Page 81 of Tank’s Weakness

“They fired me,” she hiccups through her tears.

“The school fired you? Why?”

She looks up at me with devastation in her eyes.

I will kill whoever hurt my girl this way.

“There’s a video out there. On the internet. It is of me and you being intimate. They claim that I violated my contract because it was posted to a porn site, even though I wasn’t the one who posted it, nor was I aware it was being recorded. I am going to sue them,” she sobs. “I have to sue them. How could they do this?”

“Are you fucking serious? You were fired because some fucking pervert recorded us?” I ask, trying to keep my anger in check.

“That’s exactly what happened. They didn’t care that it happened against my will but only that the parents wouldn’t be okay with it if it came out. Basically told me I was collateral damage,” she cries out.

I hold her tight, my body tense with anger.

Her ex.

There’s no one else who could be behind this. That fucking parasite. I should have killed him, and honestly, the only reason I haven’t up until now is because I was afraid of how she would look at me once she figured it out.

Because Delaney would figure it out. It would only be a matter of time.

“Is that why you were sitting in the dark?” I ask, putting the pieces together.

She nods against my chest. “I was afraid to turn on the lights. If he were watching, he would get sick enjoyment out of my tears. I won’t give him that.”

I squeeze her tighter to me, and she all but crawls into my lap.

“This is so messed up,” I mutter.

“I know. I’m just…I’m at a loss for words. I didn’t know he was capable of this.”

“Did you file a police report?” I ask, dreading her answer.

“Yes. I went by myself.”

Fuck. I was afraid she would say that. Now with the police looking into it, the club and I can’t exactly grab him and then take him out to sea.

“You didn’t ask Erica or me to go with you? We would have.”

She shakes her head. “I didn’t want to bother either of you.”

Something about her tone tells me that’s not quite the truth.

“Baby, are you ashamed of what we were doing in that video?” I ask, dread filling me.

Delaney leans back and touches my face gently. “No. Absolutely not. What we have is beautiful and ours. I won’t be ashamed of what we do. I’m ashamed, though, that I spent years with a man who is clearly intent on destroying everything in my life.”

“But if I hadn’t encouraged you to be with me, none of this would be happening.”

She shakes her head. “That’s not true. He still wouldn’t be happy that I’m not with him. That I walked away. He doesn’t want me happy without him. It has nothing to do with you or what we do and everything to do with him and his shortcomings.”

Relief fills me.

Thank fuck. If she were ashamed, I don’t know what I would do. It would break my heart, that’s for sure.

“So what now?” I ask.

She curls into my side. “Now we wait. Hopefully the cops can do something with him. End this once and for all, within the law. I need to find a lawyer to sue the school.”