Page 27 of Accidentally Joining His Cult (Chicago Awakenings #1)
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Beckett
I t’s been almost three weeks of pretending like I’m super invested in this stupid company and this fake ass city with its annoying people.
Cody keeps reminding me we’re all victims and to focus my hatred on Viktor, not the members, but it’s hard not to let my frustration bleed into some of the people around him.
At least the fake frozen yogurt machine worked. Two weeks after Cody sent the initial transfer to his new account, I sent another ten grand for him to transfer back into the Village Bank.
Cody was concerned that transferring money like this might get us in trouble somehow, but technically, all he’s doing is transferring his own money between accounts he owns. And I’m just his supportive boyfriend. It isn’t illegal for me to send him money, I didn’t even send enough to be taxed. I think my sweet man just doesn’t like having to lie about everything.
I was more worried that Viktor would rightfully question how many people want to make their own frozen yogurt, but all he seemed to care about were the profits. He even suggested Cody make a more significant investment next time. By now, Cody has successfully moved $300,000 out of his Village Bank account. He said he has a lot more money in there, but that would be plenty for him to fall back on if needed.
We’ve been able to upload a ton of stuff to the shared cloud, and Jordan even found a few ex-Linna residents and other people who have left Kyla. At first, they were very hesitant to talk to him, but after I offered to pay them a lot of money for their exclusive interviews, a few of them agreed to share their experiences if they could remain anonymous.
So far, they’ve had really sad stories similar to what Cody and I suspected. They’ve described how their lives fell apart after losing everything to the classes, isolating themselves from friends and family, and feeling trapped by the very community that promised to save them.
The most shocking claim came from a woman who left Linna last year. She claimed Viktor is obsessed with passing on his “superior DNA” and that he grooms women into sleeping with him and carrying his children. She estimated that a large percentage of the children in Linna could be biologically his.
She even quoted Viktor’s teachings to husbands of these women in “enlightened relationships”. Saying that, “Children are our community’s future, and it takes a village for any one individual to succeed. So, it shouldn’t matter who the biological father of a child is because you are actively choosing to shape the future and better your community with every moment you spend with any child.”
She also said that Viktor requires all women to track their cycles in the fitness app they all use, and he specifically requests that his “chosen ones” support his so-called enlightenment during their most fertile days. What a load of manipulative, predatory bullshit.
I’m so fucking over spending time with this creep, and I know my friendly act is starting to slip. Viktor requested a meeting with just me this afternoon, and I have a feeling this could be my last day here.
“Good luck, babe. You’ll be great,” Cody says as I give him a quick kiss on the top of his head before leaving for Viktor’s office.
I knock on the door when I get there, noticing an intense keypad that is certainly not on Cody’s. I hear the lock click as it opens, and he calls for me to enter.
“Hello, Beckett. Come in and have a seat.” Viktor sounds friendly enough, so maybe this won’t be a complete shit show. I sit down in one of the chairs across from him at his desk and wait for him to continue.
“Beckett, having you here has been a unique situation for our company,” he starts, folding his hands on his desk in his signature mountain pose as he holds eye contact. “We’ve had visitors here at our headquarters, of course, but most of them stay a few days and then are on their way. So to have you here for such an extended amount of time has been a… delicate situation,” he says carefully, his tone still conversational, but each word is measured. “Obviously, you’ve shown interest in our company, what we stand for and believe in,” he continues, and I try hard not to have any sort of negative facial response to that bullshit statement.
“It’s nothing personal, but I worry about having anyone be so privy to our interworkings for such an extended time without any assurances that they won’t take that information and try to use it against us somehow. Perhaps sell it to competitors, or use it for themselves in some other way,” he explains apologetically. “Beckett, it’s time for you to either prove your loyalty as a member of Kyla or leave Linna.”
Looks like it’s my turn to provide collateral.
I’ve been expecting this, so I’ve had some time to decide how I want to play it. At first, I thought I could just feed him a bullshit secret and keep playing nice, but the longer I’ve been here, the more my focus has been shifting to getting back Cody’s collateral. I want us to be able to leave without making him feel like he’s hurting his family if Viktor uses it against him.
“Oh, I think I know what you’re talking about,” I agree confidently, working to make myself appear at ease. “Like with Cody’s brother,” I add casually. “You want me to tell you a secret to prove that you can trust me, that I won’t hurt the company, right?”
“You know about his brother?” Viktor questions, looking genuinely surprised. “I was under the impression that I was the only person he’d ever disclosed that information to.”
Viktor doesn’t look happy that I know, so I push it further. “Oh yeah,” I say offhandedly, leaning back in my chair, stretching an arm over the back and spreading my legs like I’m super relaxed. “After he met my brothers in Chicago, it got him thinking about his own. We were actually just talking about him reaching out to his brother this weekend,” I throw in.
Viktor looks kind of pissed about it, but then takes a deep breath and forces a more relaxed expression like he’s trying to remind himself to stay focused. “Well, that’s good,” he finally responds. “I guess you already understand the process, then. Have you decided what information you’ll be sharing with me to prove your loyalty?” he asks expectantly, with an edge of excitement.
I decide to toy with him a bit, I feel like it’s now or never, and I want to get him flustered. “Well, I do have some pretty sensitive information that could really damage my family,” I say kind of dramatically, without going too over the top. “But before I share anything, I need to know it’s safe,” I explain seriously. “What do you do with this information once you have it?”
“Oh, you don’t have to worry about that,” he reassures me. “I’m the only one who has access to it. Everything’s locked up here in my office, and you’ve seen all of the security measures required to get in here. I’m the only one with the key,” he explains, waving his hand toward the filing cabinets that line the room.
I take a moment to pretend to consider. “Prove it to me,” I challenge. “How do I know what’s in those cabinets? I already told you I know Cody’s secret—show me his. Prove to me that it’s still here.”
Viktor looks annoyed as he reluctantly stands and heads to a filing cabinet with an R on it. Eventually, he locates Cody’s file. It’s a secure manila envelope, and he slides it across the desk to me.
“See? Safe and sound, right where it’s been since he came here,” Viktor says, sounding smug, like he’s got me right where he wants me. Jokes on you, asshole.
I open the envelope and quickly scan the document. It’s a notarized letter, addressed to Viktor, explaining his family’s secret and expressing Cody’s trust in Viktor to help him navigate the situation.
“Well, this won’t be worth much when he tells his whole family,” I point out casually. “He’s planning on telling his parents soon and finally finding out if they know.” That’s complete bullshit, but Viktor doesn’t need to know.
He looks even more pissed as he tries once again to earn my cooperation.
“Would you like me to get a notary up here so you can tell me whatever your secret is?” Viktor pushes.
“I’m not telling you shit,” I say in a cheery tone, and his look of confusion makes me seriously happy. “Look at how easily you just handed over Cody’s secret,” I point out, holding it up for emphasis.
His expression hardens. “So, you’re leaving? What’s your plan? You’re just going to break up with Cody that easily? Go back home? I guess you don’t care about him like I thought you did,” he taunts.
“We don’t need to break up,” I assure him.
“Well, if you’re not prepared to prove your loyalty, then I think your stay here in Linna has surpassed your welcome. It’s time for you to go,” Viktor says with authority.
"Well, maybe he’ll come with me,” I argue to gauge his reaction.
Viktor’s smirk turns into a full-blown laugh. “Cody would never leave because of you ,” he scoffs. “Cody is one of my most valuable assets on the Kyla team. He’s brought thousands of people to our seminars. He loves this place more than anyone. Cody is this company. There’s no way he’d choose you over me,” he says confidently, and I know I need to act fast.
“If Cody’s information is worthless now anyway, with him telling his whole family soon, why don’t you just give it to me? I’ll take it when I leave,” I challenge.
“I’m not just going to hand it over to you when he hasn’t even told his family yet,” he sneers.
I shrug, feigning indifference. “He was planning on doing it this weekend, so if you want to hold onto it, that’s fine. But I have more money than I know what to do with, so I’d pay you for it.”
Viktor perks up at that. “How much are we talking?” he prods, trying to sound nonchalant but intrigued.
“I don’t know. How much are you thinking?” I ask.
“A million dollars.”
I can’t believe the fucking guts of this asshole to ask me for that much money .
But Cody is worth so much more than that, so I don’t hesitate.
“Fine,” I say, pulling out my phone. “Give me your info, and I’ll call my banker right now.” He hesitantly tells me, and I make a short call. I don’t spend crazy amounts of money like this often, but my family is well connected, and I know who to call.
“You didn’t actually arrange to send me a million dollars, that could have been anyone,” he scoffs when I hang up. He sits back at his computer to no doubt confirm the information, and when he sees the scheduled pending transfer, he looks genuinely shocked.
“Fine,” he huffs, with a tone of annoyance, even though I just gave him a million fucking dollars. “Take it with you. It won’t do me any good anyway,” he says confidently. “I’ve never really needed leverage on Cody. There’s no way he’d ever leave me. He’s one of my most loyal members. He loves Linna. He loves me. Cody’s not going anywhere,” Viktor rants.
After securing his letter and the envelope, I slip my phone out. Viktor’s too busy hitting a button on his desk to call security and asking them to escort me out to notice when I hit the screen to call Cody, quickly placing it on speaker and then lowering the volume so we can’t hear him, but he can hopefully hear us.
With my phone screen against the envelope in one hand, I raise both hands in surrender. “Maybe you know Cody better than I do,” I say loudly. “But I’ve got his collateral, and I don’t want to hang out in this creepy city anymore. So, I guess I’ll leave, and we’ll see if he follows me.”
Security quickly arrives and escorts me out of the building into one of their cars. For a minute, I fear I’ve underestimated Viktor, and that I’m about to be driven to the top of a mountain to be murdered, but then we pull up to Cody’s house. They proceed to follow me inside to get my bag, looking a little confused when they see it’s already packed.
“I knew my time was up,” I explain with a shrug, and they don’t say anything.
From there, they drive me straight to the airport and escort me inside to the ticket desk, where they watch me buy a ticket to Chicago on a flight that leaves in a few hours. It feels archaic to buy a plane ticket in person, but I don’t complain.
Once I’m through the small security line, I watch them finally turn to leave, and I immediately pull out my phone to purchase Cody a ticket for my flight as well.
I really fucking hope that he heard my call. It had ended by the time we were in the car, but I’m praying to anything that will listen that he heard enough to know what’s happening and that he can get here in time for the flight.
I’m definitely not leaving without him.