Page 31

“Shhhh. It’s okay. You’re okay, Cassidy.

I promise you’ve done nothing wrong,” Oscar says softly.

He lifts my chin, and I try to stop crying, but it causes me to sniffle and hiccup.

“I love you, Cassidy. More than a brother should ever love their sister. I have for a long time, and I don’t regret one fucking second of that.

You and I have been through so much together, and I’ll be damned if I go through life without getting as close as I can. ”

“But I’m… He said… I’m not…”

“Whatever it is he told you, it’s bullshit,” Oscar says.

“He said I was a whore. I am. He was right,” I say tearfully.

“Who cares?” Oscar asks. “You aren’t, but who cares? I don’t. Gunner and Collin don’t. What you do with your body is your own prerogative.”

“This is so fucked,” I complain.

“It is, but do you regret it?”

“No,” I admit with a sniffle, my cheeks filling with a blush.

“Exactly,” he says with a smile. “Cassidy, I know this is a lot all at once. I don’t think any of us really planned it this way.

I didn’t even know they were into you to this degree, but we are here now.

We move at whatever pace. We adjust or backtrack if we need to, and we choose to be happy, no matter what anyone thinks of it. ”

“Okay,” I sigh.

“Do you want this?” he asks.

“I do.”

“Good,” Oscar says, kissing me softly.

“We have a phone for you,” Gunner says. “Just don’t give it out to anyone you don’t need to.”

“Can I have it? I’d like to log into Facebook,” I say. “I made a post in a group to see if I can get more information on Trey. Surely, he’s done this to someone else. I want to help avoid someone else from getting hurt.”

“Just be careful. Don’t give out personal information,” Oscar says as Gunner picks a phone up from the dresser and hands it to me. They all lay with me and turn the TV on to watch a show while I get logged into my accounts.

I don’t have many friends on Facebook, and it’s rare that I talk to anyone, but I like watching videos. My favorites are the true crime ones where they go through interviews and initial investigations. Some people are so crazy that it seems far-fetched.

“Oh, fuck!” I say loudly as I suddenly sit up.

“Jesus, woman. What?” Oscar says, his whole body jerking when I startle him.

“I made a post about Trey. Someone responded,” I say. “Her name is… Eliza Downing.” I show him the message, and his eyes go wide.

“Goddamn it, that’s why he was familiar,” Oscar groans as he gets up from the bed and grabs his phone from the nightstand.

He taps around before turning the screen to show me a picture of Troy Carpenter.

Troy has brown hair, whereas Trey has black hair and glasses. Otherwise, they’re the same person.

“Call her,” Collin says. “Her profile looks legit.”

“That’s my fucking luck to date a goddamn serial killer,” I complain as I hit the button to call her.

“Hello?” A tentative voice answers.

“Uhm… Eliza? This is Cassidy,” I say carefully.

“Hey! Oh my God. I’m so glad you called,” she says. “Are you safe to talk?”

“Yeah. I left him tonight. Right after I made that post,” I say. “What did he whip you with?”

“Right to it, huh?” Gunner chuckles.

“Sorry. I’m just… He will kill me if he finds me. I have to be sure.”

“A belt,” she says. “The last time, when he kidnapped me, the belt had metal spikes that sliced up my back. He had a fascination for forcing me to come while calling me a pig and fucking me anally.”

“Jesus,” Oscar mutters.

“Who is that?” Eliza asks.

“My uh… it’s…” I start to say but stop.

“Cassidy?” she asks.

“We are her boyfriends,” Gunner says. “I am Gunner. Collin is my twin brother. Oscar is her stepbrother.”

“Well, that’s hot,” a man says.

“Seems like he has a type,” Eliza laughs. “My partners are with me. Julian, Calder, and Ryan.”

“I assume you’re into BDSM?” I ask. “I meet him on VelvetBound.”

“God, he is such a fucking idiot,” Eliza cackles.

“Oh?”

“We own VelvetBound. He once pretended to be me and tricked Julian and Calder into acting out a CNC scene without my knowledge. You can imagine my surprise.”

“Oh, fuck,” I say. “That’s… unfortunate.”

“Yeah. We are okay, though. I’d like for you to be with us, though.

I don’t care if we need to go there or if you come here, but he is volatile and like fucking velcro.

He won’t stop. No matter how you twist this, he will come after you.

I’m not saying that to scare you, but I mean it.

I was with him for four years, and if he threatens something, he delivers twice as badly. ”

“We can go there. Wherever that is,” Oscar says. “We intended to leave anyway. We work remotely.”

“I don’t want to put anyone out,” I say. “I’ll… figure something out.”

“It’s not putting us out. We have the room to accommodate you. I’ll be transparent that I’ve already texted your info to the detective, and he just ran your background. He is confident you are safe for me, and I trust him. Once we know you are safe, they will go after him.”

“I’m just sick of being hurt by him. Everything happened so fast,” I say. “Send some info about yourself over so we can verify you, and we will get on the road tonight. Where are you?”

“Charlotte, North Carolina,” she says. “I’m messaging you some information.”

Oscar takes my phone and types in his at the same time. A few silent minutes later, he nods to me. “I guess we are coming to you,” I say.

“I know this is fast, but I promise you will be safe,” she says. “Detective Jasper Omen is who you can reach out to. He said to call the nonemergency line and ask for him, and they will transfer you so you can verify me and what I am saying.”

“I’ll do that now,” Collin says with a matter-of-fact tone.

“So what, do I just run away and start over? Is there a plan?” I ask.

“Right now, it’s about your safety,” a man says. “I’m not saying the cops can’t do their job, but I don’t want to see anyone else get hurt the way Liza was. You don’t deserve anything he has done to you.”

“Julian is right. I’ve been there, and I know how he wears you down until you just give in. He is relentless,” Eliza says. “We have the money and the property to keep you safe.”

“I just want a normal life,” I sigh.

“Hun, you are dating your brother. You are past normal,” Eliza giggles.

“Stepbrother,” I laugh.

“Hold on,” Julian says. “Oscar, you have a dismissed murder charge?”

“I do,” Oscar says simply.

“May I ask what that’s about?”

“Yeah. I killed my father,” Oscar says. “I was eighteen, and Cassidy was sixteen. I walked in from work and heard crying. I ended up finding him raping her, so I shot him. We called the cops, and I was arrested. Eventually they took her statement, and when her rape kit came back, I was cleared, and charges were dropped. He had been raping her for years, apparently.”

“Oh my God,” Eliza says. “That’s awful. I’m so sorry.”

“He had a tiny dick, if that counts for anything,” I say. “Gladly not a trait passed down.”

“Dirty girl,” Oscar chuckles. “I have a temper, and I will absolutely kill again for her. Our relationship is… odd, but she is my world. I won’t stand for anyone hurting her.”

“And Troy?” another man asks.

“Francis at the office is asking if you want to help kill Troy,” Eliza laughs.

“Absolutely, but her safety is my priority. Running is preferable right now because there is no telling what he will do. I’m not willing to risk her life for revenge until I know,” Oscar explains.

“I understand,” Ryan says.

“Who is Francis?” I ask.

“A friend of ours that runs one of our clubs,” Julian says.

“We are good,” Colin says, walking back into the room.

“Send us the address, and we will be there,” Oscar says.

“I gave all of our info to Jasper, so you can get it from him,” Collin says.

“Perfect. Let us know if you need anything and keep us updated,” Eliza says.

When the call ends, we sit in silence for a moment before Gunner nudges me. “Let’s get the truck packed,” he says.