A/N: Oh this is a chapter that I'm a little anxious to share, it certainly isn't the fluffy sweet moments we saw in the previous chapter. There will be some angsty moments in this, but I wanted something to crank up the tension a bit here. Hopefully you won't hate me too much, I know some of you like the angst/whump.
Let me know what parts you liked, or hated (I know there's a certain person you'll all just love to hate after this chapter *wink-wink* )
Thank you to anyone reading this, it makes me super happy to see so many reads during the week. It got over 1000 reads this past week.
A huge big thank you to my lovely beta reader, without her it would be filled with far too many oddly placed words, commas, or just plain awkward grammatical mishaps.
Enjoy.
Chapter 8ONE WEEK LATER:
Killian shifted back in his seat as they were about to watch the final edit of the first episode. The entire crew, along with the technical department, and any other members of the production, had assembled in the viewing theater.
Everyone greeted each other with excitement in anticipation for what they would see.
Killian knew that they still had some work to do for the later episodes, but they would be finished within the month. He waved at his brother, who came over with a tablet tugged under his arm. "All set?"
"Aye, we got the files lined up to show the first two episodes," Liam said, tapping the back of the tablet that he placed on his lap.
"That's good," Killian replied, leaning back in the plush seat. It was a state-of-the-art showroom.
"How are things with Emma?" Liam asked as the final few people found their seats. Regina Mills hadn't come yet, so everyone just waited and made idle small talk.
"Good thanks. Fantastic in fact," Killian said with a grin. He glanced at his brother, who smiled brightly.
"So I was wondering if you guys wanted to come and have dinner with me and Elsa soon?"
"Oh, I'll ask her," Killian said with a surprising note to his voice, but he could see that his brother genuinely wanted this.
"Elsa really wants to meet the girl who has captured my little brother's heart."
"It's younger brother, you git." Killian slapped Liam's shoulder rolling his eyes. "But I'm sure Emma would love to meet my crazy family."
"Have you spoken about when you might want to go public yet?"
"What? Why?" The thought of the world knowing who he was, made his heart hammer in his chest. He wasn't sure he could really handle it.
Liam held up his hands. "Look, I understand why you guys didn't want to flaunt your new relationship to the world. But there's no scandal in being in love."
"I know." Killian rubbed his face. "I'm just not ready to face it all." He waved his hand aimlessly in front of him. "I don't like being in the spotlight." He sighed. "Emma knows this and understands."
"You guys seem solid. I'm sure it will survive being shown to the world," Liam said with a smile.
"I think we might wait a little while longer," Killian said, before noticing that their boss had entered the room. Her face contorted into a frown. "What's got her knickers in a twist?" Killian whispered to his brother.
"No idea." Liam rose to his feet, his tablet tucked under his arm, heading for their boss.
Killian watched while his brother spoke with their boss in an inaudible murmur. When Liam also looked alarmed, Killian felt a shiver of anxiety rush down his spine.
Finally, Regina walked in front of the large movie screen. "Could I get your attention, please?" She clapped her hands together and waited for the chatter to die down. "I know you're all waiting to view the first episodes of our show 'The Nolans'. I know it will be a great premiere. All our opinion polls are showing a steady following on all social media platforms and the chatter for the new season is already spreading." She took a deep breath and looked towards the door where Killian noticed the TV network's head of IT security, August Booth, standing in the doorway.
Before Killian could contemplate more about what this meant. Regina spoke again. "It has come to our attention that there's been a few slight breaches to our firewall, both this morning and a few days ago." A low murmur of outrage spread through the group and she lifted her hand. "Calm down, nothing serious happened. I wanted you all to know that the security team managed to lock it all down again and our tech team is combing through the servers, making sure that nothing was left behind." She glanced at Liam who stood to the side. "Now Mr. Jones, please start up the first episode."
"Certainly, Mrs. Mills." Liam looked down at the tablet and swiped over the screen and someone booted up the projector that the tablet was connected to. Moments later, the large screen flashed to life.
Everyone in the room expected to see the familiar logo of the show, but instead an image of a carved-out heart in a tree trunk came into focus.
It took Killian only two seconds to recognize the heart, as being the one he'd carved out for Emma on their first date. He felt his body tense and a shiver of fear rushed down him when white text flashed over the screen while some sappy movie music played,
"It all began with a rejected heart, clearly easily exchanged for this wimpy attempt to woo the lovely Emma Nolan. This video will show you that the elusive red cap-wearing 'Killian' is none other than a mere cameraman working for uTV."
The clip changed to show an off-centered film clip of Killian and Emma. It was their first meeting where Emma brushed off the mud from his backside. The way the footage was angled gave the illusion of them being very close and almost intimate. The next clip was Emma fawning over Jewel, her face very close to Killian's. Even if the shot had been filmed from afar, it was clear that they were close.
Killian soon realized it must have been filmed by accident, and he recalled Will walking towards them on these two incidents with his camera still held in front of him. The crazy bastard who hacked the servers must have gotten hold of these clips and put this together, and now everyone here was seeing this. He glanced around the room and he saw everyone trying not to gawk at him. It was the first time that many of the people gathered there today had heard he and Emma were dating. Previously only the film crew and Regina knew the full extent of their relationship.
To his horror, it didn't stop with those two clips, as the screen flickered to a slide show of several pictures taken out in the clearing with him and Emma having their first date picnic. A large lump of anxiety formed in his throat as the pictures changed and he realized that whoever had taken the pictures had witnessed everything. His eyes blurred when the pictures changed to them kissing. Bloody hell, that was a private moment between him and Emma. Anger and fury rose in his belly. "Shut it off!" With a forceful push, he was striding towards his brother, who was looking as stunned as the rest of the gathered people. "Turn it off. Liam! Bloody hell, get it off the screen." Killian grabbed the tablet from his brother and tapped furiously on the screen, but the system seemed to have bugged out, and he saw the final footage that flashed over the screen. It was the home video Emma's brother had captured on New Year's eve. The screen flashed with the words, "What a Romeo and Juliet moment, so sickeningly sweet, and now everyone will know what Emma Nolan does when she is not sitting high on her horse." The screen turned to a black background and fury rose inside Killian when he read the last words. "I have shared this on several online platforms. The world now knows. This is what happens to a girl who couldn't see what good she could have had with me."
"Bloody hell." Killian threw the tablet on the floor and didn't care if it broke or not, he just needed to get out of there. Ignoring his brother's call to wait, he rushed out of the theater, his eyes blurry with angry tears. Who the hell had spied on them? Who could be so cold and heartless?
Somehow, he found his truck and once he slammed the door shut; he screamed and hammered his fists onto the steering wheel. "BLOODY BUGGERING HELL!" Gasping for air after his outburst, he tried to figure out what to do now. He combed his fingers through his hair, pulling slightly on the longer strands. The pain slowly had him return his focus to the world around him. His blood rushed through his body as his heart hammered in his chest. Everything was a blur right now.
If they had just made something official before this, then the world would have seen their story and not this madness some crazy fucker had made up. Whomever it was, had clearly trespassed, because the forest behind the ranch was on the Nolan's property. Killian felt bile rise in his mouth thinking about how this perpetrator had peeped at them while they shared such a beautiful and poignant moment in their growing relationship. Inhaling sharply, he realized that his body was going into a full-blown anxiety attack.
Killian did not know how long he'd been sitting in the truck when the door opened and his brother looked up at him.
"I'm sorry, Killian." Liam gripped the doorframe. His eyes looked pained and worried, a look Killian hadn't seen on his brother since Milah died.
"Don't." Killian raised his hand, he couldn't deal with the pity party right now. "Just tell me that the network is doing something to find the low-life bastard who did this." He rubbed his face. His skin prickled with anxiety. "Who the bloody hell has access to those files? Whoever tried to get into the servers managed to find these files. Bloody hell! I thought they'd been deleted." He glared at his brother, hoping he would have more answers.
"I know and they should have, but the perpetrator was able to go in, copy them and slip out again." Liam breathed in. "Remember that other incident with a firewall breach back when someone commented on the picture of Emma wearing your cap." Killian nodded, letting Liam continue. "It has to be the same guy."
"But the security was fixed and Mills said that things had become tighter?"
"I know. Mrs. Mills has set August on it. He's now checking up on the servers and all the log files." Liam tried to explain.
"Someone on the inside, then?" Killian breathed out in disbelief. He knew they could count the people having access to the servers on two hands, his brother and Will included. "Why didn't Will delete the footage?"
"Mrs. Mills asked him and the poor guy might have shit himself when he tried to explain that he did not know that he'd filmed you guys. Our boss is royally pissed right now, throwing tantrums left right and center. She's demanding answers."
"Well, our Queen knows how the show works, and if anyone can sort this out, it's her." Killian gave a humorless chuckle.
"She's also called the Nolans." Liam held up his hand when Killian was about to speak. "She spoke with Mr. Nolan and the family are dealing with the fact there was a trespasser on their land."
"They'll call the cops, right?" Killian asked his brother.
"They will, and Regina is setting up an investigation to figure out how the hacker got into our systems." Liam sighed. "This is a bloody nightmare. I'm so sorry you had to be dragged into what is clearly a madman's work."
"Or woman?" Killian suggested, thinking about that dreadful reporter, Ella Deville.
"Aye, we don't know." Liam rubbed his face. "But it seems as if it was someone who feels rejected by Emma."
"Uh, why?"
"Didn't you read the words? It's clearly someone who wants to get back at her for something she did."
"Another horse jumper?" Killian mused.
"No, this is someone who feels overlooked by unreciprocated feelings." Liam was adamant about that.
"Bloody hell." Killian slumped over the steering wheel, his breathing still erratic as his mind tried to catch up to what had happened. Someone was aiming to hurt Emma. His Emma, who was so caring and understanding of his wish to stay private with their relationship. Now everyone knew he was romantically involved with the country's favorite show jumper.
"Call Emma and go home," Liam urged.
When Killian looked at his brother, he saw a sad smile on his face.
"You… we can't do more right now. Regina is doing all she can to sort this out. Everyone involved in the editing of the show has access to the servers. Regina asked everyone to stay back until the cops are here." Liam patted Killian on the shoulder. "It will be fixed."
"Even if they find the bugger, it won't fix how I feel!" Killian cried out, he felt tears prickle in his eyes. Angrily, he swiped at his eyes and glared at his brother. Fury at how this had happened grew inside him.
Liam took a deep breath and whispered, "I know, and if I could, I'd do anything to take away that pain you feel right now."
"Pain! I bloody well feel violated beyond anything. That wanker took pictures of me and Emma…" He inhaled deeply to avoid another sob to escape his lips, "... it was our first date. Do you understand how crazy and sick that is?" He tapped his temple. "Who the bloody hell does shite like that?"
"Someone delusional, and crazy as fuck," Liam said with a sigh before helooked down. "Look, I can't take it all back. I wish I could." He looked up at Killian again. "But I know you need to call Emma. Her family has been notified. She will need your support as well."
"Aye, I'll call her before I drive home." Killian sighed and picked up his phone, then glanced at Liam. "Thanks, brother, for being here."
"Always." Liam patted his shoulder again. "I'll update you once I know what happens back here." He nodded towards the building. "I'll stay and help here. Okay?"
Killian nodded and watched his brother walk back into the building. He took a few deep breaths before he dialed Emma's number.
Emma blinked her grainy eyes as her phone rang. The last 15 minutes had been pure hell. Her parents had called her to the kitchen. Leo was nowhere in sight, but when she'd seen her parent's grave faces, she knew something horrible had happened.
Her mind still played over the images of that horrible video her father had shown her from a social platform she was a regular user on. The profile who'd posted called themselves "Wiz_oz". It seemed to be a pretty new profile with only this one video on there. Her entire world had shattered when she read those words and saw how her and Killian's first date was now on full display for the world to see.
"Emma?" Her mother gently touched her shoulder. "Killian's calling." Her mom slid Emma's phone towards her.
With shaking fingers, Emma picked it up and looked at the screen. Killian's smiling face on the caller ID came into focus. He wore that damn red cap and his eyes sparkled with joy and love.
"Take the call," her father urged. David rose to his feet, and he and Mary Margaret left her alone. "We'll be in the living room if you need us."
Emma blinked a few more times as she focused on her phone again, her finger still shaking when she swiped over the screen to take the call.
"Swan?" The strain in Killian's voice was clear, and she felt a sob slip over her lips.
"Killian… I…" She slumped back in her seat, her phone cradled to her ear.
"Gods, I wish I was up there with you, love. I can't even… I'm so sorry that…" He rambled, and he sounded like he was about to cry.
"None of this is your fault," Emma said in a strangled voice. "I know Mom and Dad will have the cops come to see if they can find something on the trails in the forest." Emma tried to stick to the practical stuff. She couldn't really deal with all the crazy emotions right now.
"It was over two months ago when we…" He took a deep breath, "when we went on our first date. How can they even believe they'd find anything?"
"I don't know, but they're still coming out later to look around and ask us what we might know." Emma sighed. This was just becoming one huge living nightmare.
"I'll come up," Killian said resolutely.
Emma thought it sounded as though he shifted around and she could hear the roar of his truck.
"Hold on, I'll put you on speaker," he said.
Emma heard him shuffle around a bit more and seconds later, she could hear him drive off. "I'll be there in two hours. I'm in Boston right now." "Killian, you don't really need…" she tried saying.
"I'm coming, that's final!"
"What about…"
"I'll pick up Jewel on the way, so make that two and a half hours." He sighed. "I'm sorry, love."
"Still not your fault," Emma mumbled and smoothed her hair away from her face, looking up at the ceiling. "I just wish that we could live off the radar sometimes."
"What do your parents think about this?"
"They are angry and hurt, but they're trying to support me. We never thought that being on a show would lead to some crazy stranger and utterly fucked up man doing something like this. Never in our wildest dreams did we ever imagine this." Emma rambled on. She knew that her family had been sure of their choice in letting the TV network follow their life. It had been quite an experience for them all, and it had all brought some amazing things into their life.
"I just hope that the cops here in Boston can find the digital trail and find this bugger," Killian said with a grumble.
"How did they even get those clips?" Emma asked. She could sense that he took a few moments to compose himself before he relayed to her what had happened with the servers. Emma let him speak, and she asked several questions, trying to understand what might have led to this. While she spoke with Killian, she also tried to figure out who could have done something like this. To her knowledge, she didn't have anyone hating her in the showjumping world. Sure she had a few that were more competitive when they met at a contest. Who the hell had she wronged so much that they'd do something like this?
Hours later, the police had come and had started by asking questions to find out if anyone had any personal grudge against them as a family.
Emma could see her father take a deep breath when he mentioned what had happened with Walsh in the spring. The charges against their previous cameraman were still set to go to court soon, so if it was him, he would be in jail for sure. It would be quite unbelievable if the man was behind this. No one was that stupid. Her father had also given the details that he'd picked up from the uTV Network. The local cops would be in touch with the Boston police, so when the perpetrator was found, they could also press charges of trespassing against whoever was behind that video.
Once the two officers had trailed along with her father to the woods, Emma had opted to walk back and forth in their hallway and kept an eye out on when Killian would be here. Every other minute she glanced out the side windows by the door, trying to spot his truck. It seemed to take ages, and she ignored her mother's attempt to join her and Leo for an afternoon snack.
Ruby had called not long after she'd finished talking with Killian. Emma knew her friend was livid and was trying to do damage control online by reporting the video and getting anyone they knew to do the same. Emma had been glad for the distraction despite what she'd told him, she really hoped Killian arrived soon. Emma couldn't wait to be in his strong arms again.
Finally, Emma saw the dark truck rumble up their driveway. She quickly grabbed her coat to run out to meet him. When he jumped out, he gave her a small smile and turned to let Jewel out of the truck. The little puppy jumped out with a joyous bark. Moments later, she was wrapped in his arms, inhaling his scent. God, she'd missed him.
They hadn't seen each other since New Year's Eve and so much had changed since then. Someone wanted to hurt them in the worst possible way. Those images and accidentally captured videos of them were not meant to have been seen by the world. It was Emma and Killian's private moment and now it couldn't be undone, even if they knew that Regina and her team were furiously working on getting the video removed from the social platforms. It had already been viewed far too many times.
"Gods, I'm happy to see you, love." He buried his face in her hair, and inhaled deeply. "I'm so sorry that we got into this mess."
Emma wrapped her arms around him, one hand cradling the back of his head as he hugged her close. She didn't want to let go. "I know. It's fucking crazy that some creep would even think about doing something like this. I don't know anyone who would have the incentive to want to hurt us like this. Hurt me?" Why?
Killian's body went rigid under her arms and when he slowly pulled away, she could see his brows pulled together in a deep frown. "A creep? Who wants to hurt you?" He said the words slowly and deliberately as if testing his own theory. His eyebrows shot to the long hair that had fallen over his forehead. "A creep?"
"Yeah?"
"Bloody hell." He swiped over his mouth. "You don't think that Walsh the creep could…?" He blinked and scratched behind his ear. "I mean, I've never met the man and I've only heard some vague notions of what happened that got him fired."
"Walsh?!" Emma exclaimed. "You think it's Walsh who did this?" She felt her skin prickle as she recalled her less-than-stellar way of dealing with how the creep had attempted to sleaze his way into her life. "My dad already mentioned Walsh to the cops. But I know for a fact that he would have to have a death wish to pull a stunt like this, knowing what he did…" Emma paused. She hadn't really told Killian the full story of what Walsh had tried to do. He hadn't really asked.
"What do you mean?" His brows were drawn together in a mix of worry and anger.
She took a deep breath. "The man had worked at the uTV network for three years and from day one I always had these off-kilter vibes from him." Emma hugged herself and she bit her lips when she could see how tense Killian became at her words. "Are you sure you want to know?"
"If you want to share the story, I want to hear it." Killian reached out and placed his hands on her arms, not pulling her closer, but letting her continue her story.
"He was nice and polite. Just doing his job, did the filming, and chatted with my parents between takes. But whenever he was near me or caught me alone, he got this sleazy look in his dark, beady eyes and on several occasions, he made some comments about how I looked." She pulled her lips between her teeth, trying to focus on the story and not so much on the emotions that began rolling in the pit of her stomach as she recalled the past.
"Aye?"
"On the surface, they seemed like innocent and casual comments about the color of my sweater and so on. But a few times he mentioned how my riding pants hugged my ass in quite a spectacular way."
"Bloody hell, what a wanker. You should have said something."
"I didn't want to make a big deal out of it, I could deal with it on my own. He was just being a sleaze ball and yeah it got a bit worse I guess." She shrugged and looked down, "It was small things, especially in his last year working on the show, walking past me and he'd accidentally brush the back of his hand over my hip, giving me a leary side-eye and winking."
"If I ever…"
Emma stopped him before he could say anything else. "One day, he took it a bit too far. We'd just finished filming. I wanted to tend to some bridles and harnesses that needed to be fixed." She closed her eyes, not really ready to see his reaction to her next part of the story. "As I was polishing the leather, I heard him knock on the door frame and announced that he had something else I could polish."
"What?" Killian spluttered.
Emma opened her eyes and could see his face was red with rage and disbelief.
"That son of a bitch, how…"
Emma placed her trembling finger over his lips. "He was an asshole, yes, and I was so surprised that I never saw him move closer." She gulped and looked down again. "No one else was working in the stables, Walsh knew this and he'd closed the gate to the saddle room."
"Oh god." Killian's fingers dug into Emma's arm. "Please say that he didn't…" He audibly swallowed, his voice filling with rage.
"He didn't get that far, but he did grab me and try…" She swallowed, squeezing her eyes shut. Even after almost a year, she could still feel how Walsh's hands had dug into her waist, his coffee smelling breath as he had tried to kiss her neck.
"What?"
"He clearly wanted something more than just the kiss he surprised me with," Emma whispered. "I could feel…" She shook her head. She knew she didn't need to tell him more details. "My father had forgotten his watch in the saddle room and when he saw me struggling with Walsh, he pulled the sleaze ball away from me and decked him with a good right hook." Emma gave him a rueful smile. "My father is usually the most levelheaded of my parents but right there he took charge and dragged Walsh off me then made sure I got to the safety of the house."
"What happened next?"
"My father told me later that he called the cops and reported the assault. Walsh was, of course, fired and got summoned to court." Emma closed her eyes as she recalled the weeks after the assault. It had been hell. "He pleaded not guilty, claiming I'd been leading him on for months." She shook her head and looked down. She felt Killian gently tug her under his chin as his arms wrapped around her shoulders.
"Was he on trial?" He pressed his cheek to the top of her head.
"They granted him pretrial release, and the case is still open." Her arms felt like lead, but she lifted them up and wrapped them around his waist, letting him know she appreciated the support right now.
"So, when will this whole mess be sorted out?" Killian spoke in a low whisper and she could almost sense his hurt that she'd not mentioned this open trial to him sooner. But she'd been so focused on her training with Savy and then how amazing it felt to be in love with someone.
"Dad said it would happen sometime next month or early March." She pressed herself closer to him, just wishing that this wasn't part of her past.
"That bastard! If this is him, he'll get in jail for sure," Killian whispered angrily. She could almost feel it vibrating through him.
"You really think it's him?"
"Who else feels overlooked by you? You saw the words in the film clip." Killian mused and pulled back to look into her eyes. "I bloody hate that someone stole that moment away from us." Tears had formed in the corner of his eyes, and he furiously blinked them away.
"Hmm." She reached up and wiped away the tear slipping from his eyelashes. "I'm sorry Killian."
"This is not your fault, you hear me?"
"I know. I just want this to be over and done with."
"You and me both." He cupped her face and kissed her forehead. When he pulled back, he whispered, "I love you."
"I love you too." She covered his hand with hers and gave him a weak smile. "Let's go inside."
Killian nodded. He whistled for Jewel to join them and took Emma's hand and they walked inside. He took Jewel to the mudroom when she told him that their own dogs were in there. The joyous barks that echoed through the house told her that the reunion between the dogs was a happy one.
When Killian came back, she said, "I'll just go grab some snacks for us and we can go to my room and watch a movie or something."
"Sounds like a grand idea, love." He followed her to the kitchen, and he helped her carry the tray of little bowls filled with her mother's leftover Christmas cookies and chocolate while she carried their drinks.
They tried to relax for the rest of the day, and not think too much about what had happened today. Everything they had built together in the solitude at the ranch had now been blasted out for the world to see.
She felt violated, and Emma really hoped that they would find out that it was Walsh who'd done this too. If so, he would certainly be in jail for quite some time. It was difficult to forget the pictures the perpetrator had taken of their first date. It was now accessible for everyone to see. She was angry and felt like crying and yelling at the same time. If she ever laid eyes on Walsh, she was sure she'd kick him where it would hurt him the most. Right now, all she and Killian could do was let the cops do their investigations. Hopefully, they would find out if it was indeed Walsh who had trespassed on their property to take those images and also gained access to the network's servers. How he'd managed that while not working there was beyond her comprehension. She just hoped that justice would be served.