative was one of the guys would’ve had to and that meant they’d see me.
Fucking Reggie! Stupid dick. He’d gone from hurting me to mentally scarring my friends. I was done. I was beyond the shock that he had pictures of me and I’d firmly slipped into thermonuclear and would do anything I had to do to take Reggie down.
I’d simply wanted dirt on Reggie to make him stop bothering me, now I wanted to take him down—permanently. I wanted his ass rotting right next to his bastard son who’d planted cameras in my house.
“I’m ready,” I told Jameson. “So ready.”
Jameson dipped his chin before he helped me down.
When we went back into the conference room, Nix and Chasin were pacing back and forth. Weston had arrived at some point and was scanning documents spread over the table.
No one said anything to me about the pictures, which I appreciated. They knew I knew they’d seen them, I didn’t need to be reminded.
“So this is how this is going to go down,” Nix started. “You’re gonna call Reggie, tell him you’re ready to talk to him about the terms of the sale. I don’t know how much he’ll say over the phone—if we’re lucky, he’ll talk. If not, you’re gonna have to meet him in person. You’ll be wired so we’ll hear the conversation.”
“Okay. What am I trying to get him to say?” I asked.
“Anything that will incriminate him. We need him to admit he sent
Peyton to your house to intimidate or hurt you, or that he damaged your mom’s AC, damaged your crops, burned down your hives, anything. Jonny needs something to present to a judge for a search warrant. For once the small town, good ol boys’ shit is going to work in our favor. Judge Price is an old man with five daughters, I can’t see him takin’ kindly to a man threatening a woman or causing her harm. He is also adamantly against the development of Kent County. He comes from generations of farmers. But we still need something to present him.”
“All right,” I agreed.
“You understand we can’t show or even tell Jonny about the pictures. I obtained them by illegally hacking his phone. If we present them now, they’ll be thrown out of court and I’ll have to explain how I came to find them,” McKenna added.
“I understand. I won’t mention the pictures. And I won’t say anything about Gary Earle, either. We’re not supposed to know about him, right?”
“Smart, girl,” Chasin praised. “You’re correct. Keep on the topic of him harassing you and using Peyton to do it,” he coached.
“Got it.”
“Hold on, Reggie’s just texted Gary a picture of Kennedy and Jameson. We’ll let this play out, then you can call.” McKenna nodded to her screen, and thankfully it was a picture of both of us fully dressed and standing in my living room.
“Why is Reggie sending Gary a picture of me and Jameson?” I asked.
“He thinks I’m Jameson,” Chasin answered. “Jameson confronted him but didn’t give his name.”
“The camera has to be on the fireplace mantel,” Jameson noted. “That’s the only place it could be to get that angle.”
He was right. I didn’t have any other shelving on that side of the room. I quickly thought about what knick-knacks I had on the mantel and couldn’t for the life of me remember. Damn, why wasn’t I a better housekeeper? If I had dusted every once in a while, maybe I would’ve found the fucking camera.
“Gary texted back,” McKenna announced, and I read what was on the screen.
Gary: What did I say about sending pictures, idiot.
“This oughta be good,” Nix mumbled. “Reggie doesn’t look happy Gary called him an idiot.”
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