Francesca asked me to be available tomorrow to approve my social media post.I have reservations at a hotel tonight—but I cannot wait to get the hell out of this city.
6
Leah
Dmitri must be a human space heater, because I wake up sweating.It’s fully dark, and the bedroom is quiet.I slide out from under Dmitri’s heavy arm.His T-shirt lies at the foot of the bed where he tossed it.I tug it on so I’m not completely naked as I go to the kitchen for a glass of water.
Moonlight illuminates my path through the cabin.All is quiet save for the ticking grandfather clock at the end of the hall.I make my way downstairs, skipping the third and fifth steps, which creak.
In the kitchen, I get my water.I splash a little on my face to cool my heated skin.I’m wide awake.Maybe I can wake up Dmitri with a blowjob and we can have some more fun.He’s great at exhausting my energy.A tendril of lust unfurls in my lower belly.
On my way out of the kitchen, a glint on the kitchen counter catches my attention.It’s my phone, resting next to Dmitri’s.He hasn’t let me look at it more than once today, and that was only because one of my students texted to reschedule their meeting.
I reach out to grab my phone, then let my arm fall.
I shouldn’t.
I really shouldn’t.There’s a reason he dragged me here to the cabin.
I pause, staring at the innocuous device.How bad could it be?
Oh, fuck it.I won’t be able to sleep unless I look.I’ll only check VideYou to make sure Nicola hasn’t posted anything.I won’t do a search for my own name, or read the comments, or anything like that.Dmitri doesn’t even have to know I looked.
Nicola Johnson has a new post.It pops right up at the top of my feed—I don’t even have to search for it.The algorithm certainly knows where my obsessions lie.
In this video, Nicola looks a lot more put together than she did in the last one.She’s gorgeous, as always.Sophisticated.Glamorous.She’s wearing an evening gown, champagne-colored silk with a plunging neckline.She puts on make-up while she talks.“You know, when someone promises you forever and you have that bond, you don’t mind looking stupid.You know it’ll work out in the end.Obstacles happen.They’re just bumps in the road.Some people are calling me psychotic for even entertaining his apologies.I don’t think there’s anything psychotic about fate.He wants to apologize, so I’m listening.We’re strong together, and we can overcome this obstacle to our relationship.”
Bullshit.There is no way Gage is still dating her.I would’ve known.I’mnotthe other woman.
Disgusted, I’m about to put my phone down when the top-rated comment on her post catches my eye.Leah’s trash.But why are you even bothering with Gage?Don’t you remember what he did to you?
The comment includes a link.
Whatdidhe do to her?Probably nothing.
Before I realize what I’m doing, I click the link.It goes to an article onErrant, one of the more thoughtful and classy celebrity magazines.
Gage Hawthorn’s Secret, Sadistic Side
I snort.I thought this was a classier magazine, but this title doesn’t speak to their reputation.
It has only been four days since news of Gage Hawthorn’s sex tape rocked Hollywood.In that time, a series of truths have come out.It isn’t enough for him to humiliate his lovers in the bedroom; he must also humiliate them outside of it.
“‘Loyalty’ isn’t a word Gage knows,” an anonymous source supplies.
They don’t know him.They published garbage to get more clicks.I scan the article.
“He told me my body is power, and then he—he stripped that power away.”
I gasp.My body is power.Gage said those very words to me.My heart cracks.I thought I was unique…but maybe not.
“He likes to hurt girls.I was in pain and the whole time, he was smiling.”
That happened too, but I liked it.
“He made me think I’m the only one, but there were dozens more.None of us knew about each other.”
The sex tape is only the beginning.No one can forget the first image of the woman standing naked on a desk.Meanwhile, Hawthorne stands in the background, demeaning her.
