Luca frowned. “It’s possible, though I don’t see how. Besides, some of these pictures were taken moments after we arrived. They would have had to be there waiting already. There is only one way in and out of that place. If they’d come up the road, we would have seen or heard them.”
“The only explanation is that someone must have tipped them off,” Joe said, a frown creasing his brow.
“That’s not possible. Mrs. Lasko hires different people to clean the place whenever I need it and takes care of stocking the place for me. No one she brings in knows who I am. I purchased it under a false name, and they never know when I’m going to arrive.”
“Drones, maybe?”
“Possible, I suppose.” He whirled back around with a growl and resumed his pacing.
If he found out someone had tipped them off…he really couldn’t be held responsible for what he’d do.
He never should have brought Constance back to the house. They should have gone straight to the yacht. His only hope was to get her away, convince her that his feelings for her were genuine, that he truly cared for her and would never do anything to hurt her. Maybe then she’d believe that he had nothing to do with this.
The moment she walked into his office, he knew it was too late. Her pain-filled eyes bore into his, fury radiating from her.
“Joe,” he said quietly. He didn’t take his gaze from Constance, just trusted that Joe would know what he wanted. The quiet click of the door announced that they were alone.
“Stanzia,” he began, but she didn’t let him finish.
“How could you?” Her voice was a harsh whisper that tore into his heart.
“I didn’t do this.”
“I don’t believe you.”
That brought him up short. He’d known she’d need some convincing. He expected confusion and hurt, certainly, but he hadn’t expected wholescale accusation right off the bat. It hurt much more than he’d expected.
“I want to see them,” she said, folding her arms across her chest.
He thought about saying no. He didn’t want her to see them. Didn’t want her to know the level someone had sunk to in order to make a buck, but she’d see them anyway. They were everywhere.
He went to his computer and pulled up the screen he’d been looking at. Six tabs were open to some of the biggest sites. All had their pictures splashed across the screen with nothing but a few little black bars or blurred pixels to keep the photos publishable. She kept her eyes on him as she walked to his side of the desk. He stepped back with a resigned sigh. There was no stopping the disaster now. He could only hope she’d hear him out.
Her eyes dropped to the screen, her face flushing as she read the bold headlines streaked across every page.
Real After All!
Luca’s Love Nest!
Luca’s Lady is a Tramp!
Some of the others weren’t as tame, or kind, but it was the pictures that caused the whimper of distress emanating from her lips. He tried to put an arm around her waist but she pushed him away as she scrolled through picture after picture.
Her, arching back on his motorcycle, her legs wrapped around his waist, her black-barred breasts thrust into the air.
Him, on his knees before her, his face buried against her, her head thrown back in ecstasy.
Her, wrapped around him in the sea, staring into his eyes as they made love.
For the last time.
He knew it before she said a word.
She stumbled back from the computer. “These…are everywhere?”
He nodded, his heart sinking. Her eyes darted around, searching for something. Not him. Her gaze landed on him and she recoiled like she’d been struck.
“This is a nightmare,” she said, her voice thick with tears. “This can’t be real. This can’t be what my life has been reduced to. I want to wake up and be plain old anonymous Constance McMurty again.”
“Stanzia, I’m so sorry. I don’t know how—”
“Of course you know how,” she said, fury replacing the pain in her face. “This is all your fault, it must be. You swore up and down that no one knew where we were. No one knew about that place. There was no way we were followed. So if all that’s true, then you are the only one who could have tipped off the press. You’re the one with everything to gain from this.”
“Gain? What can I possibly gain from this?”
“Are you serious?” she asked, nearly shrieking. “You were the one worried that people might think we were a sham. You were the one wanting a way to prove to everyone we were the real deal. Well, there you have it, proof that you really were screwing me.”
He flinched. “I never wanted this. I would never have condoned someone taking pictures of us in our private moments.”