Chapter 35

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"Drakos, we need to talk. Now." Colton demanded as he slammed the door shut. He stalked toward the desk and when he saw me, he paused. He let out a loud laugh. "Oh, that's just perfect. Of course, you guys would be together at this moment for this news."

            His words sent a chill down my spine.

            "What news?" I asked, trying to sound uninterested. He looked at me with disgust on his face.

            "You really have me looking like a fool now. I hope you're happy about that." He hissed in my direction and Roman cleared his throat.

            "Colton, get on with why you're here. You're wasting my time." He sounded bored, but I knew he wanted to know what Colton was talking about just as badly as I did. Colton chuckled and swiped something on his phone, walking to me. He gave me his phone and I grabbed it, looking at what he was trying to show us. My mouth dropped. On his phone from an article that was published earlier today, was a picture of me with Roman in the elevator in New York. The screengrab was obviously from a security camera, and it showed me against the wall of the elevator and my head was thrown back with a look of pleasure on it with Roman pressed up against me, his lips on the side of my neck. He had one arm wrapped around my waist, his other hand gripping my ass. It was one thing feeling all of that, and another to see it. I looked high off of ecstasy. I was in that moment. There was no denying this picture.

            "Oh, you should scroll. There's more." Colton had a smirk on his face that irked me, but I did what he said. The next picture was of us still in the elevator, but we were kissing passionately, my hands gripping his hair. This was bad. So bad. I looked up at Roman to see that he was staring at me, a strained look on his face. He could probably tell from my expression that it wasn't good. I handed him the phone and he looked at the pictures himself. His jaw was clenched so hard, I swear his teeth would shatter from the force. He was surprisingly calm when he handed the phone back to Colton and he folded his hands on his desk.

            "Leave us." Roman dismissed Colton and he scoffed, glancing at me.

            "I-"

            "Did I stutter?" Roman glared at Colton and his nostrils flared before he stormed out of the room. The office was silent afterward. I didn't dare say a word. This was out for the world to see already. There was nothing we could do about that. No amount of damage control could fix this. There was solid proof to the world that Roman was cheating on his girlfriend, and I was cheating on Colton. Or maybe people would guess that the relationship was a scam to begin with. I didn't know. I just wanted Roman to say something, anything, instead of staring into space with a look I couldn't even decipher. I let a solid minute pass before I said anything.

            "What happens now?" I kept my voice low, not wanting to disrupt whatever he had going on in his head. He rubbed his chin before staring at his hands.

            "I have no idea." His voice was thick with emotion, and I felt terrible. I knew his dad would berate him, Lisa would probably do the same thing, and Colton was already pissed. Granted, it was his name and image that looked bad because of my actions, so I felt only a little bad for him. But Roman would get the worst of it. Well, technically I would get the worst of it because I was the female, but he was the face of an actual company that the world knew. This couldn't be good for him.

            "I'm so sorry," I whispered when silence filled the office again. I was staring at my own hands, fiddling with them. I was the reason all of this was happening in his life.

            "Sorry? What for?" Roman sounded surprised and I looked up to see that he was. There was a confused look on his face as he stared at me. I gestured all around me.

            "All of this is happening because of me. Your life started turning upside down ever since I came into the picture and now it's going to look like that to everyone else as well." I didn't even want to think about what was going to happen to my image now. Would I even still be able to work here legally? Roman leaned over his desk and grabbed one of my hands, surprising me.

            "Hey, look at me." He moved his head to lock eyes with me and I finally looked at him. "None of this is your fault. This is on the scumbags that are invading our privacy. I don't care about the repercussions for the pictures. If anything, this could be my out from being with Lisa and maybe even being under my dad. If I had a chance to do it again, I would, and even more if you let me. So don't beat yourself up, okay?" He gave my hand a squeeze and I nodded, not wanting to speak at the moment. It was a relief that he wasn't blaming any of this on me, but it still wouldn't change the reactions of everyone else close to him. He nodded and let go of my hand, leaning back into his chair. "Now, the thing that's been on my mind is the piece of shit who leaked these photos. I'm going to have someone look into it so they can get to the bottom of it. This is an invasion of privacy. Whoever leaked this will pay." His words came out passionate and I let out a breath, nodding again. I would feel a little better knowing the culprit was found. My brain couldn't handle all of this information right now and I sighed, leaning back.

            "I literally can't deal with this right now. It is way too early for this. I don't like that you'll be dealing with this alone at work, but I don't care to be here to be attacked." I told him as I stood up. He stood up with me, walking around his desk.

            "I understand love, don't worry about it. I will have everyone calm by the time you come back to work." He pulled me in for a hug and I let out a huff into his chest that was supposed to come out more like a laugh.

            "I highly doubt that but thank you for that. Let me know if you need anything from me, okay?" I leaned back and looked up at him. He had a guarded expression on his face as he nodded, and I knew he was preparing himself for the day. I gave him a kiss on the cheek before leaving his arms.

            "Have a great day, Violett."

            "You too."

***

All I could think about on the drive home was how many people knew about what happened in the elevator. Was the article he showed from a company that was popular? Did every media outlet have the pictures? I didn't want to check anything until I went home, and I could do my own research. When I made it home, I went straight to Davis's room.

            "I'm in trouble, help," I said in the most monotonous voice ever as I plopped on his bed. He groaned from under his sheets, pulling them tighter over his head.

            "What the fuck, Violett. If it's earlier than 9, I am literally going to kill you." He threatened and I glanced at the time. It was 7:30 a.m. He would be okay.

            "But I need help, Davis. I have a secret that's not really secret and now the whole world knows." I whispered the ending and I felt him freeze. Then he tossed the sheets off of him, his tired eyes wide as he looked around for me.

            "They have you fucking Roman on camera? Caught in 4k?" His eyes widened even more, and I couldn't help but laugh.

            "No, you fucking freak. That's a porno and I'm sure normal media outlets wouldn't even post something like that." I sat up in his bed, sighing. "We made out in an elevator and there are pictures of us from a security camera circling the internet, apparently. I'm not totally sure. I haven't looked it up myself." I admitted and he raised a brow before reaching for his phone.

            "That doesn't sound too bad, though I know it is for you and him based on what you've told me." He swiped at his phone and pursed his lips at what he was looking at. "These photos aren't bad at all. I thought there would be more raunchiness to them." He shrugged and tossed his phone to the side. I groaned, falling on my back next to him.

            "The problem isn't how raunchy it is. It's about the fact that it's happening in the first place. We're both supposed to be in a relationship. Now it looks like a fling or something, I don't even know at this point. What do I do?" I whined, throwing an arm over my eyes. I couldn't think properly.

            "Well for one, you could've woken me up later for this shit. It's too early to even think about any of this." He groaned, plopping back on his back and covering his face with his sheets. I glanced at him, smiling.

            "That's what I told Roman and why I came back home now. I don't know if I can show my face at work again. They'll all look at me as a homewrecking whore. I haven't even fucked him." I groaned and Davis huffed.

            "Girl, most of the women at your job have had a tumble in the hay with that delicious tall glass of wine. You just happened to be the one that got caught with him. You can either cower away from it or embrace that shit. Be like hell yeah I fucked this man, and what? What's the worse they can do?"

            "Fire me and leave me jobless," I muttered.

            "Well, at least you still have bragging rights."

            "Davis!"

            "Sorry."

            We sat there in silence for a few seconds and he shifted from under his sheets again and stared me down.

            "I am serious though about either cowering from it or embracing it. Don't let them shut you out or steal your confidence. They come at you with some bullshit, hit them back harder. You know that what you did wasn't wrong, so use that truth to give you the confidence you need even if everyone else doesn't know the truth."

            I reached over and gave Davis a hug. "This is exactly why I came to you. You always know what to say." I was grateful for him. He reminded me about everything I needed for my confidence to come back, and I knew the next time I went to work, I would be prepared for any question or attack. He gave me a pat.            

            "Yeah, yeah. Now because you interrupted my sleep for some therapy, you owe me breakfast." He grumbled and I chuckled.

            "Anything you want."

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