Consequences of Deception (5 page)

“I never said that you were a hooker. I’ve implied nothing of the sort, so you’re putting that all on yourself. Knowing that you might be resistant to the
arrangement
—please note that I didn’t just call you any foul names—I saved the piece of information that is the most important to you for last. The two employees that invested the most, the ones who will literally lose everything if I don’t step in and take care of this, are Richard and Amanda Tate. Their home, the money they’ve invested for retirement… it will all be gone. Do you really want to be responsible for putting your best friend and her family out on the street? If you care so little about them that you won’t do what it takes to save them from that fate, I’ll be on my way.”

It’s a deathblow that I can feel to the tips of my toes, but still I clutch at straws. “You
know
the Tates, Killian. You’ve known Demi just as long as you’ve known me. Sure, you were never as close to her as you and I used to be… but… come on, this is crazy! You’d ruin an entire family you once took vacations with, in order to get to me?”

His jaw clenches as he glares at me before he answers. “I would do that, yes. Whatever it takes.”

I barely manage to choke a word past the boulder that has taken residence within my throat. “
Why
?”

He doesn’t even blink. “Does it matter?”

Of course it does! I need something to hold onto because right now, up is down, and I have no anchor holding me into place. I’m broke, I’ve got a college degree that I never wanted and a family that is straight out of a horror story. But the
one
thing that I have left, the one thing that I value above all other things, is the Tate family. I could walk away from Stephen and Celine and survive, but I can’t hurt the Tates. They fought for me, supported me, and have always been in my corner. To be responsible, in any way, for them losing everything, isn’t something that I would ever be able to live with, but the alternative is almost as bad. How can I agree to be Killian’s…? I’m not even sure what I would be. His mistress? Sex slave? Whore? Any of the above are terrible options.

“Why do you want this?” I ask. “This isn’t… you can’t really… this makes no sense. We both know that you could have anyone that you want and you certainly don’t want me. Why me? I need a reason.”

He shrugs his shoulders as he gives me a disaffected look as he barks out a hash laugh. “Princess,
wanting
you
has never been the problem. You need to get on board with what’s going on and deal with it. What’s done is done. You can do the right thing or you can explain to the Tate family why they’re going to lose everything that they’ve worked their entire lives for. The choice is yours, Sloane.”

I want to stomp my foot, scream, cry, rage and throw things, not to mention that I definitely want to give him the finger and tell him to go fuck himself. I’m not much of a curser normally, but if there were a swear jar in front of me, I would fill it full of money from the filthy words that are swirling in my head. It’s taking reserves that I didn’t even realize that I have not to flip out on him.

Through gritted teeth I spit out, “You know that I have no choice, you smug bastard.”

I’m expecting him to smile at his victory, but if it’s making him happy, I can’t see it on his face.

“There are always choices. You made yours a long time ago. It’s time for you to feel the consequences.”

His response is one hundred percent pure and absolutely frustrating ‘Killian Brandt’. Nothing he says makes sense and the only thing I can think is: the consequences of
what
, exactly? Being unlucky enough to lose just about everyone and everything that I love? I’ll be paying the price of those losses for the rest of my life. I know better than to ask for clarification; in the last four years and a half years, both times that I’ve tried to ask him why he hates me so much just made it worse.

Reaching into his jacket pocket, he pulls out another envelope. From said envelope, he extracts a piece of paper and a pen, both of which he passes across to me.

“I’ll need you to look over and sign this non-disclosure agreement. Nobody—not Demi, not your college friends, not the fucking gardener—is to know about this agreement.”

I glare daggers at him as I take the paper and pen, but he shows no reaction. “The fact that you have to have a non-disclosure agreement signed in order to get a girlfriend proves once and for all that there’s something seriously wrong with you. Don’t you have any kind of a moral code that is screaming at you right now about how wrong this is?”

The son-of-a-bitch laughs before answering in a voice that is so devoid of any kind of caring, it makes me shiver. “I would never have a girlfriend sign a non-disclosure agreement. No matter how much I paid,
you
will never be my girlfriend and you need to remember that.”

The fact that I feel the sting of his words pisses me off. Why have I never learned to let go of him? Fortunately, it is my pride and not my heart that answers back. “Trust me, being your girlfriend is the last thing I would ever want. You make me sick.”

He turns to stone before my eyes, regarding me coldly before he responds to what I’ve said. “Are you finished with your tantrum? If not,
get
finished. I’m quickly running out of patience. Sign that so we can go.”

I’ve never wanted to physically hurt someone before, but if I thought I could take him, Killian Brandt would be on the ground right at this very moment. After reading over the non-disclosure agreement, I pick up the pen and sign off without any further ado.

As I am about to put the pen down, I hear a discreet cough from the door. I look up to see one of Killian’s men standing just outside of the room as Killian jumps up to talk to him. They take their conversation into the hall and I strain to hear anything at all. Hearing nothing, I am forced to wait for Killian to come back in and tell me what is going to happen next.

Too restless to sit, I stand and walk to the wall of French doors that lead out to the back deck. My stomach clenches as I take in the view of the pool, all lit up and looking divine, even at night. Celine hadn’t liked the old pool, so the one that I’m looking at now was only been finished two months ago. It makes me sick to think that some of my inheritance money has gone to this pool, and worse, that some of the employee money from Evans may have.

Being so in debt, why did they keep on spending money like it was water? Celine got a brand new Mercedes G for Christmas and she buys whatever her cold shriveled up heart desires. The entire time that I’ve assumed that Evans Investments was doing so well, they’ve been stealing from the employees and me. If my father were still alive, this would kill him. Then again, if my father were alive, I wouldn’t just have been sold into sexual slavery. Suddenly, cold to my very core, I wrap my arms around myself as I shiver.

I wish that I could just run away, but I’m not stupid and I know that option isn’t open to me. Trying to focus on keeping myself calm, I start an internal mantra.
It’s just sex. It’s just sex. It’s just sex.
I wonder if it is going to be possible to force myself to believe this lie. Whatever happens, this will never be ‘just sex’ to me. Where Killian is concerned, nothing can ever be that simple.

I feel him coming up behind me before he says a word. Lifting my eyes, I see his reflection in the glass in front of me and I shiver again. He hates me and I can’t imagine that he’ll be tender or gentle with me. Suddenly, I wish that I’d lost my virginity instead of holding onto it like it was something special, just in case he was ever able to forgive me. I’ve always been such a damn lovesick fool for this man.

The icy demeanor that is always on display when I look at him is nowhere to be found as I study his reflection. He hasn’t noticed that I can see him, and I am surprised to see something that looks a hell of a lot like anxiety on his face. When he clears his throat quietly to get my attention, I turn slowly. The Killian that I see reflected in this glass is the Killian that hadn’t turned his back on me for reasons that I’ve never been privy too. I dread turning around because I know that I’ll be finding his mask back in place, and my stomach drops when I turn all the way and find that I am right. Cold Killian is back.

Running a hand through his hair, he stares at me for a few moments before saying, “I need your cell phone.”

I laugh a short and harsh sound that is joyless. “I don’t have a cell phone, Killian. Celine would never allow me such an extravagance.”

Gritting his teeth, he closes his eyes and rubs at his temples. “We need to leave now,” he says gruffly.

It’s so stupid, but suddenly, all I can focus on is that I look like a pink poodle. Gesturing to my outfit I reply, “I need to get changed.”

“I had them pack everything, so there’s nothing for you to change into. The ladies that packed your clothes and things have already gone to get your luggage onto the plane. You can change as soon as we’re on board.”

This revelation makes my jaw drop. “Plane? What plane? Where are we going?”

“We’re going away. I figure I need a vacation, so why not now? Everybody needs a little time off.”

We haven’t spoken in years, but even I know that Killian Brandt doesn’t take time off. He’s a tech genius that lives and breathes work. He made his first ten million dollars when he was just fifteen years old and he hasn’t stopped since. Killian is to technology what water is to plants and everyone wants a piece of him. He lives and breathes his creations and it’s common knowledge that he hasn’t taken any time off in over four years.

Whatever is going on here, Killian isn’t just randomly taking some time off—so I know that he isn’t being straight with me. I’d argue the point but I realize that I really can’t expect anything else. Maybe it will be better to get what’s going to happen over with away from here. I need time to figure out what the hell to say to Demi, at the very least.

Realizing that I am about to leave Stephen and Celine’s for the last time, it dawns on me that I have something very important to do. “I need to go up to my room for a minute.”

“They got everything,” he answers. “Your furniture, clothes, pictures—anything that was in that room is either on its way to my plane or on its way to storage. I didn’t want to leave anything behind for those motherfu… for your aunt and uncle. You can go through it all later and see if there are things that you want to get rid of.”

I am relieved that nothing of mine is being left behind, but there is something in my room that the movers and packers won’t have found, and I need it.

“I have a hiding spot in the attic access in my room. My mother’s jewelry and my grandmother’s wedding and engagement rings are hidden up there. Celine started asking about them a few years ago so I pretended that I couldn’t find them. I need to get them.”

He says nothing, instead nodding his head at me in understanding. I leave the room quickly, running up the curved staircase and down the hall into my bedroom. I stop short when I get to the doorway and find that everything, even the curtains that had been on my windows, are missing. The only thing left is the ceiling fan and the recessed lights.
Everything
else is gone. The room is so barren that it’s hard to believe there was anything here earlier. In addition to being bare, it’s spotless. I can smell the odor of a lemon scented cleaner and there are indents in the carpet from the vacuum being run. If I hadn’t gotten ready in this room just a few hours ago, and if I didn’t know that Killian’s team entered the house at the same time that we did, I wouldn’t believe it.

I startle when I hear him speak from behind me. “We really have to go.”

I hurry into the empty room, making a beeline for my closet. I groan as it dawns on me that the desk chair I would normally use to get up to the panel is now in the back of a moving truck. Turning to Killian, I bite my lip before I work up the courage to ask for help.

“They took the chair I use to get up there. Can you please boost me up?”

He does so without a word, and as I shiver this time it isn’t because I am cold—it is because Killian is touching me. I make quick work of pulling myself up into the attic and locating the small cosmetic case that I keep up here, filled with the jewelry. As soon as I am finished, I drop back down into Killian’s arms and school my face to show no reaction. He quickly grabs my arm as he guides me out of the house at lightning speed. Before I know it I am back in Killian’s car and we are heading for the airport.

I have one last thing I want to do before we take off for destinations unknown. It takes a few minutes, but I finally work up the courage to break the silence. “Can I use your cellphone to call or text Demi and let her know that I’m okay? She’s going to flip out when she realizes that I’m gone.”

He shakes his head firmly and before I can beg him to reconsider he cuts me off. “I’ve got that under control. She’s being told that I offered you a once in a lifetime opportunity for old time’s sake and that you’ll be out of touch for the next few weeks. It’s all taken care of and there’s no reason for you to worry about it.”

Don’t worry about it? Is he serious? Where the hell are we going that I’m not going to be able to make phone calls? I hate this, but what choice do I have but to go along with whatever he says?