Page 81 of Saving Ian Pope

PopWiz Instagram Post

Blind Item #9

The now solo boybander has a new release and music video on tap, but there’s another video that has nothing to do with music that might steal the thunder and reveal his renowned package down under.

Chapter 26

IVY

After we made love, I kissed a clearly exhausted Ian good night and scooted out of bed. Without opening his eyes, he reached for me and squeezed my thigh. “Where you goin’?”

“I have a few phone calls to make back home. Go to sleep, baby. I’ll be back soon.” Before I even finished talking, his hand slipped from my leg and his breathing deepened. He’d gotten so much done today, including getting assurances from the record label’s attorneys that they could put a stop to the sex tape with no money exchanging hands.

I hoped for the same outcome regarding my video—which was all too real—but I had other methods in mind for squelching it. And those methods didn’t involve attorneys...or anything else legal.

I wrapped up in a robe and shushed a suddenly animated Scruffy, who clearly thought this midnight rendezvous involved him. He trotted after me to my office, and I shut us both inside. I sat at my desk with the phone and opened the French doors onto the garden. The white petals of the fragrant honeysuckle gleamed in the dark, and I inhaled their sweet scent, but I needed something to smack me awake and put me on edge. Lacking a shot of tequila, I pushed up from my chair and stepped outside onto the brick walkway for a few seconds reveling in the chilly air. Scruffy hovered behind me, his head cocked.

“Don’t worry. I’m not going to make you go outside.” I left the doors ajar and plopped back into my chair. I called Matt. He didn’t answer, so I texted him a message of urgency. I knew I wouldn’t have to wait too long for him to call me back. When money was at stake, Matt didn’t waste time.

“Hey, sis. How’s jolly, old England? Livin’ large over there?”

“I think we have a problem.”

The easy-going surfer dude disappeared, and Matt’s tone sharpened. “What kind of problem? You not keeping your man happy? Don’t fuck this up, Ivy.”

Rage kindled in my gut. Matt sounded so much like Dad I got a bad case of déjà vu, but I needed fear, not anger. “I-it’s not that. Everything’s good between me and Ian, but I’m afraid someone may have seen that footage from the warehouse. Did you show anyone else?”

“What?” He wasn’t expecting that. “I’ve never shown that to anyone except Dad and then you, years later. Nobody even knows I have the flash drive, certainly not the Brownes. What are you saying?”

“No copies?”

“I have the only copy.” His lighter flicked as he lit up a cigarette. “Where’s this coming from?”

“I’ve gotten a few anonymous texts, like warnings, about a video out there. I don’t like it.”

“Whoa, whoa. Wait.” He took a long pull from his cig. “I think I saw something about this online, one of those gossip sites.”

“You did?” I practically shrieked, and Scruffy twitched in his sleep. Now, I didn’t have to feign the fear. Had someone already seen the fake sex tape of Ian? I licked my dry lips. “When did you start following celebrity gossip sites?”

“The day I found out my sister was dating a popstar.”

“What did you read?” I drew my bottom lip between my teeth and clamped down.

“I can’t remember exactly, something about a former boybander releasing a song and some sketchy video.”

Knots tightened in my stomach, and I pressed my hand against it. This next part was crucial. “Could someone have stolen the flash drive?”

“No way. It’s...” he took a drag “...I have it hidden in my place.”

“Have you checked on it lately?”Please don’t say yes. Please don’t say yes. Please don’t say yes.

He paused. “No.”

“Could you? Please. This is serious, Matt. I just need to know that video is safe. I’m paying you fat stacks to make sure it is.”

“Alright. Alright. I’m not going to do it with you on the phone.”

“But you need to do it as soon as we hang up, and you need to text me back to let me know. I’m not sending you another dime until I know someone else doesn’t have the flash drive.” Squeezing my eyes closed, I crossed my fingers, and my legs, and my toes.

---