I rushed off set before I said or did something that got me fired from the client. Without Mom there to smooth things over for me, I’d learned to keep my mouth shut so I didn’t ruin my career. If she’d been there, however, I wouldn’t have held back and already would have snapped.
In the dressing room, I stripped and reached for my clothes just as the door flew open. Shocked, I didn’t have time to cover myself as Eric lifted his camera and took at least a dozen pictures of me naked.
“You want these, come to my place tonight, and I’ll give them to you.” His wink made me sick to my stomach. With a laugh, he turned and walked out again, leaving me standing there shaking.
What the fuck just happened?
Did that guy really think he could take nudes of me and get away with it?
The alarm on my phone pulled me out of my stupor, reminding me I needed to get back to Santa Monica for Violet’s appointment. I hurriedly dressed and ran to my car. As I got behind the wheel, I glanced up at Aunt Emmie’s building.
I wasn’t sure how I was going to get the nudes Eric just took of me, but I sure as fuck wasn’t going to go to his place.
But what was worse, I didn’t know how I was going to explain this shit to Jagger without him either a) committing murder, or b) going even more apeshit about my career.
I was so stressed over it all, I ended up being late for Violet’s appointment. Thankfully, she was still sitting in the waiting room when I walked in. Luca stood in front of her protectively, leaving the seat beside my bestie for me.
“Sorry I’m late,” I said as I hugged her. “Remind me never to agree to a shoot with photographers I don’t know.”
Vi’s brow furrowed. “Why? What happened?”
“I’ll tell you later,” I promised her with a roll of my eyes. “I’m debating how much pain I want this guy to feel, though. Maybe I should leave him breathing, so I can tell my brother. But if I want him in the ground, I would have to tell my dad or Jagger.” And I really didn’t want to tell Jags, but I knew I couldn’t keep something like this from him.
What if Eric leaked those pictures on the internet? Fuck, Jagger was going to lose his mind.
“Want me to take care of it?” Luca offered, and I looked up to find him smirking.
“Nah,” I told him with a grin, trying to play it off like I wasn’t freaking out internally. “It will be more fun if my brother gets a few convictions under his belt.”
“Offer is always on the table,” he assured me.
I was able to pay attention during Violet’s appointment, but after we left—with Luca and Violet getting in the car Jenner was driving, and I got in my own—I felt like everything was suddenly pushing down on me again.
I was pissed and a little scared. Not just of how Jagger was going to react, but of what Eric might do with those pictures. It would be embarrassing to have nudes of myself out there for anyone to see and have fun with, but I also had clauses in some of my contracts that prohibited things just like that because the clients were “family-oriented” companies.
Fighting tears of frustration, I kept my car in park once I started it and called Mom.
“Hey, sweetheart,” she greeted.
“M-Mom,” I whispered, fighting a sob.
I felt the sudden shift in her mood even through the phone. “What’s wrong?”
“S-Something happened at the shoot this morning. And I… Fuck, Mom, I don’t know what to do to fix this.”
“Whatever it is, we can solve it.” She tried to reassure me, but I couldn’t hold back the sob any longer. “Baby, don’t cry,” she pleaded. “Mommy will take care of it. Just tell me what happened.”
I tried to calm down enough to tell her, and with each garbled word out of my mouth, the tension on her end became explosive.
“I want you to dry your tears, Shaw,” Mom instructed. “And then drive to my house. Daddy will be there, and he will make you something to eat. Stay there.”
“Mom…”
“Do as I say, Shaw,” she commanded. “I’ll take care of this.”
“But Jagger…” I sniffled. “What do I tell Jagger?”
“I’ll take care of that too, sweetheart.”
Chapter 40
Jagger
After the meeting, Ma took Cannon and me to lunch to discuss what Petrova had suggested.