Chapter Six #2
Grabbing my keys, I hustled back out into the rain and pulled my Land Rover out.
I kept my eye on the roads as I drove to make sure I didn't miss her, but no one was walking along the shoulder.
It was sleepy out, being that the last train was about to pass through, and there wasn't much to do in the outskirts of the city after dark.
When I pulled into the station, there were only a few cars parked. I hustled past the ticket booth to the sound of the ticket agent yelling at me as I raced for platform B, which headed toward Glasgow.
There she was, standing in the dim lighting, her head down, wearing a crestfallen expression on her beautiful face. She wasn't under cover but stood directly in the drizzle and was already soaked through. I could see the train approaching from the opposite direction.
“Luna!”
Her head snapped up, her eyes rounding when she saw me.
If I wanted to get to her, I would have to go back down the steps and use the overpass, all before the train arrived.
Even from here, I could see she surmised the same thing.
We both took off running, me for the other side, arriving just in time to see her disappear down the ramp and into the bushes that ran between the tracks and the river.
“Luna, stop running this instant!” I yelled into the darkened brush and listened for clues as to which direction she'd taken.
Cracking ahead and to the right alerted me.
She sounded awfully close to the water, and I feared she might fall in.
I rushed deeper in and to the right and broke through a dense area in time to see her slide down the riverbank.
Lunging, I was able to grab ahold of the collar of her jacket and haul her back up before she slipped into the freezing inky darkness.
She fought me as soon as she was on her feet. Despite the frigid air, I dropped to sit on a log and held her captive over my lap until she ran out of energy to fight me.
“Let me up, Artair!”
I brought my hand down on her damp pants and hoped her ass stung as much as my palm.
“Ouch!”
That was what I was looking for. “What did he say to you?” I spanked her bottom several times to get her attention, but she was like a wildcat, kicking and clawing whatever she could reach.
I tugged her pants down and smacked my hand against her cool backside. Luna screeched and stopped fighting.
“I'm not telling!”
The little... I spanked her again with more force. My skin on hers reverberated through the air like a crack of thunder. I kept at it until she hung limply over my lap, sobbing. Then, I sat her up and tugged her cold body into mine for warmth. “Luna, tell Daddy what's upsetting you.”
She sobbed louder and buried her face into my chest. She was really worked up about whatever had been said. I rubbed her back in soothing circles until her sobs became only the occasional hiccup, and the river of tears stopped.
“I have a confession.” She gazed up with a fearful gaze. “That person is a stalker I thought I'd lost when I dropped out of school.” She gulped. “He is friends with another guy who used to be my best client.”
Client?
“What do you mean by 'client'?”
She gulped and dropped her gaze. “I sell online pictures of my feet and do private videos to pay for my education,” she said, speaking so quietly her words were almost lost in the steady sounds of rushing water from the river.
She dropped her face back to my chest, and her arms, which had encircled me like bands of iron, dropped and hung loosely at her sides.
“If he shares my information publicly, which he is threatening to do, I can only imagine this would be really bad for you. I thought I should go, as you don't deserve to have your world fall apart because of me.”
All of this drama was over an asshole wanting to out her and her wanting to protect me—adorable.
“What did he want in order to not go public?”
She squirmed on my lap. “Do I have to say? It's embarrassing.”
“Luna, let's get one thing clear right now.” I rearranged her to face me.
“There is an old saying that if you can't do the time, don't do the crime.
In this case, confessing to what happened is everything, and don't worry, I won't judge you.
Everyone does things they don't like to share, but I'm on your side and will help you make this right.”
She sighed in resignation and told me the entire story of her accounts and how the first one had been compromised. As she spoke, a plan was forming in my mind on how to bring down her stalker, once and for all.
“When is your deadline for the video?”
“By midnight tomorrow, or he'll do an exposé on me to the world.
It's not like I have a lot to hide, but I did that for money and it's only my feet, but I'm betting he'll say I did a lot more, despite not having any proof. You know how these things go; everyone believes everything that is spoon-fed to them these days.”
I couldn't have agreed more.
“I do understand. Now, I want you not to worry.” I slid my hand along her jaw, gently grabbing her chin between my finger and thumb. “I've got this. Do you trust me?”
Her eyes searched mine before she answered, “I do.”
“Good girl. Now, let's get you in a hot bath and get you fed. It's been a long day.”
Later, after Luna was sound asleep, I researched the guy who was threatening her. He was easy to find, having an amateur podcast. I scrolled through the content and quickly realized the sleazebucket made his money from outing large account holders on multiple platforms.
I had no doubt the moment he had the video he asked her for, he'd use it to bring her down.
Although her balletfeetO8 account no longer existed, the videos still did, and going through them, I confirmed Luna had nothing to be afraid of.
Her videos were sexy, but innocent for the most part.
This guy probably picked her because he could tell she was young and most likely hoped she was also easy to manipulate.
That being said, as it was only her feet, how hard would it be to create a false narrative by mixing those videos with others that were not her, doing more pornographic things?
Probably not hard, I surmised, which meant this needed to be dealt with sooner rather than later.
I placed a call to my legal secretary and had her draw up an injunction against Reg Reggie's podcast and him personally: Alfred Jelly, a citizen of the U.K. How perfect! He couldn't have made it any easier for me.
I hoped that by the time Luna awoke, the piece of garbage would be in jail awaiting his trial, which I planned on extending for as long as possible. He'd been frightening my girl for months; it was time he paid for that.