by Taryn Belle
Brissoli’s nostrils flared. “Blackmail? You can’t just arrest me for that! You need to build a case—”
“Don’t worry, we will. Invasion of privacy and trespassing isn’t enough to keep you in jail for long, but it’ll buy us enough time to get the blackmail charge to stick—especially after we get ahold of what’s in your suitcases.” Alex leaned in a little closer to Brissoli and lowered his voice. “I’ve heard the prisons around here aren’t quite as fun as the islands themselves.”
The two officers stepped toward the men with handcuffs, placed their hands behind their backs and began reading them their rights. Then one of the officers picked up their suitcases.
“This is bullshit,” Brissoli said, but Alex could tell by his shifty eyes that he was running scared in his head. Beside him, his goon photographer looked like he was about to pass out. “You can’t just take our luggage! You need a search warrant!” Brissoli bellowed.
Alex shrugged. “Maybe you should have done your research. This island was originally built up as a retreat by judges and senior politicians, and several of the families still own homes here. So it’s a lot easier to obtain a search warrant than you might think—especially when one of their sons is on the videos you took.”
“How do you know that?” Brissoli asked suspiciously.
“I don’t. But he was in the background in one of your teasers, and this particular judge isn’t big on taking chances.”
Brissoli gaped at Alex for a moment, and then he fixed him with a death stare. “This won’t work. I’ll be out of here by the end of the day. Be sure and check out the website tomorrow morning.”
Alex ignored him. One of the officers held up a single page with a stamp and signature on the bottom. “Shall we take them in, Mr. Stone?”
“Please,” Dev said with a wave of his hand. As Brissoli sputtered in protest, the officers led the two men around the side of the airport building with Dev and Alex following. Dev had already explained to Alex that with no police station on the island, the luggage would be taken to the customs room to be inspected—a detail Dev had confirmed with the judge earlier that morning.
Once inside the room, one officer opened the luggage, dug through the suitcases and lifted out three laptops and a hard drive. After removing three smartphones from the men, the other officer added the devices to the pile on the table.
Alex opened the first laptop. “I need your password,” he said to Brissoli with his hands poised over the keys.
Brissoli snorted. “I’m not giving you a goddamn thing until I have my lawyer present.”
“Of course that is your right, but I’d think someone like you would prefer to make things easier on himself,” said a man with a soft Barbadian accent as he stepped into the room. Judge Fenty was tall and impressively built, with only a few grays marring his short black hair. “We can take care of this now or we can detain you at the prison on Barbados until your counsel arrives. Either way the result will be the same—your devices will be searched.”
Brissoli glared at the judge, and then his shoulders slumped. He mumbled the password, and after tapping it in Alex quickly located a file named ns party. The screen filled with a series of video clips. Scanning over them, Alex saw the image of Dev’s face over Kiki’s naked shoulder, and then farther down...a dark, grainy image of his own back hunched over Nicola.
He felt like vomiting.
Judge Fenty stood behind him and pointed to one of the videos. Alex clicked on it, and the unmistakable sound of two people heavily engaged in sex filled the room. He clicked it off and watched the judge remove his glasses. “My son doesn’t always make the wisest choices, but for this incident he can’t be blamed. What will it take for you to get everything off the hard drives?” he asked Alex.
“Hours of work. I’ll need all of these devices and access to a landline.”
Fenty nodded. “Keep them as long as you need to.” He turned back toward the door.
“Wait!” Brissoli said in a panicked voice, but the judge was already gone. He looked at Alex. “You’ve got what you need. I’ve cooperated. Do you really want to go to the trouble—”
“Not everything I need,” Alex interrupted, pulling the contract from his back pocket. “I still need your company. Same price as I offered before. More than generous, I think you’d agree, after all that’s gone on here.”
Brissoli looked suspicious again. “If you’re so sure you could send me to prison, why would you still want my website?”
“I don’t. My old man does. And making this official will prevent you from finding a way to sue me.” It was a bluff—not only had he not clued his father in to these recent developments, Alex had his own intentions for the website—but Brissoli didn’t need to know that.
“That’s—”
“What—fair? I know that’s not really your style, Brissoli. So please—don’t let me talk you into anything you’re not comfortable with.” He tucked the contract back into his shorts and nodded at Dev, who pushed open the door to leave.
A minute later the contract was signed.
* * *
Nicola’s iPad sat on the coffee table, its blank screen masking the horrors on the web lurking behind it. She’d just received a string of text alerts on her phone, signaling Moretta’s reconnection to the rest of the world. And now she had to face the worst of her fears—again.
Gathering all of her strength, she swiped the iPad’s screen on and opened Safari. Then she typed in the URL to a website she swore she’d never visit.
She didn’t dare breathe as she watched the site open on her screen and started scrolling down. The headlines sickened her. Leona Bragg Flashes Her Cootch on Beach Vacation; Jack Harrison Is Off the Wagon! Passes Out on Barstool—See His Epic Bail; Why Is Chris Lennon Touching His Daughter’s Butt?
She made it to the bottom of the page. Nothing so far, but she knew she couldn’t afford to relax yet. The videos could come up at any moment—in fact, they were probably being uploaded right now. There was simply no way to stop the churning worry in her belly.
Nicola shut her screen off, wondering for a moment if Alex would get in touch with her when he had some news to share. Would he call her, text her? Or avoid her? Like Kiki had said, a man could only take so much rejection before he shut down. And she had rejected him rather forcefully.
Nicola rose from her seat and walked outside, taking a few gulps of air to try to clear her head. The sun was shining again, out to fool everyone into thinking it was just another day in paradise. But it wasn’t, and Nicola was certain that for her, it never would be again. She thought about the motions of her daily life here—driving her golf cart around, working at the scuba shack and on the boats, going for a drink at Pablo’s, eating dinner at the Palms Inn, going for a hike up the mountain. Each and every one of those places now held memories of Alex. She pictured her life in the coming weeks—her conversations with Kiki and seeing Alex’s brother around the island, a constant reminder of what she’d lost. Even her tutoring sessions with her kids; it was almost impossible to believe that less than a week ago, she had been ending her session with Raia to go on her first date with Alex. So much had happened since then, some of it beautiful and some of it horrible, but all of it made one thing certain: her life here would never be the same again. She could think of no reason to stay—in fact, to do so would be unbearable.
A few years ago Nicola’s oldest brother had moved to Chicago. The two of them had been close growing up, and he’d often told her she was welcome to come and stay with him as long as she wanted.
Yes. It made perfect sense. It was what she needed to do. She couldn’t stay here—she was sure of that. Not with memories of Alex, the man she desperately wanted but was certain she could never give herself to, lurking around every corner.
Nicola went back into her house and picked up her phone. Then she hit the button for her brother’s
number.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
THEIR MISSION WAS ACCOMPLISHED. As the brothers rode the golf cart home in silence, Alex felt the adrenaline buzz of the past hour leaving his body to be replaced by exhaustion and the long, agonizing slide back into his reality.
“What now?” Dev asked, his voice still grim despite their recent triumph.
“A whole lot of work. I still have to get everything off the drives. Call Dad and talk him through shutting down Starfucker’s servers. Not to mention try to explain to him why we just bought a company we’re about to shut down. That ought to be fun.”
Alex crossed his arms over his chest as he looked out at the passing view of the beach, trying to settle his nerves. If he could have one wish right now, it would be that he’d never come here at all. He’d just created a huge mess that he was still cleaning up, his father was going to lose his shit on him, and Dev still seemed furious with him, meaning their relationship was even worse off than it had been when Alex had arrived.
But worst of all, Alex had spent a week with someone he would now compare to every other woman that came into his life, and he knew they were absolutely sure to fall short.
Nicola. He still felt ill at the thought that he’d lost her. He knew she wouldn’t want to hear from him again, so he would send a message through Kiki, letting her know the danger had passed. And then he’d get on a plane tomorrow morning and leave her behind forever.
They were back at Dev’s place. Alex grabbed the electronics from the floor of the cart and wordlessly went into the house, then he dropped everything on the coffee table and went to his bedroom. His rage and grief were threatening to spew out of him, and he needed a moment alone. He shut the door behind him and let out a roar.
“Fuck!” he shouted, slamming the heel of his hand against his wall. He picked up the nearest item, a flip-flop sitting atop his suitcase, and flung it across the room. It hit the door and dropped to the floor, where it rested without judgment. But Alex felt no better.
He walked across the room, pulled his door open again and propelled himself into the warm afternoon air. He could feel the fury bubbling up from his belly to his chest, ready to explode out of his body. He needed to walk...or swim...or think of a way to take a hit out on John Brissoli. Something.
But none of it would change a thing.
He swerved into the living room and snatched the electronics off the coffee table. It was time to get to work.
Once inside the studio, Alex dropped everything onto Dev’s desk and sank down into his chair. Then he picked up his phone, took a deep breath and punched his father’s number.
“Dad.”
“Alex. I’ve been trying to call. Did he sign?”
Alex sighed. “Yeah, Dad, he signed.”
“That’s good news. At the price we agreed on?”
“Yes.”
“Then it’s excellent news,” Devin Sr. said happily. “I hope you’ll have a glass with Dev for me to celebrate.”
Alex rubbed a hand over his face and glanced over at the door as his brother walked in. He used his chair to swivel away from him. “We need to shut the site down, Dad. Immediately.”
A beat of silence. “Pardon me?”
“Shut it down. We have to. It’s a liability, not an asset. We need to clean it up before we can add it to the Echelon brand.”
There was a long pause, and then his father spoke again in a low, bristly voice. “Would you care to explain to me why we would shut down a website that we just spent a fortune on?”
Alex raised his eyes skyward. He could tell his father the truth—that the servers contained video images of both of his sons that had almost ruined them. His father may not like it, but Alex knew that the fact that Dev, his father’s beloved favorite who could do no wrong, was at risk as much as Alex was would probably work to sway him easily. But that wasn’t the real reason the website needed to be killed—far from it.
“Because it’s the right thing to do,” Alex said. “It’s what Mom would have done. She never would have agreed to buy an asset like Starfucker—she would sooner have folded Echelon. But since we have bought it, we need to turn it into something we can live with. And I, for one, can’t sell my soul to leech off people just trying to live their lives.”
There was another longer pause. “I won’t argue with that,” Devin Sr. said tightly. “But I will ask you this—why the fuck did we just buy a cash cow website only to re-create it into something that’s sure to see a drastic drop in revenues? You could have just left it if you felt that strongly about it. We could have had that conversation.”
Alex snorted. “Conversation? I don’t think so, Dad. Ever since I joined the company it’s been, ‘You say, I obey.’ Maybe it is my fault for not pushing back hard enough, but it’s always about the numbers for you.”
“This is not the time—”
“No? Then I don’t know when the time is, but you’re right—right now I’ve got my work cut out for me. I need you to get Gene in tech on the line so I can talk him through what I have in mind.”
“But why the hell—”
“Because someone else would have bought it!” Alex shouted. “If not now then soon, but either way it would have continued! And it’s a fucking travesty, that’s why!”
Dev was in front of Alex now, reaching for the phone. Alex shook his head, but Dev grabbed it from him anyway.
“Dad—it’s Dev. Look, Alex did the right thing. If you want to piss at someone, aim it at me, okay? He’s had enough for one day.”
Alex rubbed at his temples. His brother taking the heat for him—this was a first. If Alex wasn’t so down about Nicola and distracted by the job still ahead of him, it might actually make him happy.
He reached for the first laptop and got to work.
* * *
Alex sighed and stood up to stretch, his legs cramped from sitting. He glanced at his watch: 8:07 p.m. He’d been so absorbed in his tasks that he’d barely noticed the past five hours slip by, but the files were finally securely in the hands of people he trusted.
The door opened, and Dev came into the studio with Kiki trailing behind him. In his hand Dev held a six-pack of beers. He pulled one out of its plastic ring and passed it to Alex. “I believe you’ve earned this.”
Alex took it and popped the tab. “Thanks.”
Dev handed a beer to Kiki, but she shook her head. “I just dropped by to see if there was any news.”
Alex nodded. “It’s all done. Will you let Nicola know?”
“Why don’t you tell her yourself?” Kiki replied.
Alex shook his head dejectedly. “I’d love to, but I’m afraid she made it pretty clear she doesn’t want to see me.”
“So what, dude? You have to go after what you want in life,” Dev said, looking directly at Kiki. Kiki lowered her gaze and turned away from him.
Alex’s eyes darted between the two of them and then he cleared his throat. “Anyway,” he continued, trying to clear the tension in the room. “I doubt she’d take my call. And last time I went to her place it didn’t go so well.”
“She’s not at home,” Kiki said.
“No?”
“No. She needed to get her head on straight. And I bet you can guess where she goes to do that.”
Alex tilted his head at her, and then his face cleared. Of course.
“I have to get going,” Kiki said, turning toward the door after giving Dev one last glance. “Thanks for everything, Alex.” The door closed behind her, and Alex stared at Dev.
“What’s that all about?”
Dev shrugged. “I don’t know. I really dig her, but I guess we got off on the wrong foot, so now she’s shutting me down.”
“Which makes her all the more appealing, right?” Alex asked with a grin.
“Whatever.” Dev took a swig of his beer, and then he ges
tured toward the door. “What are you waiting for? Go after her. And when you get her back—don’t fuck it up again.”
“Thanks for the brotherly advice. I’ll give it some thought,” Alex said, and then he stood up with a smile on his face.
Screw it. What did he have to lose? He had to at least try.
He left the studio. He was going after her.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
A SNORKEL, a pair of secondhand fins, a mask that leaked and an underwater flashlight.
How many times had Nicola taken those very same items down to the beach as a teenager? Her equipment may have changed, but her need to escape into another world had not.
On the dock, Nicola fitted her mask over her face and slipped into the water. It was chilly at this time of the evening, and though she’d already had a swimsuit under her clothes, she hadn’t wanted to take the time to don a wet suit at the scuba shack. She needed her escape, and she needed it now.
There was a small reef a hundred feet or so off the dock, so Nicola headed in that direction. When she arrived, she shined her flashlight down to the underwater world beneath her. There were many fish that were more active at night, and her beam picked out a small octopus curling itself back into its den. A moray eel slithered by. And all around her was the magical bioluminescence created by the tiny organisms called dinoflagellates. She passed an arm through the water to activate it near her eyes, watching as it came to life in a dancing blue cloud.
This was another world.
But the world above water was one where she could only keep running from place to place for so long before starting over again. It had caused her to lose everything—her career, her friends, her self-esteem and any chance at finding love.
She knew that, but it wasn’t enough to hold her here. Right now, more than anything, she needed to leave the memory of him behind.
Alex.
She pictured how his face had looked as she’d turned away from him, all the regret and guilt and caring he had for her. It was so clear. They couldn’t be together—not after everything that had happened, and all they had working against them. It was just too hard.
