Drex’s eyes drift from me to Gep to Marlon and then back to settle on me. He heaves a sigh.
“Fuck it. I gotta save myself here.” He shrugs. “When things blew up between you and your girlfriend, and she signed with Malcolm, I saw . . . let’s call it an opportunity.”
“Go on.” Gep folds his massive arms across his chest.
“I called Malcolm and said I had something on his bright new star artist that I’d release unless he signed me, too. Got me some gigs. Gave me a shot.”
I already see where this is going, and the thought of Kai being caught in their disgusting cross hairs makes me sick. Makes me furious.
“To my surprise, he wanted the tape for his own game.” Drex laughs. “What’d I care? He told me to lay low for a few months because they’d be looking for me when he started threatening her.”
“Why’d he threaten her with it? Why keep them apart?” Marlon demands, confusion on his face. “I don’t get it.”
“He didn’t want Kai with me,” I say softly. “He knew I wouldn’t let him control her. He knew I’d get her away from him.”
“He figured when she didn’t take you back, things would die down. You’d give up and move on, and he’d have Kai for the next two years at least. Just another break up.”
“But it wasn’t just another break up.” I shake my head. “Not to me and Kai. He underestimated us, I guess.”
“Well, I don’t even have the video anymore,” Drex says. “He made a hard copy and deleted it from my cloud. I couldn’t release that video now if I wanted to.”
“And in exchange?” I demand.
“In exchange, I have a new record deal.” Drex smiles, a grimy spread of his lips. “And even shows in Vegas this summer.”
I don’t have the heart to tell him that will never happen. Or maybe I’m just saving that for dessert.
“Call him.” My words land in the room with atomic force.
“What?” Drex frowns. “He’s never been up here. He’ll suspect something’s wrong. What will I tell him?”
“I don’t care if you tell him he needs to come because the Easter Bunny has his eggs. You get that piece of shit here as soon as possible.” I flick a glance to my security guard. “Or Gep here will call some of his friends. Did I mention he’s ex-CIA?”
Our eyes lock, and he can hardly disguise his malevolence toward me. That’s fine because I can barely check mine for him, so we’re even.
Reluctantly, he grabs his phone and makes the call.
“WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK you’re doing, calling me?”
John Malcolm’s voice in the living room booms loud and irritated enough to reach me in the bedroom.
“What’s so urgent you broke protocol? Why am I here?” he demands of Drex.
“I had an emergency I couldn’t discuss over the phone,” Drex says, his voice as nervous and tentative as I’ve ever heard it. “Something that could jeopardize the whole plan.”
“What?” Malcolm snaps
I step into the living room, Marlon and Gep right behind me.
“Not what. Who. Me.”
I lean against the wall and slide one hand into my pocket, leaving the injured hand hanging limply at my side. The pain is nearly unbearable. It is obviously beyond the power of Aleve, and as soon as I handle this monster, Dr. Mason is waiting to tell me exactly how bad the damage is.
Malcolm’s beady eyes stretch momentarily when they settle on me before swinging back to Drex.
“You idiot.” His frown just gets heavier and his complexion ruddier with his anger. “If you’ve fucked this up—”
“No, you fucked up, Malcolm.” I struggle to keep my voice even now that I’m faced with this manipulative bastard, responsible, at least indirectly for Kai’s exhaustion and hospitalization. For the last three months she’s been threatened and tortured and trying to fix this on her own.
“You fucked up when you interfered in my relationship with Kai,” I continue. “When you convinced her to leave me. When you tricked her into a shitty contract. When you pushed her past her limits. When you had the audacity to threaten my girl with a sex tape recorded without her consent.”
I draw a deep breath, reaching for the calming effects that never come.
“Oh, you’ve fucked up badly, Malcolm.”
The shock of seeing me fades the longer he stands there, leaving nothing but the monster I always knew lurked just below his too-polished, fleshy veneer.
“You should be very careful with me, Gray.” He laughs, sitting on one of the couches and pulling out a cigar to gnaw on. “I have Kai locked into a contract for the next two years. There’s only plusses here for me. If I release that tape, my client will be even more popular. How many celebrities have been propelled from obscurity to infamy with a good sex tape? The guys are already eating her up. Imagine how hungry they’ll be for her once they jerk off to that video a few times. I see nothing but possibility here.”