Over an early dinner of fresh fish and large island cocktails, I ask Ellie to clarify what she said earlier on the dock. The sun was beating down hard out there and I’m not entirely sure that I heard her correctly. Did she really say that she wanted go public with what Blake did to her? Go to the police?

“Yes, I do. I wasn’t kidding,” Ellie says, burying her feet further in the sand under the bench. A soft cool breeze comes off the ocean, adding some zest to my already perfect ceviche.

“I don’t want you to do it just for me,” I say. “It won’t change my situation at all.”

“Oh, that’s not why,” she says. “I’ve just been reading the news and I’m really inspired by all of these women coming forward and calling their abusers out on all the shit that they have done to them. Frankly, I don’t really care if no one believes me. I just want it to be out in the open. I want him to be embarrassed over what he did. That’s the least that could happen to him.”

I doubt that he will be embarrassed, but at least he will be uncomfortable. I am almost one hundred percent positive that he will deny that any of that ever happened and try to start a smear campaign against me and what happened at the auction on my yacht. Oh, well. If this is what Ellie wants to do, I’m going to support her. Frankly, she should’ve done this originally. I shouldn’t have let her cover up his crime on my account and I feel like a total shit for even entertaining the notion.

“So, how do I do this?” Ellie asks. “I mean, where do I start? Do I go straight to the police?”

“I don’t really know. But it’s probably best to contact an attorney first. See what they say.”

“I don’t know any attorneys.”

“Feel free to use any of mine. God knows I have enough. We’ll see what they say and then maybe make a statement through them. I think they can contact the police on your behalf but you will have to talk to the cops directly as well. I don’t think you’ll get away with just a statement since you’re planning on pressing charges.”

“That’s okay, I sort of expected that.”

My phone rings. “Oh, I’m sorry, I thought I had turned it off.”

It’s sitting on the bench in between us and Ellie looks down at the screen.

“Leslie PR,” she reads the name that flashes on the screen. “Is she your public relations person?”

I nod.

“Do you mind if I talk to her?”

I shrug. Wow, she’s more serious about this than I had thought.

Ellie picks up the phone, puts Leslie on speaker, and introduces herself. Without letting Leslie get a word in edgewise - and trust me, that’s a pretty hard thing to do - she goes into the story about Blake and what happened back at the yacht. It covers it pretty succinctly, using big brushstrokes, but without leaving any of the important details out. At the end, she tells her that she has talked it over with me and she would like to press charges.

“Really, Aiden?” Leslie asks. “Is this really happening?”

Her voice is a little bit more elated than it probably should be, given the topic of the conversation, but Leslie can’t help but be excited about the latest gossip. And knowing ahead of time that Blake Garrison, the CEO of Owl, is being accused of sexual assault is as juicy as it gets.

“Yes, unfortunately it is.”

“Well, I do wish that you had told me about this sooner, but I understand why you didn’t. You are just like the rest of my clients.”

“Before the Page Six article came out, I thought I could just let this go,” Ellie explains. “Having an auction on your yacht isn’t exactly acceptable behavior for someone who runs a Fortune 500 company, even though my readers seem to be really into the concept.”

“So, everything in that article is true?”

“Yes.” Ellie nods even though Leslie can’t see her. “But now that so many other stories about women who have been assaulted are coming forward and telling the world about them being assaulted, I don’t want to keep this quiet anymore. That man needs to pay for what he has done. I’m not going to be complicit in lying to the world on his behalf. No matter what it costs me.”

I squeeze Ellie’s hand. Her bravery is awe-inspiring. Imagining what Blake did to her on the yacht, the way he took advantage of her, sends hatred coursing through my veins. I hate him. I despise him with every fiber of my being. I want to see him burn. Now I know how incredibly selfish I was in even letting her keep this quiet on my behalf. I didn’t ask her to and I would’ve never asked her not to go to the police, but I didn’t exactly encourage her to come forward. I let her hide away. I let Blake’s horrible deed stay quiet. I helped him bury it and, for that, I will not be able to forgive myself for a very long time.

“So, what do you recommend we do now?” I ask.

Leslie thinks about it for a moment.

“Since you are set on pressing charges, I recommend you, Ellie, file a police report as soon as possible. And retain an attorney.”

I thank her for her time and promise to get in touch soon. She will be the first to know when Ellie is ready to go public with this so that she can use her public relations magic to get the story told right.

“As soon as Blake finds out about this, his people will start an all-out smear campaign against you, Ellie, and Aiden. They will publish the worst things you can imagine about both of you individually and as a couple. I just want you to be ready for that. I need you to prepare yourselves psychologically for that,” Leslie warns.

“We’ll be ready,” Ellie says confidently.

“I will do my best to get ahead of whatever stories that they may come up with, but I want you both to be prepared that there will be stories about you. Discrediting you will be the only way that he can wrangle himself out of this.”

“Do you think you’ll be able to handle this?” I ask Ellie after she hangs up the phone.

“Yes.”

“To take on Blake? And his public relations smear team?”

“Yes. Don’t you think I can handle this?”

“Of course, I do. I just wish I could protect you from all the shit that they’re going to pile on you. But I don’t think I will be able to.”

“I’m a big girl, Aiden.”

“Yes, I know that. But still, I’m not sure you will be prepared for this. I’m not sure I will either.”

I give her a brief peck on the lips. I want to protect her from everything bad that the world will throw at her, but I know that I can’t.

“Let’s not talk about this anymore,” Ellie says, finishing her drink. “I want to have another cocktail, take a walk along the beach with you, and then take you back to your yacht.”

The tone in her voice indicates that she has something sultry in mind for tonight.

“Oh, really?” I ask.

She nods and licks her lips in a sensual way that makes my cock get hard.