Four Letter Word
Page 95

“To who?” I asked.
“A partner at my firm. There might be another way,” she informed. “I need to grab my phone. It’s in the car.” She turned to walk away, stopped herself, then turned back and asked me, “How did you get the Viagra? You weren’t, like, going to a drug dealer, were you?”
Jamie laughed.
When I told Jenna everything, I didn’t leave shit out.
“Got it from my PCP,” I returned. “Said I was feeling depressed after the accident and couldn’t get it up. He prescribed it.”
“Oh.” She nodded, lost in thought. “That makes sense. Okay, good, that’s good. I’ll be back.”
She left the room and said something to the kids, then I heard the front door opening and closing.
“See?”
I turned to Jamie after he spoke.
He was smiling.
“Told you there had to be somethin’,” he said, leaning back and tucking his hands behind his head.
Hope bloomed in my chest. It felt strange.
It felt fucking good.
I let my eyes fall to my phone and thought about Syd.
I’m fixing this, Wild.
“Uncle Brian, Mommy said we can get something to eat if we want,” Olivia said, moving into the kitchen.
Oliver followed behind her. He had his head down and his eyes focused on his DS screen.
“Yeah, sure.” I stood up from the chair and went to the stove, where Syd’s Mexican Chicken thing had cooled down, then I grabbed two plates out of the cabinet and a couple of forks from the drawer.
“Oh, cool! Are those Doritos?” Olivia asked, coming up to stand beside me as I was scooping some out onto a plate.
I smiled.
“Yeah. You like Doritos?” I asked her.
“I love them! They’re the best chip ever, and they go so good with whatever that is, Uncle Brian. I can tell.”
“What about you, Oliver? You like Doritos?” I turned my head to where he was standing at the corner of the island.
“Cool Ranch or Regular?” he asked, eyes still focused on the screen.
“Regular,” Olivia answered.
“Yep,” he replied. “Can I get extra on mine?”
“Me, too!” Olivia jumped up and down, pointing at the dish.
“You bet,” I replied. “Get yourselves something to drink and sit down. I gotta heat this up.”
Olivia moved behind me to get to the fridge while I scooped out more of the Mexican Chicken and dumped it onto the other plate, then I got one heating in the microwave and grabbed some napkins for both of them.
“When will Syd be back?” Olivia asked as I was sliding napkins in front of her and Oliver, who was showing Jamie something on his DS screen.
I straightened and gripped the back of a chair.
“Don’t know, Liv,” I answered honestly, watching her mouth pull down as she sank on her knees in her seat.
“Is she sad at you? Mommy gets sad sometimes and she says it’s because of a boy.”
My teeth clenched.
That fucking dickhead. I should fly out to Denver when my hand heals up and knock his fucking teeth out.
Forcing my jaw to relax, I gave her my reply.
“Yeah, Liv, she is. I made her sad.”
Olivia lifted her one shoulder and spoke casually when she said, “Then you should fix it.”
Just like that. As if it were that simple.
“Trying.” I nodded, giving her a small smile in hopes that would reassure her.
She smiled back bigger, as if she knew everything was gonna work out.
The microwave beeped.
I switched out the plates and heated the second one, carrying both over to the table at the same time so they could start eating together, stood across from them gripping the back of a chair, and glared over my shoulder in the direction of the living room.
What the fuck was Jenna doing?
Finally, the front door opened, shut, then quick footsteps padded on the floor and Jenna came darting into the kitchen.
“You get your phone?” I asked, straightening and turning toward her.
“Nope.” She smiled. “Already made the call.”
I leaned closer. My heart crawled up into my throat.
“And?”
She smiled bigger.
“There’s another way.”
* * *
Three days later I was standing in Mike’s office with a crowd surrounding him.
Crystal, Holly, and Jayden were there, the girls I’d shot with who were agreeing to say the videos of us were personal property, something they could say since nobody signed shit before filming, meaning Mike didn’t own them and didn’t have rights to share. We’d all met up last night and Jenna explained the plan, asking the girls if they’d be willing to threaten a lawsuit against Mike if he didn’t take down the videos and images. Not only were they willing, but they were also sick of Mike’s shit, and on top of backing me, they were there to tell Mike they were done.
He was pretty pissed about that. Oh fucking well.
Jamie stood off to the side, positioned there in case I felt the urge to break the other side of Mike’s face, and Calvin, the partner at Jenna’s firm who was doing me a solid by standing in and being a presence, making the threat of suing carry a little more weight, was standing beside me.
“You gotta be fucking shitting me,” Mike spat after hearing everyone’s piece, finding my eyes in the crowd the best he could with the one eye he had open.
The other was still swollen shut.
“Mr. Galloway,” Calvin stated, gaining Mike’s attention. “I suggest you take action immediately, sir, or I will. All the videos and still images containing Brian Savage are to be removed from your site. If anything is left up by accident or deliberately, my clients will be taking legal action against you. This is very serious.”
“No, you wanna know what’s serious?” Mike snarled, leaning forward in his seat and stubbing out his cigarette. He pointed directly at me. “What I’m gonna do to that motherfucker right there. That’s what’s serious. I’m gonna tear—”
“I suggest you stop right there, Mr. Galloway,” Calvin interrupted. “Unless you’d like me to call the authorities for threats of violence.”
Mike lowered his hand and slid his eye to me.
I smiled right at him, letting him eat it.
“Get the fuck out.” He pushed his hand through the air. “All of you! Get out!”
Slowly, everyone filed out of the office. I hung back and watched Calvin approach the desk.
Mike looked up at him.
“If you’d like to go ahead and get started on removing my client from your site.” Calvin pointed at the brand-new monitor gracing Mike’s desk. “We’ll leave when you’re finished,” he added before stepping back and taking a seat.
Mike glared at me with his one eye.
“I’ll stand. I’m good,” I told him.
Then I watched as Mike removed all traces of me from Xstasy, and I did it grinning.
Fucking grinning.
It was over.
I shook Calvin’s hand when we got outside to the parking lot. “Thanks a lot. Really appreciate you coming down here and helping me out.”
“No problem. Happy to help.” He released my hand, produced a business card out of his suit pocket, and handed it to me. “Take care of yourself. You need anything, give me a call.”