“Go on,” he prompted.
“I never intended to stay. I was always going to leave, you know. You were right about it being unsustainable to be involved with three men—brothers, for god’s sake. I guess I just felt like I’d lived under someone else’s terms my entire life. For once, I wanted to go out on mine. You know?”
“What did you leave behind, tiny tot?” Sebastian asked, leaning forward.
“A container with my future inside. Money, IDs, account numbers. I know you have your thoughts about Owen, Dr. Marcel, but I promise after I tell you everything, you’ll understand.”
I knew they had to know Owen was operating under an alias. Nik was pretty thorough and probably aware of what other ones he used, as well as the offshore accounts he had. I didn’t know if they’d found anything of mine.
“I need to disappear. I can pay for it, but I need that container. It will hopefully give me the information I need. Depending on what’s inside, I may need to find someone who could assist me with actually disappearing.”
Sebastian and Marcel exchanged an uneasy glance. “In order to do that, we would need to involve one of the guys to get the container. I thought you didn’t want them to know you’re here,” Sebastian stated.
I glanced up, surprising them with my next words. “Marcus would get it for me. He won’t tell.” My confidence in the single statement had Sebastian raising his eyebrow.
“You sure about that?” he asked, his voice laced with uncertainty.
“Positive. Text him,” I challenged, feeling a sense of boldness.
Sebastian took out his phone and sent him a message. Less than a minute later, he tilted his head to the side and said, “I’ll be damned, tiny tot. Consider it done.”
I gave him the details to pass along to Marcus and then swallowed hard. “When I say disappear, I mean, like, changing my physical appearance, disappear. Give up everything I’ve ever loved and who I am.”
“How about we take it one step at a time?” Marcel said, trying to calm me.
“I don’t have that much time. In fact, if you’re up for it, I’d like to begin tonight.” My eyes bored into his. He nodded to Sebastian, who stood to leave. “You can stay for this part too, Torturer. Since you’re at risk now as well. There’s other stuff I’ll only want to tell Marcel, but I’d like it if you stayed a bit longer.”
He immediately sat back down. I straightened, put my feet on the ground, and stood up. Moving over to the bar, I poured myself a shot and downed it. The warmth instantly spread through my chest, calming me. I poured another and turned my attention to the two men. Once more, I joined them, settling on the couch.
“I killed a man.” My body shook with the memory, and the drink in my glass sloshed around.
Marcel took a deep breath, but his gaze remained fixed on me. They waited in silence while I brought the dark amber liquid up for courage and took another sip.
“I’d do it again if I had to. I don’t know what the guys said about my disappearance, but I didn’t run away or leave on my own. I was taken. It wasn’t the first time, either. He found me. I don’t know how, but he did.” I looked at Marcel. There was no hiding the amount of fear I was experiencing as the words left my mouth.
“The guys think you ran away,” Sebastian said, offering me my first bit of information about them.
“Which makes sense because I did a horrible thing. I put Ivan in a really uncomfortable position. I won’t go into detail, but it was all me. You guys don’t keep secrets, so you may already know or have an idea.”
I was fishing, gauging how much I might have to share about that aspect of things. To my utter relief, Marcel’s next words comforted me, at least temporarily. I knew I’d have to tell him eventually, but I wasn’t sure I could bear it tonight.
“We actually don’t. We know he’s upset, but outside of that, he hasn’t shared with any of us.”
“The man you killed. Did he hurt you sexually?” Sebastian asked delicately.
I wondered if Marcel had shared my file with him. I knew he had the nurse make a copy, so it seemed logical. Opening up to both of them was almost cathartic. And as I shared the details with them, a gleam shone in Sebastian’s eyes.
“You remained calm and did what was necessary. The guys would be extremely proud of you. I know Bash and I are,” Marcel said evenly.
Nodding in acknowledgment, I said, “Sebastian, it’s probably best if you go now. I need to start at the beginning. Many things won’t make sense to you, and I don’t want you to have to hear it.” I took another sip of my drink.
“You got it, tiny tot. I’m so fucking glad you’re here,” he said, standing. He stopped, leaned down, and kissed me on the top of my head before closing the door behind him.
After fixing himself a drink, Marcel sat across from me.
“I know you have your assumptions about my life, and some of them are spot on. Others, not so much. So I’ll start at the beginning,” I said.
Marcel listened as I began telling him the story, starting with the audition. He had a carefully constructed mask of someone who was there to listen and not pass judgment. Somehow, being with him in person made talking so much easier.
