by Vivian Ward
I gasped loudly as I tried to process the site of Kaiden Melrose having sex with a woman in what appeared to be some kind of shady nightclub. The face of the woman was not visible in any of the photos, but his was clear as day. The pictures themselves appeared to be taken from a bit of a distance but with a magnificent zoom. Out of sheer curiosity, I flipped through the photos. Near the end of the stack, one of the last images showed the name of the club in the background. It was a place called The Phoenix.
A combination of shame, guilt, embarrassment and lust coursed through my body faster than my mind could even process everything that I was feeling. I’m not gonna lie, the pictures were hot and had me a bit flushed. I was also scared because I was sure these photos were not supposed to be seen. I was trying to compose myself when I looked up and saw Kaiden standing in the doorway. His face turned pale when he saw I was holding the photos in my hand. I didn’t know what to do. Dropping the photos on the desk, I turned and ran out of the room, darting right past him. Kaiden yelled out for me to wait, but I couldn’t. I had to get out of there. I ran down the stairs, out the door and out onto the busy streets of Manhattan.
CHAPTER TWO
Kaiden
How stupid can I be? Why in the hell wasn’t I more careful? I didn’t become the rich and powerful man that I am by being careless. So why did I leave that envelope on my desk where anyone would be able to walk in and find it? Someone apparently didn’t give the new girl the memo that under no circumstances is anyone allowed to touch my desk. Her job is to keep my office clean, not go through my shit. Either that or she was told and didn’t listen, or maybe she’s just nosey. I made a mental note to ask Bailey about the instructions she had given her. No matter what, I was no longer the only person in the house who knew about the pictures. There was no way to sugarcoat what was in them and I could be in some very serious trouble if she decided to flap her jaws to anyone, especially the tabloids.
Of course, it had to be the new girl that found them. I’ve got all those employees who have been loyal to me for years and the new girl is the one to come across them. I began to regret the fact that I was such a dick to her when I initially met her—the only interaction I’d ever had with the girl before she found my dirty laundry inside that envelope. The stunt with my coat this morning could cost me my reputation, my business and everything I’ve worked so hard to build if she was holding any resentment towards me. With the morning I’d had before I came home from my business meeting at the hotel conference room, my mind went straight to business and I didn’t have time to play nice boss. I needed to get busy in my work but unfortunately throughout the day, the new girl kept popping into my head. In fact, she’s the only reason I had left my office once I came back home. I couldn’t get her out of my mind and took a break to collect my thoughts. If I would’ve stayed in my office, I could’ve prevented her from touching that envelope.
I had to ask Bailey several times what the girls name was. For some reason, I couldn’t remember Natalia. I wanted to call her Natalie for some reason. Bailey even made a joke when I asked for the third time.
“Why do you care what her name is? You got a hot date with her?” she teased.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” I replied. “I simply like to know who the hired help is in my house.”
The truth was I was lying to Bailey. As hot as my new hired hand was, I wished I had a date with her and hoped Bailey couldn’t see right through it. I’ve never entertained the idea of dating any of the help, but this woman is drop dead beautiful. The ability to bend the truth when I need to is one of my strong suits. Anyone with money and good business sense has to have that ability. Without it, you’d get crushed in the enterprise world. You’ll never meet an honest billionaire, at least not one who is completely honest in business. The truth was that I was taken aback by Natalia. There was a pure, natural beauty about her and I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about her all day. I had actually planned on talking to her when she came in to clean my office, but she’d gotten in there while I was gone.
The plan was to simply have a second chance at an introduction. I planned on reintroducing myself, a little more…intimately than I had earlier, and maybe a bit softer. In my mind, all I could think about was how sexy she was and how badly I wanted her. I was so tempted to make a move on her, but I had to feel her out first. I was sure she would be stand-offish after the way we had met. It didn’t matter anyway. I had a feeling that she wasn’t the type of girl that would want to be kept a secret. She would want the world to know that she was having a relationship with Kaiden Melrose. That’s one thing I could never allow to happen. It would be bad for my public image if the word got out that I was sleeping with my housekeeper. Not to mention my family would likely disown me. They’re so traditional and uptight. They’ve never escaped the backward thinking of the past. I would never hear the end of it from them if word got out that I was involved with a black woman.
Once I was able to wrap my mind around the seriousness of the situation at hand, I knew that I had to speak with Natalia. I left my office and went downstairs asking if anyone had seen her. Nobody had a clue where she was. Finally, I came across Lupita.
“Lupita, you’re friends with the new housekeeper, right?”
“Yes, Mr. Melrose. I told her to apply for the job here,” she nervously smiled.
“Do you happen to know where she is?”
“Not exactly. She ran out the front door a few minutes ago. She looked like she might be upset. Is everything okay sir?” her eyes darted from side to side as she kept a hushed tone.
“Yes Lupita, everything is fine. You can go back to work now.”
Lupita smiled and went back to her regular duties.
Everything was not fine. This was awful. Was she quitting over what she saw? Did it offend her somehow? Or was she going to try to get a big payday by selling the story to whoever would pay her the most for it? I had to talk to her to find out what her intentions were. I ran into Bailey’s office and got Natalia’s contact information. With her cell phone number in hand, I went into my office and closed the door. I couldn’t risk anyone else hearing me talk about the pictures. I dialed the number and the phone rang four times before an automated voice mail box picked up. I hesitated when I heard the beep, knowing that a recorded message could be particularly damning, but I figured I didn’t have anything else to lose. I just needed to stay calm and talk as nicely as I possibly could.
“Natalia, this is Kaiden Melrose. I’m sorry about the incident this afternoon. Please give me a call or come back to the house so we can discuss the matter privately.”
I hoped the message I left would be so vague that it wouldn’t be interesting enough to run in the press or on the supermarket tabloids if she decided to cross me and sell my private life to the highest bidder. As I hung up the phone, I threw myself back in my chair restlessly and rubbed my temples. This whole ordeal was giving me a terrible headache. Sitting down to reflect on the day’s happenings, a sinking feeling formed in the pit of my stomach. The whirlwind of events had only continued to spiral out of control since the early hours of dawn before I’d even woke up.
Earlier that morning, before any of this nonsense started, there was a knock on my front door. I was still asleep and found it odd that someone would be visiting at that hour. Since the housekeepers were not yet in for the day, I got up and answered the door myself. A middle-aged woman, with an envelope in her hand, stood proudly on my doorstep. At first, I was positive that I was being served court documents of some sort—perhaps I’d stepped on someone’s latest patent developing new software for my company or my favorite, another personal property injury. You’d be astounded at how many people can slip on your lawn when you have billions of dollars. People have tried to bring my business down any way they can and filing frivolous lawsuits is one game they love trying to play.
“Court papers?” I asked. “Who’s dragging me into court today?”
“I have no idea about th
at sir. I’m just a courier who was assigned to bring the envelope to you. Could you sign here please?” she held her clipboard out to me as she clicked her ballpoint pen. I thought it was odd that they still had people signing on paper when all the big delivery companies have you sign a handheld computer.
After signing, she handed me the envelope. I couldn’t help but notice that the only thing on it was my name, not even my address. There was no return address or indication of who had sent the envelope to me.
“Who sent this?”
“I don’t have that information, sir.”
“What do you mean you don’t have that information? You had to pick this envelope up from somewhere. Where did you pick it up from?”
“Sir, the envelope was left at the courier office with a sticky note on where to deliver it and a $50 bill. That’s all I know.”
I found that to be extremely odd but nodded and kept my lips grimaced before I told her how stupid she sounded. Bewildered at who would send me a mystery package, I closed the door and walked into the kitchen to make a pot of coffee. I had a bad feeling about the envelope and needed some caffeine before I even thought about dealing with it. I shook it a couple of times as the coffee percolated trying to get a feel for the contents. The thought of anthrax entered my head, but I seriously doubt that I would be the target of a terrorist plot. After I poured myself a cup of coffee and took a few sips, I slowly tore the envelope open, taking care not to rip any papers that might be inside.
No part of me was prepared for what I found when I looked in the package. I’d been going to a secret sex club for years and was assured everything was private and confidential. Almost nobody even knows that the club exists because the building is split into two areas. There’s a regular nightclub right above the underground secret sex club where people drink and party well into the night. Upstairs, where the regular nightclub is, anybody can go there. It’s meant for the average, typical Joe, but the secret sex club downstairs is filled with many powerful people. Whoever took those pictures of me were sending them to me as a message. I thumbed through them and was dumbfounded when trying to come up with who may have taken them. There are very strict no photography policies in the club to protect people like me. If they’d ever catch you with your camera out, security would snatch up your phone before you’d have a chance to use it—that’s how stringent they are. Could the photos be the result of an inside job? I doubt it. I’ve known the owners for years and they keep a pretty tight leash on the people who work for them.
Unfortunately, since the club basically doesn’t exist as far as the general public knows and privacy is such a priority, there is no surveillance video of any kind. That was supposed to be a safeguard for situations just like this, but now I couldn’t even look at a video to see who smuggled a camera in. I took the rest of the photos out of the envelope and started looking through them. I tried to get a look at who I was with, but I couldn’t make her out. If I knew when the photo had been taken, I’d have a better idea of who I slept with that night but there was no date or any other marks that could give me a clue.
This is going to drive me crazy! Who would want to send me these pictures? Who had such a serious vendetta against me that they would want to bring my personal life out into the public eye? I sifted through the photos one more time looking for something, anything. That’s when a small, folded sheet of paper slipped out of the stack. I opened it up hoping it would give me more info. Unfortunately, it was quite vague.
Dearest Kaiden,
Do I have your attention yet? Don’t think I’ve forgotten about you. You owe me asshole! I’ll have some demands soon. Don’t make me take these pictures to the press. I know they’ll pay me well for them. I’ll be in touch.
There was no signature on the note—not that I should be surprised—and I didn’t recognize the handwriting. Whoever would take secret pictures of someone in a sex club isn’t likely to out themselves very easily. I knew I couldn’t risk anyone seeing the photos so I took the envelope straight to my office and put them on my desk. To avoid any prying eyes, I put some random papers on top of it. That’s where I planned to leave the pictures until I could take them to the club to show the owners. They needed to know what was going on so they could keep an eye out. Maybe they had even seen something that looked suspicious that would lead me in the right direction.
I had to prepare for what was to come. What else could any of this be about except for money? The note said that I owed the person so I was waiting for the other shoe to drop. If they demanded money to keep the photos away from the public, I’d have no choice but to pay. The problem is trusting that the person would do the right thing and get rid of any incriminating evidence against me—extra photos, back-ups, negatives or whatever they might have. What would stop them from taking my money and publishing the pictures anyway? This person seems greedy and a double payday would be hard to resist.
My business is important to me and my public image is a huge part of who I am. I donate to a lot of charities and things for the community to keep my name out there in a positive light. To the public and the press, I’m a good guy. No one knows a damned thing about my dark side, the side of me that dominates the underground walls of the Phoenix. The side that I don’t want to get out.
Calling Natalia again, I painstakingly listened to the rings until her voice mail eventually picked up. I didn’t leave a follow-up message because I knew that I couldn’t make her listen to me if she didn’t want to. I’ve dealt with enough women and hard-heads to know as much. Instead, I sat down on my office chair with my head in my hand as I tried to decompress the situation. I closed my eyes and started to think. Letting my thoughts drifted from one thing to another, all of my secrets—and lies—began to swirl in my mind like a tornado funnel cloud. I could see that funnel cloud starting to touch the ground just before it was ready to take off, damning my social status and public image.
CHAPTER THREE
Natalia
I couldn’t stay in that house. Not with him and not after what I saw. I didn’t know much about the man I was working for other than the fact that he has a lot of money. If I had known that he was some kind of dirty sex pervert, I might have thought twice about accepting the position. What kind of things was this guy into that he would have sex in a public place? Obviously he had no qualms about doing it in front of an audience since he had photos of his encounter in his office. Maybe he liked to have mementos of the girls he’s banged. They must have been some kind of trophy to remember his conquest by, or maybe voyeurism got his rocks off.
The thought of him keeping souvenirs from sexual encounters made me wonder what other things were inside the house that I didn’t know about. What kind of stuff was this guy into? Did he have a drawer full of panties that women had left behind? Did he have a video library of him screwing every woman he’s ever brought home? I should have been asking myself some questions of my own. Why couldn’t I stop thinking about what I saw in the pictures? The encounter appeared to be very passionate and intense. I imagined myself in the position of the girl and the image inside my head was amazingly hot. Why was I thinking this way? I had just been disgusted by what I had found and then I wanted to take the woman’s place? I wasn’t any better than him. Maybe he wasn’t the only pervert in the house. After all, it was my panties that were soaking wet at the thought of his hard cock impaling me as I envisioned myself in those pictures.
I had to stop thinking that way. It’s natural to become aroused when you see sexual images. That’s human nature. There’s also something about seeing photos that were never meant for your eyes to see that makes it seem a little more…hot. Makes it seem more taboo. I started thinking about my job. I needed it badly. It paid much more than anything else in the area. Not that it mattered because I hadn’t been able to find suitable employment for months. Could I continue to work for a man like Kaiden Melrose knowing what he was into? At what point would I be compromising my own morals and beliefs by staying? Mayb
e it would be an isolated incident and nothing like that would ever happen again. But what if it did? Or what if I stayed and he tried to exploit me for knowing his dirty secret and held it over my head?
Needing time to think before I decided if I would go back to work or not, I began to take a walk. The background noise of the city helped soothe my thoughts and mellow me out enough so that I could start to think and clear my mind. Manhattan is never quiet, but the noise is so constant that it eventually all fades together and into the background. I had made it several blocks before my cell phone started vibrating in my pocket. Pulling the phone out, I could see that it was coming from Kaiden’s house since the number was stored in my phone from the interview. I figured it must have been Lupita or maybe even Bailey. I almost answered it, but I stopped myself. What would I even say or tell them as for the reason why I left? What if it wasn’t either of them? What if it was actually Kaiden? What would I say to him? More importantly, what would he say to me?
Not ready to deal with anyone from work, I let the phone ring until my voice mail picked up. I was surprised when my voice mail alert sounded off. Who does that anymore? Why not just text me if you have something to say? There is nothing I hate more than having to check messages in my voice mail box. Most of the time, the messages just sit there and only get cleared when I get tired of seeing the little envelope icon on my phone. I guess it annoyed me more than usual considering the mood I was in.