Page 163 of Triggered By Love
“If you make this public, you’ll be putting many blackmailers out of business.” He figured he should warn her of all the consequences. “If you ask me, I think Tatiana is a blackmailer, and she might sell us the recording for a price.”
“Or she might kill to protect her gravy train.”
“Good point. We have to proceed carefully.”
Avery sighed and put her head back on the pillow. “Suddenly, I’m drained. Now that I know what I have to do. It’s what I dreaded all these years. What I covered up, even to myself. I lied to myself and pretended it didn’t happen. But that damn Orson kept it hanging over my head.”
“Because he’s a pervert,” Jason said. “Maybe there’s a way to nail Overton and keep Leach out of it. After all, he wouldn’t want to go down with the sinking ship, would he?”
“No, but he’d keep me doing the shows.”
“Not if he’s too scared he’d be exposed for child porn. That’s what those videos are,” Jason said. “I believe Tatiana is either blackmailing him or working for Overton to get dirt on Orson to keep him in line. Her recording would nail both of them, but at the same time implicate you. If we can fix it so she stays quiet, Orson goes into hiding…”
“My head hurts.” She shook her head and blinked. “I’m too wired up to sleep. Too fired up to relax. Too—”
“Horny to read a book,” he finished for her and gathered her in his arms. “Let’s make love.”
“Yes, love.” She mated her lips to his and set a pace that promised passion all night long.
Chapter Fifty-Three
Avery hadto tell her family before they heard from anyone else. This would be hands down the hardest thing she’d ever done. She could picture how disappointed her parents would be and how angry her brothers could get. Chase might even commit acts of violence, but it was something she had to do.
She’d let her father make the final call, whether to make her accusations against Congressman Overton public, since his campaign would be derailed into a media circus.
The very next morning, Avery called her parents and told them she’d checked out of the hospital and would be on her way home.
“I won’t need a ride,” she said. “Jason is with me, and there’s something very important I have to tell you. If Chase, Alex, and Damon are around, I’d like to have them present.”
“What is it? Are you in some kind of trouble?” her mother asked. “Dan, come here. Avery is released from the hospital.”
They were on speakerphone so she heard her father approach. “Princess, are you feeling okay?”
“I’m fully better,” Avery said. “But Jason and I will be arriving at The Manor in an hour. I’d like to meet everyone in the stables—for privacy.”
“What in tarnation is going on?” Dad asked with an irritated tone. “If there’s a problem, I can take care of it. Is it the hospital? Are they upset because I pulled strings to get you that antidote?”
“Nothing about the hospital,” Avery said. “I don’t think we should say anything more on the phone.”
As Jason had warned her, the Overtons and Leaches have had free run of The Manor. They could have installed electronic monitoring devices and wiretapped the phones.
It pained her that her parents would discover how sleazy their friends were, and how people they’d trusted were phony and evil. But she didn’t take this decision lightly.
It had been gnawing at her since the day Brando died.
“You can’t blame yourself for what evil people did,” Jason said again, reminding her to stop the self-incrimination.
All through the night, they’d alternated between the sweetest and most passionate lovemaking and discussion of her inner thoughts—how guilty she felt, how much regret she had.
Jason had matched her, guilt to guilt, regret to regret, and every time she batted his down, she realized that she, too, had to move on. Guilt and regret would never undo what was done.
“I’m doing this on behalf of Brando,” she said, looking in the mirror and at Jason who was standing behind her. “And for myself. For you.”
“Me?” He quirked an eyebrow. “I’m proud of you. That’s for sure. But why me?”
“You won’t stop until you catch the killer,” she explained.
“How can we prove Overton’s the killer? All we’ve established is motive.”
