The Exposure

   She drummed her fingers on her desk, trying to figure out what to do next when her laptop pinged with a message.

I see you decided to go about this the hard way.—The Taskmaster

   Beyond the message, what freaked her out more was that it was sent via interoffice chat. Holy fuck, did the blackmailer work for NNN? Her fingers flew over the keyboard.

Who are you? How did you get that picture? Do you work here?

   The reply was almost instant.

I don’t think you’re in a position to ask questions.

   She was typing out a reply when the next message popped up.

You have 24 hrs to get me the next club’s location. You think that picture’s bad, wait until your entire office sees the ones you actually posed for.

   He knew and he had the pictures. Damn it, Luke. But in reality she should have been cursing herself. She was the one who allowed him to take the pictures in the first place.

   Fine. You win, she replied.

I always do.

   The interoffice chat box disappeared and she picked up her phone to call the IT Department.

   “Hello, Ms. Bishop. How can I help you?”

   “Can you tell me which employee has the chat name Taskmaster?”

   “Management doesn’t allow nicknames like that.”

   She took a deep breath so she wouldn’t take her anger out on the poor guy who had the bad luck to take her call. “I know that. Can you do a quick search anyway?”

   “Sure, I don’t have anything better to do. Hold on.”

   From the other end of the phone came the sound of typing and then silence.

   “No, ma’am. No Taskmaster.” He made no attempt to hide his I told you so tone.

   “Thank you,” she said and hung up.

   What were the odds someone hacked into the company’s computer system? It would make sense. Especially since the chat message arrived almost immediately after she opened the e-mail. Or had someone simply hacked into her computer?

   Either way, it looked as if she was going to have to talk to Luke sooner than she’d anticipated. With a sigh, she reached for her phone and dialed.

   “Hello?”

   “Hello, Luke?”

   “Meagan?” His voice was tinged with disbelief.

   “What the hell did you do with those pictures of me you took fifteen years ago?”

   There was silence from the other end of the phone. She got up and closed her office door. “I’m waiting.”

   “Which pictures?”

   “Don’t which pictures me. The ones of me naked. Do you have them?”

   “Jesus, Meagan. What’s this about? Of course I have them.”

   “Can anyone get to them?”

   “Not unless they go through me first.”

   His assurance didn’t ease her panic. “I want them.”

   “Okay. No problem.” He paused before continuing. “Is everything okay?”

   Her heart had stopped pounding once he told her she could have the pictures. She took a deep breath and tried to sound normal. “Yes, it’s only someone I know had some pictures leaked and I thought about the ones you had.”

   “Should I bring them by your office?”

   “No.” She made up her mind quickly. It wasn’t that much of a decision: her life versus talking with Luke about his offer. “Why don’t we get together and talk about the photo book thing. You can bring them then. Can you meet tonight?”

   * * *

   Luke shook his head as he shoved his phone back in his pocket, but he couldn’t keep the grin off his face. Meagan called. And she said she wanted to talk about the shoot. He couldn’t fathom what had changed her mind, but he was glad it did. He knew there was a reason he never got around to telling Rick, his partner bankrolling the book, that she wasn’t interested and they’d have to find another model.

   Even better, she’d asked him to dinner. Granted, she insisted it was a business dinner and not a date. “So don’t go getting any ideas,” she’d said.

   Useless words, he’d almost told her. When it came to her, he had nothing but ideas. Still, for the time being, he’d play it her way. The important thing was they were going to have dinner and at least talk about the upcoming photography project. He smiled. It was more than he thought possible after visiting her office.

   He’d never quite forgiven himself for the way things ended with Meagan all those years ago. Young and relatively inexperienced, he’d taken the cover shots of her and later that night invited her to dinner, which led to round after round of hot and heavy sex. He had been on top of the world: his photography was doing well and he had Meagan in his bed. She’d been his every fantasy come to life: smart, sexy, and willing to experiment in bed. He’d never been in love before, but during those short few weeks with Meagan, he’d fallen hard and fast. So much so that he didn’t stop to think about anything other than how perfect things were.

   But a more experienced photographer, one he considered a mentor and friend, found out about his affair with Meagan and strongly suggested he call an end to it. Luke didn’t regret ending the relationship. Looking back now, it was unprofessional and sent the wrong message to any potential models. He did, however, regret that she’d been hurt. Seeing it from her perspective, he’d gone from hot to cold in a matter of days.

   He couldn’t change the past; all he could do was make the present better.

   He pushed open the door to his latest BDSM club and nodded at the security guard. Nathaniel West had messaged him earlier, asking for a brief call, and Luke expected his phone to ring any minute. If he had to guess, he’d assume it was about the club the two men planned to build in Wilmington, Delaware. Damn, he hoped it didn’t interfere with the picture book. He knew Meagan said she only wanted to talk, but he knew he could convince her to do the job if he could just talk to her about it some more.