I bristled at his audacity to say he hadn't hurt me to my face. My tongue touched the scar on my lip before I bit down to keep myself in control.
He hadn't hurt me? I looked like Frankenstein's monster for weeks after getting all the stitches in my face. My parents experienced PTSD for five fucking years.
We had barely begun and I already knew I wouldn't leave this meeting without retribution.
"So what it is that you want?" Christian asked.
"My clients are willing to forgive any past quarrels," said Mark and I couldn't keep from rolling my eyes. So typical that Charlie thought he'd be the one who needed to forgive. "And offer a ten-percent share of the company at the generous rate of $100,000."
Christian and I glanced at each other and burst out laughing.
My whole body shook with laughter and I was grateful for the comic relief. Charlie and Andy's faces at the other end of the table just added to the hilarity.
Christian and I had been thinking the exact same thing. We expected them to fight and deflect our terms, to hem and haw and bullshit their way out of an agreement. But the last thing we expected was for them to be ballsy enough to ask for a business deal.
I've had longtime friends and colleagues who I haven't even done business deals with, much less the person I hated most walking this earth.
It was absolutely absurd and a clear ploy for them to continue using my business name by having my money behind them as well. They knew I couldn't sue them if I consented to invest in them. I must have overestimated their intelligence by not realizing they would ask so obviously.
"First of all," Christian began when we recovered. "Even if we were open to the idea of being associated with you, we don't know anything about your business."
Andy squirmed in his seat eagerly, as if he were dying to tell us all about the opportunity we were passing up.
"And secondly, we came here with the sole intention of this being our last meeting. We're looking to cut all ties with you, not form new ones. So if we can find a way to easily do that, we can all move on with our various business ventures and live happily ever after."
I bit my tongue, grateful to have Christian mediating and doing all the talking. If I'd come alone, I'd tell Charlie to go fuck himself. That is if I didn't have him knocked out on the floor already.
"You're missing out, man."
The statement came from Andy, speaking up for the first time.
Charlie and Mark both shot him looks that said shut the fuck up. Christian and I noticed and exchanged glances as well.
"Oh yeah? What am I missing out on?" I asked.
"Seeing all the best homemade porn you can imagine."
My skin crawled again when I saw the predatory look in his eyes.
"The business is booming. Plus any business run on the internet has fewer expenses and regulations than those brick and mortar places you like to waste money on."
I sat back in my chair, turning over each of his words carefully in my mind. "So you've researched me, huh?"
"Sure have, Logan."
Charlie elbowed him sharply in the ribs and gave him a stern look so I refocused my attention to my former business partner.
"Homemade porn, huh Charlie?"
He gave me a sleazy smile, hoping I didn't catch him reprimanding Andy.
"You'd be surprised, Logan. Lots of people still pay for porn. Especially if it has a more... personal touch."
"If I remember correctly from our partying days, you weren't exactly a great fit for that kind of work. Didn't you still have to pay a hooker after we were rolling in the six figures?"
Charlie visibly bristled at my comment, just as I'd hoped. I needed to dig deeper under his skin and make him reveal too much.
"I don't need to pay for it, but after all our success I've developed an expensive taste," he said, trying to brush me off. "But anyway, we're not starring in porn or even producing. Our business model is more of a curated selection. A certain niche all in one place."
"It's genius, really," Andy quipped. "We pay users to upload content and charge for it to be viewed or taken down."
A shuffle and jerk across the table indicated that Charlie had kicked Andy in the shin.
Too late, I thought victoriously. He's already saying too much.
"Why would someone pay for content to be removed?" Christian asked.
"Oh you know how these amateur starlets are," Charlie said dismissively. "They want the money and glamour of being a porn star, then their family or day job finds out and they want it scrubbed from the internet. We're happy to do it for the right price, of course."
"But you said it was homemade." I retorted, looking straight at Andy. "Like the content was made for private purposes. Not for random, horny perverts to see."
"That's what makes it so profitable," Andy said with that creepy smile before anyone could stop him. "It's meant only for the girl's boyfriend or husband but everyone with a paid membership can see."
"So are you admitting that your super profitable porn business capitalizes on invasion of privacy?" Christian gripped the edge of his memo pad and practically foamed at the mouth
"Don't pay attention to what he says," Mark stammered quickly, shooting a glare at Andy. "Of course, my clients capitalize on their customers' desires which may be taboo, but everything is conducted legally by consenting adults."
"But you just said that you don't create the content, you only curate it," I said. "How do you really know it's all consensual?"
"That's ultimately not our responsibility. We have to accept the word of our users," Andy replied with a shrug. I narrowed my eyes as I began to fully see what a disgusting prick he was.
"So you don't even really know if the women consent to being filmed at all?" I said lowly, calculatingly. "For all you know, it can be done without them knowing specifically to distribute to disgusting websites like yours."
Andy shrugged again. "Blame the guys who submit the content to us. If it wasn't for our company, they'd just send it somewhere else."
"What does RevPo stand for, anyway?" Christian asked.
"Don't answer that," Mark warned.
"Revenge Porn," Andy said proudly at the same time. Charlie and Mark looked ready to kill him.
But my suspicions were confirmed. I had all the knowledge I needed.
I stood calmly and unbuttoned my suit jacket.
"Andy, why don't you and I have a little chat in the break room?"
"Absolutely not," Mark spat.
Andy stood, ignoring his lawyer as I knew he would. "I'm not scared of the pretty rich boy, Mark."
You should be, I thought as I led him through to the small side room.
CHAPTER 29
LOGAN
"I know you're Aubrey's ex," I said, locking the door behind me.
Andy pulled his hands from the pockets of his ill-fitting suit and gave me a slow, dramatic clap.
"Well done. You've finally figured it out," he granted sarcastically.
My blood boiled just beneath the surface of my skin. This sleazy little punk had no idea what I was capable of. My rage over Charlie felt like a distant memory as I stared Andy down.
I was able to protect my parents. But this man hurt my Aubrey and took a sick, obsessive, pleasure in it. Whatever happened between me and her, this fucker would pay for what he did.
"How did you and Charlie end up connecting?" I asked as calmly as I could muster.
"Through our mutual online interests."
"What's that, taking pictures of women without their consent and spreading them around?"
"Man, don't be such a white knight," he admonished. "Come on now, you're a rich, good-looking guy. You've never wanted to keep little memories of your conquests? Share them with your buddies sometimes?" The cocky smirk returned. "You're just mad you didn't monetize it first."
I moved so quickly he never saw it coming.
In an instant, I gave him a powerful shove back against the small table. He scrambled
to his feet, knocking down chairs in the process. The satisfying look of fear shone like a beacon through his beady eyes.
"I'm only going to ask you once, nicely," I said as I casually removed my suit jacket and began rolling up my shirt sleeves. "When and where were those pictures of Aubrey taken that you sent me?"
"Can you read, asshole?” he spat as he tried to regain his balance. “The date stamps were right on there."
"Wrong answer."
I lifted him up by the shirt and tossed him across the room like he was yesterday's garbage. The skinny fucker couldn't have weighed more than 130 pounds. If he were any other scrawny bastard, I would have felt bad about fucking him up.
"Aaah, my shoulder!" he cried, clutching it when he landed. "You fucking dislocated it!"
"How about answering my question and I'll pop it back in for you?" I asked as I sauntered over to where he laid pathetically on the ground.
"Charlie! Mark!" he yelled as he scooted away from me.
"Do you know how thick these walls are?" I scoffed. "They can't hear shit."
"Okay, okay!" he raised a hand up to me before clutching his shoulder again. "I took those while we were together. They're Photoshopped."
I sucked in a breath, feeling both elation and pain radiate through me. My beautiful Aubrey, my little spitfire had been true to me. But I hurt her deeply, more than this asshole ever did. I may have lost her for good.
"Did she consent to have them taken?" I asked, kneeling over Andy. He tried to squirm away but was already backed against the wall. Holding back as much fury as I could, my fist connected with his jaw and sent it snapping to the side.
I barely put any power behind my fist and the little coward still spat out blood and recoiled away from me.
"I asked you a question," I said, pulling back my fist again.
"No! She didn't know," he blubbered. "I hid the camera."
Satisfied, I stood and straightened my clothes. "See, there? It helps to tell the truth if you're going to keep opening your mouth."
Andy whimpered unintelligibly like a scolded puppy in the corner as I put my jacket back on.
"Oh, one more thing I want to know," I said as I turned to him.
"Anything you want, whatever," he sniffed.
"Why did you keep sending Aubrey your stupid fucking revenge porn?"
He gulped before he answered and I could see tears glistening in the corners of his eyes.
"I still love her."
I raised my eyebrows. "You've got a funny way of showing it."
"It's like, I knew she'd never take me back,” he whined. “But I didn't want her knowing that I regretted dumping her, you know? So it made sense in my mind to send her that stuff. So she'd think I was happier without her. And then I heard rumors she was fucking you so I really wanted to put her in her place."
I shook my head at the man cowering in the corner, almost feeling sorry for him. But not really.
"You're a sad, sick little man," were my last words to him.
I went back to the main conference room to find Christian sitting alone with his feet up on the table, playing Angry Birds on his phone.
He looked up when he heard me. "Ah, that was fast. You look clean, so you must have gone easy on him."
"So the others split, huh?"
"Not a second after you closed the door. Mark said he'd drop our logo and we wouldn't hear a peep from them ever again." He waggled his eyebrows suggestively. " But I don't suppose you want to let this go."
"Not a chance. Did you get the good stuff?" I asked.
"Oh yes."
Christian opened the recording app on his phone and replayed our entire meeting in the conference room loud and clear.
"We can get them so hard on felony invasion of privacy charges," he said exuberantly before nodding at the door I just came from. "I take it your guy talked?"
"Like an open book. He'll have no problem testifying once he sees his buddies have bailed."
"Oh, he'll get his too." Christian bounced in his seat, looking utterly delighted at having such easy litigation ahead of him. "We're going to bring lots of innocent women to justice. Maybe even make it a class-action."
"Yeah."
I should have felt great about taking these scumbags down and getting to the bottom of Aubrey's involvement. But instead, I felt nothing but emptiness.
"You were right about the photos he sent me too," I said. "He doctored them. Aubrey was completely innocent."
Christian nodded. "He'll get probation maybe if he cooperates. But the real question is, what are you waiting for?"
"Huh?" I looked at him, confused.
"Get the fuck out there and get your girl back."
CHAPTER 30
AUBREY
I was able to go to work after just one more day of wallowing but it was nearly two weeks before I started feeling human again.
All I could do was dive head first into my brewing projects. Working was my solace from the moment I walked in, to the second I punched out. Outside of that time, my mind was free to drift.
It drifted to seeing the beautiful deer with her fawns in Montana. Losing my mind with pleasure in Logan's gigantic bed before curling up against him. How my entire existence elevated to new levels of happiness when he told me he loved me.
It never stopped hurting but it did get a little easier.
One weird thing was I stopped getting messages from Andy right after Logan broke up with me. I got into a routine of trying to prop myself up with positivity to counteract his insults. But once I emerged from my fog, the insults never came.
After a few days of peace, I figured his email to Logan was his grand finale, his final stab that would leave me bleeding and I would never recover from.
It worked, somewhat.
I could move on but I would never be the same.
Whenever a man came into the tasting room while I had my after-shift beer and eyeballed my curves, all I could think about was how he compared to Logan. He wasn't half the man that Logan was.
Not even the ripped frat boys could hold my attention. Their bodies were nice to look at but they lacked his maturity, his calculated observations of everything around him, and his seemingly innate ability to look directly into my soul. To know what I was thinking and feeling before even I did.
Maybe I'd date again once I no longer felt a heart-shaped hole in my chest. But I knew I'd only compare anyone else to him. The one great love of my life who would only remember me as a cheating whore.
After two weeks of accepting my new reality, trying to immerse myself in my work but really just going through the motions, something changed.
"Aubrey?" Bella called. "Someone in the tasting room is here to see you."
I dared to hope for one moment but quickly crushed it. She would've said his name if it was him, and wouldn't have sounded so bored.
Surprisingly, Bella backed off and maintained respectful boundaries during my whirlwind romance with Logan after she realized I was dating him. I guess it was part embarrassment at her confession to me and also part putting on her big girl panties. She was also extremely nice when I came back to work after our break up. I was certain the rumors were flying then. Either way, I appreciated her not starting drama.
In any case, who would want to come see me?
I entered through the side door and saw an ordinary-looking man I didn't recognize waiting for me.
"Hi, I'm Aubrey," I said, extending my hand.
"Aubrey, I'm Joe." He accepted my hand and offered a polite smile.
"What can I do for you, Joe?"
"I'm told you're the person to talk to about barrels."
I raised an eyebrow, my interest piqued. "Yes?"
"I run a business making art and furniture out of used barrel staves. But I've been hoarding a bunch of untouched barrels at my studio. Rather than throw them away, I was wondering if my local brewery could put them to good use."
I scratched the back of my head. Without Logan to pump
money into the brewery, Marty got even tighter on the reins of our supply budget.
"Well, what kind of condition are they in?" I asked.
"They're perfect. I've kept them hydrated because I need the wood flexible for my building projects. Maybe just a little dusty from sitting in storage, though."
I bit my lip, feeling even more tempted but cautious. Finding perfectly intact barrels was extremely rare. This guy could be pulling my chain but I knew a good barrel when I saw one.
"And what kind of barrels?" I asked with folded arms across my chest, trying my best to look like a hard sell.
"All kinds. Red and white wine, some bourbon and whiskey. I even got a few tequila barrels."
"That's quite a collection. How'd you get them all?"
"Winery clearances over the years. I'd pick up what they were going to throw away. Over time they've just accumulated."
I nodded. Now came the hard question. "And how much were you looking to get for them?"
"Nothing."
My eyebrows shot up. "What?"
"I want to give them to you," he said with a straight face. "They're just taking up space in my studio. I'm not looking to make a buck, just don't want to waste them."
He seemed to know what he was talking about, so he had to know that breweries paid upwards of $200 per barrel. But if he was dead-set on giving them away, I wasn't about to tell him that.
"Tell you what," he said, sensing my surprise and hesitation. "Why don't you come out to my studio after work and see them for yourself?"
He wrote down the address for me, which I recognized as being in a new business subdivision not far from the brewery.
"I'll come look," I tentatively agreed. "But if they're shitty or magically not free when I get there, there's no deal."
"Understood," he said with a smile. "I promise you won't be disappointed, Aubrey."
I tried to nod coolly, but inside I was beaming. If I could seriously source free barrels in perfect condition, my projects could be done at a fraction of the cost.
I realized it was the first time I felt truly happy and excited in weeks.
Big Bad Boss: A Bad Boy Billionaire Romance Page 14
