“You son of a bitch!” I yell as I punch the asshole in the nose.
I get a few good hits in before Jagger pulls me off. I know I shouldn't have gone after him, but I couldn't help myself. I knew he'd still be in the damn quad, acting like he is the hottest thing on campus, but the joke’s on him. The crowd around him doesn't disperse as I expected it to. Instead, they all stick around for the show. I'm sure they think it will be a doozy.
"You think you can spread lies about me and I wouldn't find out?"
His face pales when he looks over my shoulder at Jagger holding me back. I fight against him, but it's no use. He won't let me go. If I know Jagger at all, he's going to make it his mission to ruin Martin. Not only will he beat his ass for the second time, but he will also make sure he never comes near me again…and has to talk through a straw.
Yeah, I don't feel sorry for him. He fucking deserves it.
“I have no idea what your crazy ass is talking about,” he groans. “I didn’t do anything.” He wipes at his bleeding nose. He’s lucky that was all I did to him. I should have gone for the balls.
"You're telling everyone that you made a video of us," I spit out. Jagger still won't release his hold on me, and I'm pretty sure he's doing it for my benefit. He would rather do the dirty work than have me do it. He's an ass like that. I want to make this asshole pay for the lies he's spreading.
As Martin opens his mouth, Jagger says, "I’d suggest you think really hard before you lie about it.” I can hear the threat in his words. I hope like hell he beats the crap out of him again. "Don't think I've forgotten about you."
Martin pales. He looks around the crowd to see if any of his little friends are going to back him up in this fight. "I… I…," he stutters. I wonder if he's crapping his pants right now. I know that if I were on the other end of the stare I'm sure he's receiving, I'd be terrified.
"Sorry. I didn't hear what you were trying to say," I growl.
"There is a video,” he finally says, looking to the ground. I see red. There is no way there’s a video. I would have known.
"Give it to me," Jagger demands.
I feel my whole body shudder as I think about what this could mean. If he has a video, who has seen it already? Oh, my god. I think I'm going to be sick.
“I don’t have it.” His voice breaks. My attention turns back to him. “I gave it to some guy. He said he needed it for leverage. I didn’t need it, so…” He shrugs.
Jagger releases me and walks over to him, punching him right in the jaw. Martin falls to the ground. Jagger bends down to whisper something to him before he stands back up and turns toward me. He grabs my hand and leads me back to the parking lot.
He doesn't say a word or stop until we are standing in front of his bike. He gives me a helmet and says something to Dax, but I’ve tuned them both out. Why does it seem like my life is spiraling out of control right now? How the hell did everything get so messed up?
I go through the motions until we get to his apartment. He doesn't try to get me to talk, and part of me is glad for that. I don't know what to say. I sure as hell am embarrassed, though. Maybe my brother was right. Maybe I am just a whore.
He forces me to take a seat at the island in his kitchen, handing me a wine glass full of red wine. "Take a drink,” he murmurs before grabbing another glass and filling it for himself. He takes a sip before setting it back down and taking the seat next to me. "I'm going to handle this. I’m pretty sure I know who has the video and I will get it. I don't care what I have to do to make sure I have all the copies of the damn thing. I will protect you."
I nod. "Do you think he would take a video? Is it legit?" My voice cracks and I feel like crying, even though I know it won't do anything.
“I don’t know. I would have to see it first. It could have been edited to make it look like you.”
He grabs his phone out of his pocket and dials one of the guys. I can hear Beck’s voice come over the line.
"I need you guys to get over to my place. We have a little situation we need to deal with.” It sounds like Beckett agrees before the line goes dead and Jagger sets his phone down. Laying my head on his shoulder, I just stare off. My mind’s running a few hundred miles an hour. I know that once I close my eyes, I'm going to have dreams of that damn video and what people are probably saying about me.
It doesn't take long for the guys to show up. As soon as they walk through the door, they start throwing out questions. "What the hell is so damn important? We had a fucking lead on where Ridge is hiding out," Maddox says, throwing himself onto the couch. He looks over the back of the sofa at us, but he doesn't move from his spot.
“There is a video out there of Bresin having sex.” Jagger sounds almost pained as the words fall from his lips. I hate that I’m the cause. I should be the one helping him, not the other way around.
“What the fuck do you mean someone has a damn video of Bresin? She doesn’t do that shit,” Maddox says, brows furrowed. I can’t help but laugh a little. He’s so cute to think that I don’t have sex when they clearly know otherwise. The last week could attest to that. They know I’ve been staying here since the shit with my brother went down.
"Oh, for fuck’s sake, Mad. Like these two aren't having sex every night,” Beckett says, rolling his eyes. "We sure as hell know we aren't pulling any bitches together, so he must be getting it from somewhere."
"Can we not talk about my sex life? We have to get the fucking video that the little prick gave away." Jagger slams his hands down on the island
“Who has it now?” Maddox asks, getting up from the couch and making his way to the fridge.
"Some tool named Jackson Abrams." I feel the blood drain from my face at the mention of his name. If Martin gave Jackson that video, who knows what he might do with it. I grip the counter as I become lightheaded. Jagger's arm snakes around me, keeping me upright. "When I went to pick up Bresin from class, Jackson walked up. He wanted to talk to her, but I wasn’t going to let him near her. I didn’t know who he was, but now that I do, I’m going to take that bastard down.”
“What would he do with the video?” Beck questions.
“He wanted to blackmail Bresin. They want to use her to make us pay for something we did."
They all look at each other. I have no idea what they could possibly be thinking right now. What could they have done to piss off Jackson and his merry band of misfits?
"Should we bring in some reinforcements?"
Beck's question catches me off guard. What kind of reinforcements could he possibly be talking about? They've always handled their own problems. If they couldn’t, our lawyers did.
“I can call. They wanted more from me anyway. This can be their return.”
I stare at Jagger, trying to figure out what the hell he’s even talking about. Who called and wanted more? What did they want? God, I feel like they are talking circles around me.
“Yeah. At least we’d be getting something out of what we are giving.” They all nod.
I just stare at them. Seriously? Are they not going to say anything more than that? Jagger kisses me on the head before getting up and taking his phone into his room, shutting the door behind him.
“What was that? Who is he calling?” I ask, looking between Beck and Mad.
Beck holds his hands up in surrender. "No, I'm not going there. You want to know, you need to ask him."
I look at Mad, who shrugs. “Sorry, girly. I’m not going to spill that shit. Ask your man.”
I give them both dirty looks before getting up and walking into the bedroom to hear him finishing up the call.
“Yeah. I’ll do it now. Find the tapes, all copies. Then we will be square.” He hangs up and looks at his phone for a moment.
“What deal did you just make?” My mouth goes dry as I think of a good explanation, but nothing comes to mind.
His eyes land on me. He stares for a few minutes before he finally says anything. “I made a deal with someone to get the tapes. They will ensure we stay clean of everything, and we get the tapes back for a price I already paid.”
“How much?” I ask, swallowing the bile back.
He sighs and rubs a hand over his face. “One hundred and fifty-six thousand.”
My jaw drops. “Where in the hell are you going to get that kind of money?” I swear, I think my head is going to explode right now. Where does he keep that amount of money? Is he really serious about this?
“Don’t worry about it. I have the money. It isn’t something I’m concerned about.”
I just stare at him like he’s lost his mind. He has that kind of money?
“You have that kind of cash? What’s going on, Jagger?” My voice comes out high and whiny. As much as I hate the fact I sound like that, I can’t stop thinking about the amount of money he’s about to throw away for these videos.
“Bresin, I told you I'd protect you, and that's what I'm doing. The money doesn't matter. Making sure you are safe is all I care about. Let me deal with this. Don’t worry about where the money comes from."
Shock. I am in complete shock. How does he think I can stay calm through all of this and not know what is going on?