Bastard SEAL: A Bad Boy Forbidden Baby Romance (Contains bonus book Based!) (36 page)

“Okay, yeah. He’s an asshole.”

“I want to end him.”

She stared at me for a second. “I can’t help you, Lincoln.”

I decided not to waste any time.

“Fifty thousand dollars,” I said.

She paused. “What about it?”

“You give me something I can use against him, and I’ll pay you fifty grand. Cash.”

She paused, looking thoughtful. “Why would I risk my relationship with Cliff for you?”

“Because you hate him. I’ve seen the way you react when he calls you up. Don’t think I haven’t noticed.”

“He’s hard to work with.”

“He’s impossible. And he treats you like garbage. I’ve done some digging on you, Jess, and you have a pretty damn good resume. You can get work anywhere you want.”

“Cliff has a reputation.”

“I understand that. But so do you.”

She leaned back, thinking it over. I knew that stroking her ego a little bit would probably do the trick, but the money was the clincher.

“Okay, say I do this. What happens with this documentary?”

“It’s yours, isn’t it?”

“Cliff is the money. He owns a stake, yeah, but not the full rights.”

“Okay. I’ll bankroll the documentary myself if he pulls out.”

She nodded. “Fine. I also want another interview with you and Aubrie.”

I blinked. “Why?”

“I want to talk about Brent. We need the footage of her discussing what happened, and it’ll look bad if we don’t get it.”

“Fine.” I sighed. I didn’t want to get Brie involved anymore, but an interview wasn’t bad.

“One last thing. Fifty grand isn’t even a year’s salary for me. I need more on top of you paying for the film if Cliff pulls out.”

A huge grin broke out across my face. I didn’t love that she was trying to get more money, but the fact that she was bargaining at all meant I had her.

“What’s your number, then?” I asked.

It didn’t take long after that. We talked for ten more minutes, hammering out the details, but she agreed faster than I expected. I figured there was something I didn’t know about, but that was a problem for another day.

It was a lot more expensive than I was hoping, but she promised that she’d get me something very useful. And knowing her, I figured it was going to be pretty damn good. At least it better be, considering the deal she just made.

As I left the hotel, I was out of a large chunk of my cash savings. But for the first time in weeks, I felt good.

I felt in control. And that was what I needed.

Fuck Cliff. I was taking control back.

“
W
hat happened
the night of the charity auction, in your words?”

I glanced at Aubrie as she slowly began to recount the night.

It hadn’t been hard to convince her to do the interview. For whatever reason, as soon as I asked, she said yes. Part of me figured it was because she would take any excuse to spend time with me, but truthfully she probably just wanted to clear the air.

There was a lot of air to clear, although a huge chunk of it had to remain a secret. It didn’t matter what Cliff knew or guessed, and that Jess probably knew as much as he did. We had to maintain the illusion of the secret.

Otherwise, I didn’t know what would happen.

“It was toward the end of the night when . . . when that girl won the date with Lincoln.”

She glanced at me and I grinned innocently. It wasn’t my fault I attracted a certain kind of insane stripper.

“So what happened after that?” Jess pushed gently.

“I was feeling tired and sick and I figured I could cut out early. I wasn’t exactly an important part of the operation at that point.”

Jess nodded, seemingly accepting that very clear lie. Brie wasn’t exactly the best actress. But it was becoming obvious to me that although we all knew the truth, we were all going to pretend like we didn’t.

Because apparently, it was so fucking horrible for me to want Aubrie more than anything. It was so terrible if the sinner Based Carter was into Aubrie Evans, the perfect little science geek, straight-A student, all around stunner.

We weren’t even related. It shouldn’t have mattered.

But it did. Somehow, it did. And that’s why the secret stayed a secret no matter how badly I wanted to tear her clothes off right there, cameras be damned.

“It was late and it was dark out, but it didn’t matter. There were so many people inside, you know? I felt safe. So I headed toward my car.”

“And that’s when you saw Brent?” Jess asked.

I steeled myself for this part. I kept running what I saw through my mind, over and over, and the anger never went away. I wished I could have beaten that piece of shit even more.

“Yeah. I didn’t think anything of it at first, you know? I’d seen him around here a million times since he worked on the crew.” Aubrie shrugged. “But I guess after a second I realized that he was drunk.”

“Why was he drunk?” I cut in, directing my question at Jess.

Jess looked at me. “Probably because he drank.”

“But why?” I pressed.

“He has an alcohol problem. We offered to get him help but he turned it down.”

“So you knowingly had an alcoholic on the crew?”

Her eyes narrowed. I knew I shouldn’t push, but I couldn’t help it. “He had never been a problem before. He kept the drinking and work separate. What he did on his free time was none of my business.”

“Became your business, though. Our business, actually.”

“You want to blame this on me? Fine, go ahead, Lincoln. But can we finish this interview without you interrupting?”

I clenched my jaw. Aubrie looked at me, concerned. “Fine. Go ahead. Finish it,” I said.

Brie paused for a second, looking at me, and then turned back to Jess. “So anyway, he was drunk. I told him I was going home, but he said we should hang out. I said no, thanks and started walking away. He pressed and I said no again. That’s when he grabbed me.”

“Describe what he looked like.”

“Drunk, obviously. Sweating a little bit. His eyes were wide open, a little crazy. Honestly, he scared the hell out of me, made me uncomfortable. Even before he grabbed me, right after he started talking and I realized he was drunk.”

“Had he ever made you uncomfortable before?”

“No, not at all.”

“What happened next?”

“His hands grabbed my arm. He was being really rough and pulled me back toward him. I yelled, told him to get off me. He didn’t look like he was listening, just kept telling me to wait a minute.”

“What did you think he was going to do?”

“I didn’t know. Honestly, I had never been in a situation like that before. I was just hoping that yelling would attract some attention and scare him off.”

“It attracted attention all right,” I mumbled.

Aubrie gave me a look and then turned back to the cameras. “That’s when Lincoln showed up.”

“Were you afraid of Brent at this time?”

“Yes, I was terrified.”

“Did you think he was going to hurt you?”

“I don’t know. I thought that was possible, yeah.”

“What happened next?”

“Well, one second he was pulling at my arm, his eyes crazy, and the next he dropped to the ground. I looked up and Lincoln was standing there holding his cane like a baseball bat. He hit Brent again in the body. I guess he had hit him the first time in the knee. Anyway, he hit him again and Brent dropped to the ground. That’s when Lincoln grabbed me and we walked away.”

“What did you think at the time?”

“I was scared, but relieved. I was also confused. I didn’t know that Lincoln was looking for me, so I didn’t expect him.”

“Were you afraid of Lincoln?”

“Not at all. I was worried he was going to kill Brent, but then he didn’t.”

“Why did you walk away with him?”

“I don’t know. I really don’t. It just felt like the right thing to do.”

“Why do you think Lincoln saved you?”

She paused. “Wouldn’t you?”

“Maybe, maybe not. I might not have broken the guy’s kneecap, especially if I was on parole,” she said.

I rolled my eyes at Jess.
I knew you were a coward
, my look said.

“That’s not Lincoln, though. He doesn’t do anything half way.”

“Explain that,” Jess prodded.

“I don’t know.” Brie paused, thinking. “It’s like, you watch him talk to someone, or he’s talking to you, and you’re the only person in the entire world for him. Or all those pinball machines in our game room, he set the high score on every single one.”

“So he’s intense?”

“Intense isn’t the right word. I mean, he is, but it’s much more than that.”

“He really made an impression on you.”

“Yeah. When someone does something like that for you, it means something.”

“So I want to ask you this again. Why do you think he did it?”

“Because he couldn’t have done anything else. He’s Lincoln. If he sees something, he does something. He’s not the kind of person to get help. He is the help.”

“One last question. Where did you guys go?”

“Not far away. We mostly just walked around. He made sure I was okay. I was pretty shaken up about it, so he helped calm me down. Then we went back.”

“Okay. Thanks, Aubrie.”

“That it?” I asked.

“From her, yeah.” She looked at Brie. “Do you mind sitting here while we ask Lincoln some questions?”

“Sure, whatever.”

“Okay, Lincoln. How did all that make you feel?”

“Pissed off, mostly. I’m not a fan of reliving painful memories.”

“No, specifically what Aubrie just said about you. How did that make you feel?”

I looked at Brie, at her wide eyes and pouty lips. I wanted to grab her face and kiss her hard, run my hands along her body. I wanted to feel her curves and skin and breathe in her smell.

It felt like coming home, when she said that about me. It felt better than breaking a world record. Better than anything else had.

“It felt like she reads too much,” I said, grinning.

The crew laughed, but Jess and Aubrie didn’t.

It wasn’t like I could say what I really wanted to say out loud. Not on camera, at least.

“In your words, why did you do it?”

“I saw a guy hurting a woman, so I hurt him. Is it really that complicated?”

“You risked a lot for her.”

I paused. I’d risk everything for her, I thought.

“That never occurred to me. It wasn’t like I took the time to make a pros and cons list in my head. I saw what needed to be done and I did it.”

“Okay. How about you tell me what happened from the beginning?”

I walked her through everything, starting from when I first arrived at the event. I talked about signing autographs and acting like I gave a fuck about the charity event. I talked about Misty, about how Aubrie left so abruptly. I talked about wanting to check up on her since she didn’t look like she was feeling well.

“That’s perceptive of you, considering you only saw her from across the room,” Jess cut in.

“I have great eyesight.”

She made a face. “Okay, so what happened next?”

I told her about hearing Brie yell and moving as fast as I could. I talked about smashing my cane into the guy’s leg, and again as he fell. I didn’t mention how fucking good it felt to hurt the piece of shit.

“Then we walked away. I talked to her while she cooled off, and that’s it.”

“That’s it,” Jess repeated. “Pretty simple.”

“Exactly.”

“Did you know Brent before that night?”

“Sure. He stuck his fucking camera in my face every day. You could say we were intimate.”

The crew laughed nervously.

“Did you sense anything like this from him?” she asked.

“Nope. Not at all. I liked him, before that night.”

“Okay. Last question. How did it make you feel, seeing Brent grabbing Aubrie?”

I laughed. “Seriously? What kind of question is that?”

“Just answer.”

“It made me feel fucking angry. What did you think I’d say? Made me fucking hard?”

“Thanks, Lincoln. That’s it.”

I sighed. “Really, we’re done?”

“We’re done.”

The crew started to break down the lighting, and Brie unclipped her mic. I did the same, looking at her.

“That was painless,” I said.

“Yeah. I guess so.” She didn’t look up at me.

“Thanks for doing it.”

“No problem. I’ll see you later.”

She quickly stood up and walked out of the room. I wanted to reach out and say something, but the crew’s presence stopped me. Even though the cameras weren’t running, I still wasn’t ready to reveal that much. I wasn’t ready to reveal how much I wanted her.

How much I was beginning to need her.

“Lincoln, a word?”

I looked over at Jess, who motioned for me to follow her. With a sigh, I stood up, grabbed my cane, and followed into the other room.

For a brief second, as I crossed over the threshold, I realized that for the first time in weeks my legs didn’t feel like they weren’t about to collapse. I tucked that away in the back of my mind. It was progress.

“What’s up?” I asked her.

“I have what you wanted.”

I stared. I didn’t expect it that fast. I only saw her the night before.

“Okay. Show me.”

She held up a thumb drive. “What you want is a video. It’s on here.”

“You need to give me a little more proof than that before I transfer a fuck ton of money over to you.”

She smirked. “Good. I was beginning to think you were an idiot.”

I grinned. “Appearances can be deceiving.”

She walked back into the other room and returned a second later with a laptop. She opened it up, typed in her password, and plugged in the drive. It contained a single video file. She double clicked it.

I watched as the movie expanded. She made it full screen and turned up the laptop’s brightness setting.

We crowded around the screen. There was no sound, and the image was shaky, but unmistakable. It was a short video shot outside a popular L.A. nightclub that I recognized. Parked maybe twenty yards away was Cliff’s car.

“What am I watching here?” I asked.

“Just look.”

Annoyed, I did as I was asked. After a few seconds, two people walked across the parking lot and stopped, leaning against Cliff’s car. It was dark, and the frame shook, and it was hard to tell who they were. They began to kiss, the guy’s hands roaming around the girl’s ass.

“Are you trying to sell me shitty porn?” I asked her.

She shushed me and nodded at the screen.

I saw the girl’s face first. As they broke apart, she stepped around the car and under a streetlight. She was young and pretty, and I recognized her from some action movie that was popular a year or two ago. I couldn’t remember her name, but she was definitely a minor celebrity.

Right behind her, the guy stepped into the light, and I nearly laughed out loud. It was totally unmistakable.

The man was Cliff.

I watched as he opened the passenger side door for her and then leaned in for a second. They were probably kissing more, but I couldn’t see. He moved back out, shut her door, and then got into the driver’s side. The car pulled away a minute later, and the video stopped.

I looked at Jess. “Where did you get this?”

“Paparazzi friend of mine sold it to me. He figured it wouldn’t get much play with any of the magazines, since Cliff isn’t exactly newsworthy and her fame has plummeted lately. But I figured it might come in handy one day.”

“Great fucking coincidence. When did you get this?”

“A few months ago.”

“And you’ve just been sitting on it?”

“I don’t exactly get a lot of reasons to blackmail my boss.”

I laughed out loud. She was absolutely fucking unbelievable. She already had proof that Cliff was cheating and apparently bought it just in case she ever needed it. She either could tell the future or she was the most paranoid person in the world.

Or maybe she just knew Cliff was a colossal piece of garbage.

“Fuck, Jess. He’s cheating on my mom.”

And that was when it really sunk in. The piece of shit was cheating on my mom. I always had my suspicions, always figured that was why he took long trips all over the place. But I didn’t have any proof of it, and besides, Jules seemed content with what was going on.

“Worth the money?” Jess asked.

“Hell yes it is.”

“Fine. Transfer it now and it’s yours.”

I pulled out my phone, opened my banking app, and set up the wire transfer. It took all of thirty seconds to make Jess slightly rich and me a lot poorer.

She nodded at the confirmation screen and handed me the drive. “Pleasure doing business with you.”