Hunting Truth (Orion the Hunter Part Four) Read online

  We decided to go out for breakfast, but by the time we were ready to leave, it was more like an early lunch. I opened the door to see Scott’s van pulling onto the driveway. And there was someone in the passenger seat. I squealed and ran, meeting Angel as she flew out of the van to me. We hugged and hugged. And cried and cried. There were no words. Then Chad flew out of the door and hugged both of us.

  I managed to extricate myself, figuring that they needed a lone hug. I stood watching them in disbelief as two strong arms slid around me from behind and I felt myself being pulled into Scott’s solid chest. I rested my head on his shoulder and felt my tension drain from me as if his warm body was absorbing it. I relaxed into him and it felt so good. He kissed the top of my head and asked if I was okay. Okay? Yes, thanks to him, I was very much okay! I turned in his arms and hugged him for all I was worth. I thanked him over and over for bringing Angel back. He just laughed and said it was worth it to see me smile.

  We all went out for lunch and agreed to wait until we’d eaten to talk about the whole photograph issue. Despite a slight underlying tension that I knew wouldn’t be resolved until we’d talked things through, lunch was friendly and fun. It was almost as if nothing had happened. Every so often my thoughts would turn to Lucas but I pushed them aside, determined not to spoil my good mood. I think Scott must’ve filled Angel in because she didn’t mention him either.

  After the meal Scott topped up our wineglasses and sat forward in his seat. This was clearly a signal for our ‘clear the air’ talk. All eyes turned to Angel, who immediately paled. Her pale-blue eyes looked even larger than they usually did. My heart constricted—her discomfort was obvious. I reached across the table and took her hand. She looked at me in surprise but her face quickly showed her gratitude as she smiled. I returned her smile and this encouraged her to begin.

  “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. Especially to you two,” she said, in a tiny voice, meaning me and Chad. “I shouldn’t have left like that. My heart felt that it had been cut in two and I just couldn’t stand to be near you. My heart kept telling me that it couldn’t be true—that you wouldn’t do that to me. Either of you. But then my head would shout that there was photographic evidence. I didn’t even know you could fake photographs like that—well you know me and technology . . .”

  I smiled at her feeble joke and squeezed her hand to encourage her to continue. Chad slid his arm around her, obviously liking what he heard.

  “I know it was fake now but I should’ve stayed and sorted it out, no matter how much my heart was hurting. No matter that there was proof. I should have . . . oh, I don’t know. It’s been hell and that’s fine—I deserve that. I just hope you can find it in your hearts to forgive me. I’ve been so foolish.”

  By the end, her voice was breaking and she dissolved in tears. Chad immediately scooped her up into his arms.

  Scott quickly tried to reassure her. “To be fair, Angel, that email proves that it was a very professional editing job. A very convincing fake. I obviously haven’t seen it and nor would I want to. But I have to say that if I had, the possibility that someone had professionally edited it to show a complete lie wouldn’t have entered my head. I too would have taken it at face value. I mean, come on, who does that and why? What’s the point? The only thing I can think of is that someone wanted to hurt you and they succeeded. I can’t imagine who would want to do such a thing. You wouldn’t hurt a fly—there’s no sensible motivation.”

  It was my turn to feel small. “Actually, I don’t think Angel was the intended target. I think it was someone trying to get to Lucas through me. Chad and Angel, I think you got caught up in something that was nothing to do with you. As did I, or so it seems.”

  I could feel their eyes on me and I wished the ground would open up and swallow me whole. I saw Scott’s eyes narrow and I could almost hear the penny drop.

  “Of course. The two people who stood to be hurt most by the fake photograph were Angel and Lucas. If Lucas was the intended target, and I think you’re correct in that, it backfired badly. He didn’t accept the image. He accepted your word that it wasn’t real. Unfortunately, Angel didn’t.”

  This just made Angel burst into tears again and attempt to apologize in between sobs. Scott immediately reassured her that he didn’t mean anything by it. As her sobs subsided, she turned to me. “It says a lot that your boyfriend of five minutes believes you and yet I, who’s known you two for years, didn’t.”

  “Ah, but men are different in their approach to emotional matters. Lucas isn’t an emotional creature like you,” said Chad kindly.

  Angel smiled. “Nice try, but Scott just said that he’d have believed it too.”

  “Yeah, but he thinks like a girl!” teased Chad and we all laughed. That seemed to clear the remaining tension and we agreed to move on and let the whole matter be forgotten. We chatted about the band and what Angel had been up to in Chicago at one of her parents’ properties.

  Suddenly, Angel asked, “Who would do that to Lucas and why?”

  I caught Scott’s eye and he raised an eyebrow, silently questioning whether I wanted to share everything about Lucas’ past. I decided that I should but asked them all to keep it a secret and made them promise not to let Lucas know that they knew. It wasn’t fair that the band should suffer unnecessarily. When I’d finished it was difficult to see whose eyes were largest, Angel’s or Chad’s. Angel’s were naturally large but poor Chad, who’d had Lucas up on a pedestal, looked distraught at the moral demise of his idol.

  Then I told them of my decision to relocate from the Orion Building and to renege on my contract for mini-Dakota. I didn’t have a written contract, but we’d agreed terms verbally which was just as good in my eyes. Then I told them what Daniel had said about Lucas. I could feel their eyes on me again. They began to look for connections. I tried to ignore the heavy ache in my chest every time Lucas’ name was mentioned and distanced myself from the conversation so that I was more a casual observer.

  In no time, they came to the conclusion that it was Lucas’ brother who’d faked the photograph to hurt Lucas. I’d reached the same conclusion at some point already. I couldn’t say for sure when, but it made sense. To visit me and share Lucas’ dark past under the pretense that it was for my safety, had just been a cover. I knew that much. He wanted to cause Lucas pain. I wondered why. Was it extreme sibling rivalry? Then I thought of the cruel look in his eye when he said that Lucas had killed their mother and then watched their father die from the resulting pain.

  This is about revenge! Then Daniel’s words echoed around my head. Something jarred in the back of my memory and I closed my eyes and tried to recall it. Lucas had mentioned revenge on several occasions. Nothing specific about the target or the reasoning. As I sat there, the pieces began to fall into place. I couldn’t be sure but I thought I’d got a general idea of what had happened.

  My head was pounding and suddenly just the noise from the others chattering away was too much. I stood and excused myself, explaining about my headache. Scott immediately stood and said he’d escort me home. Angel and Chad wanted to come too, but I assured them that I was fine and they should take the opportunity to catch up properly.

  We’d been in the restaurant for ages and the spring sunshine had lost its strength now that early evening was fast approaching. I wrapped my arms around myself and shivered. Immediately, Scott put his arm around me and pulled me into his side. I was glad of the warmth but it was nice to have the contact too. It had a soothing effect on my whirling mind. We didn’t speak on the walk back and I was grateful. Not just because of my headache but because I didn’t yet want to voice my theory.

  I went straight to bed but I lay there for a long time until my thoughts settled enough for sleep to be possible. I awoke in the early hours and found that my pillow was wet with tears. I didn’t know exactly why but I knew that it was connected with Lucas. If they weren’t for him personally, they were for the loss I felt because of mini-Dakota. I tried to go back
to sleep but my mind was far too active.

  Images of an unwashed, unkempt Lucas kept creeping into my mind. I pictured his handsome face covered in stubble, his usual just-fucked hairstyle flat against his scalp as he lurched drunkenly around his apartment, still wearing the same clothes he’d worn on Friday.

  Then another image flew into my mind, completely unbidden. Lucas naked in the shower. How I’d loved to watch him take a shower. He knew that I watched and had teased me about it. The thought made me smile before another image floated into my vision. Lucas in black jeans with the top button unfastened, barefoot and topless. His dominant expression and memories of that voice accompanied it. My nipples immediately peaked. I gasped as my hand moved between my legs of its own accord. I shot out of bed completely stunned, and marched off to the shower, where I turned the water to scorching hot to cleanse my sinful thoughts and stayed there until I could bear it no longer.

  I made a coffee and, when Scott woke up and needed to use his room to get ready for work, I lay on the sofa. Not long afterward, Angel emerged from Chad’s room. He too was getting ready for work. She immediately insisted that I move my things back into her apartment. She was keen to act like nothing had happened between us. She insisted that I work from home until I could find another office to lease. I hugged her, happy that I had my best friend back.

  After the boys had left for work I packed some of my belongings, and Angel and I got a cab back to our apartment. James was beside himself with delight to have us back. We were both thoroughly hugged before he remembered himself and stepped back shyly. We laughed and hugged him again. Walking back into the apartment was a little odd. I could still picture Lucas crumpled and broken as I turned and walked away from him. I shook my head to try to dislodge the memory. I needed to move on, not dwell on past mistakes.

  Angel seemed to know that I needed to be distracted and she managed to get us a last minute booking at a day spa. I laughed because there was no food in the apartment, half of my things were still at the boys’ place and I needed to find an office and get some more contracts lined up. But I was so glad to have Angel back in my life that spending girly time together seemed important too. It was a good day, right up until we were having pedicures and Angel’s cell rang. It was Chad. For me.

  I’d followed the spa’s suggestion and tuned my cell off to facilitate greater relaxation. Apparently, Daniel had been trying to contact me. When he couldn’t, he’d managed to track down Chad’s number. Chad rapidly told me that Lucas had realized I’d moved out of the Orion Building and had thrown what could only be described as a temper tantrum. He hadn’t figured out that Daniel had helped me by all accounts, and for that I was immensely grateful. He’d demanded that Daniel track me down and get updated plans for mini-Dakota. Daniel had panicked, not wanting to tell him that I wouldn’t be honoring the contract. For one thing, I’d told Daniel in secret—officially he wasn’t supposed to know. For another, Lucas was already in a temper and Daniel didn’t want to risk pushing him over the edge. I also wondered whether Daniel feared for his own safety.

  I agreed that I’d find anything I’d prepared and send it over to Daniel as soon as I could. Chad agreed to call Daniel back and inform him of this. We agreed that, if Lucas asked, Daniel had called my cell and I’d agreed to send over what I had and not mention that I wouldn’t be involved in the project any further until Lucas had calmed down. Chad said that he’d get Scott to drop the rest of my belongings off at my apartment as soon as he’d finished work.

  I looked at Angel and blew out a slow breath. She’d managed to get the gist of the conversation but I filled her in properly. I was tempted to ask for my hot stone massage to be repeated. All the tension I’d felt when I walked through the doors had returned with that phone call. Not for the first time, I wondered why I’d let Lucas Hunter, or Luke Milton to give him his birth name, be the one man to let into my life and into my heart. The one and only man I’d ever fallen in love with and he’d turned out to be a monster.

  By the time we got back from the day spa, Scott and Chad were waiting outside our apartment in Scott’s van. They had Chinese food too, bless them. They carried up my things and we all crashed in the living room with chopsticks and sake to share the spread they’d brought. Scott informed us that Travis and Ethan couldn’t join us because Travis had a girlfriend and was seeing her instead. Ethan was being forced to go along to keep her friend happy. We all laughed at the thought of Travis with a girlfriend. Angel said she must be brave or brainless to take on Travis and we all agreed that we couldn’t wait to meet her.

  Angel and Chad soon disappeared to her room leaving me and Scott alone. The squeals and moans that followed soon made sure we knew they were making up for lost time. Scott asked me whether I missed Lucas. I shrugged and said it wasn’t an issue, as I ignored the ache in my chest. He asked me what it had been like, having such an intense relationship—spending so much time together—albeit only for a short period of time. We began to have quite an open discussion. I think it might have been the wine that had flowed freely that made our tongues do the same.

  I plucked up the courage to ask Scott about his antics on the tour bus. This led to a discussion on kinky sex. I owned up to having engaged with my submissive self with Lucas. Scott’s face was a picture. “You? Miss Sassy Confidence? Submissive? Oh my God, I’ve heard it all now!”

  I stuck my tongue out and said I’d only been exploring, but then I confessed to wanting to know more.

  It turned out that Scott was a member of a BDSM club called Odyssey across the city. I was astounded and teased him about the saying that you have to watch the quiet ones because they’re the worst. He laughed and the next minute I’d accepted an invitation to accompany him to the club the following evening to satisfy my curiosity. I remembered Lucas’ reluctance to take me to one and his insistence that I only went with him. Oh well, he can’t expect to hold me to that now.

  *

  That night I had some very strange dreams about the goings on in a BDSM club. Lucas and Scott were there and I don’t know what happened. I couldn’t recall the events properly but I knew it wasn’t good. I felt anxious and unsettled when I woke.

  I showered then arranged for anything that I’d done for mini-Dakota to be couriered to Daniel. I spent the day trying to find decent office space and drawing a blank. I also had to amend my contact details on my website and all my professional listings. I had no open contracts so I decided to get ready early for my evening out with Scott.

  We’d agreed not to tell Angel or Chad where we were going. Just two friends going out together for the evening. I showered then realized I didn’t have a clue what to wear. I had no idea what anyone wore to those clubs. Yes, I knew the stereotypical image with all the bondage clothing, but I had no idea if that’s what people actually wore. And if they did, I had nothing like that. A quick phone call to Scott reassured me. He recommended wearing my usual black rock chick gear and said I’d blend in well. He also said that I’d need ID.

  By the time he called to pick me up, I was in such a state of nervous excitement that Angel was eyeing me suspiciously. Chad had arrived earlier and the two of them kept exchanging glances and smirking. I paced backwards and forwards, retouched my makeup, and drank a couple of glasses of wine. I tried to ignore them. But they knew something was going on. Scott and I never went out alone and I was never usually this nervous about a night out.

  I was so worried that they’d ask awkward questions that I shot out the door the second he arrived. He too was dressed all in black—a tight fitting tee shirt that emphasized his muscular torso and arms, black jeans and black combat boots. His dark blond hair looked lighter against all that black and his blue eyes were enhanced. Black was obviously his color, although he rarely wore it.

  As we drove across the other side of the city, I managed to get my nerves under control. Scott refused to answer any more of my questions, saying that I’d see soon enough. We drove down a road that looked pretty disus
ed and parked next to an office block. There were vertical blinds at all the windows, most of them partially open, but it didn’t look as though many of the offices were in use. I reasoned that they wouldn’t be at that time in the evening. There were no other buildings nearby, although there was a large car park that was surprisingly busy and surrounded by grassy fields.

  I saw Scott smirking at my obvious confusion and vowed not to ask the question he was waiting for. Instead, I smiled and told him to lead on. He chuckled as he held his arm out for me to slide mine through, then we advanced toward the office block. We entered a reception area that had a huge oak desk but looked deserted, and I saw two security cameras mounted in the corners of the room. Scott walked up to a door and looked up at the camera above. He then waved a key card over a pad mounted discreetly next to the door. A green light flashed, a beep sounded, and the door clicked open.

  We walked through into another bright reception area but this one was manned by a stunningly beautiful raven-haired woman wearing a black corset and black leather pants. Scott was greeted warmly as he signed in. He asked for my ID and passed it over to the woman behind the desk; she nodded and he asked me to sign in. My hand was shaking so much that my signature didn’t really resemble my real one at all. Scott passed me my ID back, I put it in my purse and then he held out his hand.

  As we left the reception area, I looked into another room that led off it. The whole far wall was a bank of CCTV screens and security guards sat monitoring them. I don’t know whether it was the thought of being observed or whether it was the knowledge that such security was needed, but my mouth was suddenly very dry.