Total pages in book: 27
Estimated words: 25663 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 128(@200wpm)___ 103(@250wpm)___ 86(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 25663 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 128(@200wpm)___ 103(@250wpm)___ 86(@300wpm)
Vanessa pauses for a moment, looking down at her hands, and I know what she’s thinking. After all, my stepdaughter is a porn star, she just hasn’t told me yet. But perhaps now is the time.
“Is there something you’d like to add?” I ask in a deceptively neutral voice. Vanessa raises her head immediately, those big brown eyes shuttered.
“What do you mean?”
I pin her with a meaningful look and go for it. After all, Vanessa can’t keep her secret life hidden forever. It’s got to come out at some point, and now’s as good a time as any.
“I mean that I stopped by your work today,” I say in a calm voice. “I went into the building, but you weren’t in your office.”
Vanessa goes as pale as a sheet.
“I wasn’t?” she asks in a weak voice. “Maybe I stepped out for a cup of coffee. You know I’m addicted to caffeine. I’ve been mainlining that stuff since I was seventeen.”
I shake my head, my blue eyes sharp.
“No, you didn’t step out for coffee, sweetheart. I heard sounds, and when I followed them, guess what I saw?”
Vanessa’s bottom lip is trembling now.
“What?”
I look directly into her gaze.
“I saw you filming a video. A dirty video, actually. One where you were bouncing your tits, caressing your pussy, and fucking your ass with your fingers while an on-line audience watched. From what I witnessed, it sounded like you were getting paid well to perform, too.”
Vanessa’s lips part as her cheeks drain of all color, but then they silently close without a word.
“Let me guess,” I continue in a slow tone. “The real estate job is a farce, isn’t it? It’s a fake front for what you really do, which is on-line porn. Let me guess: you even have a channel on OnlyYou, where your mom performs too.”
At that, Vanessa shakes her head wildly.
“No, I’m not on OnlyYou,” she retorts. “Although it’s none of your business, Gray.”
I stare at her, my black brows up by my forehead.
“None of my business? You live under my roof, so I don’t see how you can say that.”
“I’ll move out then,” she snaps immediately, her fire returning. “And yes, I make tons of money by producing sexy videos for my audience. The men love it, and last year I grossed almost seven figures.”
I stare at her.
“So let me ask you this: the four hundred thousand that you lent me. Was that from camming, or was it from your real estate work?”
Vanessa looks down at her hands again, her cheeks bright red.
“From camming,” she says in a quiet voice. “I’m on-line as Nessie Prince, and I have almost a million followers. Not all of them watch all my videos, but there’s a very loyal contingent that tunes in almost every time I put on a live show. So yes, it’s these men who are supporting Thomas Builders, Gray. Your company. Before you say another word criticizing me, just let that fact sink in.”
I pause, trying to breathe. I have to admit that I’m not happy at this development. I don’t want my beautiful stepdaughter sharing her curvy assets with other men because they belong to me. Even more, the long-term consequences of her profession are far-flung, with ramifications that will echo for life.
But Vanessa reads my mind.
“Before you say more, have you actually checked out my stream?”
I shake my head.
“No, because I just found out about your secret life this afternoon. I’ve been too stunned to do anything about it. Why, should I watch a couple of your videos?”
She pauses, thinking.
“Maybe. My stage name is Nessie Prince. If you ever check out my stream, then you’ll know that none of my videos show my face. As a result, I’m anonymous for the most part. I mean, I suppose you could figure it out from the birthmark on my thigh, or the tone of my voice, but otherwise, I could be anyone to these guys. Just a curvy body with a foxy voice. And I’m really careful with the geolocation stuff too. I mask the metadata on my videos so that you can’t figure out where I am.”
That makes me blink with surprise.
“You mean your videos only feature your body? That it’s just a neck-down operation?”
She nods slowly.
“It’s a decision I made when I started. Obviously, porn performers are stigmatized by society, and I didn’t want that to happen to me. So I decided to keep my face out of the screen. I know that you probably couldn’t tell when you were watching me film, but most of the time, the camera only captures me from the neck down. When my face does accidentally slip onto the screen, I blur it out during the editing process.”
I stare at Vanessa, my heart pounding, because this changes everything.
“So no one knows that Nessie Prince, porn star, is actually Vanessa Loudon, real estate agent?”