The agents asked everyone else to leave the room so they could take my statement, but I demanded that Ella and Tyler stay. Ella sat at my side and held my hand. Her knee kept jittering like she was nervous. I wanted to tell her that everything would be okay—like she’d told me last night—but Agent Whats-His-Face was speaking.
“…the handover from the NYPD, but they missed some pretty basic questions.”
Agent Unibrow snorted. “So basic.”
Agent Whats-His-Face gave his partner side eye then went on. “We understand that the video was recorded three years ago, correct?”
I flinched at the reminder of the video. “Yes. June of that year.”
“How many phones have you gone through since then?” Agent Unibrow asked.
I shrugged. “I don’t know. I get a new one about every year.”
“What do you do with your old tech?” Agent Unibrow leaned forward. “Do you recycle it? Give it away to someone else?”
“They usually do a factory reset in the store and give me trade-in value since they’re not so old.”
Agent Whats-His-Face scribbled furiously. “Do they always reset it in front of you?”
“I guess,” I replied, not really following the importance of these weird questions. Didn’t they give a shit about my blackmailer? Why were they obsessing about the video?
“Okay.” Agent Whats-His-Face tapped his pen against his pad. “Do you backup your phone anywhere? To the cloud or something with hardware like a tablet or computer?”
I froze. “I use the cloud, but I also backed up to my old laptop. Pretty sure it still does.”
“Apple’s cloud? We can get a subpoena to see who’s logged into your account and where they’re located, but that takes time.” Agent Whats-His-Face looked down as he scribbled again. “Where’s your laptop? Does anyone else have access to it?”
Christ. I was so stupid. Why hadn’t it occurred to me before this? I laughed under my breath.
“Mr. Mala?” Agent Unibrow asked, raising his eyebrow. “Do you know who has your laptop? You know who’s behind this?”
I cleared my throat, and Ella squeezed my hand. “I gave my laptop to my mom a few months ago since I didn’t need it anymore. She texted me a few weeks back that she needed a new one. She’d given my old one to her fiancé.”
Ella gasped. “Oh my god.”
Both agents’ heads jerked up, and they stared intently at me.
“And what’s his name?” Agent Whats-His-Face asked.
“Barrett Bolden. I guess they reconnected recently. He was stepdaddy number two, I wanna say. They married the first time back when I was in middle school, I think. I don’t really remember much about him. He has expensive taste though. They’ve already hit me up for the ten-thousand-dollar deposit on their wedding venue.”
Agent Whats-His-Face leaned forward. “Do you have any more information on Mr. Bolden? Address or place of employment?”
“I seriously doubt he has a job. That’s not really my mom’s type. Pretty sure he’s moved into her place—that I bought her.” I rattled off my mom’s address. “Not sure what his phone number is though.”
Agent Unibrow grinned. It was an eerie sight—all teeth and dead eyes. “No need. We’ll have it before we leave the hotel. We’ll keep ahold of your cell phone for evidence, but I think we have all we need.”
“Fantastic.” Tyler jumped up and shook the agents’ hands as they followed suit. “Thank you so much for your help, agents. We really appreciate it. Can we get you two a few backstage passes for the concert tonight?”
The agents followed Tyler to the door. I heard the agents turn down Tyler’s offer. Huh. I guess they weren’t fans.
“Oh my god, Jesse. Are you okay?” Ella tugged my arm, forcing me to turn toward her.
I stared at her. “I don’t even know. I kinda feel numb. I mean, honestly, it’s not that surprising. I’m kinda amazed I hadn’t figured it out before now.”
“What are you going to do? Are you going to tell your mom?”
“No,” I said at the same time as Tyler butted in.
“You can’t. We can’t tip off your mom’s fiancé to what’s going on. The agents believe they’ll have enough to take him into custody soon. Probably before we leave for Boston.”
“Right.” Ella sighed and squeezed my hand.
I felt my heart thud unevenly just having her near. I stared at her with hungry eyes.
“Okay.” Tyler clapped his hands, making me jump. “Do you want an update on the video stuff, or do you two want to be alone?”
Ella said, “Update please,” at the same time I said, “Alone.”
Tyler chuckled. “I’ll make it quick then. I hired a cyber firm to issue takedown notices. And I also hired a less than aboveboard guy who’s taking care of scrubbing the video from sites that refuse to take it down. I also want to issue a statement about the invasion of privacy. I understand you want to keep Rowan’s name out of the press?”
I nodded.
Tyler shoved his hands in his pockets. “Do you want to issue any statement about the state of your current relationship?”
“No, keep Ella’s name away from mine for the moment.”
“Screw that.” Still holding my hand, Ella turned to Tyler. “You tell the press that we’re together, we’re staying together, and that I fucking love him.”
Tyler’s lips quirked as he was clearly fighting a smile. “Ella fucking loves Jesse. Got it.”
I turned to Ella and shook my head. “I don’t want the stain of me and that tape to touch you. You’re just starting your career. This could be professional suicide.”
“You don’t get to decide what I do. I get that you’re concerned for me, but so am I for you.” Ella reached up and cupped my cheek with her free hand, moving into me until there was nothing I could see but her. “I’m in, Jesse. Totally, one hundred percent in. I love you, I’m standing by you, and screw anyone who thinks less of me because of it.”
“God dammit.” I sighed and rested my forehead against hers. “I’m trying to protect you, and you go and say something like that? How am I supposed to say no to you now?”
“Okay.” Tyler coughed lightly. “So Ella is in the statement, then. Do you guys need anything else?”
“Goodbye, Tyler.” I didn’t look away from Ella’s gorgeous green starburst eyes.
“Your car will be waiting downstairs to take you to the venue at five. Security will meet you at the elevator since we’re expecting a heavy press presence. Please be clothed and on time.”
Ella snorted a laugh, and a few beats later I heard the door softly close.
“So you’re in, huh?” I murmured, still staring into her eyes.
“Yes. I’m here. I’m staying, and there’s nothing you can do about it.”
“How about you move in with me then?”
“What?” Ella whispered.
“You. Move into my place.” I punctuated my orders with quick kisses. “When the tour is over. Move out of Chase’s pool house. And into my place.”
“Oh wow.” Ella’s green eyes looked dazed now. “Do you really think we’re ready for that? So soon?”
I laughed. “Fuck too soon. We’re practically living together as it is. I’m in your bunk every night or you’re in mine. We’ve been making out in closets and bathrooms, and I’m done with it. I’m done hiding. If you’re in, then so am I. Which means you’re moving in with me.”
“Yes, sir.” Ella leaned back and saluted me.
I laughed again. “Glad you agree. Now get those clothes off. You’re due for an inspection, sailor.”
“Uh, the name is Ella, remember?”
“You saluted me. I thought we were doing a whole roleplaying thing…”
“And you went with Navy and not some BDSM naughty schoolgirl schtick. Gotcha.”
“Wait, is naughty schoolgirl still on the table? Because I’m all for that.”
Ella snorted. “Maybe next time. I don’t wanna do a whole wardrobe change. I’d rather be taking clothes off of you.”
“Only if I can do the same to you. You are definitely wearing way too much clothing.”
“You’ll have to catch me first!” Ella yelled as she ran away from me and across the room, toward the bed.
Exactly where I wanted her.