Page 12 of Cocky Brutal Sinner

Jenna: It wasn’t just any sex. It got rough. You don’t even want to know the kind of shit he was into. Trust me, I have the marks to prove it.

Peppermint: Hold on. Are you telling me that Luke hurt you?

Jenna: Yes. With his hand, and some other stuff. He’s got a whole drawer full of toys. Paddles, floggers, one time a belt. It hurt like fuck when I sat down after. I doubt he even cared about that, though. He had these ropes, too. They were so scratchy, I had red marks on my wrists for days.

I stop reading because I know what comes next. Anyone can see this interview for exactly what it is; some girl pissed off because she wanted more than occasional kinky sex and Luke wasn’t interested in commitment.

She even implied herself later in the interview that she gave enthusiastic consent to everything.

And how upset she was that it never became a relationship bleeds through every sentence she spoke.

Cringing, I close the window. The interview is brutal, even more than Peppermint’s usual anti-Luke screeds, because the fact that it’s an interview gives it the illusion of truth. Only someone who actually knows Luke would see what bullshit it was.

Yes, he’s into some kinky shit, and yes, he tends to keep his relationships casual and physical, but he never misleads anyone. He’s very up front about wanting no strings.

Whoever “Jenna” is obviously had a bone to pick with Luke, and she found a friendly ear in Peppermint. The blogger has written shit about all of us, but they’ve always reserved a particular venom for Luke. Just like a certain woman I know.

I’ve suspected for a while. Hell, maybe I’ve more than suspected, but I never confronted Brinley. Because if I’m right, if she’s really Peppermint, that could blow up both of our lives.

It takes me less than half an hour to shower and cook up some egg sandwiches for the guys. By the time I make it up to Luke’s apartment, everyone else is already there. Fury hangs over all four of them like dark campfire smoke.

“I brought sustenance,” I say, setting the sandwich plate down on the coffee table. Ryan grabs one and shoves it in his mouth. Normally, Luke would be halfway through his own sandwich. Instead, he glares down at his clasped hands.

“I’ll say it,” he mutters. “I’m pissed. This Peppermint person has gotten away with writing about us for too long. We’ve laughed it off or ignored it, even when they hit us below the belt. This time, though, it cost Twisted Devil real money. I want Peppermint found.”

“We all do,” Ryan says through a mouthful of egg.

“I want to know who has access to the kind of details Peppermint writes about,” Luke continues. “A lot of the stuff in these posts isn’t public knowledge.”

“Someone we dated?” Nate says thoughtfully. “If it ended badly, that would be a motive.”

Luke shakes his head. “Nobody ever had a significant relationship last long enough to know everything, and it’s not like we’d spill our private details to a one-night stand.”

“Maybe it’s someone who works for us?” I suggest optimistically. It would be great if that were true—if Peppermint was just someone we can just fire and move on from.

Or maybe you’re purposefully sending them in the wrong direction, the little voice in my head says. Bad friend.

“I cleared everyone who works in this building and at UPS, back when they wrote about Cat and me,” Nate says.

“Hundreds of people work at Sequel,” James says. “We’re a large company.”

“Maybe focus on the Toronto branches, then,” Ryan says. “James and Nate, you guys have PIs you’ve used before, right? We could put them on it.”

“I’ll send the name of my guy,” Nate promises.

“We should get a hacker or something,” Ryan says. “Someone on the dark web. Do you know any of those?”

“Don’t be insane,” Luke groans at the same time that James says, “Yes.”

“Any chance your hacker looks like Keanu Reeves and knows how to do Matrix moves?” I joke.

Everyone ignores my attempt to lighten the mood.

“We should start by making a list of anyone who sees us in our day-to-day lives,” Nate says. “Coworkers, house staff, anyone you went out with more than once. That way, we can have them ready for the PIs to review.”

“We can all work on that tonight and send it to Nate when we’re done. I’ll start cataloguing Peppermint’s articles about us and look for patterns,” Ryan says.

James checks the calendar on his phone. “Can we wrap this up, then? I have a call with a shareholder that I can’t miss, but text me if you need any information from me.”