I thought for a moment. “But there is nothing wrong with adults liking sex.”
“They had really unusual living arrangements.”
Intuition tightened the muscles across my collar bones. I knew this information wasn’t going to make me feel better.
“What type of living arrangements?”
“The Baronets are into BDSM.”
“Pfft. That’s not a surprise.”
“They have live-in sex slaves.”
“What?”
“I didn’t know what was happening when I was younger but later, all those strangers coming to and from their house made sense.”
“Well, that explains two days ago,” I mumbled.
“What?”
“Never mind, please continue.”
“Fair enough. Anyway, when I was 18, I was in the front yard reading when Dan came in to see dad. The bastard propositioned me by inviting me to his house, telling me I’d love it. I was pretty naïve at 18, but I knew a creep when I saw one… no offense.”
“None taken.”
“Anyway, after that, I avoided the prick and his wife as much as I could and I kept my ears open.” Emma took another sip of her coffee then picked up her knife to play with it while talking. “Now, you’re not hearing this from me, okay?”
I nodded.
“Where I work, the walls are thin but I don’t listen in, it would be unethical.” (I purposely ignored the fact she was being unethical talking to me like this… I think she did, too.) “So one day, I heard the Baronets mentioned and I automatically turned in, given my hatred for Dan. My boss was chatting to his partner and saying a woman was trying to sue the Baronets for sexual misconduct and Peter, my boss, had been asked to be the woman’s defendant.”
“Naturally,” I said bitterly.
“He declined.”
“What? Why?”
“I honestly don’t know. Peter is ruthless and I’ve seen him take on a mining corporation, but he wanted nothing to do with this case. It was very suspicious.”
“And then what happened?”
“I didn’t hear anything more and I never heard about the case again. They’re scary enough that even Peter wanted nothing to do with the case. Given what the Baronets are like, they probably had some dirt on him.”
“I can attest to that, especially Candice. She’s well and truly in charge.”
“Candice?”
“Yeah, his wife.”
“Candice isn’t his wife.”
The color left my face and bile bubbled up my throat.
“What?” I coughed.
“Candice is a slave. His secretary, I think. His wife’s name is Freya.”
I was going to vomit and I swallowed heavily. My forehead started to burn and my stomach rolled.
“Is Freya tall and thin with black hair?”
“Yes.”
“Oh God. I’ll be right back.”
I barely made it to the toilet and my stomach heaved its contents through a throat burning with humiliation.
I’d been such a fool – a fucking fool. I’d been played from that very first phone call.
It took ten minutes to get back to Emma and she was nearly ready to head back to work.
“I’m sorry I took so long.”
“Are you okay?” I must have looked how I felt.
“I don’t know yet.”
“I have a few minutes left but I can go if you want.”
“No. No, please don’t.” I sat down opposite her and rubbed my tired forehead. Was this nightmare going to end? “I just don’t get it. Dan was so sweet and gentle while Candice was such a bully. How can she be a slave?”
“I don’t know much about their lifestyle but I can guess it was part of a role play.”
“So Dan was in charge that whole time.”
“Dan? I doubt it. Rumor has it that Dan is Freya’s sub, despite being married to her. Freya’s the one in charge.”
I could feel my stomach start to heave again. This was too much information to handle at once. Losing my house and learning about the sick players in this game. They’d taken all of me.
No… I’d given it all to them. It was my fault.
“Emma, ummm. Thanks, really. For the listening and for the information.”
“Of course, any time. I’m really sorry about your house.”
“Thanks, but it wasn’t your fault.”
“Don’t be too hard on yourself, okay. These people are psychotic.”
“I’m not sure about that. The way they played me, they’re nothing short of brilliant.”
Emma patted my hand. “Listen, I have to go, but here’s my number.” She scrawled some digits on a napkin. “Give me a call if you need to know anything else.”
“You’ve been so nice to me, thank you.” Tears hit my eyes again.
“Have you got somewhere to go?”
“My flat will be vacated on Monday. Until then, I’ll stay with a friend.”
“Okay. Take care.”
And she left.
CHAPTER 19
To get back to London, I had to drive through the little village closest to the manor. Out of habit, I put the indicator on to turn into the laneway as I had a hundred times before, stopping before I remembered the futility of that action.
For a moment, I stared intently down that road, trying to process everything, wondering what was going to happen and how I would recover from this.
The road gave me nothing, my thoughts gave me nothing. I was completely lost. Well and truly shafted.
I put my car into gear and drove back to the city, wondering if the story of the house and my punishment will end here.
THE END
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SHAFTED: an erotic thriller Page 9