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  “If it’s the money—”

  “Don’t even think about it, Gage. I’m not discussing money with you yet. It’s bad enough you let me stay in your house and don’t let me contribute to anything, not even the groceries. If you so much as mention helping me with a car, I’ll hurt you.” She turned back to her fried rice and scooped another bite.

  Gage leaned back in his chair, having finished eating before her as usual. He spotted a package amongst her pile of mail and pulled it free of the stack.

  Kayla’s gaze lifted. She jumped to her feet and yanked the package from his hands so fast, he was startled. She stomped to the trash can and tossed the fatter-than-normal envelope into the bin.

  “What the hell?” Gage sat up straighter.

  Kayla paced.

  “Kayla? What’s the package? And why are you tossing it without looking at it? Shit. You didn’t even open it. How do you know who it’s even from?”

  Kayla turned toward him, her hand running through her long hair on top. “Leave it alone, Gage. Please. For me.”

  He stood. “What? Are you serious?”

  “Yes.” She stood her ground between him and the trash, visibly trembling. “Please.”

  He narrowed his gaze. He didn’t want to get crazy stupid angry and scare her with his actions, but she was out of her mind if she thought he could drop something like this without a word. He stood very still for a long time, reining in his frustration and dragging his hands through his hair in much the same way she had done. Finally, he took a deep breath when he knew he could be reasonably calm. “Kayla, talk to me.”

  “Gage, I’m begging you to let this go.”

  “And I’m telling you there’s no fucking way.”

  She met his gaze, her upper lip trembling. Her eyes glazed with tears before she wiped them away and turned her face to the floor.

  Gage was on her in an instant, pulling her into his embrace and wrapping his arms around her. “Baby.” He rocked her gently, staring at the ominous trash can behind her back, knowing instinctively he was not going to like what was in that package.

  He decided the best thing to do would be to separate her from the source of her obvious stress. He led her away from the kitchen with an arm around her shoulders. When he reached the couch, he sat, taking her with him and settling her on his lap.

  She leaned into him, making him hope there was a possibility this would not go as badly as he thought.

  He thought wrong.

  Kayla sobbed against him. She lifted her face and clutched at his T-shirt. “I’m so sorry.” Tears ran down her face.

  Gage swallowed fear. He wasn’t going to like this. And he wished for a moment he could undo the existence of the package and go back to the way things had been right before he touched it.

  “I-I—” She nearly hyperventilated trying to catch her breath and get a full word out. “I’m such a bitch. I didn’t want you to know.”

  She wasn’t making any sense, and he stiffened, waiting for her to say more. When she didn’t continue, he lifted her chin and looked her in the eye. “Tell me.”

  She inhaled slowly and pushed the breath out. “Simon’s parents have been blackmailing me for two years.”

  “What?” The word popped out fast as though he hadn’t understood her correctly even though she’d been very clear. He held her away from his chest and looked her in the eye. “How? Why?”

  She trembled. “They have…videos…of me…” Her voice fell to a near whisper as Gage began to shake. His head pounded at her admission. That fucking asshole.

  “Kayla. Tell me everything. And do it now before I explode.”

  She sniffled. “I’m sorry, Gage. I never wanted you to know.”

  “Why, baby?” He tried to calm his voice at the very least.

  “Why? Do you have any idea what’s on those videos?” She jumped from his lap and backed away.

  He had a pretty good idea of course.

  “Simon… He…” She straightened her spine and twisted around in a circle as though looking for answers. And then she faced Gage again. “He fucking taped me. Apparently dozens of times.”

  Gage gritted his teeth. He didn’t move. If he did, he was afraid he would throw something across the room.

  “I had no idea he’d done it so often,” she continued, her voice shaking. “But apparently he got his rocks off watching me fight against him. So, he taped me while he beat me. He taped me while he fucked me. He taped me in the shower. He had fucking surveillance all over the apartment, and I never knew.” She stiffened, her hands fisted at her sides. “I’m so fucking stupid that I didn’t notice fucking cameras everywhere in my tiny fucking apartment.”

  She seethed with anger. It rolled off her in waves, making Gage calm by default. There was no reason to be furious on her behalf. His sweet Kayla was angry enough for both of them. And she was the one who starred in the videos. Not him. And his poor girl had endured two years of torment as a result.

  She stomped around the room now. “I thought about telling you ten thousand times. But I didn’t have the guts. And I didn’t want you to intervene.”

  “Why, baby?”

  She stopped and faced him. “Because if I stop sending his parents the money, they will send my embarrassment to every social media venue on the planet. They’ve even threatened to send the disks to various porn sites.” Her voice rose until she was screaming. When she finished, she sank to the floor in tears.

  Gage jumped up then and came to her. He wrapped his arms around her shaking body and pulled her close. He kissed the top of her head and amazingly convinced himself to calm the fuck down. She needed him. She didn’t need him to act like a raging lunatic. She needed him to hold her and get her through this fucked-up thing.

  When her sobs turned to whimpers and then sniffles, he lifted her off the ground and carried her back to the couch. He still held her tight, stroking her hair away from her face. He waited to speak when he knew she was calm enough to hear him. “I love you, baby.”

  Kayla inhaled sharply and cried some more.

  Thor wandered in from outside and plopped down next to his distressed woman, clearly feeling her pain and hating it as much as Gage did.

  He rocked her shaking body as she let it all out. Two years of dealing with this alone. Two years of catering to these fucked-up humans who thought they could wring every dime from his woman. It stopped today. He would do everything in his power to put an end to this insanity and get Kayla free of these assholes.

  “I love you,” he repeated. “And we’ll work through this.”

  “How?” She lifted her gaze. “Don’t even fucking sit there and tell me to stop sending them money, because the risk is tremendous.” A tremor shook her frame. He could only imagine what was on those DVDs.

  Gage stroked her back. “Baby, you can’t live your life this way. You must have been on edge for the last two years, waiting for a ticking bomb to go off.”

  She nodded.

  “Let me help you. We’ll find a way.” He hugged her against him again. “First thing we need to do is call Chief Edwards and get his advice.”

  She pushed away from him, shaking her head. “No. Gage. God, no. Chief Edwards is like a father to me. This would kill him.”

  “I know, baby.” He kept his voice calm. “But he knows you better than anyone, and we need his help. I work at the police academy, but I’m not a cop. I don’t know how things like this should be handled. We have to bring him in and get help. He’ll know what to do. You don’t have to live this way.”

  She stared at him.

  “Trust me, Kayla. Please.”

  After a long pause, she nodded, but new tears fell.

  His chest ached for her. How many things would happen to open that festering wound again and again? Dozens over the next few days probably, but the blackmail had to stop.

  •●•

  Kayla sat curled up on the couch, her knees against her chest, a blanket tucked around her as she waited f
or the chief of police to arrive. Thor sat at her feet, his head propped on her legs, watching her. Gage had called Chief Edwards and asked him to come to the house. It was a Saturday morning. The man didn’t work on Saturdays usually. But Kayla knew he would drop everything and move heaven and earth if she asked.

  She still trembled as though she had a fever. Nothing would keep the images from her mind. She hadn’t seen more than a few minutes of the DVDs, but it didn’t take any imagination to know what was on them. She’d lived those home movies personally. Every single one.

  Chief Edwards arrived, his knock making her flinch.

  She listened as Gage opened the door and whispered to her closest friend in the world. She couldn’t hear the words, but she didn’t need to. Moments later, the older man kneeled in front of her, took her in his arms, and gave her a tight hug. “Why didn’t you come to me, Kayla?”

  Tears fell again. “I didn’t want anyone to know.” She heaved for air. “It’s bad. Worse than you can imagine. I never wanted you to know about what I endured. I was so stupid to fall for that bastard, and I’ve paid dearly for so many years.” Her voice lowered to a whisper. “I’m tired, Chief Edwards. So tired.” She leaned her head back on the arm of the couch and didn’t even bother to wipe away the line of tears running across her cheek.

  “I bet you are. Let’s figure this out and put a stop to it. Now. It ends today. Right now.”

  She nodded, having no faith anyone could truly help her. But even with all the pain she felt, amazingly a weight had lifted in its wake. Her chest felt lighter. The two men closest to her in the world cared enough to handle this. She didn’t really believe they could prevent the inevitable. But the fact they were willing to try gave her hope. “There’s a pile of letters in my condo. Top shelf in my closet. Blue shoe box.”

  Gage sat next to her. “I’ll get them, baby.” He set a hand on her thigh and squeezed.

  “How much money have you sent them?” Chief Edwards asked.

  Kayla explained the thousands of dollars she’d sent to Simon’s parents in the last twenty-four months. She had no idea how many disks they had, but each month they sent her one DVD in exchange for payment. Each month they also sent a note warning her what they would do if she ever went to the police or stopped paying them.

  Kayla had only watched the first few minutes of the first couple of disks they sent, enough to ensure herself they weren’t fucking with her. They were pissed that Simon had died before signing divorce papers, leaving them without a dime and Kayla with all his DIC payments, Dependency and Indemnity Compensation. Pissed was too mild a term, actually. They were psychotic lunatics who would stop at nothing to humiliate Kayla over and over until she either died or the DVDs ran out.

  She’d considered going to the police, and almost told Chief Edwards on more than a few occasions, but every time she pictured her naked, exposed, violated body slapped all over social media, she kept her mouth shut. She’d spent countless hours trolling the Internet to make sure the Bollings kept their word. She’d even gone so far as to hit several sex shops and peruse the video aisle to make sure she wasn’t featured on any of the covers.

  Gage left her with Chief Edwards for just long enough to run to her house and grab the box of letters. When he came back, she was still lying in her tight ball answering the unending line of questions from her boss and friend. Her neck hurt. Her arms hurt. Hell, her entire body felt like it had been beaten with giant balls of hail, and she’d been caught outside in a storm being pelted to death by the chunks of ice.

  When Chief Edwards thought he had all the information he needed, Gage lifted her off the couch and carried her to the bedroom. He set her on the mattress as gently as she’d ever known him to be. “Stretch out some, baby. You’re gonna ache later.”

  Kayla unfolded as he pulled the covers up to her chin and tucked her in tight. He stepped to the bathroom and returned with two ibuprofen and a glass of water. He held her head up for her to swallow. And then he stroked her hair, sitting on the side of the bed until sleep graciously sucked her under.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Gage paced a hole in is living room while Chief Edwards went over the pile of letters Kayla had saved. There was also a pile of disks in the bottom of the box that made Gage cringe. He retrieved the envelope from the trash can and added it to the stack.

  “Jesus.” Chief Edwards was pissed, at least as pissed as Gage. He kept sliding his reading glasses on and off his face until Gage thought he would surely break that pair.

  They managed to keep their voices down so Kayla could rest, but barely.

  “I can’t believe she kept this from me.” Gage paced.

  “Oh, I can. I’m sure one look at those tapes and it would be crystal clear.”

  Gage would never in this lifetime open one of those disks, but he would forever be haunted by the possible images they contained. “How much of this did you know?” he asked Chief Edwards.

  Chief Edwards leaned back in his chair. “Nothing about the extortion, if that’s what you mean. I did know about her marriage to this asshole and most of the details about her divorce proceedings and then his death. She contacted me from Alabama after she left the Bollings, and I helped arrange for her to come home.”

  Gage watched the pain on Chief Edwards’ face as he spoke, the same pain Gage had felt since Kayla had opened up to him about Simon. Chief Edwards had lived with that for two years, six if he worried about her the entire time she was gone also.

  “Got to call this in to the local police in Alabama now.” Chief Edwards stood. He pulled his cell from his pocket. “If we’re lucky, they can head out to the Bollings’ home and arrest them within the hour. There’s enough evidence here to lock them up for a long fucking time. I just wish Kayla had realized she had other options sooner than now. That poor girl has been through more than most women could handle in a lifetime.”

  Gage agreed. And he also knew she was the strongest woman he’d ever met for surviving years of torture and abuse followed by years of extortion and threats. It was a good thing Nevada was not close to Alabama, or he would probably have stomped to those mother fuckers’ house and killed them with his bare hands.

  Things moved fast. By the end of the day, the Bollings were in custody and their house ransacked for any evidence. Unfortunately, as stupid as those idiots were, they had covered their asses concerning the disks. The police in charge of the case found absolutely nothing inside the house, and the Bollings weren’t cooperating with authorities. They insisted they knew nothing and hadn’t ever bothered “that poor girl.”

  The rage that boiled beneath the surface made Gage antsy. It wasn’t as though the couple would be set free without physical evidence from their house. Hell, there was enough evidence on Gage’s kitchen table to light a bonfire. However, it would certainly have been tidier if they’d fucked up a little more and had the disks in the house.

  The rest of Saturday and all of Sunday were tense. Kayla sat curled in a ball on the couch staring at nothing. She chewed her lip for so long, Gage kept cupping her face and tugging the poor flesh loose. He gave her space, only encouraging her to eat and drink, but she said little. All she did was sit and stare at nothing and occasionally wipe a line of tears from her face.

  Thor understood Kayla better than anyone. That dog was sharp as a whip. He spent the entire day curled up next to Kayla, his jaw on her leg, as though ready to pounce if anyone upset her. He even followed her to the bathroom.

  Gage ached for her, but she needed time to process what had happened. He imagined she’d spent the majority of the last two years stuffing her feelings deep inside and ignoring them. A coping mechanism.

  “Come to bed, baby,” he prodded Sunday night.

  She nodded and lifted herself off the couch as though she weighed four hundred pounds.

  It was early. Barely nine o’clock. Gage held her in his arms and stroked her face as they snuggled under the covers. “It’s going to be okay,” he reassured. />
  “How do you know? You can’t be sure of that.” She lifted her face, her eyes watery and wide. “Until the police find those disks and destroy them, I can’t rest.”

  “I understand, baby. And believe me, I agree. And the local police are doing everything in their power to locate the disks.”

  They’d grilled Kayla for any possible solution. She knew nothing. As far as she was aware, the Bollings had no safety deposit box or secret safe anywhere. They lived so far from town they didn’t even have friends. She’d learned from her time with Mrs. Forester that most people didn’t like the Bollings and steered clear of them. They had one other son, older, but Kayla had never met him. He lived somewhere else in the South.

  Gage wished he could jump on a plane and head straight for Alabama, but he would never leave Kayla to do so, and furthermore, he wasn’t a cop.

  Thor leaped onto the bed and snuggled in on Kayla’s other side. Normally Gage didn’t let the dog sleep on the bed when both he and Kayla were there, but Kayla seemed to calm every time Thor touched her, so he pulled her closer, scooted them across the mattress, and let Thor claim his spot.

  Kayla’s heart rate slowed with Thor at her back. Her breathing evened out as she leaned against Gage and fell asleep. For the first time in two days, she slept without jerking awake in a panic or flinching her muscles in her sleep.

  Gage hardly slept, preferring to watch her rest and play with her gorgeous blonde curls. He brushed them back against the pillow so many times, it was a wonder he didn’t have a handful of her hair.

  He finally closed his eyes and rested, only to jolt awake some time later, instinctively knowing he was alone in the bed. He sat up quickly and scanned the room. Kayla wasn’t in sight, but he could hear the shower running.

  The clock showed seven thirty. He crawled out of bed and headed for the bathroom. He smiled when he found Thor lying next to the shower door, his head on his front paws.

  Kayla turned and smiled at him through the glass door.

  “You feel better, baby?”

  “Yes. Thank you.” She shut off the water and stepped from the shower.