Say Love (Lost & Found #2)

by C. L. Stacey

  Biting down when I feel my patience slip away from me, I tell him, “He didn’t cheat.”

  “You’re insane.” His tone clearly expresses his disbelief.

  “He didn’t cheat,” I say again.

  “The woman leaked photos, Ari. What more do you need?”

  Propping my elbow against the door, I run my hand back and forth against my forehead, fighting to keep myself from saying something I’ll come to regret. “Caleb, just stop…”

  “Do you want me to ask for a sex tape? These Hollywood stars and starlets aren’t so bright. They’re caught for these sorts of things all the time, so I wouldn’t put it past the boy—”

  Slamming my hands down over my purse, I snap. “This is part of the agreement I have with Brody, and it doesn’t fucking concern you. So just… stop.” I pull on the handle of the door and hop out of the car.

  And of course he follows me.

  “What agreement?”

  I keep walking.

  This is why I didn’t want to say anything at all, but he would’ve just kept pushing if I didn’t.

  “I asked you a question, Ari. Stop.”

  I don’t. I take the steps leading up to my front door.

  “Maybe I’ll just go ask Brody myself,” he suggests, successfully bringing me to halt.

  I turn and march right back over, stopping at the edge of the steps. “Brody is a good person—” Caleb cuts me off with a dry laugh. “What he and I have is complicated. I never wanted this relationship, but he was persistent. Over time, I learned to let him in because I enjoy having him around. My agreement with him allows him to get what he needs from whomever he chooses, because I can’t.”

  “You two haven’t—”

  “No.”

  “Why are you with him?”

  “I don’t need to explain my reasons to you.”

  “Sounds like you’re not sure.”

  “Don’t push me,” I warn, turning away from him.

  “What the hell happened to you?”

  “You did, Caleb,” I answer, turning my key in the lock. I shove the door open and step inside, slamming and locking the door behind me.

  I’ve underestimated the amount of pain I’d caused Ari. I don’t recognize her anymore.

  This relationship she claims to be in with Brody is a fucking sham, not to mention twisted as hell. She may think that she cares for him, but he’s a rebound at best.

  It can’t be for the attention, she was getting plenty of that on her own before he showed up. Plus, he was the one that went looking for her, not the other way around.

  Companionship is the only reason I can come up with.

  Either way, after Ari spilled about their arrangement, it forced me to expedite my plans to get to the bottom of what the hell happened last year.

  Something’s not right here, and I need to get to the bottom of it or it’ll end up killing me.

  This is where my calculating nature, my obsession for things to make simple sense, comes in handy. I started cataloguing and going through each event in my mind, forward and backward.

  Last week, when I found out about Natasha showing up at Ari’s with a Christmas gift the night of, it raised a few flags. Natasha went out of her way to out us.

  They were friendly, for the most part, but not that close. Ari could barely stand the woman after what happened at Turks and Caicos.

  Memories of that trip raised another flag. When we were out on the beach, I remember Natasha mentioning how she got off on being watched.

  Now I’m onto her.

  The pictures of Stefan and Ari were sent from the email address Watchmewatchyou. I still have the email saved in my inbox, not that I could ever forget a creepy handle like that one. At first, I thought it sounded like something a photog or a blogger would use. But after I’d learned that Natasha went to Aryn, I don’t see why she wouldn’t have gone out of her way to send those pictures to me. She was hoping for a blowout.

  For the past week, I’ve been cozying up to Natasha, feigning interest. I don’t know exactly what to look for yet, but I don’t want her growing suspicious while I try figuring that out for myself.

  The answer is obvious, I just need some time alone with her phone, so I asked her to come by my office today.

  If I find what I need, I have her for blackmail.

  There’s a knock at my door, snapping me from my jumbled thoughts.

  “Come in,” I call out.

  Bethany steps in and Natasha files in after her.

  I flash Natasha a fake, welcoming grin, then I walk around my desk to greet her properly. She sets her purse down on one of the couches in the sitting area, and I come the rest of the way to her.

  I fight every urge I have to throw her the fuck off of me when she jumps into my arms.

  “Thank you, Bethany,” I dismiss her, setting Natasha back on her feet. Bethany nods before closing the door behind her.

  As soon as we’re left alone, Natasha reaches on her toes to plant her filthy lips on mine. I suppress the urge to gag and remain in character.

  I cut the kiss short and take her by the hand. “I need to talk to you. Have a seat.”

  “Uh-oh, am I in trouble?” she jokes, seating herself on the couch.

  We’ll see.

  “No, nothing like that.”

  “What’s up?”

  “I have some exciting news for you regarding Lena’s swimsuit line.”

  “Yea?” Her eyes brighten at the sight of the smile on my face.

  “After careful consideration, Lena’s decided that she’d like you to take the lead on this one when we start shooting the promo. What do you think?”

  “Oh, my gosh, really?” she gushes.

  I wince. I detest the sound of her voice, especially at that decibel. Nails on a fucking chalkboard. “Would I lie?”

  With a happy sigh, Natasha admits, “I honestly thought Lena was considering Ariana, given how close they are.”

  “Ariana’s losing her focus with this transition she’s making into acting with her… boyfriend.” I struggle to get that one out, but I manage. “Plus, given my complicated history with her, I strongly advised Lena to consider you instead.”

  My lie brings forth the reaction I was hoping for. Natasha is eating up every single thing I’m feeding her. “Caleb, I am… speechless. Thank you so much.”

  “So, you’ll do it, then?”

  “Yes, of course I will!” She jumps to her feet, and I follow suit, fearing she may try jumping into my lap if I remained seated.

  Natasha throws her arms around me, and I walk her toward the door. “Where are we going?”

  “Lena’s got some paperwork for you to sign. Come up when you’re done. I’ll take you to lunch to celebrate.”

  Blinded by her excitement, Natasha practically skips down the hall.

  The second the elevator doors close Natasha inside, Bethany gets up from her desk and heads down the hall to open the door to the conference room. Aryn steps out and heads my way.

  Tipping his head back with a nod, Aryn greets me with a smile. “You gonna tell me what the hell it is I’m doing here?”

  “Did you bring your laptop?”

  Aryn tugs on the strap of his messenger bag. “Right here. Why?”

  “Follow me.” I walk over to where Natasha left her bag. I pull her phone out, holding it in the air between us.

  The last time I tried this, I discovered that she put a lock on it. No surprise there, she’s shady as fuck. Which is why I needed Aryn here today.

  “You’re good at all this techie shit, right?”

  Laughing, he answers with a shrug. “You could say that. Why?”

  “Can you hack phones?”

  “Shouldn’t be a problem.”

  “Good. Work your nerd magic, please.” I place the phone into his waiting hand.

  Aryn pulls the strap of his bag over his head, setting up on my desk. I watch him plug the phone into his laptop, clicking and clacking away. Thirty s
econds later, he hands the unlocked phone back to me.

  “Caleb, what the hell is going on?”

  “Give me a second.”

  The first thing I do is pull up her email. I find two different Gmail accounts linked to the phone.

  Sure enough, one of them belongs to the address in question.

  “The fucking bitch…” I mutter with a shake of my head.

  “Who?”

  “Natasha.”

  Next, I pull up her photo album and start scrolling through, searching for the pictures she took of Ari and Stefan.

  I stop when I find a bunch of pictures of her at what looks like a family gathering. I click on one that stands out to me.

  “What the hell…” I whisper.

  The door to my office opens, and I look up to find Jackson walking in.

  If I should run into any problems, Jackson’s the perfect person to have around. I asked him to come today for me, to support my unethical plans to get to the bottom of the truth. I just didn’t expect to find a link between him and my unfortunate situation.

  “Where is she?” He looks around for Natasha.

  “She thinks she’s signing a contract with Lena a couple floors down,” I answer distractedly. “Come here. Take a look at this picture for me. Am I crazy, or are they exactly who I think they are?” I hold the phone out to him.

  Eyes narrowing to study the photo then widening when identifying the men right away, Jackson’s gaze cuts straight back to mine. “What the fuck?” he growls.

  I press the button for the intercom. “Beth,” I call to her.

  “Yes, Mr. Carlisle?”

  “Call security up to this floor. Have them wait in the conference room for me, please.”

  “Yes, sir,” she answers without questioning the order.

  Aryn’s eyes dart from me to Jackson. “What’s going on?”

  “A whole lot more than I thought.” I scroll back down to her more recent photos, looking for pictures from a specific night.

  There’s a chance I won’t find one, of course, but judging by the amount of photos on here, I’d be more surprised not to find at least one.

  Natasha’s obsession with recording just about everything is about to come back around and bite her on the ass. That’s how karma works. It’s a bigger bitch than she is.

  I stop scrolling when I find what I’m looking for. A picture of the same two men, taken the night Jackson and I first encountered them.

  Tattoos along their arms. One has on a black button up, sleeves rolled halfway. The other has on a grey T-shirt. Just as I remember.

  My memory’s not so good when it comes to faces. I meet so many, it’s hard to keep track. But these two committed a despicable crime, drugging and nearly abducting my best friend. Their faces will forever be hard to forget.

  Standing between them with a carefree smile is Natasha.

  I turn the phone to show Jackson. One glance at it and he is seething, just as he was the night of.

  Calmly, I recite to Jackson every detail that comes to light. “Black hair, like Natasha’s. Tanned skin, like Natasha’s. There’s a slight resemblance in the three of their faces, not enough to be siblings… but they’re definitely family.” I shake my head. “We thought Lexi was picked at random that night…” I trail off, too disgusted to complete the thought.

  “The night you took Lexi as your date,” he adds.

  With an exasperated sigh, I insist, “It wasn’t a date, Jackson. I only wanted to get to know the woman you were so obsessed with. I did it to piss you off.”

  “I’m not accusing you of anything. I’m merely stating the facts. Natasha was all over you that night, I remember.” Jackson takes a step toward my desk, leaning into his arms. “Take a step back and think real hard. The incident with Lexi and those two animals, and then blackmailing you with photos of Ari with Stefan—”

  “Wait, what?” Aryn tries to cut in, still lost.

  “What do those two incidents have in common?” Jackson prompts me.

  “What are you getting at, Jackson?”

  Staring back at me with an eerie calm about him, he says, “She’s obsessed with you, Carlisle. The woman is insane.”

  Pulling his own phone from his pocket, Jackson dials out a number before bringing it to his ear. “Chief Richards, please. This is Jackson Anderson, I’ll wait.” Tearing his gaze from mine, he steps away when patched through immediately.

  Leaning back in his seat, Aryn stares expectantly up at me, waiting for an explanation. “Tell me what the hell I’m doing here, Caleb. Chief?” He gestures toward Jackson’s back. “As in the fucking police?”

  “You’re here to help me get to the bottom of what’s going on, Aryn.” I continue browsing her phone, shaking my head when the questions just keep on coming. “This woman is obviously responsible for a lot more than outing me to you, and I need to know everything. What I know so far is that she’s painted targets on the back of two women I care about very much.”

  “What’s this thing about blackmailing you about Ari?”

  “I received insinuating photos the week of Christmas. She was threatening to ruin Ari’s reputation by linking her to a scandal with the photographer. But what’s weird is that when I ignored her request for payment, she never used the pictures…” I trail off, trying to understand her motives.

  Aryn leans his weight into his elbow against the arm of my chair. “Maybe she was counting on this picture to tear you and Ari apart without actually having to get her hands dirty.”

  That much I’d already figured out for myself. “But we were fine. I didn’t believe what I saw in those pictures,” I tell him.

  “You’ve overlooked something, Carlisle. Everything was not fine,” Aryn says, waiting for me to catch up. “Go through the timeline again.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “She came to me when the pictures didn’t work…”

  “Putting you outside my hotel room that night…” I finish for him.

  “And then Ari left with me.”

  Everything starts cramming together, too much too fast. I drop a hand over my eyes and release a deep breath.

  When I come to realize something else, I drag my hand down my face. “Oh, no…” I breathe into my hand.

  Ari decided to come back…

  Natasha ran into her at Tao…

  “What is it?” Aryn demands to know.

  I pull up Natasha’s text history, and I scroll until I find what I’m looking for.

  Natasha: She fell for it. I don’t see them coming back from this one.

  Stefan: Thank you, angel.

  Making a fist around the phone, I clench down as hard as I can.

  Jackson walks over after hanging up. “Richards is on his way.” Then he catches the look in my eyes and stops. “What happened? What did you find?”

  Tears burn, and I feel my control over the situation begin to slip. I plant my hands against the surface of my desk, leaning all my weight into them when I can barely hold myself up.

  “Caleb, keep it together… Hey.” Jackson knocks against the desk to get my attention.

  “Aryn…” I call out, keeping my head down.

  “Yea?”

  “Is there any way I can prove this email address belongs to Natasha without having to prove myself guilty?”

  The photos can easily be explained. Thanks to social media platforms.

  “Yes. I can trace the IP.”

  “Do it.”

  “Pull up the email for me.” Aryn nods toward my desktop.

  Straightening myself back up, I log into my account for him, and then I email everything I need from Natasha’s phone to myself. “Print the photos I just sent to you.”

  His fingers work rapidly over the keys, then with a final tap against the board, my printer responds to his command. “Done.”

  Jackson keeps a watchful eye on me. “Are you going to be able to get through this?”

  “This is all my fault, Jackson. I won’
t stop until I make her life a living hell. She’s going to pay for what she’s done.” I lean over and press the button for the intercom. “Beth.”

  “Yes, sir?” she answers right away.

  “Tell Lena to start wrapping it up.”

  “Right away, Mr. Carlisle.”

  When the doors open back up to Caleb’s floor, I step off with a smile affixed to my face.

  Everything I’ve worked so hard for is finally paying off.

  Even Caleb’s finally coming around. I knew that all I needed to do was detach him from Ari to get him to see who he truly belongs with.

  The wait was unbearable at times. But it was all worth it.

  Bethany’s on the phone when I walk up to her desk. She greets me with a small smile and signals for me to just go ahead without her.

  Look at that… I don’t even need his assistant to walk me in to see him anymore.

  Like I said, well worth it.

  Unable to contain my joy, I squeal quietly to myself when I think about how happy Caleb and I will be together. It might take some time, but he’ll get over Ariana eventually.

  We’ll be together forever. He belongs with me.

  Stopping just outside his door, I take a deep breath in. Don’t overwhelm him too soon, I coach myself.

  I knock twice and peek my head in with a smile. He’s exactly where I left him, holding a thin pile of papers out in front of him. “I’m back.” My smile falls away when I notice the stress etched on his handsome face. “What’s wrong?”

  “Come sit with me for a second, Natasha.” He waves me over.

  “Of course.” I obediently walk over to take a seat on the couch.

  Caleb presses a button on the intercom on an end table to his left. “Bethany.” His hands return to the papers, privately viewing them.

  “Yes, sir?”

  “How’s my timing?”

  “On schedule,” she responds.

  Silence hangs between us, and I can’t help but marvel at his beauty, his perfection. Then he ruins the moment with the mention of that bitch’s name. “You know about my relationship with Ari, yes or no?”

  “Yes, but that’s over now…”

  Clearing his throat, Caleb moves his head in a nod. “Yes, that’s right. But I suffered from that breakup a whole lot. You know why?”