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He nods.
That’s what I thought. “It’s just weird that they’d have access to those videos unless it was Brandon. These are the ones he blackmailed me with. How could they have found something that old?”
But as both he and his brother have mentioned, Brandon doesn’t have the skills to pull off something of this magnitude.
“True. We’ll have to think that through.” Marius clears his throat. “I have a…preemptive solution to propose. I don’t like it. You’ll hate it. But it’d keep you safe.”
“Safe?” I don’t even think I remember what that feels like, if I ever knew.
He inclines his head. “I can protect you with everything I have. I can kill anyone that comes at you. But these videos will destroy your future and I can’t stop it—unless we find the stalker.”
And he’s been looking for them for weeks.
“Then how can I be safe?”
“The club,” he says, with a deep sigh. “The Heritage. I don’t think you realize just what we are. It was built as a place of business, primarily. Pleasure is part of the deal, yes, but our members include…very important people. If the board of California agrees to use resources on your protection, twenty-four seven, you’re pretty much guaranteed to get away unscathed. People like Morgan would have a full-time job finding that stalker for us. Other teams would monitor the internet with advanced facial recognition software. You’d have a security detail. I mean, you already have four bodyguards, but this would be different; the best would follow you at every step.”
I stare at him like he’s sprouted another head. Focusing on what I can comprehend, I say, “Wait, I have bodyguards?”
He nods. “They were asked to stay discreet, at a distance, but yes, since the beginning of this mess.”
I swat his arm. “No wonderIfelt watched! I was being watched.”
To be fair, my anxiety had told me I was being watched for a lot longer than four weeks.
“Your club could really do that?” I ask softly, not trusting myself to hope.
It’s just too good to be true. It sounds like a fairy tale. I stopped believing in those a long time ago.
“If the board votes on it, yes. They’ve done that and more before.” He winces. “But here’s the plain truth, Sarah. I asked my father yesterday, and his condition is…not good.”
I stare at him. “Wait a minute. Your father?”
“He’s part of the board. There are twelve members, with equal votes. You’d need seven for approval.”
“What’s the condition?” I say in a rush.
I can’t imagine a price that I wouldn’t be willing to pay to get this nightmare over with. But at the same time, I can’t imagine men with that kind of power wanting anything I own.
Oh, wait a second…
Never mind.
I look down at myself, naked under the sheet. This. They want this.
“They want to fuck me.”
And Marius isn’t against it, or he wouldn’t have brought it up.
“I’m sure they do,” he says. “But I vetoed that.”
I blink up at him, seeing him run his hand through his hair. “My father wants the board to initiate you into the Heritage, Sarah. Sex is part of it, but it’s more of a test. Proving that you’re okay letting down your pride and obeying. It sounds sexist, but let me assure you, men go through the same thing.”
Never mind sexist, it sounds like a gang thing. And I suppose that’s what their club is: a luxurious, high-class, exclusive gang including politicians and celebrities.
I’m nothing, and to prove I belong, I have to let them reduce me to nothing.
Growing up poor and in those awful foster homes, I’ve considered running away quite a few times; at each corner, there were people happy to offer me shelter, protection, food…all for a price. The same price those people want.
