Page 98 of Without You

Brody

Katie looks like she’s going to be sick. “Of me? Why? What kind of pictures?”

“Pictures that shouldn’t be online.”

“Like… weird pictures of me that look ugly or something worse like… naked pictures?” she whispers. She looks at a spot on the wall and her eyebrows furrow. “But wait. How would there be naked pictures of me online?” she asks herself a good fucking question.

Johnny and Chad share another look that tells me naked pictures is exactly what they found of my girl and I come unglued. “Are you fucking kidding me?!” I shout, kicking a chair across the floor.

Chad winces. “Not naked, but the pictures are... you shouldn’t look. There’s something else, too, that’s where the nudity…”

Rage burns within me and I interrupt him, growling, “I need to see.”

“No, you don’t, man,” Johnny says, placing a hand on my arm. “You really don’t.”

“Well, I do! If they’re pictures of me, I need to see what’s going on!”

“Not you, either.”

“Cut the shit,” I growl. “Give me a phone now.”

Katie looks shocked, irritated, and definitely more than a little scared at what we’ll find. I’m settling on anger. It’s working for me and I haven’t even seen the photos yet.

“Hand to God, if one of you two sons of bitches don’t hand over a phone and show me what the fuck is going on, I’ll beat both your asses.”

Chad gestures to Johnny who sighs heavily. “You realize your reluctance to hand it over only makes me more on edge, right?”

Johnny nods but looks intently, wanting me to see their side of why they’re holding back. “You gotta understand we’re trying to protect you.”

“Got that. But you gotta understand I’m trying to protect my girl but I can’t protect her if I don’t know what I’m protecting her from.”

“I want it on record that we warned you. It’s paparazzi and they’re notorious for being asshats.”

“Why would paparazzi be taking pictures of me?” Katie asks in a shaky voice.

Johnny finally relents, dropping my phone in my outstretched hand. “You’ll see.”

“What am I searching?”

“Her name.”

My head flies up and I pierce him with a hard look. “They know Katie’s name?”

Chad rubs the back of his neck. “Yeah. I have a theory but…”

I type in Katie Landers into my search history and the results that pop up are confusing at first but quickly shift to disturbing and scary as hell.

“Brody?” Katie says in a quiet voice that breaks my heart. “What’s going on?”

I cup her cheek with my hand and thread my fingers through her silky hair, leaning down to give her a soft kiss. “Let me look first, okay? I don’t want…” I don’t even know how to finish that sentence. What don’t I want? Right now? A lot of things. Starting with this problem not even existing.

Chase Stanton off the market?

There’s a picture of Chase kissing Katie in front of a café. I assume this is the day that he changed her tire. I can’t even see Katie’s face in this one, but Chase’s is visible as he bends low, hovering over Katie. Included with the photo is a small article about how the “couple” was spotted having breakfast together but left in separate vehicles after an “intimate encounter”. Her name is added as an edit two days after the original post, adding that sources have confirmed the woman in the photo is Katie Landers of Benton, Tennessee.

Chase Stanton’s new love interest looks to be a hometown girl.

A picture of Katie walking into the salon, a cup of coffee in her hand, completely oblivious to the fact that someone was taking a picture of her. The article that followed explained that Katie Landers is a massage therapist in Benton, Tennessee, and whoever wrote the article wonders if that means Chase gets personal massages NSFW (not safe for work). Asshats.

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