by Me, Tara Sue
I would have been content not to ever move again after I disposed of the condom, but of course, Bri had other ideas.
“What are you doing?” I asked as she wiggled out of my arms and made her way down my body.
“Payback,” she answered, before taking me in her mouth.
Chapter 17
Bri
The next few weeks were some of the best times in my life. Piers and I saw each other every day, and almost every night we spent in either his bed or mine. Seriously, how could life get any better? I had my best friend back along with awesome sex on the side.
We didn’t see Mia or Tenor very often because most of the time we worked out of the tiny conference room. In fact, we rarely saw anyone. I assumed that was because most Bachelor International employees didn’t know conference room B existed, and those who did tried to avoid it.
Granted, it wasn’t as if either of us was upset or offended to be left by ourselves. On the contrary, we rather enjoyed the solitude of the closet-like room. Not only was it isolated and unused, apart from the two of us, but the size of it didn’t allow for much room between us while we were inside. Of the two of us, Piers was much more interested than I was about exploring how far we could go before the chances of being caught in an embarrassing position grew too high for comfort.
Outside of all the alone time with Piers, the other reason the weeks were so enjoyable was the lack of communication from the Organization. After sending so many emails and texts I left unanswered, and after being unable to reach me by phone, everything suddenly stopped.
Obviously, I wasn’t naive enough to believe or even hope that just because the Organization stopped trying to contact me meant that I’d fallen off their radar. No. If I had to bet, they were probably holding discussions and debating the best way to reach me. I’d deal with it when it happened. Every second I was around Piers, the more and more it seemed impossible for him to have done any of the things I’d once thought him guilty of.
Unfortunately, I was making very little progress into why the Organization was interested in Piers in the first place. I’d pulled up as many online records as I could find, but none of them told me anything I didn’t already know. Orphaned at a young age, he lived on the streets and in and out of group homes until he was given a scholarship at the age of thirteen which allowed him to move to the United States. From that point on, he seemed to live an almost charmed life. After graduating at the top of his class at Stanford, he attended law school and worked to build up the success he now enjoyed.
Everything I read mentioned his pro bono work, though it was always information the author of the article received from the businesses he helped, and not the man himself. Piers always grew tightlipped when it came to his charitable works. I only found one interview in which he spoke about it at all. Early in his career, the first year he’d been able to provide a substantial amount of free legal service, he’d been quoted as saying something to the effect it was a great privilege to be able to give a boost to those who needed it because he would never forget those who gave him a chance when he direly needed one.
While doing all the research on Piers only made me more attracted to him, I couldn’t help but wonder why and how it had been so easy for the Organization to have me believe the exact opposite. Had I really disliked him so much a few months ago? Simply because I thought that he’d left me behind years and years ago?
Had I been so blind and naive I took what I was told as the gospel? More importantly, why had it never occurred to me to question any of it or even to fact check one little thing? How had the Organization thought to keep me from learning the truth?
But mostly, I could put unpleasant thoughts such as the Organization and its members out of my head. I thought it was harmless. Out of sight, out of mind thing. An I’ll-deal-with-it-later mindset. Looking back, it was one of the stupidest things I’d ever done.
About three weeks after the day we discovered we’d been lied to, Piers and I were returning to my apartment because we had plans to spend the weekend in New York City. Piers had hinted that he had tickets for a Broadway play, and I insisted I needed a certain pair of shoes from my closet. He looked at me as if I’d spoken in Latin.
“It’s like this,” I told him while I unlocked the door of my apartment. “Going to a Broadway play has been on my bucket list since I was old enough to know what Broadway was. And bucket list activities require a certain wardrobe, you know?”
Piers rolled his eyes. “I hadn’t heard of that requirement.”
“That’s because I just made it up.” I opened the door and motioned for him to enter first.
“What am I going to do with you?” he asked, reaching for me. I giggled and raised my head for a kiss.
“That’s a question I’ve been asking myself for the past month.”
Piers and I both spun around at the sound of the man’s voice coming from my living room. In a move I barely noticed, Piers shoved himself in front of me, while drawing a gun I hadn’t known he had from his jacket. Piers thought the man was a mere intruder, but I knew he was much more.
Adam Barnes, the head of the Organization, was sitting in my living room, totally unconcerned that he had a firearm pointed at him. I’d heard of the man. Everyone who had a part in the Organization had. And while we all knew who he was from pictures, I’d never known anyone who’d actually seen him. That he was in my living room was very, very bad.
“The show of force is noted but unnecessary, Mr. Worthington,” Barnes said.
“How do you know my name?” Piers asked.
“I’ll defer that question to the woman by your side.” Barnes said. “Hello, Brigitta. You’ve been very difficult to get in contact with over the past few weeks. As a result, you made me leave London in order to come to this dreadful city for the sole purpose to track you down. You know how much I hate to leave London.”
“Do you know this man?” Piers asked me, not taking his eyes from Barnes.
I opened my mouth, unsurprised when nothing came out.
“I expected more from you, Brigitta,” Barnes said. “Now, I suggest you pull yourself together long enough to tell Mr. Worthington he has about ten seconds to put the weapon down before things get messy.”
Barnes snapped his fingers, and almost instantly a red dot that had to be a sniper’s sight appeared on Piers’s chest.
Piers’s eyes grew wide in horror, and he dropped the gun he’d been holding. The red dot disappeared as soon as it had appeared.
“What the hell, Bri?” he asked, still watching where the dot had been.
“Yes, Bri,” Barnes said, clearly amused. “What the hell?”
My body had not stopped shaking since I’d realized who was in my apartment and what it meant. Worse, I was frozen in place. It was as if too many commands given at the same time had overloaded my system and rendered my body useless. Even as I stood there, trying to get some part, any part, of me to work, the commands fired themselves at me.
Run.
Walk.
Talk.
Shout.
Kick.
Scream.
But no, I stood there uselessly. One man staring at me in confusion. One watching me with a look of pure evil delight. How long we stayed like that, I wasn’t sure.
Barnes stood from where he’d been sitting on my couch. “I’m extremely disappointed, Brigitta. Not only with the way you botched up this job but also with the silent treatment you’ve displayed tonight. It goes without saying, but I’ll say it anyway in case my being here wasn’t clear enough, you’re fired. Consider yourself fortunate I have a soft spot for you, and for that reason only, you will not end up like Benjamin Douglas.”
“Wait. What?” Piers asked, no doubt surprised that the name that had been haunting him, evading him for months, dropped so casually from the lips of a stranger in my apartment.
But of course Barnes had no intention of either repeating what he’d said or answering questions. He walked past Piers
, giving him a slap on the shoulder as he would if talking with an old friend. “Very nice to finally meet you, Mr. Worthington. Perhaps the next time our paths cross, and they will, we can chat a bit more. As it stands now, I’m sure Bri will be more than able to answer any questions you have.”
Giving no hint of how he’d gotten inside my apartment, Barnes simply turned and walked out of the door we’d left unlocked when we entered moments ago.
“I can’t believe it,” I finally said, then immediately shut my mouth because those had to have been the dumbest words I’d ever spoken.
Judging by Piers’s expression, he shared the same belief, but another glance showed he was more than a little angry. In fact, though I knew he would never hurt me, I took a step back. He was angrier than I’d ever seen.
“Really, Bri?” he asked. “Tell me. What part do you find to be the most unbelievable? That a strange man made his way into your apartment while his buddy, the sniper, covered his back from somewhere outside? That he supposedly flew from London to Boston to fire you for some job you botched up? Or was it how he dropped Benjamin Douglas into the conversation, so by-your-leave he made it sound as if you personally knew the guy I’ve spent months searching for?”
They were all rhetorical questions, of course. He didn’t expect me to answer, so I kept quiet, but in my head I answered as loud as I could.
All of it, I screamed inside. All of it was unbelievable.
“Are you going to say anything useful?” he asked.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered, blinking back tears because I didn’t want to cry. I didn’t deserve to cry. Not about this.
Piers stood in front of me, arms crossed. “Tell me everything. Start from the beginning.”
Chapter 18
Bri
After dropping the bombshell that Piers had left for school alone, I’d assumed Mr. Newsome would slink back into his office and do whatever it was he did in there. But instead, he stood, unmoving, in front of me.
I couldn’t figure out why. “What?”
“I’m not sure how you conned your way into this one, but it seems young Worthington isn’t the only one who will leave us today.”
I didn’t give him the satisfaction of asking what again. There didn’t seem to be a need to do so. For whatever reason, now that he’d started, he was getting great joy in telling me everything.
“Somehow your file caught the attention of some wealthy people. They have a unique learning faculty they want you to attend. You have thirty minutes before they arrive to pick you up.”
I was completely caught off guard, and I already missed Piers so badly I ached. “What kind of learning faculty? Maybe I don’t want to go.”
Mr. Newsome growled and pinched my earlobe, hard. “It isn’t up to you. No one gives a rat’s ass what you want. Besides, they paid more to ensure you were ready to be picked up today.”
“You sold me? You can’t do that.”
He raised his hand up as if he was going to hit me, but stopped, pleased, when I cowered.
“I didn’t sell you, worthless. I’m making sure you’re ready on time for your new home.”
It sounded like the same thing until he continued, “I did, however, sell that pretty little blond piece of fluff who sleeps in the cot beside you. Her husband-to-be will pick her up tomorrow.”
Was he talking about Emma Joy? He couldn’t be. There was no way she could have a husband-to-be. Not at thirteen.
“And before you tell me I can’t do that, let me remind you, I already have.” He narrowed his eyes. “Go pack. I want you back here in ten minutes, ready to leave, and don’t talk to anyone. Disobey me, and I’ll take it out on your ass, understand?”
Knowing he wasn’t bluffing, I hurried back to my room, barely holding back the tears. I threw all my belongings into an old sack. Emma Joy was sitting on her cot, watching me with enormous eyes. I couldn’t even look at her. Once everything I owned was packed, I leaned over and whispered to her, “You need to run away before tomorrow. Trust me.”
Without looking back, I ran back down the stairs with four minutes to spare.
“Stand up straight,” Mr. Newsome said as a car pulled up the drive. “And don’t speak unless someone speaks to you first and asks a direct question.”
The Learning Academy wasn’t as bad as I feared. At least not to begin with. It was a small institution, very much like a boarding school, but we were all orphans. There were even times I would consider myself happy. But once I turned eighteen, all that changed.
In order to repay the years of room, board, and education I’d received at no charge, I was told they would require me to work for the Organization until it was determined that I had repaid my debt. Looking back, I couldn’t believe how naive I was. They had never given me anything that showed what my so-called debt was or how long it would take for me to work it off. The sad part being it never occurred to me to ask. In my mind, the Learning Academy staff, and therefore the Organization by relation, were nothing but kindhearted and benevolent people who took orphans in and gave them a chance to make something of themselves. I cringed when I thought about it later, but at the time I was proud to work for such a charitable company.
I was a docile employee, and they used it for all they could. Now, I knew they were grooming me, but at the time, I just considered it to be the normal way things worked. It wasn’t like I’d known anything else.
For their part, the Organization kept me clothed and fed and provided a place for me to stay. Eventually, I was deemed trained enough to work in the public sector. Though I held various positions over the years, all my jobs were ultimately controlled by the Organization.
One day, I started hearing Piers’s name being dropped. I recognized it immediately, but whenever I asked about him, they shut me down. Undeterred, I snuck into the main office one night to see if I could learn more. By the time I realized the room I was in was being filmed on camera, it was too late.
Once the Organization confronted me and I admitted to breaking in, which turned out to be a fruitless endeavor, I was very nearly interrogated about anything and everything I knew about Piers Worthington.
That was when the lies started and they tasked me with bringing him down.
When I finished telling him everything, I chanced a glance at Piers. All throughout my telling, I’d kept my eyes focused on my hands in my lap. I didn’t expect anything I said to ease Piers’s anger with me, but I’d be lying to say I hadn’t hoped it might thaw him a bit toward me.
One glance was all it took to see my words hadn’t thawed him a bit. If anything, his expression was more icy than when I’d started.
“You didn’t think I was going to feel bad for you after hearing everything, did you?” Without waiting for me to reply, he added, “I can’t believe all the years I spent wondering about you, worried and hoping you were doing well. It never occurred to me you were planning my demise.”
He shot me one last scathing look before turning and walking out my door.
Chapter 19
Piers
I’m not sure how long I walked around downtown Boston in a blind rage. Hell, I wasn’t even sure where I was going. I had no destination in mind. I just walked.
At first, it was the rage that I was most aware of. Anger that Bri had lied to me. Disgust at myself that I’d slept with her and thought I was falling in love with her. Bitterness that she’d never seen me as anything other than a job.
With each passing block, I was eventually able to get my emotions somewhat under control. I looked around to see if I knew where I was and recognized the neighborhood as one Mia had mentioned her and Tenor had thought about moving into. There was a small grocer at the corner of the street I was on. A few tables and chairs were set up along the sidewalk. Only one table was occupied.
I stepped inside, picked up a bottle of a locally brewed beer, and sat at one of the empty tables to enjoy it while I thought things through.
One, Mr. Newsome had lied to bo
th me and Bri.
Two, Bri was working for a company that had it in for me.
Three, Benjamin Douglas might have ties with the same company.
Four through two million, Bri had fucking lied to me. Even worse, she’d seduced me, played me.
Involuntarily, my mind went back to our first night. Had she been laughing at me behind my back the entire time?
I gnashed my teeth.
“Piers?”
I looked up, surprised to see Mia and Tenor walking toward me. I wasn’t in the mood to be around anyone, but as they approached me, I realized that the only threat to Bachelor International was me. That was why Bri and I had found nothing in all the old files. Either there was nothing useful in them to begin with, or else she’d been able to remove it.
“What are you doing on this side of town?” Mia asked, all happiness and smiles, as always, but oblivious to my dour expression. “Mind if we join you? That beer looks good. I’ll go get us one. Have a seat, Tenor. I’ll be right back.”
Tenor, however, had known me for a long time. After Mia had made it inside, he looked at me. “It’s obvious you’re having a shit day. If you don’t want any company, Mia and I will leave as soon she gets back.”
“It’s fine. You can stay and drink your beer,” I said, trying to decide if I should tell them about Bri to get it over and done with or if I should wait. While Mia was always cheerful, even Tenor had an air of joy surrounding him at the moment. I didn’t relish being a killjoy.
“If you’re sure.” He pulled out a chair and sat down. “I’ve known you since we were in third grade, and you usually prefer to deal with shit alone.”
I lifted an eyebrow. “Why do you always insist on saying that?”
“Saying what?”
“That we’ve known each other since the third grade. I didn’t make it to the States until I was thirteen.”