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CHAPTER 6

C assandra

“Why are you calling me?” I was standing outside in the chilly night air. The call had caught me right before I’d walked into the restaurant. The scent of delicious food made my stomach growl and God knows I needed a drink or two. Now I was forced to deal with the fucking asshole from my past.

“I missed you. I just wanted to say hi,” David said.

“You said hi. Now, lose this number. I don’t want to talk to you again.” I was about to hang up when I heard his words and was ready to pitch my phone.

“I’ve missed you. I’m so sorry about what happened. I just… I couldn’t stand the thought of losing you.”

“You should have thought about that before sticking your dick into your boss’s asshole, you asshole.”

His sweet tone instantly changed. “Still a bitch. It was one mistake. Everyone makes them. You don’t need to drag me through the mud.”

“I’m a bitch. Well, you’re a bastard then. I need to go.”

“You had that goon break my wrist on purpose. Now, I have a metal pin.”

“Hey. I didn’t ask him to intervene any more than I asked for you to choke me. At least the Good Samaritan was doing something nice. You were just being you, a jerk with a tiny dick.”

I was fed up with being used by anyone.

My boss included.

This entire day had turned into a shitshow. Now I was pacing the sidewalk, my voice raised by at least ten decibels.

“Go back to fucking your boss, David. If you know what’s good for you, you’ll leave me alone.”

“That sounds like a threat. Remember what I said before. I have some nice pictures of you doing your other job that I will be happy to send directly to every higher-up in your office. As a matter of fact, I’ll send you my favorite one.”

“Just get away from me. That’s all I want. Okay?” I ended the call before I said something else I’d easily regret. Although right now, I wasn’t certain how that was possible. I’d never hated anyone as much as I did that man right now.

I took several deep breaths and was ready to walk inside when my phone pinged. Exhaling, I pulled up my texts. Instantly, spots of blood formed in front of my eyes. He’d managed to capture a picture of my face as well as my naked body, my legs spread wide open. I was masturbating using a huge dildo, staring straight at the camera on a tripod. Only the angle I’d shot the video hadn’t included my face for security purposes.

His photograph had.

The bastard had filmed me secretly, catching the fact I was videotaping myself. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

As a second ping occurred, I groaned. The bastard hadn’t sent me a single photograph. Without my knowledge, he’d also taken a short, but highly suggestive video complete with audio.

There was no denying what I was doing in the video. None.

My office was very conservative. Every employee had been forced to sign in receipt of rules laid out in black and white. They included never doing anything to embarrass the office.

Why did I have a terrible feeling David was planning on using it? But why not just leave me the fuck alone? Maybe there was more to the affair than I knew about.

No. I wasn’t going to jump into the middle of it.

Anger boiled over me and I stormed into the restaurant, taking gasping breaths in a crazy effort to try to calm down.

The basic hole in the wall served amazing sauces, to die for enchiladas, and the world’s best top shelf margaritas. And not necessarily in that order. Cash and I had come often in our first days with the office, commiserating over being given crap cases while dreaming of one day making attorney general.

He was already in a booth when I arrived, pushing a huge margarita in my direction as soon as I sat down. As usual, he was flipping through his phone. He had a huge social media presence whereas I had none.

“You are a lifesaver. I was hoping you’d ordered me a drink.” I settled in and wrapped my hand around the glass, hating the harshness in my tone.

“Trouble in paradise?” Cash asked.

“Just David.” I took a huge gulp of my drink. My nerves were very much on edge. I couldn’t believe the bastard was trying to use blackmail against me.

“What about David? What did the slimebag do?”

I shook my head, debating telling him anything. “He threatened me about using some pretty kinky photographs against me if I spill the beans about his affair. Like I give a shit who he has his dick stuck in now.”

Cash opened his eyes wide, and he whistled before breaking out into an intense smile. “Oh, wow, girl. I had no clue you were kinky at all.”

“Don’t do that. It’s just something that… Well, I’m not very proud of and it can’t get out to the higher-ups.”

“Is it that bad?”

“It’s that bad.”

“Fucking fantastic,” he snarled. “First of all, drink up. I’ll order another one. Then calm down. Did he really threaten you?”

“You bet.”

“Why don’t you let me write him a not so friendly letter? That might stop him before he does anything stupid.”

“No!” I said a little too quickly. “No, you don’t know David. That might egg him on. I’m just going to let it die. He’ll get tired of harassing me.” I couldn’t have Cash or anyone else interfering at this point. It could backfire.

“Uh-huh. Men like that are real pigs, but they harbor a grudge. I don’t want to see you get hurt.”

“Yeah, well, he’s just pissed a guy stepped in to save me. Everything will be fine.”

He gave me another one of his mischievous looks. “You’re holding out on me.”

“No story. Just a guy on the street being nice.” I hated lying to my best friend, but admitting I’d slept with a stranger just felt embarrassing as hell.

Even if I wished I could run into the guy all over again.

“I don’t like this shit.”

“I know, but David will calm down.”

“If you say so.”

Grumbling, he returned to searching for his phone, his usual activity. A full minute of silence passed while I was sucking down my drink.

“Bad boy,” I hissed.

“What?”

“I was wondering if you were coming up for air.”

“Just checking on Mark.” He continued flicking through Instagram.

“Mark?”

“My new guy.”

I chuckled and licked salt off the rim. “Checking up on him already.”

“I just wanted to see if he changed his status to in a relationship.”

“After a few days?”

“Four weeks, but who’s counting.”

“You’ve been holding out on me.”

“A guy must keep some secrets even from his best friend.” Groaning, he tossed his phone aside. “Life is a disappointment. Now, what does old Mr. Wells want you to do?”

Cash always made me smile. “Investigate the Blackwell Group for acts of extortion, blackmail, that kind of thing.”

“With regard to their secret society.”

“If it exists,” I scoffed.

He leaned over the table. “Oh, I think it exists.”

“What makes you say that?”

“Do you remember when I was dating Braxton?”

I narrowed my eyes. “You’ve dated so many guys I can’t keep track.”

He acted as if he was going to throw his coaster at me. “Hush. I’m being serious. Braxton owns that microchip firm out of New York. They sell mostly to gaming companies. He mentioned the Obsidian Society on a couple occasions then clammed up.”

“What did he say?”

“That it existed and he’d been invited to participate in the games.”

“Games.”

“To determine worthiness.” He laughed. “Very cutthroat stuff so I gathered from what he said. He acted as if the tests were going to mirror what happened in the game Dark Nights.”

“Why did he clam up?”

Cash was now glancing around the restaurant to see if anyone was paying attention. They weren’t. “I finally got out of him after a few arguments that he’d been required to sign an NDA. They have an attorney on their board and more at their disposal, so he took it seriously.”

“An NDA for a contest,” I mused.

He cocked his head. “Big money at stake. The company is worth billions.”

“So that was it? He didn’t tell you anything else?’”

“No, you know me,” he chided. “I bugged him a couple more times, but he wouldn’t budge. When I didn’t hear from him for almost a week, I finally went to his house. He opened the door and was covered in bruises.”

“What happened?” I was beginning to think there was a lot more to this story.

“He tried to blow it off, but I persisted. Finally, he told me he’d been involved in a hunt.”

“Like shooting deer?”

“No, like hunting humans and he’d been one of the prey.”

“What?” At first, I was horrified. Then something ticked inside my mind and it was more than just curiosity. I felt a rush of excitement. “That’s insane. I’m not sure that’s legal.” A single bead of perspiration formed almost immediately along the back of my neck.

“I guess it is if you agree to becoming a contestant. From what he said, a lot of people apply, but few are chosen. All pretty powerful people too.”

That would lend some credence to what Mr. Wells had suggested about the company’s enemies.

“A hunt. I wonder what that entails?” A strangely appealing yet fleeting image of myself running in a forest or through a dark alley played out in my mind. I could almost feel hot breath beating down on me as the hunter came closer and closer. Wow. It had been way too long since I’d gone out and had a good time.

“He mentioned something about the hunters being in creepy masks and carrying spears and sticks. Since Brax had been drinking, I wasn’t one hundred percent certain he wasn’t embellishing at least part of the story. He had a tendency to do that.”

“Where did this happen?”

“He can’t remember. They were taken in a truck to the location. A huge forest and the participants were given some basic rules before being told to run.”

“So he was beaten physically?”

“I don’t think so, but he didn’t do so hot. I think he just wasn’t used to being lost in a forest. He didn’t say anyone physically hurt him. It was all about creating fear.”

“They were testing the contestants’ emotional stabilities and how they handled severe stress. Interesting. I take it that’s all he said?”

“He did mention he had a damn good time. I laughed in his face, but that’s just… not normal. I mean come on.” Cash rolled his eyes.

I thought about what Mr. Wells had told me. “True, but certainly if everyone agrees to the game, that’s not illegal.”

“No, you’re right. Maybe Mr. Wells didn’t tell you everything.”

Nodding, that’s exactly what I’d been thinking. “I wonder what it is.”

“Do you want me to ask around and see what I can find?” He was way too eager.

“No. Mr. Wells was very clear about keeping this on the down low.”

“Hmm… Are you going to do it? Being at the top is all you’ve ever wanted.” Cash looked at me quizzically. I’d be damned if he didn’t have a twinkle in his eyes.

“How in the world would I enter a world like the Blackwell Group? I can’t remember the last time I played a video game so I can’t fake getting a job and I’m certainly not going to become one of their top programmers. I’m a prosecutor and I can’t just go waltzing up to the owners and introduce myself. If they are walking on the wrong side of the law, they won’t take too kindly to me sniffing around. I might end up being fish food.”

He lifted his eyebrows and laughed. “I don’t think they’d kill you, for God’s sake. I doubt any company would like a kick-ass prosecutor to spy on them though. So…”

I could tell by the mischievous look on his face he had something up his sleeve. “So? What did you do?”

“I didn’t do anything but see what I could find out about the Obsidian Society on my own.”

“And?”

“Nothing.”

I took a sip, then another of my drink. “You had me all excited for a minute. Let’s order. I’m starving.”

“Hold on. You know me better than that. I never back down with anything. I did some digging and ended up surfing through social media. Now, it would seem the owners are very smart.”

“I heard they were brothers.”

“Yep. They are. Rarely photographed though.” He started flipping through his phone. “I was thinking about how they might attract possible candidates. They need to start somewhere. From what Braxton told me, the game hasn’t been on a regular basis. I took a chance and looked to see if they were disguising it under the Blackwell Group.”

“You know how to drag something out to gain attention.” I was now leaning over the table.

“My hunch paid off.” He handed me his phone. “It’s not a blatant admittance, but why bother issuing a series of questions like this?”

I stared at the screen and frowned. “It looks like a questionnaire a million companies use to get people excited. Maybe for their gamers. It does ask about what you like about Dark Nights the most.”

“Perhaps, but read a little closer. The questions are fairly interesting.”

Other than the usual ones like what did I consider my greatest accomplishment, there were few that stuck out. “What is your greatest fear? What masked creature creates nightmares? What is on your bucket list? How do you feel about darkness? They’re a little odd, but it would appear they’re trying to determine if you’re adventurous. The darkness could be because video games are usually dark. Right?”

“What about the masked creature bit?”

I bit my lower lip, trying to think of a decent answer. “Well, I guess if truthfully answered, whoever is reading and judging the answers will discover if the contestant has a naughty side.”

“A naughty side.” Cash laughed and pointed his finger at me. “You’re hiding some juicy bits about yourself from me.”

“Never! But think about it. I haven’t played Dark Nights, but from what little you’ve told me, people could have a psychotic break or a heart attack. They don’t want any legal issues.”

“May-be. Although not all reality games are based in darkness. Plus, I assure you they have a team of lawyers at their beck and phone call.” He laughed. “Why don’t you fill it out?”

“What? Me? Why would I do that?”

“Are you going to take the case? This could be the ‘in’ you’ll need. They are very private.”

I cocked my head, giving him a look before returning to scrolling the screen. Why was it the questions intrigued me? There was a little about the company, but not much, at least not nearly as much as you could typically find on the internet. “I think I might have to. Mr. Wells didn’t act as if I could say no.”

“What if you get an invitation to the contest because of your answers? Would you go?”

“And be hunted? I don’t know. That sounds insane.” Then why was my mouth watering from the thought?

“Haven’t you ever wanted to do something crazy?”

I thought about his question and all the books that I had stored on three bookshelves. “Like skydiving?” We both laughed and a series of prickly sensations tickled my spine.

“Like something more primal. A BDSM club, a fake kidnapping? Role playing? That kind of thing.”

“Please don’t tell me you’ve done all those things.” For a few incredible seconds, my mind drifted to the same fantasy I’d had for four months. The contiguous dreams all included the tall, dark, and handsome man who’d awakened something inside me that I’d yet to shut down. I’d hungered for another night with him.

Sighing, I realized that all I’d been doing was working. Years of working. The one night had been enough of a taste to remind me that there was more to living than coming into a nice office and locking away criminals. However, what Cash was describing was way out there.

Although not completely…

I’d read enough dark romances I knew all about very dark activities including consensual-non-consent sexual experiences. I’d even envisioned myself in the scenario in dreams. But always with one man. Jesus. Maybe Penny was right; it was time I ended the dry spell.

Cash snatched his phone from my hand, actively typing. “I’ve been known to do a few wild things in my youth.”

“I bet you have. I’m not certain I want to know.”

He grinned at my response.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m filling out the form for you. I don’t think you’ll do it yourself and why not?”

“You’re incorrigible.”

He scratched his head. “They want a nickname and an email address.”

“Why?”

“I guess they’re trying to keep both sides as anonymous as possible. I’m going to create a bogus email for you. I don’t think you want to use the email address at work. Right?”

There was far too much mischief in his eyes. “You’re enjoying this way too much. But you’re right.”

“I’ll do something simple,” he said, his thumb going to work on the keypad.

I took a deep breath, unable to keep several highly filthy images from littering my mind.

“Okay, done. Now, what about that nickname?”

I’d never had one before, at least not one I would ever mention in public. My thoughts drifted again and I bit back a smile. “Lady Butterfly.”

“Interesting. Is there a story behind it?”

“Not one I’m willing to tell you.”

“Okay then. So Lady Butterfly enjoys all thing dark and dangerous, preferring to take risks over playing it safe.”

He was actually typing what he was saying.

“Give me that.”

“Nope. I’m just capturing your true essence. Besides, you deserve that promotion. You’ve worked your ass off for it.”

“And you haven’t?” I scolded, almost snatching the phone.

“Not like you. We’re friends, dear girl, but you are the cream of the crop. If investigating this company gets you higher on the list, then why not? If that’s something you think you can handle.”

I snorted and we both laughed. “I can handle almost anything. I got rid of that shit of a boyfriend, didn’t I?”

“You mean after enduring the man for three long years.”

As I rolled my eyes, I snapped my hand against his arm. “You will not hold that against me.”

“I have every intention of doing so. So… We’ll fill it out creatively and see what happens. However, I will warn you that Braxton said he liked the experience, but he was pretty shaken for a couple weeks. We never talked about it again. At least you can always say no. Maybe you’ll get an interview. Right?”

I thought about everything he told me and gulped a part of my drink. All I’d thought about the past year was getting promoted. “True. Why don’t we go for it? I don’t have anything to lose.”

Or so I hoped.