Page 70 of Strut

She sighed. “If Darcy makes a formal complaint against you or if word about your behaviour impacts your future bookings, Cage might end their contract with you.”

Alec’s mouth fell open. “What?”

“It’s in your contract, Alec. If your earnings become untenable in terms of your debt to us or there’s a moral code breach, Cage reserves the right to cut you loose.”

“A moral breach?” Alec looked barely able to form the words. “I didnothing.Heassaultedme.”

“So you say,” she said flatly.

Oh, hell fucking no.I grabbed the phone from Alec who was too stunned to stop me. “Now listen up. The only morally corrupt person on this call, Cara, is you,” I told her bluntly.

“Who is this?”

“Hunter Donovan. And I happen to be Alec’s boyfriend.”

There was a sharp intake of breath. “I... I had no idea.”

Of course you didn’t, you bitch.

“I’m also the person who picked him up from that shoot yesterday, and I saw how devastated he was. And I can tell you, right now, after today I’ll be lookingvery, veryclosely at any models you send to my castings. You should be ashamed of yourselfandyour agency. What if it was your son?”

“I’d be telling him the same thing, Hunter. You of all people know how this business works.”

“And if it was your daughter?”

She hesitated.

“Exactly. Trust me, we’ll be talking again, so you better think about what side you’re on.” I looked to Alec to see if he had anything he wanted to add but he shook his head. I ended the call and pulled him close. He shook in my arms, but when I leaned back to check on his face, it was fury, not anguish I saw in those cold blue eyes.

“First up,” he said, staring daggers at me. “You can get your head out of your arse. I amnotSteven. I saw that look on your face when Cara repeated what Darcy had told Berlini. I didn’t cheat on you, and I never will, so don’t you ever doubt me again. Are we good?”

I aimed for a horrified expression and fell short, because yes, just for a fleeting half-second, I’d succumbed to exactly that fear. “I’m sorry. And I do trust you. That was... old stuff.”

“Damn right.” He took my hand and softened his voice. “We’re still new, I get it. Just don’t do it again.” He stared at the phone on the table. “I guess I should be grateful. The bastard kind of solved my dilemma. He made it clear he’s gonna fuck with my career, so I’ve got nothing to lose. Gossip about what he claims I did will travel like wildfire and he’ll probably make sure of it. You’ll come with me to the police?” It was less of a question and more of a demand.

I cradled his face and planted a smacking kiss on his mouth. “Abso-fucking-lutely. He’s clearly worried what you might say, Alec. Maybe no one else has stood up to him like that.”

Alec grimaced. “I know it’s probably a waste of time, but I want his fucking name on a complaint, on record for this, and then you can ring Mel and I’m going to call the Model Cooperative. I’ve heard some of the other guys talk about them, so I looked them up. They advocate for fair treatment and equal opportunity for models, including lobbying against discrimination and sexual harassment. This has to be in their wheelhouse, right? I can’t believe that bastard accusedmeof hitting onhim.” He raised his chin in defiance and I relished the fire in his words and the glimpse of the ballsy Alec I knew.

He took my hand. “Thanks for what you said to Cara. But if she’s right about Darcy taking things further, this could get nasty.”

I cradled his face and looked into his eyes. “It could. But if it means you get a chance at making that bastard’s life uncomfortable, then I’m with you all the way.”

* * *

Three hours later we finally got back to the apartment. The cops, as expected, hadn’t been encouraging about Alec’s chances of getting charges laid, let alone a prosecution, but the one decent detective who’d finally taken his statement promised to open an investigation and interview Darcy before Monday.

When we finally got back to the apartment and collapsed on the couch with a beer, Alec wasn’t as upset as I thought he’d be. Which was more than could be said for me. Incandescent with rage didn’t even touch it, and most of that had little to do with the Darcy fucker thing, and everything to do with the attitude of all but one of the cops we’d encountered in the excruciating process of making the complaint.

Mention the wordsmale modeland then add insexual assault,and Alec was on the receiving end of three hours of incredulity, scepticism, scorn, and even eye-fuckery from one particular cop who was clearly closeted up to his pink eyeballs and took every opportunity to put his hands on Alec in some way while directing us to the interview room. And if he thought his workmates were ignorant about his sexuality, he was dreaming, at least judging by the unflattering sidelong looks he attracted.

Left to stew for over an hour, at one point I’d stormed out and gone off my tree about diversity issues and sexual assault to the nearest cop I could find, while Alec pulled at my sleeve to calm down. It was then that Ronald Green stepped in and everything took a turn for the better. Gay, married, and with a voice like a buzz saw, the detective talked to Alec like he was an actual person who’d been wronged. Go fucking figure.

Ron didn’t dismiss Alec’s bruises as nothing, which was a point in his favour, and he took some photos. He wasn’t hopeful about them carrying any weight, but we’d known that going in. He gave Alec his card and encouraged him to ring with any questions. He also suggested maybe Alec would benefit from talking to someone about what had happened. I was right there with him in that. Finally with the complaint made, it was a matter of waiting to see what happened when Ron interviewed Darcy.

I left Alec on the couch to complete the Model Cooperative online contact form, the only way to get in touch, or so it seemed, and settled for knowing it would likely be Monday before we heard anything back. In the meantime, I called Mel.

She was shocked and furious but also completely unsurprised, which said a lot for the shitty things that happened in this industry. She was pleased Alec was contacting the cooperative, as she apparently knew most of the board members. She wasn’t sure what they’d be able to do without evidence, but they would have sound advice and maybe some legal contacts he could use. Mel also promised to make some calls and to do some digging about Darcy while keeping Alec’s name out of it. She was flabbergasted at Cage’s response, but she also wasn’t surprised.

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