by Lexi Blake
Charlotte slapped her husband’s arm. “You have to give him something, Ian.”
Big Tag shrugged. “I told him it was an awesome prank. Baby, it’s not my fault I genuinely love pranks and they’re cool. He’s the one who leaves his goat right in the middle of the lawn with a big old sign that says ‘please get me.’”
Julian Lodge simply chuckled. “He should know you aren’t one to be embarrassed. Chase, that dog likely licks his own ass. Aren’t you supposed to be a germaphobe? Let’s go and get this started. I want to get to the fun part of the day. Ah, my surprise is here. This, Mr. Miles, is how you get Taggart’s goat to come out and play.”
A thudding sound came from above and then all eyes were on the helicopter descending in the middle of the park.
He looked at Tag and sure enough, his face was turning a nice shade of red. “I thought there was a storm in Colorado.”
Julian shrugged, an elegant motion. “Where there’s a will, there’s always a way. Gentlemen, meet our quarterback for this game. Hello, Trevor!”
A man hopped out of the chopper, slinging his bag over one broad shoulder.
“Is that who I think it is?” Jared couldn’t stop staring.
Big Tag practically seethed. “Trevor McNamara. He used to play in the pros and now he gets his balls kicked by cattle and he’s supposed to be in Colorado.”
The chopper took off again, having deposited its cargo. The former pro was dressed to play in sweats and a T-shirt. “Sorry I’m late.”
“I’m sorry you’re here,” Tag shot back.
“He’s sorry that his secret weapon isn’t as good as my secret weapon,” Julian said with a smooth smile. “Mr. Johns, it’s lovely to meet you. Please know you’re welcome at The Club anytime. Ian, see you on the field. Well, my men will. And Mistress Katherine. I would be careful of her if I was you.”
“Yeah, well Erin will take her out,” Tag promised.
“No, she won’t,” Theo yelled back. “Erin’s pregnant, too.”
“Damn it. Our sperm curses us every time.” Tag shook his head. “I still stand behind this shirt!”
McNamara strode up and held out a hand. “Hello. Julian told me you would be here. You’re the actor, right?”
How did he answer that question now? He was and he wasn’t. He was now, probably wasn’t in the future. “I’m Jared.”
“Trev,” he said, shaking his hand. “Good to meet you.” His eyes narrowed. “You should put on a shirt. You always find a way to take your shirt off. You need a shirt here. And keep those pants on, too. My wife’s a big fan. Not that she likes any other TV shows.”
He strode off.
Big Tag put a hand on his shoulder as the other guys started putting on their properly spelled shirts. “Excellent. His wife thinks you’re hot. He probably wants to kill you. That should throw off his accuracy. This can still work. You don’t have any darts on you, do you? Because if you wanted to throw a few Julian’s way, go for it.”
He strode off to get his team ready.
Jared was left with Bud and a shirt that didn’t quite fit.
The day was not looking up.
Thirty minutes later, Jared grinned as he neatly evaded one of the Dawson twins and landed firmly in the end zone.
The crowd around him cheered and he glanced over to see Sarah on her feet. She was the only woman in the crowd wearing heels and she somehow managed to walk across the thick grass without sinking into it. She stood out to him, so much more beautiful than the rest.
He was more certain than ever that she was the woman for him. He winked her way and was more than satisfied with the blush that came across her cheeks.
They’d gathered a crowd that went far beyond the members of each club. Apparently word had gotten out that former pro quarterback Trev McNamara was playing football in the park and the crowd had doubled.
“Doing good, Johns,” Alex McKay said, taking the football from him and passing it over to the other side. “We only need to score three more times and we might be able to claim moral victory. I told Ian we needed to appeal to more kinky pro athletes. Damn McNamara hasn’t lost a step.”
He hadn’t. Jared had found himself staring at how the man dropped out of the pocket, his arm moving back as though the football was a mere reflection of his will. That football went where McNamara wanted it to go.
“I think we’ll have to be happy just to have played today, man,” he admitted. But it was a beautiful day. The sky above him was a stunning blue and the weather was warm with a hint of crisp wind to cool things off.
This could be his life. His life with Sarah. Their kids could be the ones running around with a big dog at their sides, playing like they didn’t have a care in the world. It would be safe to have a family here because his children would never be alone. Even if something happened to him and Sarah, his brother and Kori would make sure they had good lives, people who loved and supported them.
He could have this.
“You kill any women lately, Johns?”
He stopped at the shouted question. The words were ugly, insidious, and they stripped away the brilliant light of the day and sent him looking for the shadows.
Big Tag was yelling something, but he couldn’t make the words out.
“You’re the one who should be in jail!”
He turned and caught sight of a man. He barely registered what the man looked like. It didn’t matter. He was one of the people who seemed to follow him around. He wasn’t sure how he’d found him here. Probably someone had recognized him and posted his location online. It had been months since one of them challenged him in person. They usually preferred to make their accusations online, but every now and then one would come out of the shadows and confront him, and it got nasty.
His first instinct was to get in the man’s face. He didn’t have the right to come here. This was his private life. The need to show the fucker just how he killed a person was right there bubbling under the surface. It was different when he was confronted by someone who’d known one of the women who died. He would take that. He would try to talk to those people, to let them know he heard their pain.
This was a troll, someone who’d decided he was the enemy, and trolls needed enemies. Trolls needed something to torment, to punch and kick and take out their anger on.
“Hey, you okay?” Alex asked.
“Do you know you’re playing with a killer? He raped and tortured women,” the man yelled.
He looked around and his friends were starting to realize something was wrong. Sarah had her hands over her eyes, trying to get a look at what was going on. The kids. God, the kids would hear this crap and be afraid. Afraid of him. Afraid of words they shouldn’t have to know yet.
He'd brought this here.
“You got something to say?” Alex stepped up.
If he let this continue, it would end in a fight he couldn’t win. It would ruin the whole day.
“I’m going to go. It’ll solve the problem,” he said, stepping away.
“Or we can escort that fucker out of here,” Alex promised.
And then the cops would come out. There would be explanations and reporters. They would want to talk to these very private people. “Please don’t make this worse than it has to be.”
“Jared, no one wants you to leave,” Alex said.
The others were coming up behind him. He had very few moments to save any of the afternoon. “I got this. I don’t want the cops and the press out here.”
“I assure you the cops won’t be here for you,” Alex replied.
He shook his head. “I want to go.”
He strode right past the asshole, knowing he would follow. He could lead the guy away from the happy family function.
“Where you going, Johns? You got another girl to kill?” The man did exactly what he thought he would. He followed Jared out to the parking lot and to the place where Kai had parked his Jeep.
He wasn’t even sure where he would go. He’d come with
Kai. His brother had the keys to the car. He could probably outrun the fucker, but where would he go?
“Back the fuck off my brother or I swear I won’t care who the hell you are, I’ll bury you,” a deep voice said.
He turned and his brother was there.
The troll stopped, sneering Kai’s way. “Hell of a family you have.”
Kai’s face had gone cold. “You better believe it, and some of them are figuring out exactly who you are. You might expect a visit and very soon.”
“That sounds like a threat,” the troll replied.
“It’s a promise. I’ll know your name and where you live by the end of the day. Expect a restraining order and a visit from the police,” Kai said. “If you don’t leave my brother alone after that, you can expect a visit from me. Do I make myself clear?”
The man backed away. “Man’s got a right to his opinion.”
“And I’ve got a right to shove your opinion up your ass.” Kai unlocked the Jeep. “Get in the car, Jared. I need a beer.”
His brother. In that moment he was ten again and standing behind his big brother, thinking Kai was the whole world and as long as he had Kai, he would be okay. He was older now, knew that Kai couldn’t fix everything, but god, it felt good to not be alone.
Jared got in the car.
And wondered if he had any right to drag Sarah into his life.
Chapter Seven
In which masks are put on…
Hours later Jared wasn’t sure he should even be in the club.
“I heard Big Tag has to clean the restrooms at The Club for a week,” JT was saying. “I don’t know that I would trust him to do that. Have they seen some of the pranks he pulls?”
Sanctum had lost the game. It wasn’t such a surprise since The Club had a former pro leading its team. And Sanctum had…well, if there was a dart throwing contest it would have been Lodge cleaning up. Big Tag should think about that next time.
Or a contest for who could attract the most trolls. He would win that one, too.
“Hey, you okay? I heard you had some asshole bugging you at the game. I was working, but my assistant got gooey about some pictures on the Internet. I saw one of them and it was you. I didn’t realize you were some big star. I’ll admit, I don’t watch a bunch of TV.”
He'd seen the pictures. Someone had taken cell phone pics of him and uploaded them to the Internet. The tabloids, always looking for new content, had run the photos and given away his location.
“I’m not a big star.” He was well aware that his relevancy now had to do with scandal and crime, not his acting. “I used to be on a TV show and then a friend of mine turned out to be a psycho. The media loved the story. ‘Hollywood star involved in killing spree’ was a great headline.”
“I thought we talked about this.” Kai sat down on the bench beside him. His brother had basically made the afternoon one long therapy session. “You are not at fault. That man had no right to hurl those accusations your way.”
“I still have to deal with the fact that a lot of people are going to and I’m dragging you into it.” It was the argument he’d made all day. He looked at JT. “I should have explained my past to you. I shouldn’t have offered you friendship without letting you know what it would cost. There are people out there who think I’m a killer.”
JT frowned. “I run an oil company. You think I don’t get my share of trolls? Hell, I’ve had feds up my ass making sure I dot every I, cross every T and save every turtle in the ocean since I was a kid. Living a blameless life in the age of social media doesn’t exist. Every single one of us is guilty in someone’s head.”
Put like that, it made sense. Kai had talked around and around about how people didn’t connect anymore and the anonymity of the Internet. He’d gone on about societal dysfunction. “Huh, I guess that sucks for you.”
JT nodded. “Sucks for you, too. Ain’t gonna stop living because of it.”
Jared felt his spirits lift. “No. That would be giving in.”
Kai stared at him for a moment. “Are you fucking kidding me? I just said that to you not an hour ago and you had no response.”
That wasn’t the way he remembered the conversation. “No, you said something about disaffected loners and the isolating cost of something. JT said it sucks and I shouldn’t give in. He’s right.”
Kai’s jaw tensed and he shook his head. “I’m so glad you’re pretty.”
Jared grinned. “See, I know you all think that’s an insult, but I’m okay with it. I’m very comfortable being attractive. You can be the smart one.” He felt better because it was good to remember that everyone had these problems and they somehow got through it, but he wasn’t sure he had the right to drag Sarah into them. “I still don’t know what to do about Sarah.”
“Sarah?” JT asked. “The pretty lady who wears the pinup dresses and runs around with Kori? I’m going to be honest. I wouldn’t hate for her to turn out to be Sweetie.”
Oh, hell no. “She’s not your sub. She’s mine.”
JT put his hands up, taking a short step back that made Jared wonder how aggressive he was being. “Hey, no problem. But I thought we didn’t know who our subs are. Isn’t that the whole point of this thing? We get matched up and see if it works after we go into it with no set expectations. You sound like you have a lot of expectations.”
He'd had a ton of them. “I expected to walk away with Sarah. Now I think I should tell her good-bye. She doesn’t need this shit in her life.”
“She’s stronger than you’re giving her credit for,” Kai argued. “Let her make the choice.”
“How did you know you would get Sarah?” JT asked.
That was the simplest question of all. He’d cheated. “Because Kai does the matching and he knows I love her. I’ve loved her for a long time and this is probably our last shot. Now that I’m about to go out there and see if she chooses me, I realize I’m not letting her choose me. I’m lying to her. I’m manipulating things and sneaking around to get her. I’m playing dirty.”
“Sometimes you have to,” JT said. “Look, man, if you love her, do what you have to do, but you started this for a reason. Why did you decide to go this route?”
“Because she wouldn’t talk to me.”
JT frowned. “So you decided to be a stalker. That’s generally frowned upon in this day and age.”
“He’s not a stalker.” Kai defended him for the second time that day. “Sarah agreed to be paired with a compatible Dom. Jared is absolutely who I would put her with. She’s a difficult placement. She needs a very indulgent Dom, one who takes the lifestyle seriously when they’re playing and not at all when they’re not. Jared is more than willing to let her take the lead in certain aspects of their lives. He also is capable of putting his foot down when she needs him to, and she is capable of doing the same for him. They would make an excellent married couple. I have no hesitations putting them together. That is exactly what Sarah signed up for. The only shady shit I’ve pulled is to let Jared know it’s her. I had to do that or he wouldn’t have participated.”
“I wouldn’t have.” There was no other woman he wanted to see, no relationship he wished to get a feel for. There was only her, and it had been that way for a long time. “She’s the only reason I’m in this club. I won’t say I haven’t played. I belong to a club in Malibu and I’ve done my duty. But there’s been nothing sexual. I haven’t so much as kissed a woman since I met Sarah.”
“Okay, I can understand that.” JT turned to face Kai. “What about me and Sweetie? Why did you pair us up? Because you think we’re a perfect couple?”
Kai went tense again. “I think you are very compatible right now.”
JT’s eyes narrowed. “Why?”
“Do you honestly want to know?” Kai asked the question like he knew what the answer should be.
JT gave it a moment’s thought. “Probably not, but I’m curious. Having heard you say that, my head will go a hundred different ways unless I know the tru
th, and a whole bunch of them will be bad.”
Kai nodded, obviously accepting the answer as a valid one. “She’s perfect because neither one of you is ready for a real relationship. She’s younger than you, new to the lifestyle. She needs some freedom to explore and you’ll give her that because you won’t get serious about her.”
JT stared at him. “How do you know that?”
“Because you’re not ready,” Kai replied. “There are things that have happened in your past that you haven’t let go of and until you do, you won’t be ready for anything real. You’ll try with this woman, but in a few days, you’ll realize it’s nothing but fun and games and when she wants to date around, you’ll be okay with it. That’s why I put you together.”
“Yeah, that’s fair.” JT was quiet for a moment. “You think Sweetie really won’t fall for me?”
“I could be wrong, but I don’t think she’s ready to fall for anyone. I think she wants to have fun. I think she wants to have sex and find some friends and get her life started. You’re a good bet because you won’t get possessive with her,” Kai pointed out. “If I put Sarah with anyone else, my caveman brother would lose his shit. But this is it. If she won’t come around, he’s going to let her go.”
The thought made him sick inside. “I have to give her the choice. I can’t let her pick me tonight if she doesn’t know what or who she’s picking.”
“Or you can put on your mask and allow this process to work the way it’s supposed to. Take a couple of days without the baggage between you. Let her find her way back to you,” Kai urged.
He glanced down at the mask he’d been given at the start of this journey. It was a deep purple, and she would only be able to see his eyes and his lips. She would wear a veil this evening, something light and frothy to cover her face while she danced for the “sultan” of her choice. According to the rules of the game, she would know what color the Dom she’d been paired with would be wearing. She would make her decision and they would spend the rest of the evening playing to their hearts’ content if she chose to move forward.