Page 67 of Bared Betrayal

Alexius laughs at my description, but that’s only because he has never met the woman. He doesn’t know what it’s like to be an eighteen-year-old kid and have her threatening you. To have a rich woman promise to have you arrested for statutory rape because you got your girlfriend—her daughter—pregnant. He doesn’t know how that woman can spin lies and bullshit to make the people who you love hate you.

“I don’t trust her, Alexius. But every gut instinct I have is pointing at her.”

“Isn’t that good news, though?” he asks. “If it’s her, we know there’s no bite behind the threat, right? What is she going to do? Hire Davian or some other assassin to kill her?” He shrugs. “A simple no-kill order on the girl can solve that problem.” He waves his hand like it’s no big deal. I suppose, from his perspective, it might not be.

“All I have is a hunch. I’m not one hundred percent sure if it even is her. What if it’s not? What if this is worse than just an old hag wanting to mindfuck Kallie?”

“And you think digging into her past can help you figure it out.”

“Yes,” I answer bluntly. “Kallie is hiding something, and whatever it is might help me connect the dots.”

“What if you don’t like the picture those dots reveal?”

“I don’t care. This woman is scared, and I need to know why. Yesterday, I found her huddled in a ball in the back of the closet because she thought there was someone in her house. And then I find a note about her having a story to tell, but when I ask her about it, she refuses to give me answers.” I take a deep breath and put my head in my hands for a moment to gather myself. “Alexius, when I found her in that closet, she wasn’t just scared. She was terrified and freaked the fuck out, like she was somewhere else completely.”

Alexius leans his head to the side, studying me. “How does finding a girl, your son’s fiancée, in a closet terrified beyond reason lead to taking her to Club Myth? Then putting on what many people have described as the most intense and erotic whip demonstration they have ever seen?”

“She asked for it.”

“Crying on your shoulder is asking to be whipped now?”

“No, she literally asked me to take her back to the club. For her, the pain isn’t a run-of-the-mill kink, it’s like…I dunno…cleansing or some shit. I don’t understand it, but I know that something happened to her, and I need to know what it is.”

Alexius raises a dark brow. “Why you?”

“What do you mean?”

“She’s your son’s fiancée. Why isn’t he the one helping her?”

“I don’t know. He’s too wrapped up in his newfound fame to even realize something is up with her. She attended our last Elite event at Myth searching for…something.”

“Is she the one in white, the one you—”

“Yes, but I didn’t know who she was when I chose her that night.”

Alexius lets out an amused snicker. “You, my friend, are well and truly fucked.”

“Tell me about it,” I sigh, knowing all too well what level of fucked I really am. There is no version of this situation with Kallie that will end well for everyone. Someone is bound to get hurt.

“So,” Alexius starts, “the favor you asked, are you sure this is the right move?”

“Yes.” I don’t hesitate. I can’t. I need to know.

“You know this crosses lines you can’t come back from? She may not appreciate your efforts here.”

“It doesn’t matter,” I say.

“It does. Trust me, one of the first things you learn when you’re married is everything fucking matters.”

“I’m not the one marrying her,” I point out, my stomach twisting as soon as I say it.

“That doesn’t mean it’s not an invasion. You are crossing not only arbitrary legal lines but ethical ones.”

“Lines we cross on a daily basis.”

“But this is personal.”

“Alexius, I don’t need the lecture. I need her secrets. It’s the only way I can help her.”