Page 25

I had taken Brynn up on her invitation which was very unusual for me. I always, and I meant always, controlled when and where I would see a submissive. It was always only at Lotus, and...

I paused my own train of thoughts because I had done nothing but break every rule I’d ever set for myself since receiving news that someone had broken into Brynn’s place months ago. From there, I had obviously not only revealed my actual identity, but had hired her on to work at BT.

Never would I have ever considered doing this before for anyone, and I still had no answer as to why I did with her each time I questioned myself. And, it was a lot. I liked her. That much was certain, although I had liked other women, too. Granted, it had only been when at Lotus, but affection was affection.

I shook my head at the realization that I was just trying to justify, or maybe the better term was rationalize things between us. For weeks, I’d been more centered than usual even despite a slight dry spell. Brynn was a calming influence in my life which could go either way when I truly thought about it. Deciding to just let things go tonight, I smiled at her when she set the beer down in front of me.

“Is this brand okay?” She asked me.

I nodded brusquely. “The beer is fine.”

My tone was a bit clipped, and I reminded myself to play it cool. It didn’t help that her mammoth beast of a dog was eying me in a suspicious way. I couldn’t blame the pup. I’d always heard that animals and children were very intuitive, even more so than an adult, which is why I normally kept my distance from both.

Brynn emerged from the kitchen once more, this time carrying a tray. Remembering my manners, I rose from my seat and quickly grabbed it from her. Lug Nut rose to his own feet and continued to stare at me until Brynn smiled at him. From there, he dropped back down to lay on the floor right at the foot of her chair.

“I wasn’t sure if you preferred to butter your own bread or not, so I put it on the side,” she told me after grabbing the small plates of cornbread and placing them down in front of us.

“Either way is fine,” I replied as I took my seat.

I looked down at the food, and I realized it was the first time I’d ever had it prepared this way. Stifado was a common beef stew back home in Greece, only it had different spice notes and an abundance of pearl onions. It looked good nonetheless, so I cut through the awkward silence when I picked up my knife.

After buttering my cornbread as she had put it, I took a bite of it first. It was actually very tasty. Normally, I spent my time eating things familiar to me, but there had been a few different American dishes I’d tried over the years that had tasted very good.

After chewing my bite of bread, I decided to dig into the main course. I felt her eyes on me the moment I picked up my spoon. I glanced upward at her, then lowered my gaze once more to the stew. I got a hearty bite on my spoon, then brought it to my mouth. While not the same spices, it did bring me back to the days when Aria and I would spend the weekends at our Yaya’s house.

I didn’t want to think about my twin sister, so I focused on the food. By the time I finished it, I realized she was still looking at me. I arched a brow, but before I could ask her if something was wrong, she smiled brightly at me.

“How is it?”

I could hear how nervous she sounded in those few words, and wanting to set her mind at ease, I scooped my spoon in for another bite. “It’s delicious. Do you cook often?”

That made her relax considerably, and we spent the rest of the meal making small talk between bites of food. I ate more than I usually did, actually finishing the entire bowl as well as two pieces of her homemade cornbread. I’d even eaten the salad which was sometimes my entire meal when alone.

The lifestyle I lived didn’t lend itself well to home-cooked meals and pleasant companionship. I’d been a loner for as long as I could remember, but that had been slowly changing. If nothing else, the damn Christmas trees in both my office and penthouse were proof of that.

“Are you finished?” She asked me when I pushed the empty plate and bowls into the center of the table.

“I am. The meal was very good.”

It was all I said, but it pleased her. I could feel the happiness radiating from her, and in that moment, bringing her this kind of pleasure was almost as good as a different sort. Almost.

“Let me help with that,” I told her when I noticed her piling the empty dishes back onto the tray.

“Thank you, but I can do this on my own.”

“I insist?—”

“You’re my guest. I will clean up,” she hurriedly said as she placed the last spoon onto the tray.

“Very well,” I said, then watched as she returned to the kitchen.

It was then when I noticed a few decorations for the festive season. Just seeing my own was enough to make me growl most days, but somehow or another I was struck with the desire to see Brynn’s Christmas tree.

Sure that it was in the other room, I rose to my feet, then ignored the pit bull that was still staring intently at me. I should’ve been happy that she had such a protective beast to watch over her, but I also knew he could sense that something wasn’t right with me. If so, he was either biding his time, or not as protective as I expected him to be.

I ignored Lug Nut, then walked into the other room where I did notice the large tree off in the corner of the room. It was placed strategically so one would see the brightly colored bulbs from the street when passing by.

My eyes began to wander, and I walked toward the wall where she had some art work. Having donated money to various local artists, and even displaying some of it on various floors at BT, I recognized the names of some of those artists.

I continued my perusal as I walked around the perimeter of the room. I took in the style of furniture she preferred which was more traditional compared to the modern pieces I had in my own place, but it not only fit the house, but the woman herself. Brynn was very beautiful, and always possessed an air of innocence to her. She had timeless features and could be the girl next door in almost any neighborhood in America.

Noticing her fireplace, I then saw a quartet of photographs on top of it, just above the two stockings. They were red, and had a “B” on one, and a “L” on the other. It was not the festive stockings that had my attention, but the desire to see her.

I walked closer and picked up the first one which was of Brynn with her beast of a dog. They both looked so happy in it. I picked up the next one which had an older man in it, and someone with a bit of resemblance, and I assumed the man was her father. I placed it back on the mantle, and when I picked up the third one, the room began to spin around me.

“Blair,” I whispered softly as I saw the woman beside Brynn.

I blinked rapidly hoping it was all an illusion, but when I focused back in on the picture, two familiar faces were smiling back at me. There was more to it, though. As I dropped my gaze to their necks, both had almost identical matching necklaces.

There was no denying that these women were sisters. Brynn had told me about losing her sister, and I hadn’t pried at the time to find out how, but I knew now. I quickly tried to place the frame back onto the mantle, but due to the shakiness in my hand, it fell over as soon as I released it.

At that moment, Brynn entered the room and noticed the frame. She quickly moved over to right it, and as soon as her hand touched it, I covered hers with my own. She turned to look up at me, and when she did, I could see the guilt in her eyes. This hadn’t been an inadvertent betrayal, but an intentional one.

“You know,” I said in as calm of a voice as I could manage. It was a difficult enough task, and when she didn’t respond, I grabbed her wrist and tightened my grip. “Answer me.”

“What do you want me to say?” she asked.

“Blair. Who in the hell is she to you?” I asked, even though I knew. “And what did she tell you about me?”

Brynn tried to pull her hand from mine, but I held on tightly until I heard a deep growl. I loosened my grip, and she finally broke free. “Blair was my sister.”

“This whole time... She never mentioned a... You fucking knew... She said... I can’t believe this...”

I wasn’t even making a lot of sense to myself, and for once, I could barely even speak. Anger filled me, but there was something else pushing beneath my surface of my sanity. It was pain, and not the same kind that I’d experience when snuffing the life of someone who’d once meant something to me.

I turned and began to pace back and forth. Brynn quickly righted the frame which caught my attention. Picking it back up as soon as she pulled her hand away, I stared down at it. Two beautiful fucking liars were staring up at me. And worse... their eyes seemed to taunt me.

I went to slam the frame back down onto the mantle, but I missed on the timing and it fell to the floor where the glass shattered into pieces. Brynn gasped and the dog growled loudly, but I couldn’t concern myself with either of them right now.

I raked a hand through my hair, and when I pulled it away, I realized how badly it was shaking. As I lifted both of them in front of my face, I saw the trembling in both. I was itching to wrap my hand around Brynn’s pretty throat until I squeezed the lies right out of her. But, I couldn’t.

Lug Nut was getting more irritated as the seconds passed by, and I actually could relate to him in that moment. Turning back to Brynn who was holding onto her dog by his collar, I shook my head in disbelief.

I’d been played.

There was no other explanation. Having spent nearly all of my life needing to stay in control, the batting of her doe eyes stole it from me, and I’d let her. Never had I opened myself to Blair the way I had opened myself to Brynn, and I bet she knew it.

Despite the lack of triumph on her face, I knew she felt it. She’d managed to do with me what her sister never could. If anyone needed to be stopped, I knew it was Brynn. The urge to choke her where she stood was strong, so I knew I needed to get out of there.

“I don’t know what the hell you thought you were going to accomplish, but it all ends tonight. I don’t want to see you anymore.”

With those words, I turned and strode angrily to the front door. As soon as I placed my hand on the knob, I heard a sob come from her, followed by my name. Closing my eyes to shut her out, I took a quick breath, then reopened them and the door before leaving.

After eventually leaving Brynn’s porch stoop, I returned home and finally lost the thin shred of control I’d managed to hold onto when at her place earlier. At the sight of the Christmas tree in my own space, I tore everything off of it, then left it lying on the floor amidst the destruction. It not only mocked me, but it confirmed how big of a fool I had been for her.

Never had I imagined that Brynn would’ve played a game with me like she had. It’d all been a trap that I fell so easily into. The innocent act... Her playing damsel in distress... Her annoying optimism and cheerfulness... I had actually spent so much time around her that I let all of those things blind me. Blair Carter was her sister, and...

At that moment, I’d realized what a hypocrite I was. I was also a fool. Determined to be neither, I had to figure out exactly how to erase her from my life, but not in the same way that I had gotten rid of her sister.

“Blair,” I’d called out before memories of the submissive’s beaten and bloodied body flashed before my eyes.

The circumstances were always different, yet it always affected me the same. It’d been too difficult to be in my apartment when I still heard Brynn’s laughter and smelled her perfume. Since I’d had a business trip to get ready for anyway, I moved it up and called in the flight plans. Within two hours, I was on the almost twelve hour journey to Japan.