TRUTH (33 page)

“If you can prove illegal activity, then I’m sure they’ll be involved at some point. Right now, I just need to know.”

“Can I ask why?”

I handed the statements back to him and stood. “Because he hurt someone I love.”

Chapter 23

Stephan

I was an emotional mess by the time I arrived home to Brianna. Michael’s news both thrilled and worried me. I was taking a gamble having our new CFO go through Ian’s bank statements. What he would do when he discovered, if he hadn’t already, that my name and bank account were on there as well, I didn’t know. Given what I knew about him, and that he’d noticed something neither Oscar’s experts nor I had, I doubted it had escaped his attention.
 

Brianna was on the couch reading another one of her library books when I walked through the door. She immediately laid it down on the coffee table and came to me. As always, having her in my arms again calmed me. We’d deal with whatever came, no matter what it was.
 

Leaning down, I brushed my lips against hers. “Did you eat?”

She nodded. “I made a plate for you.”

Brianna sat beside me on the couch while I ate the dinner she made. Maybe it was my conversation with Michael, but the dining room seemed too far away from her. I needed her near me.
 

When I was finished, I laid my plate aside and pulled her onto my lap. “Tell me about your day, sweetheart.”

“Lily called. She’s picking me up tomorrow at three.” Brianna glanced up at me, and I could see she was worried about something. “I won’t be home to make you dinner.”

I smiled and tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. “I think I’ll be able to fend for myself for one night.” She still appeared unsure, so I decided to move on. “What else did you do today?”

Over the next hour, Brianna told me about her new book and a phone call she’d received from Jade. Cal’s girlfriend wanted Brianna to go grocery shopping with her. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that, although Jade’s reaction to Brianna’s meltdown the previous Friday was encouraging. “When does she want to go?”

“Thursday. She says she doesn’t have class that day.”

“I want you to call me before you leave and the moment you return home.” It was the only way I wouldn’t drive myself crazy with worry. Knowing she was out with someone I barely knew was going to be bad enough.

“Yes, Sir.”

Giving her a kiss to show her my pleasure, I let my lips linger against hers. It would be so easy to forget about everything else and take her to bed, but there were things we needed to discuss. I chose the easiest first. “Did Lily say anything to you about this weekend?”

She shook her head.
 

“You and I are going to be going over to Logan and Lily’s Saturday afternoon.”

I waited for that to sink in. “Okay.”

Running my hands up and down her arms and back, I was hoping to detect any adverse reaction she might have to my next bit of information. “You know Logan and Lily have a Dominant and submissive relationship.” She nodded. “I’ve asked them to perform a scene for us.”

She was quiet. When she met my gaze, I could tell she was confused as to my meaning. “I don’t understand.”

“Brianna, you and I have talked about you being my submissive, correct?”

“Yes.” The muscles under my hands tensed as her anxiety increased. I tried my best to comfort her without changing our position or breaking eye contact.

“I know the idea still scares you, sweetheart, and I want you to see a couple you know and trust engaging in a scene.” Wanting to reassure her, I continued. “All we’re going to do is observe. You’ll be with me the entire time. I want you to watch, and if you have questions before or after, you may ask them to any of us, all right? I want you to be comfortable with this, Brianna. With us.”

Her lower lip began to tremble before she pressed them both tightly together. Running my thumb over her lips, she gradually relaxed them.
 

“Talk to me.”

“Is . . .”

“Go on, love. Tell me what’s bothering you.”

“Is he going to hurt Lily?”

“No. I promise you, he won’t hurt Lily. It’s what I’ve explained to you before. Everything they do together, everything he does to her, she has consented to. You remember your safewords?”

She nodded.

“Lily has safewords, too. If something is wrong, she can use them just as you can. And if something happens Saturday that bothers you, I’ll be right there.”

Brianna wasn’t completely comfortable, so I waited for her to gather her thoughts. “Does Lily know?”

“Yes, Lily knows.”

She considered this new information for several minutes before I felt her tension ease.
 

“You and Lily are going to talk both before and after the scene. I want you to ask anything you want to, Brianna. Anything, do you understand?”

“Yes, Sir. I understand.”

“Good girl. Now why don’t you tell me about this newest book you’re reading? Is it as good as the last one?”

The rest of our evening was spent discussing her book and watching some television. There might have been some making out mixed in there, too . . . and some groping. I could try to pass it off as an attempt to get her mind off the serious things we’d talked about, but it would be a flat-out lie. Keeping my hands off Brianna was a near impossibility. Knowing she welcomed my attentions didn’t help quell my impulses either.
 

On Wednesday morning, I woke her up before the alarm. There was nothing better than feasting on her pussy first thing, except maybe following that up with making love to her.
 

Morning sex was new to me. Before Brianna, I’d never had sex before breakfast. Prior to college, I’d never spent the whole night with a woman. It was usually a quick—or not so quick—fuck in the back of a car or up against a wall or, if we were lucky, in a bed. None of the women had been looking for anything long-term. They wanted a young stud to take care of their needs before going on their way. At the time, that had worked for me.

Sarah was perhaps the closest I’d come to what Brianna and I had. We had been together over a year. During the week, we would hang out, go to clubs or parties. It was college, so there had been plenty of opportunities to blow off some steam after classes. The sexual part of our relationship had typically been confined to the weekends and our arrangement. On the two occasions we’d fallen asleep studying, there’d been nothing remotely romantic about waking up the next morning.

Once we’d agreed to start playing together, I’d rented an apartment on the other side of town. College could be a lot like high school, and the last thing either of us had wanted was for someone to see us playing and spread it across campus. Since money hadn’t been an issue, it had been easier to have a separate place to get away.
 

We would drive to the apartment on Friday nights and spend the evening eating pizza and doing homework. At the end of the night, she would go to her bedroom, and I to mine. From midnight until six o’clock on Sunday nights when we’d sit down to dinner, she would be my submissive.

I learned a lot about being a Dominant in that time. Sarah was a year older than me, and she’d been introduced to the lifestyle by her first boyfriend when she was sixteen. She knew what she wanted, what she liked, and she was a great teacher. In many ways, she’d taught me more than Daren had.
 

Brianna worked in the kitchen to make me breakfast while I sat at the table and watched her. No, none of my prior relationships came close to what I had with Brianna. I’d never loved any of my submissives before her. To be honest, I’d never wanted more. With Brianna, I wanted everything.

During breakfast, I couldn’t stop touching her. It almost became a game as to how many times I could make her blush or giggle.

When I couldn’t put it off any longer, I pulled her into my lap and gave her a long kiss good-bye. “Have fun with Lily today. Use the card I gave you to buy whatever you want, and I’ll see you tonight when you get home.”

Brianna

She would be here any minute.
 

The day had gone by too quickly. That might have been due to how nervous I was. I checked to make sure I had everything . . . again. My cell phone was in the pocket of my jeans, along with fifty dollars Stephan had insisted I take with me. He said you never knew when you’d need cash for something, and it was just safer that way.
 

For the first time, I was carrying one of the purses Lily bought me. There wasn’t much in it other than the credit card Stephan had given me and the driver’s license I hadn’t gotten around to using yet. I knew I’d have to drive sooner or later. There was nothing keeping me from using the car parked down in the parking garage but me. I was worried something would happen, even if it was a memory, and I’d panic. I didn’t want to cause an accident and risk hurting someone.
 

The panel by the door came alive, and I knew Lily had arrived. I stood, not sure what I should do. Normally Lily let herself inside on her own. Would she do that again?

My question was answered seconds later when she rang the doorbell. I rushed across the room to open the door.
 

“Hi.” Lily smiled. She was wearing jeans, a fitted blouse, and heels. It was the most casual I’d ever seen her.

“Hi, Lily.”

“Are you ready to go?”

I glanced behind me into the apartment. Everything was as it should be. There was no valid excuse for me not to leave with her. “Yes.”

“Grab your keys and let’s go. We have an appointment with Julie at four.”
 

By the time Lily parked her car alongside a large stone building, I was concentrating on taking each breath. Julie was Lily’s esthetician. We were going to get waxed before we went shopping. Lily said it would be easier that way, and Julie had blocked out her schedule for the rest of the day.
 

“Are you all right?”

I turned to see a worried Lily.

“I . . . I think so.”

She took my hand and squeezed. “It’ll be okay. I’ll go first. You can watch everything she does, okay?”

I nodded, but I was still at a five. Stephan said Lily had safewords. Would she know what it meant if I said
yellow
? Or
red
?

Lily got out of the car. She stood a few feet in front of her vehicle and waited, hand on her hip. “You coming?”
 

Taking a deep breath, I reached for the handle and opened the door.
 

The inside of the building wasn’t what I’d expected. I didn’t know what I’d expected, really, but this wasn’t it. There was a large desk in the center of the room. As we walked closer, I noticed there were two women sitting behind the high marble counters.
 

Lily stopped to talk to one of the women while I took in the rest of our surroundings. Music played overhead. It was soft and melodic. I realized it was meant to relax. Maybe that worked for most of their customers, but it wasn’t helping me. I was just as nervous as when we’d walked into the place.

“Julie’s ready for us.”

I swallowed and clutched my purse to my stomach. With every step, my uneasiness grew, and so did the nausea building in the pit of my abdomen.
I’m doing this for Stephan. I’m doing this for Stephan.

“Lily!” A petite woman with curly blond hair approached us.
 

“Hi, Julie. How’ve you been?”

Julie hugged Lily. “Oh, you know. Same old, same old. Although I did hear back from that guy I met at the gym. We’re going out on Friday.”

Hearing Julie talk to Lily settled my nerves a little. She didn’t
seem
dangerous.

Just when I started to breathe a little easier, however, her attention refocused on me. “And this must be Brianna.”
 

She held out her hand. I looked at it for longer than I should have before taking it. “Hi.”

“Lily tells me this is your first time getting waxed.”

I looked at Lily, eyes wide. What should I say?

When neither of us responded, Julie cocked her head to the side and wrinkled her brow. “Did I misunderstand?”