Chapter 35 Parker
PARKER
“Dammit!” I shouted as Blake took off with my phone.
“Hey, are you coming or not? Knight has everything set up and he’s getting pissed.”
I watched as Blake slipped into the guest bedroom and closed the door. I could go after her and stop the spread of those awful pictures, but then Knight would be pissed and I’d have to face his wrath. But if those pictures got out…
“Dude, are you coming or not?”
Spinning, I faced him with all the seriousness in the world. “Blake has pictures of me.”
“Okay…” he said, crossing his arms over his chest. “And these pictures are naked?”
“No. I need to get them back. She’s in there right now with them, and I know she’s going to distribute them across town.”
His eyebrow quirked at that. “What kind of pictures could be that damaging?”
“Look, I can’t tell you. Just know that if they got out, it would be very bad.”
“I’m not sure what to tell ya. I mean, why would she want to send out pictures that could damage you?” Then he narrowed his eyes on me. “Did you cheat on her?”
“No, I didn’t—”
“Because she just had a baby. That’s not cool.”
“It’s nothing like—”
“I swear to God,” Hunter muttered, shaking his head at me. “If I find out that you did anything to hurt her—”
“They’re duckface pictures!” I shouted, wincing as the words left my lips.
I scrubbed my hand down my face, breathing through the panic racing through me. This was so horrible. I would never live this down. Not for anything in the world.
Those pictures would not only reach everyone in town, but the entire station. I was so screwed.
“Wow. I…Okay, we need to get them back.”
“No shit,” I snapped.
Thankfully, he wasn’t laughing at me. He actually looked pretty damn sympathetic.
“IT. We need Becky, stat.”
He turned and stormed out of the house with me close on his heels. The guys were all gathered around, along with Florrie, Becky, Maggie, and Lola. If they all heard what this was about…
“We’ve got a situation, people. Situation Red. Drop everything you’re doing and be prepared for a long fucking day.”
“What is it?” Cap asked. “Who the fuck did you mess with?”
“It’s Blake,” Hunter said. “She’s gotten ahold of some very incriminating photos, and it’s vital we get them back ASAP.”
Cap turned on his heel and faced his crew, already getting down to business. “Becky and Knight, get on this now. I want you to track down those photos and make sure they don’t reach anyone in town. If they do, you know what to do. Scrub those photos and make sure there’s no trace of them.”
“On it!” Becky grinned.
“Where the fuck is Rob?” he growled.
“Last I saw, he was hitting on Krista,” Craig smiled. “I gave him a few pointers.”
I didn’t want to think about what that could mean for my sister, so I shoved it to the back of my mind for a later date.
“Lola and Florrie, get in the house and get that phone away from Blake. Under no circumstances are you to engage with her in any active way.”
“So, you want us to take the phone the nice way?” Florrie snorted. “Sounds boring.”
“What about me? I’m very good at this stuff,” Maggie stepped up.
“We just rebuilt the house,” Cap mused. “Somehow, I don’t think letting you in the house is a good idea. The words grenade and story come to mind.”
“I wouldn’t blow up their house.”
“That’s the same thing you said when we were taking down Victor Adams.” He turned back to everyone else. “As for the rest of you, spread out. Family first. Then the townspeople.”
“And Maverick,” I added. “He’s one of the first on her list.”
“Let’s move, people! We’re on a time crunch!” Cap turned and lowered his voice. “What kind of damage are we talking?”
“Complete annihilation.”
Sighing, he shook his head at me. “You know, when you said you were moving away for a simple life, I really didn’t think I’d be out here saving your ass.”
“Well, not everything in life is simple, Cap. This’ll be the last time.”
“Somehow, I highly doubt that.” Giving a chin lift, I already knew what he was going to ask. “So, what were the pictures?”
Hunter chuckled behind me, the first sign that he wasn’t completely on my side.
“It was a misunderstanding.”
“Like you were trying on women’s shoes, misunderstanding? Or you were fucking another woman, misunderstanding?”
“Neither. Christ, who the hell do you think I am?”
“Hey, I gotta ask. My guys are out there right now. They’re gonna see, and when they do, I need to be prepared for any questions they throw my way. How you answer will determine the course of how this is handled.”
“Just tell him,” Hunter laughed.
It was all going to come out anyway. There was no going back, no changing the outcome. “It was a duckface.”
“A what?” he asked, his brows pulled down harshly.
“A duckface.”
When he still didn’t understand, I mimicked it the best I could.
“A duckface,” he repeated.
“Yeah.”
“You made a duckface.”
I rolled my eyes. “I didn’t mean to!”
“You made a duckface, and now she’s out there, sending that picture to everyone in town.”
“That’s what I fucking said!”
He nodded, turning away from me, his fingers rubbing furiously along his jawline as he considered what was happening. After a good minute, he finally turned back to me.
“Is this some kind of sick fetish you have?”
“Fetish? A duckface? Are you fucking kidding me?”
“Well, you did get hard when Blake tossed you through a window. What the fuck am I supposed to do with this?”
“It was nothing! They were talking about it at the station. I didn’t know what it was, and Wes was showing me! That’s it!”
“And you kept the pictures? Why? Why would you do something like that?”
“Because I didn’t realize it would be an issue. Not until she snatched my phone and took off with it! It’s not like I planned for this to happen! It’s not like I wanted everyone in town to see me with my lips like that!”
“Well, you should have thought about that before you took the damn picture!” Cap exploded. “How the hell am I supposed to explain this to the guys? What the hell am I supposed to tell them?”
“Would you prefer they be pornographic?” I retorted.
“Yes! I could explain that to them. They’d understand pornography. What they will not understand is you—a grown fucking man—taking pictures of yourself with a fucking duckface!”
“They have to stop it,” I said, my voice growing with panic. “I can’t walk around town with those pictures out there. Do you know what that will do to me?”
Sighing, he nodded. “They’re the best I have.” He clapped me on the shoulder. “Let’s go check out the damage.”
I felt like I was walking to my doom as we strode inside the house. My hands were clammy and my knees were weak. Even my armpits were sweating. This wasn’t going to be good. I could feel it in my gut.
“Don’t worry. These guys are the best. They won’t let us down.”
I really fucking hoped that was true.
“Knight, any luck?”
The dark, brooding man turned toward me in his leather jacket, his eyes dangerous as he stared me down. “We scrubbed everything we could find, but…”
Cursing under his breath, he looked away, his jaw clenching hard.
“What is it? Tell me. I can take it.”
When he finally looked back at me, my heart sank. “It’s Maggie. She got to Blake before we could.”
“No,” I whispered.
“The damage is far greater than I could have ever imagined. I’m sorry, man.”
My knees gave out and I sank to the ground, imagining all the pictures posted on every lamp post. It would never go away.
Static crackled over Cap’s radio. “Cap, come in.”
“Yeah, go ahead.”
Sinner came back on, his voice heavy with grief. “I’m afraid she infiltrated the department. It’s all over, Cap. They’re everywhere. There’s no stopping it.”
“Fuck,” Cap growled. “Are you sure?”
“Positive. I did everything I could. I cursed them, tried to blackmail them. I even took a few racy pictures of my own, but they wouldn’t give. They all stood together. And when I walked out, for some reason, someone threw a strawberry milkshake at me.”
“Are you okay?” Cap asked.
“Yeah, it’s actually pretty good. Think I might stop by for one of my own before I head back. Take orders for me.”
“Will do. Over and out.”
Cap turned to me and shook his head. “It’s over.”
“You said you would fix this,” I demanded.
“The pictures are out there, Parker.”
“What happened to tracking them down and scrubbing them?”
He choked out a laugh. “Do you understand what’s going on here? You made a duckface. There is no way you’re ever getting away with that. Now, tell me about these milkshakes.”
Hauling myself to my feet, I glared at the man. “My life is going up in flames, and you want to know about a milkshake?”
He shrugged. “I mean, just because your life sucks doesn’t mean mine has to.”
Storming away, I muttered under my breath, “I can’t fucking believe this. My whole life, destroyed once again, all because of a fucking filter app.”
I tried the knob on the bedroom door, and when it didn’t budge, I stepped back and planted my boot right beside the fucking latch, breaking it in. The door bounced off the wall, and while the other girls screeched, Blake raised her brow in challenge.
“Did you need something, baby?”
“You fucking know I do.”
Maggie popped up from her seat and scurried around me, followed by Lola and Florrie. “We’ll just be—”
I growled low in my throat as I stalked toward my wife. “You’re gonna pay for what you did.”
A smirk spread across her face. “Parker, haven’t you realized by now that was the plan all along?”
“You just had a baby,” I said, my voice low as my eyes slowly trailed over every inch of her body. It had been an entire month since I’d been with her. She was too tired and always sleeping. But now…
Fuck, I shouldn’t do this. She wasn’t ready.
“What’s wrong, Parker? Need me to throw you out a window first?”
“Oh shit,” I heard Cap hiss. “Get on the phone and order a new window.”
I kicked the door shut, but with the shattered frame, it didn’t latch.
“Baby, I’m coming for you now.”
I hope you enjoyed Parker and Blake’s story. The series continues in Shut Up and Kiss Me.