Conner’s blood boiled. What the hell? It seemed like ten thousand people were after him from several angles. And he had no idea why. He’d never done anything to anyone in his life. He needed to stay calm for Sabrina. She was hysterical, or at least had been. Her face was red from crying more than just the last few minutes. He pulled her head against his shoulder. “Sorry, baby. I’m a sweaty mess.”
“Don’t care,” she mumbled, grabbing his biceps and holding on tight.
Finally, he released her. “I’ll trade places with Rider and see for myself first. Okay?”
“Not really. But what choice do I have?”
Rider stood and swapped with Conner, circling the desk so the screen was out of his line of sight.
Conner handed Sabrina a post-it. “Write your e-mail info on here so I can pull it up.”
Her hand shook as she took the pen from him and jotted the information down on a sticky note.
A few minutes later he had her e-mail open and clicked on the anonymous message. It reminded him so much of the e-mail threats he’d gotten at work, he had trouble remaining steady.
Sabrina ducked her head.
He could hear her breathing heavily. She didn’t glance up at the screen while Conner read the e-mail to Rider.
“Jesus,” Rider said as Conner finished. “Have you told anyone else yet?”
“No. I called Emily to get your number, and she said you were here.” She shrugged. “Maybe it was stupid and I should have called the police, but I didn’t know what to do.”
“It’s okay.” Rider set a hand on her shoulder. “You’re here now.” He kneeled beside her. “But we need to take this to the station. Especially if there are photos.”
“I’m going to open them now,” Conner announced.
“I’d rather you didn’t,” Sabrina mumbled. She rubbed both temples with her fingers.
It took a moment for the pictures to pop up, and then the screen was filled with a slide show of the two of them together. He breathed heavily, thinking about some asshole following him around taking pictures of them at Extreme and then the arena. And then his breath caught in his throat. “Fuck.” His heart raced. He wanted to punch a hole in the nearest wall. “Son of a bitch.”
“I guess we’ll definitely be taking this in to the station,” Rider concluded. “I’m going to jump in the shower. I’ll give you two a few minutes alone.” He slipped from the room without waiting for a response, shutting the door behind him.
Conner quickly shut down the e-mail, making sure the pictures weren’t saved to the hard drive. He deleted the download file and checked everywhere to make sure Joe or anyone else who sat at the desk couldn’t find them. He even checked the trashcan to make sure they weren’t there either.
When he was satisfied, he scooted back and rounded the desk to take Sabrina in his arms. “I’m so sorry, baby.” His actions and his words didn’t match the rage he felt inside. But she didn’t need him to wig out right then. She needed him to hold her.
She cried some more and finally wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. “Go shower,” she muttered. “I’ll wait here.” She lifted her gaze. “You don’t think the owner will mind, do you?”
“Joe? Of course not. I’ll speak to him on the way by. He’s the nicest man you’ll ever meet. Like a father figure. He has taken all us on like we’re family. And he’ll feel the same about you once he gets to know you.”
She blinked at him.
“Don’t give me that look.” He kissed her lips gently. “I know we fought earlier. I was an ass. I’m sorry. We’ll talk about it later, but this?” He pointed back toward the computer. “This is not going to break us.”
She nodded, clearly not sure she agreed.
And that was fine. Conner would make her see reason. It would just take time.
Chapter Seventeen
Sabrina sat in a private room at the police station with Conner by her side, holding her hand, and Rider across the desk with another man she’d just met.
His name was Jacobson, and he was a sergeant. “So, we tried to track the e-mail, Ms. Duluth, but we’ve been unsuccessful so far. Whoever sent this covered their bases. It’s someone who either knows a lot about computers or knows someone else who does. We’ll have someone in the department work on it. See if we can crack it. I can’t promise anything. It’s hard to keep up with technology these days.”
Sabrina nodded. She was numb. Everything was a blur. Someone had printed out the e-mail. To her knowledge, no one had opened the attachment. “Can you keep the attachment unopened?” she pleaded.
“I’m sorry, but a limited number of people are going to need to see the pictures in order to investigate this.”
She nodded, fighting fresh tears. She couldn’t do this. She couldn’t.
Conner put an arm around her and held her closer. It didn’t help. She was holding on by a thread.
Jacobson spoke again. “I’ll have Maria come in. Perhaps having a woman will help. She’s very understanding and a great asset in these situations.”
Conner responded to him. “Sounds good. Thanks.”
Jacobson left the room while Rider handed her another tissue. “Sorry, Sabrina. I wish there was another way.”
She lifted her gaze to Conner. “Maria? She’s a stranger. I just can’t do this. It would almost be better for Rider to see them.”
Rider cleared his throat. “Unfortunately that wouldn’t do any good. I’m not assigned to this case, Sabrina. I’m a street cop. I don’t investigate this type of crime. This needs to be handled by the organized crime bureau.”
She jerked her gaze to Conner as Rider slipped from the room, leaving the two of them alone. “What’s he talking about? Why on earth would this require an investigation from the organized crime department? Isn’t that like mafia guys and stuff?”
Conner nodded. “Yeah.” He blew out a breath. “Since Anton Yenin has been hounding me, we have to treat any threat as possibly originating from him and his men.”
“Shit.” She fiddled with the tissue in her lap. “This is a disaster.” She stood, separating herself from Conner to pace the tiny room.
“I’m so sorry.”
She didn’t respond. Half of her wondered if she shouldn’t just take the e-mail at face value and walk away. Too bad if Conner was the hottest man she’d ever met and could make her body sing like nobody would ever be able to compete with. Perhaps that wasn’t enough. Not if mafia guys were going to start hanging around threatening her. Or hell, jealous ex-girlfriends.
She didn’t meet his gaze.
When the door opened, she flinched and spun around to face the newcomer.
A tall woman in uniform with thick brown hair pulled back in a low ponytail smiled and held out a hand. “Hi. I’m Maria Contreras. Sorry to have to meet you under such circumstances.”
Sabrina shook her hand. “Me too.”
Conner introduced himself and shook her hand also.
“We can do this whatever way is most comfortable for you.” Maria addressed Sabrina directly. “Just the two of us or with your boyfriend.” She rounded the table and sat on the far side, tugging a laptop out of her shoulder bag to set it on the table.
Sabrina winced. Did she want Conner in the room?
“I’m in the pictures too,” he said. “They are of both of us.”
“I understand that, sir. But my job is to handle this in whatever way will make Ms. Duluth most comfortable. If it’s easier for her to work alone, then that’s what we’ll do.”
Oh, shit. Now she had to make a decision. She chewed her lower lip while she stared at Conner.
He swallowed finally and stood. “I’ll step out, baby. If it makes you more comfortable.” He wrapped his arms around her and held her tight for a brief moment.
She shook her head. “No. Stay. We need to face this together.”
Conner smiled wanly and pulled out the chair Sabrina had vacated.
She resumed her seat as he sat next to her on
ce again.
Maria grabbed a pad and pencil from the corner of the desk. “Is there anything you’d like to tell me before we open the pictures? Anything that will make it easier?”
Sabrina cleared her throat. “We uh…”
Conner squeezed her hand. “We practice BDSM,” he offered. “We’re consenting adults. Nothing happens between us we don’t agree on. However, someone managed to get several photos we’d rather didn’t exist.”
“I understand.” She set a hand on the table, reaching across but not touching. “Trust me. I’ve seen all sorts of things working here. A few pictures of consenting adults having sex is not going to ruffle my feathers.”
Sabrina didn’t think these photos would be described as “consenting adults having sex,” but she didn’t say anything. She nodded. “Let’s just get this over with.”
“Okay.” Maria turned the computer around to face Sabrina. “I’ll let you pull up the e-mail.”
Sabrina’s hands quivered as she clicked on the keys, opening the nasty e-mail for the third time today. She’d be glad when she no longer had to look at those pictures.
Maria stood and pulled her chair around so they could all see. She flanked Sabrina on one side while Conner sat on her other side.
When the pictures popped up, Sabrina relinquished the mouse to Maria, who hit pause on the first one and asked for details.
Maria took a lot of notes while Sabrina and Conner described where they’d been for each photo. She tried to determine the angle of the photographer to discern where he or she might have been standing.
Sabrina braced herself as the screen switched to the one of her over Conner’s lap.
Conner set a hand on her back. “Breathe, baby. It’s going to be okay.”
She jerked her gaze from the photo to him. “How? How the hell is this going to be okay?”
He winced.
“Conner, some asshole took nude pictures of me letting you do lewd things in your home and mine. For all we know, he has two thousand pictures. I’m mortified beyond belief. How am I supposed to explain this to my family if it gets out? My parents?” She ran her hand over her eyes again. “Mom, Dad, yeah, this is my new boyfriend, the one you already know because his face is plastered all over the Internet spanking and plugging my ass!”
Lucky for Conner, he didn’t placate her. If he had said one word in contradiction, she might have slapped him.
“I know this is hard,” Maria said softly. “Let’s get through the details, and then you won’t have to look again.”
“Yeah, well, it doesn’t really matter now because I’ll never be able to get the vision of those pictures out of my mind. I can’t imagine being able to sleep again in this lifetime, either.”
Maria took her hand and squeezed briefly. “I’m so sorry, hon.”
Sabrina stared back at the screen and described how she knew where that picture had been taken between the slats of her blinds.
By the time they flipped to the next photo, she spoke hastily through renewed tears as they fell down her face. The look of actual arousal in her eyes while Conner pushed that plug into her made her want to scream.
Conner took over, explaining where his bedroom window was located and that apparently the curtains hadn’t been completely closed at his home, either. That shot in his bedroom was taken from the back of the house inside the fenced backyard. He was livid as he explained where the photographer had to have been standing.
Sabrina stared at her expression the entire time. She remembered how aroused she’d been at that moment. Would she ever be able to relax again enough to reach that level of arousal?
How many years would have to go by before she would be willing to have sex with any man in any location? It seemed like she would never feel safe again.
She’d never been raped, and she wondered how much deeper that level of violation must feel. Because right now, she wanted to fall into a crack in the floor and die.
Maria finished her notes, shut down the computer, and turned to face Sabrina, taking her hand again. “Sabrina, I’m so sorry this happened to you. I know you must feel very vulnerable. And that’s totally understandable. I recommend you see your physician and get a prescription to help you sleep. You might have trouble shutting down your mind for a few days. If it persists, you’ll need to seek counseling.”
Sabrina nodded. She was so tired. She wanted to go home.
No. She didn’t want to go home. She didn’t know where she wanted to go, but not to her house where some fucktard had taken advantage of her privacy. And certainly not to Conner’s house. She would call a friend. Dana. They’d been friends for a long time. Dana would let her stay at her house.
Except shit. She didn’t want to explain this situation to a living soul.
Dammit.
Conner stood and shook Maria’s hand. “Thank you for your kindness.”
The door closed with a snick, leaving Conner and Sabrina alone again.
She didn’t have the energy to face him. “Can you take me back to my car? I want to be alone.”
“No.” He leaned against the door and waited for her to face him from the chair.
“What? Conner, don’t mess around. I’m tired.”
“Your car’s at my house. That’s where I had some of the guys take it when we left the gym.”
Right. She’d given him her keys and rode to the police station in his car.
“Fine. Take me there. I need to get my car.”
“You aren’t going to take off on me and go off by yourself, Sabrina.”
“Yes, actually, I am.” She stood, wiping her hands on her jeans and facing him head on.
He shook his head. “I know you’re mad. You have every right to be angry. Hell, you had every right to be pissed off before the e-mail came. I’ll grant you that. But you’re my submissive, and there’s no way in hell I’m going to let you traipse off alone right now. It’s not safe. And besides, I want to be near you.”
She planted her hands on her hips. “Conner, you don’t own me. I’m telling you no.”
“Stay at my place.”
“Not a chance in hell.”
“Okay. Good point. Then let’s go to a hotel.”
“How is that going to help? Do you think I’ll feel safe at a hotel?”
Conner pulled out his phone and tapped a few buttons, never taking his gaze off her. After a few seconds, he spoke. “Rafe. Hey… Yeah, I guess you heard we had a bit of a problem… No, she’s fine. She’s standing right in front of me… Yes… No… Listen, do you think you could spare a few rooms in your basement for the night? Or maybe a few days… Yes. I’d appreciate it… Okay… Right. Thanks. We’ll be there in a bit.”
She planted her hands on her hips. The audacity of this man. “Seriously, Conner. You’re steam rolling right over me.”
“Do you have a better idea?”
She glared daggers at him.
“I didn’t think so. Neither of us would feel comfortable in our own homes tonight. You aren’t interested in a hotel. I’m betting you don’t want to explain this situation to any of your friends. So, that leaves Rafe. I chose him because he and Katy have an enormous home with a finished basement. No windows. You can sleep knowing no one can possibly take your picture. And they have more than one room down there, so you can have one all to yourself if you’re too pissed at me to share my bed.”
Damn. Why did he have to make so much sense?
Finally, exasperated and with no better option, she consented. “Okay.”
“Excellent. We’ll stop by your place and grab some clothes and then mine.” He opened the door to the room and stepped into the hall.
It was late afternoon as she followed him to the car. She hadn’t eaten since lunch, but she knew if she even considered swallowing, her stomach would revolt.
They rode in silence to her place where she hastily gathered several things and put them in an overnight bag. She also grabbed her computer. If she didn’t find a way to work
tomorrow, she was going to fall too far behind. Though at the moment, the concept of editing a novel seemed entirely foreign to her.
At Conner’s place, she waited impatiently by the door to the garage, refusing to step farther into the house. He was quick. And he insisted she leave her car and ride with him.
She was too tired to argue.
Chapter Eighteen
“Do you want to stop and get something to eat first?”
Sabrina stared at him from her spot squished against the passenger door. “No.”
“I’m sure you haven’t eaten since lunch, baby.”
She flinched when he called her baby. She wasn’t in the mood for him to be nice. She was nursing a full-fledged tantrum. And she deserved it.
“Stop if you want. I’m not hungry.”
He pulled through a drive thru and ordered chicken strips and fries, the largest order. And then he stopped in a parking place in front of the fast-food restaurant.
Thank God. She didn’t want to face people. She sure as shit didn’t want to go into an establishment and try to eat.
The chicken smelled good though, and her stomach rumbled loudly when he opened the bag.
He smiled at her when she glanced up. “I ordered plenty. Please. Try to eat something.”
She took a chicken strip and managed to bite into it, awakening her taste buds as she chewed. It was fresh, and it was good. She managed to eat the entire strip and a few of his fries.
He didn’t pressure her to talk, and as soon as they were done, he pulled back out onto the road.
She noticed he frequently glanced in the rearview mirror, undoubtedly making sure no one was following them.
It took only ten minutes for them to arrive at Rafe and Katy’s house. It was a gorgeous two-story that sat nestled in a quaint neighborhood.
Katy met them at the door, smiling. “Come in.” She gave Sabrina a brief hug and nodded behind her. “I’ll show you around the basement. You can make yourselves at home. There’s plenty of space.”
Want Page 19
