Chapter Fourteen

Shelby

“Shelby? It’s Blake. I’m coming in.” Oh, god. He couldn’t come in and find me pantless and cleaning myself up.

“J-just a second, I’m in the bathroom.” I should have told him to go away, but I was too flustered by my panic to cover up.

After washing my hands, I cracked the door open to find the disheveled man pacing the floor. “Umm, Blake? Could you come back later? I—”

He whirled around, and when my eyes fell on the object in his hand, my throat constricted too hard to finish my sentence. My heart sank to my feet. I’d forgotten my pill bottle on the desk. The accusation sat in his eyes.

“I think it’s best you come out here, now, Shelby.” Blake stepped back from the door and deposited the bottle on my nightstand, the distinctive rattle drawing my eyes to it like a magnet.

I flicked a glance back to Blake. He raised his brows and tipped his head, the challenge clear. If I wanted them, I had to come out and get ‘em. My hands shook, not only from nervousness, but having gone so long without pain management. The aches in my ribs were at the forefront, yet my whole body hurt. I was certain the constant tensing of my muscles deserved a lot of the blame, but I couldn’t relax, not after what I’d seen, or my reaction to it.

So I did the only thing I could—I left the scant safety of the bathroom and let my loose waves fall into a curtain. My hair was a flimsy shield, but it made me feel better. I went to the foot of the bed, as far from Blake as I could get, before I took a seat.

I hadn’t thought my legs would support me much longer, but I should have kept to my feet. Blake took the opportunity to kneel on the floor next to them. It put me a head above him, the perfect height to peer up at me so I couldn’t hide so easily.

“You wanna talk about what you saw in my office?” I refused to meet his eyes, letting mine unfocus while I lifted my hand, made a fist with my thumb sticking out, and turned it down. He slumped over with a groan. “Not that shit again, babe.”

I jerked at the endearment, my eyes focusing in a hurry to stare at him in surprise. I thought he’d be mad that I’d gone into his office without permission, nevermind that I’d spied on his…tryst, but he didn’t sound mad.

“Babe?” I asked, my voice rougher than usual thanks to the stress of the last couple of days.

He shrugged. “If you’re gonna use that damn thumb to communicate, I think I can call you what I’d like.”

“Why’d you do that to her?” I didn’t want to mess around, and the sooner he left, the sooner I could take my meds.

Blake blew out a breath, wariness heavy in gaze. “The simple answer is that it’s my job.”

Shock rendered me temporarily speechless. When it was clear he wasn’t going to expand on his answer, I asked the only thing that made sense. “Are you into some sort of BDSM thing? Is that why that guy said there were ‘rules’ the other night when Al-Alan told me t-to—” My throat felt too tight, like I’d strangle myself if I tried to force any more out. I clutched at my neck where it burned inside.

Blake switched right into doctor mode. “Hey, Shelby, are you alright? C’mere and let me look at it?” I didn’t really have to go anywhere, but I leaned forward and reluctantly let my hand drop. “Open your mouth and stick out your tongue,” he directed once he’d felt up both sides and the front of my neck. I did as he instructed so he could shine the flashlight from his phone into my mouth. “It’s not red, and I don’t feel any swelling.” He looked up, his eyes staring directly into mine. “It’s hurting when you try to talk or just when you’re upset?”

I nodded and shrugged for good measure. I was afraid to try to talk again so soon.

More gently than I’d have thought he would be about it, he asked, “Have you had any pain medication today?” I shook my head then looked down at my lap. He could keep any condemnation to himself; I didn’t need to see it. “Alright, let’s get you one, and I’ll get some ibuprofen in here too. We’ll need to get a scan done, maybe a scope—” He cut himself off when I quickly put both thumbs down. No way was I letting them knock me out and haul me around to do who knew what while I was out of it, and I didn’t see them letting me be awake for a field trip, medical or not.

He sighed but let it lie and got to his feet. After he got a bottle of water from the mini fridge and cracked it open for me, he retrieved a pill from the bottle and held both out for me to take. As soon as I took it, he retreated to the desk chair, giving me space. Contrarily, the distance left me feeling cold inside.

“Give that a few minutes and see if it helps.” I nodded, and he continued on where I’d left off. “Alan had no right to pressure you into anything, and he’s lucky it was Gavin that caught him. As it stands, I won’t be patching him up more than necessary after the cousins get ahold of him.” He shook his head with a grimace.

I didn’t even want to know what prompted it because it certainly couldn’t be anything good. I just hoped the boys didn’t get themselves thrown in jail, not that I was sure the law would be an issue with whatever they had going on.

Lifting my hand, I spun my finger to get him to get on with it. I was hungry, and with the pill kicking in, my body was relaxed enough that I was sort of planning for a nap soon.

Blake chuckled but did as I’d asked. “Anyway, it’s not BDSM, Shelby. Nothing so structured. It is my job, though. I’m in charge of keeping the residents healthy and our clients and employees protected as best we can. It didn’t start out with more than the routine basics, but with one of the job requirements being special requests , helping out to avoid injuries turned into a different kind of routine…” Blake trailed off at my wide-eyed stare. I must have made a noise, but I hadn’t heard it. I didn’t hesitate to open my mouth, glad I was able to speak, albeit with a worse hoarseness than usual.

“What the heck are you talking about, Blake? What clients ? How—How do you go from regular exams to having sex with your clients?” I was so lost. Obviously, he thought I was more aware of things than I really was.

He stood from the chair to pace over near me. “I don’t think you want to know all this. I don’t want you to know or to tell you. You’ll look at me like I’m a monster, Shelby, and I don’t want that.”

“You’re being clear as mud, Blake. You’re also being selfish.” My anger made me harsh, but it also protected me from melting down. The only thing I could figure was I had to be in some sort of shock to have not freaked out more than I had. Or maybe the meds were helping too. Either way, I was highly unprepared for this situation.

“Shelby, you really don't understand,” Blake said—no, warned . He spun away from me as if he couldn't bear to face me, raking a hand through his already disarrayed dark-brown locks.

“Then explain it to me. Why does everyone have to hide everything from me? I'm a prisoner and have been for longer than I've known. So just tell me already, Blake. What is it I don't understand?”

I made my demand, but I didn't expect him to blurt it out like he did.

“I like it to hurt before I fuck a woman.” I felt the blood drain from my face, and he turned back to me just in time to catch it. Alarm rounded his eyes as he stepped toward me, hand outstretched. He was obviously following my thoughts when I quailed away from him. “Not like that. I don't beat them or anything, and it's one-hundred-percent consensual.”

“I shouldn't have asked,” I interrupted, scooting away, my hand blindly reaching behind me for the other edge of the bed. I wasn’t about to get up with him within arm’s reach, but I was definitely heading for the door and Gavin.

“Shelby, please. Let me explain before you run off. I'm not a danger to you. I just have…preferences.” I snorted even though it hurt. I'd heard that excuse before. I got to my feet and inched toward the exit.

“Yeah, that's what my husband said too, before, you know, he drugged, raped, and beat me. Before he passed me around to Milo and his whores. Before he made me his whore!” I shook my head bitterly, not wanting to hear anything from him, but he caged me in against the door as soon as I reached it. My lungs strained to get enough air in. The rage that had risen with my tirade was warring with the panic from being pinned in place, the combination making it nearly impossible to breathe.

Low enough to be a whisper, Blake growled next to my ear, “I'm not him. I have a stretching fetish. I like to use whatever suits my fancy and make ass and pussy alike red and sore before I fuck one or both. Don't compare me to my piece of shit brother, ever.” He pushed off the door, my shock leaving me stock still.

My mind could only latch on to one thing. “Your brother? Milo was your? No. You look nothing alike.” Except his dick. I shook my head again, trying to dispel the memories that wanted to drag me down.

“Half,” he said, backing away to give me space as I slowly melted down. “We shared a father and not much else. He was sick, Shelby. In the head, to be clear.”

“So, what, you get off on knowing he hurt me?” A fine tremble started up in my hands and moved through my body until I feared I'd shake apart.

“No! Well, yes, but not you being hurt. That's too simple of an explanation. I knew you wouldn't understand.” Blake groaned, scrubbing a hand over his face as if that would erase what he'd admitted.

“What is there to understand? You-You have women come into your office to do…that.” I couldn't say it, so I waved my arm in the direction of his secret exam room, or at least the direction I thought it was in. My head wasn’t straight enough to make heads or tails of anything, let alone the cardinal points. A shudder interrupted my trembling—if I never heard mention of a secret hidden room again, it would be too soon.

Affronted, Blake narrowed his eyes at me. “We run a business . Those women are very willing and ask for it, Shelby.”

“Oh, now they're asking for it?” My voice raised with incredulity, the rasp making it ugly. Unbelievable . I’d trusted him, at least to a point.

“Not like that! You're determined to make me the villain here when I’m not . I'm a licensed physician. I make sure the girls, and anyone else who requires it, are healthy and clean. Some like to prep for a party, and some just like it like I do. Either way, it's mutual .”

My eyes widened at the implication of what he'd said. Is this place a brothel?

“Is this all some joke to you people? How can you say I'm safe with you, any of you, when you're all a part of the same… I don't even know what to call it. Organization?” I couldn't say anything like I was really thinking. It was too close to what I'd been. Another thought froze me in place, and I swore my stomach fell out through my feet. Was I sent here to be a whore again?

“We are, and we aren't,” he said, staring at his feet and missing my silent freakout. He went on with a sigh, deflating before my eyes until he looked just plain sad and tired. “That's another reason I said you don't understand. I suppose I've spilled this much, so I may as well deserve what happens when you run out of here. At least you'll have a chance.”

I was wary, but a sense of surreality had given me a measure of calmness. If I'd been thinking straight, I'd probably have called it disassociation, or compartmentalization, or some other technical shit.

“What are you talking about? You act like you're gonna get in trouble for telling me how this all works when you're, uh, doing that , with women in your office and recording it for, what?” I still couldn't believe he recorded his deviancy.

“Shelby, that's exactly what will happen, but it will be a little more than the ‘trouble’ you think it is. What did you think the Hamilton family does for money?” he asked, genuine curiosity in his voice and anguish still on his face.

“They invest and do something with shipping. Imports and exports? I don't know. That's just what I remember.” The back of my neck prickled with uncertainty. I didn't actually know what Dirk had done, just what he'd mentioned and then ranted about Carter. Carter, who ran this place… I swallowed hard while I waited for Blake to decide if he was going to tell me after all. He'd paused so long I wasn't sure he would, and I had a feeling that after he did, there was no going back to ignorance.

He pinched the bridge of his nose before looking up at me through long dark lashes. “That's the very basics of what they do. The Hamiltons are old money, and so were the Rittenhouses until old man Hamilton had them wiped out. He took Carter for his protégé, pissing off his eldest at the same time. My father worked for the Hamiltons. My brother was assigned to Dirk, and I was planted here. I have my mother's last name, but it wasn't much of a secret as to who I was, a spy meant to keep tabs on what was left of the Rittenhouse empire.”

“I don't understand. How do I fit into all of this? I'm just a nobody from a little bitty backwater town.”

“I can't tell you that, Shelby. I would if I could, but if what I just told you doesn't seal my death warrant, you'd surely still want to know more that I don’t have answers for. Besides, if they caught wind you knew what you shouldn't, they'd find out exactly who told you.”

Scared outta my mind yet needing to know, I dared to ask, “Am I here to be a prostitute?”

Blake's head snapped up, horror plain on his face. “Baby, no,” he rasped as he reached out to catch the first tear that trickled down my cheek.

I ignored the endearment that time, automatically assuming it was a generic placeholder for my name, a default men fell back on if they couldn't remember or didn't want to get caught. He'd only decided not to fuck that woman on some whim. As displaced jealousy reared up in me, so did disgust. He was touching me with the same hand he'd used on her. No matter that he'd used a glove and certainly washed them since then, I felt dirty by association and guilty for it at the same time. I couldn't help the projection or overlap in my mind between what I'd had to do and what the women and Blake engaged in willingly.

“Then why am I here, and what do you all want with me?”

“This was, is , the safest place for you right now. You’ll have to go to Gavin for the rest, but I can tell you that you're not here to be one of the escorts, and that's just part of what's done here. We're not operating a whorehouse if that's what you're worried about.”

I paled when another realization hit.

“Sasha and Marigold… You . They . Did you do that? Were they from here?”

Blake's jaw tightened, but he needn't have opened his mouth. The chagrin in his eyes tattled on him. I would have backed away, but I was already out of room what with being up against the door. I had to escape. Immediately.