Mallory

by Michelle Love

  He laughed. ‘That’s just because you have no-one to compare me to.’ His stomach growled, and she giggled. ‘Well, thanks, belly, that’s ruined the moment. God, I’m starving. Pizza?’

  ‘Hell yes.’

  Skandar scooted out of bed and threw on his jeans. ‘I'll order some.' He went out to grab his phone and Hayley got up and reached for her clothes. Then something caught her eye, and she stopped, smiled. When she walked out to join Skandar, she was wearing a white shirt of his, halfway buttoned up, the length of it falling to just above her knee. Skandar was just finishing up ordering and grinned.

  ‘Wow.’

  Hayley posed for him. ‘I just always wanted to wear a guy's shirt and look sexy for him. Like in the movies.’

  ‘It worked…come here.’

  Twenty minutes later, when the pizza arrived, they fell on it like savages. Skandar picked up the remote. ‘Wanna watch some t.v. while we eat?’

  Hayley nodded, her mouth full of food. Skandar flicked it on and scanned through the channels, settling on the news. They watched as the anchorwoman talked, not really taking anything in. It was only when they heard his name, they looked up.

  ‘Skandar Mallory, recently exonerated in the murder of German tennis star Annika Hahn, now faces a new crisis as gossip sites have published photographs of the twenty-five-year-old superstar in bed with another woman. The woman, seen here, is believed to be nineteen-year-old UW sophomore, Hayley Applebee. Karl Harlow reports, with images that some viewers may find offensive.’

  Hayley dropped her slice of pizza, nearly choking on the mouthful she was eating.

  ‘What the actual fuck?’ Skandar growled. He turned the t.v. up. A reporter, standing outside the very home they were in, was talking to the camera.

  ‘The photographs, which are explicit, show Mallory with a young woman. Both are naked, and as the sequence continues, it is clear they are having sexual relations. This comes just a day after Mallory was cleared of suspicion in the murder of Annika Hahn, his then girlfriend. Some say the timing is suspicious…’

  But Hayley stopped listening. The photos – thankfully her breasts and genitals were blanked out – were obviously taken last night – the most wonderful, erotic, private night of her life. She felt violated, exposed. Shamed.

  Skandar looked horrified. ‘God, Hayley, I’m so sorry…what the fuck?’

  ‘How the hell did they get pictures, Skandar? Did you tape us?’ She stood and fled to the bedroom, yanking off his shirt, not caring if she ripped it. She tugged her clothes on as he followed her. ‘Is that what happened? You taped us, and they hacked your hard drive?' She was pulling on her sneakers now as Skandar held out his hands.

  ‘Sweetheart, no, I would never…’

  ‘Then how did they get the fucking pictures?’ She screamed then burst into tears, sobbing, humiliated. ‘God, what am I going to say to Nan? To my friends? My god, I’m going to have to drop out of college – if they don’t throw me out first.’

  ‘Hayley, calm down. We’ll get the bottom of this…you haven’t done anything wrong. I have no idea…’ He looked around the room then started to open closets, drawers. She knew what he was looking for. Cameras. She searched too, then, desperate from proof that he didn’t know they were being watched. God, she wanted to throw up.

  ‘Here.’ Skandar said in a dead voice. He stood back from the closet and let her see. A tiny recording device with a feed lodged in the door, directly facing the bed. She stared at it.

  ‘And it’s not part of your security system?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘God.’ She watched as Skandar ripped it from the wall and stamped on it. ‘You shouldn’t have done that. There might have been fingerprints, evidence the police could use.’

  She went to sit on the bed and after a second, Skandar came to her. ‘I swear, I didn’t know. I would never do anything to hurt you like this.’

  She couldn’t speak, couldn’t reassure him. She wanted to believe him but he had been so reckless in the past. She looked at him, studied his face, his dark, hurt eyes and knew that even though she loved him, she didn’t quite trust him.

  ‘I have to go.’

  Skandar put his arms around her. ‘No, please, stay and let’s figure this out. I’ll get Zoe to come over and – ‘

  ‘This isn’t about public relations, Skandar. It’s about whether I can trust you with my heart.’

  He followed her out to the doorway. ‘You can…you can trust me.’

  She couldn’t look at him. ‘We’ll see. I need some time.’

  Skandar nodded. ‘Okay…okay…’ He opened the door for her but then shut it again, his face creasing with emotion.

  ‘Just, please remember this…I love you.’

  Tears were dropping down Hayley’s face. ‘I love you too…but I need some time. I’m not saying forever but…’

  Skandar took her face in his hands. ‘Kiss me before you go…’

  She pressed her lips to his, her resolve nearly faltering but then she pushed him away and fled, banging down the stairs and out onto the street. The paparazzi assailed her immediately, and she kicked and fought her way through them, cursing them out, not caring that it was all being captured on film.

  She ran three blocks before stopping, bending double to sob her anger, her hurt out. She managed to hail a cab and almost fell into it.

  ‘Where to, Miss?’ The cab driver had a kindly face – which made her sob even harder. As he waited, she managed to choke out. ‘I don’t know…I don’t know…’

  Tame Me Part 4

  Mallory

  By Michelle Love

  It wasn't the first time Joel Mallory had punched his twin brother across a room, but it was certainly the hardest.

  To be fair, Kit Mallory deserved it, stalking into his father’s house with an entourage the size of a small army and yelling at his nephew in front of everyone. ‘What the fuck are you doing with this tramp, Skandar? Are you trying to ruin the whole family? What next?’

  It had been a race to see who could punch Kit first, but Joel beat his son out by a hair. Randall grabbed hold of Skandar while Jakob hauled Joel off his brother. Ran nodded at Kit’s entourage. ‘Please wait in the library, folks, we'll get you some refreshments. Thank you.’

  As Jakob hauled Kit to his feet and blocked him from going at Joel, Ran released his grandson, giving him a meaningful look. ‘The rest of you, sit down.’

  Skandar, struggling to simmer down after hearing Kit insult Hayley, slumped back in a chair. ‘Don't you ever call her a tramp again, you fucker,' he hissed as Ran put a cautioning hand on his shoulder.

  Kit was unrepentant. ‘You can forget about Diane Sawyer now; I can't have you crapping all over my career as well as your own.'

  ‘Kit shut the fuck up,’ Jakob had heard enough. ‘Skan’s done nothing wrong – we have to figure out who put the cameras in his condo, and why.’

  Kit rocked back a little. ‘Wait…I thought this was a sex tape you released.’

  ‘No,’ Skandar’s voice was like ice, ‘unlike you, I actually have respect for the women in my life.’

  Kit gave a hollow laugh. ‘I’m sure Annika…’

  ‘Do not finish that sentence, do not finish that sentence, cocksucker,’ Skandar was up again. This time, it was Jakob who body-blocked him.

  ‘Enough!' Randall Mallory roared, and his three sons and one grandson looked at him in amazement. Jakob tried to remember when his father had raised his voice in his lifetime. He couldn’t remember such an occasion. His father, looking drawn and exhausted, sat down, motioned for his family to follow suit.

  ‘I am tired,' he said, ‘The last few months have been difficult enough without us imploding too. Kit, you will never again refer to Hayley with anything but respect, do you understand?’

  Kit rubbed his face. ‘Of course…look. Skandar, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that. It was wrong of me.’ His swagger had disappeared now and he was genuinely contrite.

  Skandar no
dded stiffly.

  ‘Good, now, let's see if we can't come up with something to control this idiocy, this disgusting violation. First, we need to make sure that Hayley is protected…Skandar?’ Ran looked at his grandson and noticed a shadow pass over his face. ‘Where is Hayley now?’

  Skandar sighed. ‘At home, holed up, I think. I’ve tried to call her a couple of times but…she’s distraught, Pops. What we did…it wasn’t a one night stand, or anything tawdry. I love her. I hope to God she still loves me.'

  Joel looked at his son and gave him a proud nod, a half-smile. ‘Nan told me this morning Hayley’s regrouping. I'm going over there later; I'll see if she wants to talk.'

  Skandar dropped his head into his hands, and Joel put his arm around him. Kit sat forward.

  ‘So what can we do? What with this, the murder, Quilla’s stabbing, this family has been through the mill. It’s already impacted on my work – not that I don’t realize how much worse it’s been for you all,’ he added, hurriedly.

  ‘Look…we call it what it was – a disgusting invasion of two people’s privacy, call the person who did it scum, say we’ll spend every penny, do everything to bring that person to justice.’ Ran let out a tense sigh. ‘I could do with a drink.’

  ‘Good thing I brought you some single malt back from Scotland then,’ said a familiar voice.

  They all turned around in surprise. Grady Mallory, his grin wide, raised his hand. ‘Hey, folks. What did I miss?’

  Kit Mallory went back to his hotel. Unlike his brothers, he didn’t own a home in Seattle, preferring to be in L.A. It was more convenient for parties and attending red carpet events, he told them, but over the years he'd begun to feel the disconnect, and it had made him resentful, even if it was his own doing.

  He gave Cherry, his p.a., the night off and ordered room service. He sat down and flicked on the t.v., not really watching it.

  He shouldn’t have insulted Skandar’s girl – that was wrong. He’d just come from a meeting with his people and found out he was being dropped from the Oscar presenting roster – humiliating when he’d already announced it. To do damage control, he had to agree to appear in a British singer’s music video – filming at the same time as the Oscars. It gave him a good reason to miss the Oscars without losing face.

  Trouble was the singer herself. Bo Kennedy. They'd clashed once before over Twitter over a throwaway remark he'd made about…God, he couldn't even remember now. Bo, a no-nonsense Londoner with strong feminist credentials, had ripped into him….eviscerated him and done it with a great deal of humor. He had a grudging respect for her. She wasn’t like all the cookie cutter Barbie dolls clogging up the music; Bo Kennedy had the soul of Billie Holiday inside her and the voice to match. Everyone loved Bo. She’d bucked the trend of stick-thin singers by remaining curvy – by Hollywood’s standards she was on her way to being obese but in real world terms, her curves were the stuff of Marilyn Monroe and Jayne Mansfield and many a man’s fantasies.

  Her people had reached out to him to be in her video…the pitch being he would play the handsome rogue boyfriend she was about to leave in a very public, very embarrassing fashion. He'd said no at first – actually; it was more like ‘Fuck, no, with that ballbreaker?’ - But when he thought about it, there was something that made him laugh about the offer. It was as if she was challenging him to prove he was the douchebag she thought he was. So when the whole Skandar/Murder Suspect/Sex Tape debacle had forced his hand…

  Shit. His guilt over abandoning his family had only gotten worse when Grady had shown up. Of all his brothers, Grady was the one who never put a foot wrong in his father’s eyes. Mostly, that was because…Grady never put a foot wrong. He was solid, dependable. Kit had always resented him because Grady had been in love with Kit's wife, Asia. To be fair to Grady – he had met Asia first and when he had brought her – just as a friend – to a family barbecue, Kit had taken one look at the gorgeous young woman and made his move. Grady had forgiven him, but it didn't stop Kit being paranoid every time the golden boy was around Asia.

  Stop going over the same crap, he told himself. He was rethinking the interview with Skandar and Diane Sawyer – maybe it would be good to do and act righteously indignant – especially when it came to the filming of a vulnerable young woman. Yeah, perhaps.

  His food arrived, and he ate quickly, showered and went to bed. In the morning he would get Cherry to confirm the interview with Sawyer. Then, after that, he would fly to England and see about Bo Kennedy. He had to admit; he was rather looking forward to it.

  Skandar left his grandfather’s house just past midnight. Grady's arrival had been a relief to them all; he had idolized him when he was young, and because they were closer in age than his father and his brothers, Grady had always filled the big brother role for Skandar.

  He’d asked his advice about Hayley. His uncle, who’d married his childhood sweetheart, Molly, only to find after the honeymoon she had Stage IV cancer – talked to him, told him to give Hayley her space. ‘But not too much space, kid,’ Grady had smiled, ‘You don’t want to pressure her just let her know you’ll wait.’

  Skandar opened the windows of his car and let the night air flood over him. He couldn't stop thinking about Hayley, her hurt, and humiliation. Damn the fucker who did to this her, to them. But it wasn't just them. The police had gone to his house, scoured it, and found hidden cameras everywhere. On their advice, the rest of his family had their homes checked. Jakob and Quilla were horrified when the police found cameras in their home too. Quilla had sobbed, and Skandar’s heart broke for her – they all knew what it meant.

  Gregor. That son-of-a-bitch. If Skandar could get his hands on him, he’d ripped him apart with his bare hands for what he had done to Hayley, to Quilla, to them all. He had no idea why Gregor would go after him, though. The answer came back to him; he was an easy target. Skandar shook his head in desolation. Am I truly the weakest link in our family?

  His cell phone rang, and he pulled over to the side of the road to answer it. His heart leaped when he saw the call i.d.

  ‘Hey sweetheart, it’s so good to hear from you.’

  He waited, but Hayley didn't reply. Instead, he heard her sob. It made his chest hurt. ‘Oh, baby…'

  ‘I'm sorry,' she said through her tears, ‘I promised myself I wouldn't do this, but I miss you, I just miss you.'

  ‘I love you, I miss you every minute,’ he said, his own voice cracking. He hesitated then, ‘Samadamadingdong, can I come see you?’

  He heard her laugh softly through her tears. ‘Yes please, SkunkMalady.’

  ‘Don’t forget the Bibble.’

  ‘SkunkMaladyBibble. Nan is at Joel’s.’

  His chest tightened. ‘You’re on your own? She left you alone?’

  ‘I’m a big girl, Skan. Nan offered to take me with her, but I wanted to be on my own...except I don't want to be on my own, I want to be with you.' She sighed.

  ‘Darling, I'm coming over now. Lock the doors, the windows. I’ll call you when I’m outside.’ His heart was thumping unpleasantly, his adrenaline flooding his veins. He kept picturing Gregor hunting Hayley down, stabbing her like he did Quilla, but then was aware he might be scaring Hayley. ‘Just to keep the paps out, you understand.'

  ‘’K. Hurry.’

  ‘I will, baby, I promise.’

  He was at her door within a half hour. As soon as she opened the door and saw him, she burst into tears. Skandar pulled her into his arms and closed the door behind himself.

  ‘It’s okay, baby, I’m here now…’

  She nodded as he smiled down at her, brushing away her tears with his thumbs. ‘God, you look beautiful.'

  She laughed through her tears then. ‘You never told me you had a kink for snot. I need a tissue.’

  He followed her into her bedroom, looking around approvingly. Every surface was stuffed with books and records; her laptop opened on her desk. Her closet door was open, and it looked like she'd taken everything out – searchin
g for more hidden cameras. She followed his gaze.

  ‘All clear,’ she sniffed, rubbing at her eyes. He sat down next to her.

  ‘Hayley…I cannot begin to…’

  ‘Ssh, don’t say sorry again. I’m sorry for even accusing you of...’

  He caught her mouth with his, and she responded, her lips hungry against his. ‘I love you so much, Skandar,' she said when they broke for air. She stood and lowered the blind on her window then stripped her t-shirt off in one fluid movement. Skandar’s breath faltered. God, just to see her…so lovely, such a turn on.

  ‘Sweetheart, are you sure?’

  She bent down and kissed him again, then pulled him to his feet and slid her hands under his t-shirt. As she pulled it over his head, she smiled up at him. ‘No more talking.’

  He grinned. ‘Yes, ma'am.’

  She took his nipple into her mouth and teased the small nub as he unzipped her jeans and slid his hands into the back of her jeans, his fingers sweeping down to cup her perfectly rounded buttocks.

  ‘I want to be on top,’ she murmured against his lips.

  ‘I have no problem with that,’ he chuckled then grinned as she pushed him back onto the bed. She pulled her jeans and panties off, unhooked her bra and straddled him, gloriously naked, her pale skin almost luminous in the dull light of the room.

  ‘In an act of supreme defiance,’ she said, ‘and after torturing myself by checking every gossip site, I decided my time was better used researching technique. If the world’s going to label me a whore, then I’m damn well going to live up to that label.’

  Skandar caught her wrists, made her look at him. ‘You are not a whore. I will kill anyone who calls you that.’ His voice was rough, cracked and she smiled down at him, her eyes soft.

  ‘I'm reclaiming the word,' she said confidently, her hands at his fly, ‘Whore being your lover, whore being the girl who thinks about you all day, every day…'