Page 82 of Strut

“Then do it,” Rhys ordered, rolling his eyes. “That’s the last thing we need. Jesus Christ, what are we going to do about this arsehole?”

I shook my head and threw a worried glance to Hunter, then back to Rhys. “I don’t want to put you, Kip, or your business at risk, Rhys. We thought you might have some suggestions, that’s all, since it doesn’t look like I can do anything official.

“Hell yeah, we do.” Kip leaned forward, elbowing Rhys out of the way. “We’re gonna fucking nail this dipshit’s balls to the wall.That’sour first suggestion, starting by seeing if we can shake loose any other people he’s done this to. We need to put pressure on this arsehole so he backs off. If there’s not enough evidence to charge him, we can at least raise some questions, right? Make things a bit more uncomfortable in his world.”

“Kip,” Rhys warned.

But Kip’s eyes gleamed. “You know I’m right. It’s just like Gloria, last year.” He pulled his chair forward and knocked on the desk. “I hereby call this council of war to order.”

Rhys eyed Kip warily. “You’re fucking scary when you get like this, you know that right?”

Kip waggled his brows but there was a hard edge of anger to his expression that gave me pause. “Pricks who think they can get away with this shit make my fucking blood boil.” His suspiciously shiny gaze slid from the screen.

“We need to keep Darcy’s name out of it,” Hunter insisted. “We can’t give the arsehole any ammunition to accuse Alec of harassment or slander.”

Kip looked back. “Who are we targeting the campaign at?”

Hunter answered, “Models, but it’s the fashion industry as a whole. If it goes broader, then great.”

“I want people in our business to start talking about this shit.” I shrugged. “After our performance at the lake today, gossip is going to spread like wildfire. If I can raise a question about sexual harassment in my social media, a MeToo, then people might just connect the two.”

Kip nodded. “Exactly. How about you let Rhys and I work up a post? It will originate on your account to make sure the connection is made, and then we’ll line up some sharing to get the ball rolling. I can do that for you if you give me your details. But fair warning, I’d avoid checking any threads once it’s out.” Kip shot me a pointed look. “Not all the comments are going to be positive. Let Hunter screen them for you.”

My gaze jerked to Hunter and he tightened his grip on my hand. “Sure.” The snowball was gathering and the reins were slipping out of my hands. I stamped down the panic.

But my discomfort hadn’t gone unnoticed, judging by the frown on Kip’s pretty brow. “I’ll run everything by you, Alec. I promise,” he reassured. “Let’s aim for tomorrow to get a post out.”

I asked the question everyone had to be thinking. “But why would anyone pay any attention to what I say? I’m hardly a big name. Hell, I’m barely sticking my head above the water.”

“You’re right. Industry people might not pay any attention. It depends who picks it up,” Rhys answered softly. “That’s always the risk. The question is whether you want to try, regardless of the outcome? Is it about them or you?”

I thought about that and my determination steeled. “It’s about me. If they don’t want to listen, fuck ’em. I want to do something. And if this has even a chance of putting some questions out there, then yes, I want to try.”

Rhys held my gaze. “I wish I’d had your bravery. Most men don’t talk about it at all. And if this changes something for even one person out there, that’s a win, right?”

I blinked hard and nodded, then smiled into those deep-brown eyes. “Yeah, that’s a win.”

“Hey.” Tim turned to me. “What about Marco’s friend? That model who said Darcy had been a bit handsy with him in Rome. Maybe Marco still has his number. He might be willing to talk about it.”

“Rome?” Hunter reached for his beer and turned to me. “Remember I said there was a guy Darcy accused of stalking him in Rome? What if he wasn’t stalking Darcy at all? Maybe Darcy did the same thing to him to shut him up?”

“You mean, shift the blame?” Rhys sat forward on his seat. “Yeah, that could be worth checking out.”

Tim studied me. “Do you want me to talk to Marco, and maybe the others as well?”

I rubbed my hands up and down my thighs and chewed on my lip. Tell my flatmates? Tell the guys I competed for jobs with? Jesus, I may as well take an ad out and blast all the dirty details on the front page ofVoguein capital letters. Half of them would probably be secretly happy to see me out of the way.

Is this what I really want?God, what the fuck was I doing? Darcy was right. My career wasn’t going to survive this.

“Alec?”

When I didn’t answer, Hunter simply stood and took my hand, pulling me to my feet. “Come with me, baby. You lot talk amongst yourselves.”

With shaking hands and a hammering heart, I followed Hunter into the bedroom. He sat me on the bed and squatted at my feet, his hands on my knees. “Hey.” He tipped my chin up to look at him. “You don’t have to do this, Alec. Remember what I said? If it’s too much, we stop. You’ve got nothing to prove here, and Rhys knows that better than anyone.”

I knew he was right, but it didn’t stop the bile churning in my stomach. I drew a deep breath and ran my fingers through his dark, choppy hair and down the side of his face to that field of coarse scruff that had me itching between my legs. My inner thighs burned red after just a couple of weeks. The makeup artists were rolling their eyes and pulling out their concealer, but I just wanted more.

“I know exactly what just went through that filthy mind of yours.” He shot me a wicked grin.

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