It makes me so insane I can’t see straight. It doesn’t matterthat I have lawyers on my side, threatening to sue, ordering takedowns. The pictures are out, and the internet is forever.
The world has seen Fiona exposed. I fucking hate that. I cannot stand the idea of guys looking at her that way. Not withouther permission, without her consent.
A snarling noise comes from deep inside me. And it’s all I can do not to start screaming or fucking crying. Because it’s myfault. All my fault.
The taxi drive is even worse. The motherfucker recognizes me. “Hey, man! You’re Ethan Dexter!”
Like I don’t know my own fucking name. I ball my fists and push them hard into my thighs. Hard enough to stress the musclesthere.
Go. Just go. Get me to Fi.
“You really a virgin, man?” Clueless fuck who’s about to get pummeled chuckles. “Well, not anymore, eh? That’s some sweetpiece—”
“Say another word and you’ll lose your tongue.”
The cabbie blanches, his eyes bugging out. Hell. He might throw me out of the cab, and I’ll be stuck on the side of the fuckinghighway while Fi suffers. I force myself to breathe.
“That’s my lady you’re talking about, all right?”
The cabbie nods, his gaze darting between me and the road in front of him. “Yeah, man. That’s cool. Uh... no disrespectmeant.”
I grind my teeth, trying to calm. “If you could just get me home as quickly as possible.”
“Sure, man. Sure. No problem.”
With that, my talkative cabbie speeds up.
I expected Ivy and Gray to be at my house; I gave Gray the passcode. They’d been closer to Fi. Gray was playing a gamein Atlanta, and Ivy had been visiting her dad with the baby. What I did not expect, though I probably should have, was Fi and Ivy’s dad, Sean Mackenzie—my co-agent with Ivy—to be here.
Shit.
He does not look pleased.
Sean, or Big Mac, as a lot of us call him, used to play point in the NBA. Six foot seven if an inch, he’s long-limbed andgaunt like some sort of modern-day Abe Lincoln. He also has a fierce glare that says he’ll gladly tear me a new one. At thismoment, I might not give a shit, but he’s Fi’s dad. If I have it my way, he’ll be in my life for as long as we’re alive, whichmeans I’d rather be on his good side.
He doesn’t wait for me to set my bag down before launching an attack. “What the fuck did you do, Dexter?” He takes a stepforward as if he might throw a punch.
Gray steps in too. “Easy there, Sean.”
Sean glares and swings his gaze back to me. “I asked you a question.”
“I fucked up.” And it guts me.
“No shit, Sherlock.”
My gaze slides past him to Ivy, who is pale and unusually quiet.
“Fi? She here? Is she...” Shit. I can’t get the words out. Regret is an agony crushing my chest.
She gives me a nod and gestures toward the stairs. “She’s sleeping.”
My bag hits the ground and I move.
“Where the fuck do you think you’re going?” Sean snaps.
“Where I’m needed most.” I don’t look back. “You can bawl me out later.”
Thirty-Nine
