Page 87 of The Payback Plan
‘It’s fine, Oliver.’ The last tab was his book document which she’d backed up to the USB stick she’d been using specifically for this project just before she’d got the text from Doris. ‘It’s my own fault. I should have stayed in the box. I should have stayed small.’
Suddenly he was there beside her,glowering.‘That is utter bullshit.’
Paige startled. She’d never seen a truly angry Oliver. She’s seen him irritated and annoyed and exasperated. Maybe even a little cranky. But not tight-lipped with thunder and lightning clashing in blue eyes that had suddenly come over all stormy.
Why washeangry? ‘What?’
His brows pulled into a livid V. ‘Why are you being so damn passive?’
Bloody hell – was he serious? Did he haveanyperception of what it was like to be violated the way Harvey had violated her? She’d done what she could without losing herself in a quagmire of rage. She’d beenpragmatic. It might not be very Hollywood but she’d got control over her life again.
‘Oh, you think I should be aggressive?’ she asked testily, half turning to face him.
‘No. But you shouldn’t shy away from it, either. Maybe you should take a stand?’
If he was trying to rouse her fighting spirt, he was far too late for that, it had died a long time ago. But he’d sure as shit roused her ire. Her fingers furled convulsively around the back of the chair. ‘What isthatsupposed to mean?’
Shoving a hand through his hair, he huffed out a breath, looking at her like he couldn’t believe he had to explain it to her. ‘Why shouldyoustay small?You didn’t do anything wrong,Paige.Hewronged you. And yet here you are still punishing yourself for somethinghedid to you while he’s out there having a grand old time. Don’t let that asshole take any more of your life from you than he already has.’
A giant, hot, seething bubble erupted in her gut. How freaking dare he stand there and pretend to knowanythingabout what she’d been through and what she’d done to survive the shitshow. Her pulse was a roaring water hammer in her head as she snapped, ‘You havenoidea how it feels to be exploited like that.’
‘I’ve been putting up with non-consensual pictures and stories being posted about me most of my life,’ he snapped back. ‘I think I might know alittle bitabout how you feel.’
No, he didn’t. Not like this. Sure, he’d been in and out of the paparazzi glare which was no doubt inconvenient but he wasn’t even in the ballpark of knowing whatthisfelt like.
‘Really? But you got to bag a buxom beach babe who,surprise,turns out to be asecret porn star. Go you. I’m sure all your guy friends will throw you a parade.’
He sucked in a breath as she landed her punch. But Paige was on a roll now, a red mist settling in her bones, cold and desolate. If he truly wanted to feel her pain, then she had the perfect demonstration.
‘You want to really feel how I feel?’
Paige was completely possessed now, operating on raw fury. How dare this man who had been in her life for less than two months pretend he knew her. ‘If we take this…’
She turned back to her laptop where his document sat on the screen. The document that contained everything she’d collated including all the words he’d dictated during his beach walks. Quickly she tapped in the command for select all and everything highlighted.
‘Paige?’
Glaring at him for a beat, she hit the delete button. A prompt asked her if she was sure she wanted to delete.
‘Paige,’ he repeated, his voice a low growl.
But she was beyond listening as she clickedyesand watched it disappear from the screen. Quickly then she navigated to her trash bin and deleted it from there. When she glanced at him again, he was staring agape at the spot where his document had been.
‘Paige.’ His gaze flicked to her, his stormy eyes steely now. ‘What did you just do?’
‘That feeling?’ she said, looking at his face etched with an expression that was equal parts incredulous and horrified. ‘Takethatfeeling and multiply it by athousandand you might just be in my ballpark.’
‘Please tell me you have that backed up in a cloud somewhere?’
She snorted. ‘You think I’m going to put important, private stuff about a famous Hollywood actor into a cloud that any amoral news organisation can hack into?’ She swiped the USB device off the table containing Oliver’s saved files. ‘It’s backed up here.’
He let out a slow, steady breath but Paige was damned if she was going to give him any relief fromthatfeeling. Not just yet. Letting the thumb drive dangle from her fingers over her still steaming cup of coffee she dropped it in with a triumphant satisfying plop.
‘Paige,’ he seethed, as he stared at her aghast.
‘How are you feeling now?’ she asked as she snapped the lid of her laptop closed.
‘What the fuck?’ he demanded.
