Deadly Gossip

C opyright Deadly Gossip © 2023 Brittanee Nicole This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form on by an electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review. Cover Model Lucas Loyola Photographer Wander Aguiar Cover Design by Cover 2 Cover Author Services Formatting by Cover 2 Cover Author Services Editing by VB Edits Content/Beta Edit by Brittni Van Contents Dedication PROLOGUE CHAPTER 1 CHAPTER 2 CHAPTER 3 CHAPTER 4 CHAPTER 5 CHAPTER 6 CHAPTER 7 CHAPTER 8 CHAPTER 9 CHAPTER 10 CHAPTER 11 CHAPTER 12 CHAPTER 13 CHAPTER 14 CHAPTER 15 CHAPTER 16 CHAPTER 17 CHAPTER 18 CHAPTER 19 CHAPTER 20 CHAPTER 21 CHAPTER 22 CHAPTER 23 CHAPTER 24 CHAPTER 25 CHAPTER 26 CHAPTER 27 CHAPTER 28 CHAPTER 29 CHAPTER 30 CHAPTER 31 CHAPTER 32 CHAPTER 33 CHAPTER 34 CHAPTER 35 CHAPTER 36 CHAPTER 37 CHAPTER 38 CHAPTER 39 CHAPTER 40 CHAPTER 41 CHAPTER 42 CHAPTER 43 CHAPTER 44 CHAPTER 45 CHAPTER 46 CHAPTER 47 CHAPTER 48 CHAPTER 49 CHAPTER 50 CHAPTER 51 CHAPTER 52 CHAPTER 53 CHAPTER 54 CHAPTER 55 CHAPTER 56 CHAPTER 57 CHAPTER 58 CHAPTER 59 CHAPTER 60 CHAPTER 61 CHAPTER 62 CHAPTER 63 CHAPTER 64 CHAPTER 65 CHAPTER 66 CHAPTER 67 CHAPTER 68 CHAPTER 69 CHAPTER 70 CHAPTER 71 CHAPTER 72 CHAPTER 73 CHAPTER 74 CHAPTER 75 CHAPTER 76 CHAPTER 77 CHAPTER 78 CHAPTER 79 EPILOGUE Acknowledgments Also By Brittanee Nicole D edication For those who enjoy having their minds fucked as much as their bodies. CONTENT WARNING For a detailed list of content that may be troubling to some readers, please go to my website, www.brittaneenicole.net Deadly Gossip Playlist Listen now on Spotify Vigilante Shit by Taylor Swift Keeping your head Up by Birdy Atlantis by Seafret Wicked Game by Daisy Gray Lavender Haze by Taylor Swift I know the end by Pheobe Bridgers Bejeweled by Taylor Swift Can't Help Falling In Love by Elvis Presley Fall in Love Alone by Stacey Ryan The 1 by Taylor Swift Exile by Taylor Swift Mastermind by Taylor Swift Something in the Orange by Zach Bryan Snow on the Beach by Taylor Swift Midnight Rain by Taylor swift Labyrinth by Taylor Swift Scalding water burns my naked body. “Oh fuck,” I moan. I’m in the bath. I push through the fog, my last memory was in bed, making love. My breath hitches as the red water ripples around me. Blood. It’s everywhere. Splattered up the tiles. On the ceiling. I put my hands on the bottom of the tub and try to push myself up, but my body’s a dead weight. I search the room. The knife in hand, the twisted turn of the lips. The one who explored my body just that morning. A scream escapes as blood pumps from my wrists. How could I have been so wrong? Why didn’t I listen? It’s impossible to look away from the images spread across the glossy pages. Victoria Scott sitting on the edge of a pool. Her legs dangling in the water. A man who can’t be older than twenty-one between them. She’s looking toward the sky, her long auburn hair swaying in the wind. But it’s the look on Victoria’s face that makes my toes curl. Pure ecstasy. “Shit, shit, shit,” I curse under my breath, staring at the headline in the grocery checkout. “I’m gonna lose my job.” Victoria’s wedding photo from six years earlier appears in the corner of the article. Duncan Scott, with his sterling-blue eyes and jet-black hair, stares back at me. The Scotts are Hollywood royalty, and Duncan is my client. The next image is of Duncan and Victoria’s children: Lara, five, and Benji, three. Left with a nanny while Victoria played in the pool. This is bad! “What a pity,” the voice behind me says. A short woman with dark, curly hair peers over my shoulder, pointing at the article. “Heard she wanted the kids to attend a nice Catholic school like she did. Seems a bit ironic now, huh?” A nice Catholic girl, indeed. I stifle a giggle and look back at the photos. “Yeah, this isn’t a good look.” “You remember how he swept her off her feet? The horseback rides! The engagement! He bought a vineyard for the wedding. In Italy! And look what he gets for doing all that.” The woman shakes her head in disgust. I nod. Of course I remember it. I was in college at the time, and it was the wedding of the century. At the rehearsal dinner, Victoria wore a vintage white linen dress and a big floppy hat. The look was copied by every bride the following year. Thousands of women all over the world donned knockoff designs and posed under arbors. Closing the magazine, I push the images from my mind, but the woman behind me will not be deterred. “Did you see the interview she did recently?” I bite the inside of my lip to keep my thoughts at bay and shake my head. I cannot discuss this case. My checkout line friend angles in conspiratorially. “Victoria said she wouldn’t allow her children to know how wealthy they are. If she hadn’t made such a big deal about her kids attending a ‘normal’ school, the paps wouldn’t have been there to catch them crying while she was with that pool boy. Serves her right!” the woman says, a wicked smile on her face. “Oh, I saw that article,” the cashier interjects. It seems everyone has an opinion on the Scotts. Not surprising at all. “Pretending to be good people.” She rolls her eyes as she grabs the magazine from my hands and slides it over