Fool Me Once... (Part 2)

Part 13

Stevie's POV

I was shocked. An envelope without an address? I should have known it was from Ryan. When I opened it and took those pictures out... I can't believe he took photos of me naked, while I slept! And he kept them for all these years, too. Why? I told Lindsey and he freaked out, of course. He was ready to pay Ryan a visit, but I stopped him. I think that would have made the whole situation even worse.

Ryan called me that same evening. He asked if I received the goddamn pictures, then he told me, he wants to see me. Right now I can't tell him no, even though I want to. I have no desire to see him, but I have to. He didn't send me that package for no reason. 

I haven't told Lindsey or Mia where I'm going. Karen is taking me to Ryan's. I'm not sure how I feel about being alone with him, though. Well, technically not completely alone, but something tells me Ryan won't let Karen stay with us. 

"Have your cellphone close." Karen warns me before I get out of the car. "Call me if anything."

I nod my head, saying I will and shut the passenger's side door. I take a deep breath, willing myself to take a step forward, but it's as if I'm paralyzed. I don't want to do this! I don't even get to ring the doorbell, when Ryan appears right in front of me, a sly smile on his face. 

"How nice of you to show up." He says and I ignore it, entering his home. "Come, have a seat."

"No. Tell me, why I'm here, what do you want?" I fold my arms over my chest, standing in the hallway.

"We're not going to get anywhere with an attitude like that, sweetheart." He takes a step closer, so I step back.

"Don't call me that." I tell him. "Why did you send me those pictures, Ryan?"

"Ah, yes." He grins. "I have more, would you like to take a look?" 

I'm torn between screaming at him and breaking into tears. I don't say anything, waiting for him to continue.

"How's Mia by the way?" 

"You're an asshole, you know that? How could you do that to her?" Now I'm definitely more angry than upset. "She's innocent in all of this, I think we're both aware of that. It's me you want, don't you?"

Ryan still has that stupid smile on his face as he turns away from me and goes to what I'm guessing is the living room. Sighing, I follow after him. I sit down at the other end of the couch. 

"You're right." He nods his head once. "I was never in love with Mia. She doesn't compare to you. I never got over you, Stevie. I thought it would be easy enough to get to you again through her. Unfortunately, Mia turned out to be a young silly girl. I thought I could control her with no problem, that's my mistake."

"Just stop talking." I want to slap him across the face, but quite frankly, I'm scared of him, knowing now what he's capable of. 

"I was going to gain your trust again, I was going to prove to you that I've changed, I was going to show you what I could give you what your dear husband I'm sure can't anymore." He goes on. "You were supposed to fall back in love with me."

"Do you hear yourself? You're crazy!" I shake my head at him in disbelief. "That's insane! I thought we've been over this too many times to count. I'm with Lindsey, he's my husband. I love him."

He raises a hand up, silencing me. "I've asked you to come here to give you a choice. Can you believe it? I'm actually letting you choose." He smiles that sinister smile. "I sent you those photographs to let you know that I've got dirt on you. If they saw the light of day, your career would be over. Who would idolize you? There would be a massive scandal, before everyone eventually forgot about you. And before you open your mouth, I've got video footage as well."

More than anything right now I feel violated. I can't believe that once I thought I could see myself marrying this man. 

"So, what do you want? What are my choices?" I ask, afraid to hear them.

"Well, you can let your adoring fans see you in a completely different way and ruin your career or..." He trails off, his eyes locked with mine. "Or you could leave your beloved husband and come back to me."

It's unexpected, but I start laughing. "Ryan, you're mad! I don't love you!"

"But I love you. We'll make this work."

I get up on my feet and start pacing around. Running a hand through my hair I turn to stare at Ryan, feeling as if I'm in some kind of nightmare. Probably a few minutes pass by, when he speaks up again.

"So, what's it going to be?"