by Lexi Blake
Jared thought about it for a moment. “Brad usually has a girlfriend in LA, but he cheats any time we’re on the road. And it’s not like the arrangement I have with Jess.”
“What is the arrangement with Jess?” How could he have forgotten about Jessica Hamilton? Jared’s super-couple other half? Somehow it was easy to forget her since Jared rarely mentioned the woman he spent much of his off time with. She was a stunning beauty. He’d seen her on the covers of magazines. What if she wanted to take her relationship with Jared past their arrangement? Would she kill to do it?
Jared sighed. “I’m telling you this because you’re my brother and I trust you, but don’t ever mention this to anyone else. Jess has some issues with her sexual identity that she would rather not explain to the press. I like women I would rather not expose to the press. We came up with the idea of helping each other a couple of years back and it’s worked quite well. Every now and then I’ll get caught talking to some woman, but Jess always goes out and explains that she loves and trusts me and it dies down.”
That was a lot for a woman of her station to take on. But there was also the issue of timing. From what Kai understood, Jessica hadn’t known Jared when the killings began. Unless she was obsessed with him. God knew plenty of teenaged girls had been. They’d shown up at the house at all hours of the day trying to get his attention. “What is the identity issue she’s dealing with? Is she a lesbian, because that’s quite accepted in Hollywood today. Given that she tends to star in intellectual films, I would be surprised if she would lose work over that.”
“She’s asexual.”
“Ah,” Kai said, understanding the issue. There was a small amount of the populace that simply didn’t have any kind of a sex drive nor did they find themselves sexually attracted to either gender. It was oft discussed as to whether this was nature or nurture, so to speak, but admitting she was so far out of the status quo likely would bring her unwanted attention. “I understand. And you’re sure she’s not in love with you?”
Asexual people could love as easily as anyone else. They simply didn’t care for sexual intimacy. Kai wouldn’t eliminate her because of her preferences though.
“It’s not Jess. She’s in Hong Kong filming as we speak. I doubt she flew here, killed Lena, and then made it back for AM call. I want to know who told the feds Lena and I had that fight. Because we didn’t. She told me she needed to talk to me about firing someone. I avoided her. That’s not a fight.” His cell trilled and Jared frowned again. He stared down at the screen. “This is my private line. No one has this number. I crushed my professional line earlier because it’s nothing but reporters. How do I know that number? Janice. Shit. I think that’s Janice. My old publicist. I’ve got to take this.”
Jared put the phone to his ear and stepped out.
Kai looked back down at his cell. Shit. Nothing. He picked it up and quickly texted.
Are you coming to work?
Kori always had her cell with her. Maybe if he kept it professional, she would reply. He waited a minute and then two more. Nothing.
She was done with him. A few thoughtless words and she was through. Guess her feelings hadn’t been as strong as he’d thought.
He had to face some real truths. She’d lied to him about what she wanted. She was a masochist. He’d never once lied about being a sadist. They were a match to have at the very least played together. Yet she’d stayed away from him, preferring other dominant partners. Maybe she’d been looking for an out. He’d threatened her that first night. He hadn’t meant to, but the fact that she’d been lying to every partner she played with could have gotten her escorted out of Sanctum. He might have played that to his advantage because he was a selfish bastard who’d wanted her so badly he couldn’t stand it. She’d seen the opportunity to get out of the relationship with her Sanctum membership intact and she’d taken it.
But she’d said I love you.
Kori didn’t lie. She couldn’t be bothered to. If she’d said it, then she meant it, and not in terms of “I love what you do to me.” She’d said I love you and that meant she loved him.
So why was she ignoring him?
Talk to me, he texted her. Please talk to me.
He sat and stared at the screen as though he could will her to reply. The phone buzzed in his hand.
I’ll be in the office in an hour. We do need to talk. I don’t know how we move past this.
He took a deep breath. Okay. At least she was replying to texts. He would give her that for now. We will move past this. I love you. No matter what you heard, I love you. Let me try to explain.
I’ll be there soon. Just got home and have to deal with your brother’s friend first. As soon as I’ve figured out what he wants, I’ll be there.
Jared’s friend? Who’s there, baby? I don’t want you opening the door to anyone. Anyone.
It’s the weird one. He’s trying to find out if we saw Lena last night. Don’t be a drama queen. I’m not alone.
So Erin or someone else was likely with her. He could breathe a bit easier. Still, he wanted to know what the hell Jared’s friend wanted with Kori. Squirrel didn’t need to be running around trying to do the cops’ jobs.
The door opened again and Jared walked back in, an odd smile on his face. “That was Janice. I told you about her. She was my publicist when I first started out. She’s in LA with Bernie, my old agent. They called to say I wasn’t alone and they’ll take over now. She’s fielding calls and Bernie talked to the production company for my TV show. I still have a job for now. He’s going to put in a call about the movie, but he’s optimistic.”
Ah, there it was. Sweet karma at work. “I’m glad. I really am. But I think I’m going to head over to Kori’s. She said she’s coming to the office, but I would feel better if I could see her.”
“Of course.” Jared crossed his arms over his chest and seemed to come to some decision. “I like Kori, but you’re my brother so I’m going to tell you some things I know about her.”
“What things?”
“There were rumors back in the day that she was involved in a Master/slave relationship with a producer who used her.”
“She told me.” Thank god. For a moment he thought his brother was going to bring some dirt up on her.
“She likely didn’t tell you how bad it got. Morgan King is still an exec on Dart. He’s an asshole of the highest level, and I deal with Hollywood assholes so let me tell you it’s a whole new level. What everyone talks about behind his back is the fact that without his former writing partner, he’s useless as anything but a moneyman. Kori was the brains of that operation and he basically traded her in for a thinner, more acceptable model. Kori was a good business partner, but not wife material. He never took her on the red carpet, not even when they were together. He would walk it alone rather than hold her hand. He lied to her about pretty much everything, and the rumor is that he stole her last script and gave it to his new wife.”
Kai would really like to meet this man. Preferably in a dark alley. “How can he do that?”
“He had all the power and she chose not to fight him. I’ll be honest, at the time she likely would have been crushed. She could have gone to her union, but he was too powerful. No one wanted to take him on because he was involved in so many hot productions. He could have lawyered her to death and she wouldn’t have been able to find work. I’m only telling you this because she was brilliant. She wrote stuff you would never watch, but there was such humanity in them. You don’t expect that out of horror films or action films, but she put it in there. She should be writing. It’s a gift, and her not using it makes me sad. I don’t know what went down between the two of you last night, but she’s got reason to be distrustful. You need to be open and honest with her.”
And there was the problem. “And what if I can’t?”
“Why wouldn’t you?”
He couldn’t be completely honest with Jared either. “What if I made promises to other people?”
&nbs
p; “Are those other people more important than she is?” Jared asked.
“No, but I promised.”
“And you wouldn’t be Kai if you broke that. I understand. I guess we have to hope she does, too. I’ve got a meeting with Harrison in an hour or so. Maybe he’s figured out who spread those rumors about me. I’d like to know if it was Brad or Tad.”
“Or Squirrel.” He wasn’t willing to eliminate anyone.
“It’s not Squirrel. Of all the people in the world, he’s the least likely to be a serial killer. Come on. I’ve practically lived with the man since we were teens. Wouldn’t I have seen something? Wouldn’t there have been a rash of girls being murdered back in high school?”
An idea started to play around in Kai’s brain. “Serial killers tend to start small. They often start by torturing small animals.” And around the time they were teens, there had been a rash of small animals reported as missing in their neighborhood. Kai and Jared’s, not Squirrel’s. And they’d lived in a poor neighborhood. Pets went missing. They got out of crappy fences and got lost.
Or they got caught by the blossoming killer.
Kai stood up, the hair on his arms standing on end as he remembered some of the things Jared’s best friend had said. Not to him but to Kori. She’d mentioned it because she’d thought it was odd and she’d been annoyed at the time. He’d asked about Kori’s car, saying something about how he’d been surprised that it hadn’t been Kai’s. That had been the day after Kori’s tires had been slashed. She’d told Kai she’d wished it had been his car, too.
“What are you doing?” Jared moved in behind him as he started to pull up his search engine.
He typed in the name of his neighborhood and the years between Jared’s last year of high school and the time he got signed on for Dart and the words missing girls. “Following my instincts.”
He waited for a minute while the screen whirled, pulling up stats and news stories. He had to move around because there were years of data but he came up with two names. “Do you know these women? Emily Glass and Patsy Huss?”
Jared leaned over. “I went to school with Emily, and Patsy was a model in the first agency I signed with. I lost touch with Emily, and Patsy left the agency.”
“They went missing. Patsy’s body was found three years ago with the same MO as the other women. Emily was raped and only saved because a couple of joggers came along. Jared, did you have a relationship with these women?”
Jared had taken a step back, his face going white. “He wouldn’t. He’s my best friend. He’s the only person in the world I’ve been able to count on.”
But sometimes those people went bad. And now that man was at Kori’s. Oh, he might be after Sarah, but he wouldn’t hesitate to kill Kori. Kai stood. There was no time to waste.
“Sarah,” Jared said. His phone was already in his hand.
Kai’s was too. He dialed Kori’s number as he moved toward the front door. Nothing. He went straight to voice mail. At least he was fairly certain someone had gone with her. Erin wouldn’t have let her leave alone.
That was when he got the text from Big Tag. Your sub needs a spanking. Get to her place because she and Sarah snuck out of here and I’ve got a meeting. Tell Sarah she’s up shit creek and I will find a Dom with a paddle for her.
“Shit.” She was there alone. She was there with a killer.
“I’m calling the cops,” Jared said, following him.
Kai started running. They would need the cops because there was no way he allowed anyone to touch his sub.
He’d played the spy this week. But it was time to be a warrior again.
* * * *
Kori stepped inside her place with a heavy heart. How long would she stay here? How long before this house was nothing more than a memory and the people she’d come to care for were distant and faint in her head?
What was she going to do? Go and pack and run right this second because she was such a damn child that she was going to let another man run her out of her own fucking life?
She might have spent too much time with Erin. And Charlotte Taggart and Chelsea Weston, who had shown up for breakfast this morning. Phoebe Murdoch had been there, laughing and joking about how tired Big Tag looked. They were all waiting on Drew Lawless, who was flying in and was planning on meeting them.
“I think we’re going to get in trouble for this,” Sarah said with a sigh. “Like real, not erotic trouble.”
“You didn’t have to come with me.”
“Yeah, I did. If you’re going to defy the Doms and do something stupid, then I am obligated to be stupid with you.” She set her purse on the bar. She was still wearing her clothes from last night, which she tried and failed to smooth out. “I think I’m going to argue that we’ve had enough punishment. We had to do the walk of shame public transportation style. I had a guy offer me a hundred bucks for a hummer. Ewww. I would charge way more than that.”
“Yes, you should.” Coffee. She would be putting on some coffee at work right now. Kai wouldn’t drink it. She would put a kettle on for his tea because apparently proper tea didn’t come from K-cups, the pretentious bastard.
He would have to make his own tea. It was okay. He was a big boy.
“There was another reason I had to come,” Sarah admitted.
Kori could guess. “You have to be at work in a couple of hours.”
“I got Lila Daley to swap shifts with me. No. I had to come to make sure you’re still here at the end of the night. I heard what you said to Erin.”
“You were listening in?”
“It’s a hobby,” she admitted. “Also, no one tells me shit. I know you don’t tell me shit because I gossip like a schoolgirl, but you have to know I wouldn’t gossip about this. Kori, there’s no way Kai meant what he said.”
She’d heard this argument. She was still considering it, but she didn’t particularly want to talk about it at the moment. “It doesn’t matter. I’ve been thinking about finding a new job for a while.”
“What are you going to do now? Sling some burgers?” Sarah frowned her way. “Oh, maybe you can get a job as a maid.”
“My mother was a maid. I’m not sure where you’re going with this.”
“There’s nothing wrong with hard work, but this isn’t your job. It’s not what you were born to do. I’ve seen your movies.”
She felt her cheeks go pink. “I told you not to watch those.”
“Yeah, well, as we’ve learned this morning, I don’t always follow orders,” Sarah pointed out. “I’ve watched all of your movies because you’re my best friend and that means I’m your biggest fan. You’re so good. You’re funny and real and I love your characters and I want to know why you’re wasting it all? Why would you throw away your career and god, I need to understand why you would throw away Kai. I need to know those things because I’m pretty sure you’re also ready to throw away me.”
“It’s not like that.” But wasn’t it? Hadn’t she had friends in California that she’d distanced from? They’d done nothing wrong, but she’d stopped calling, stopped sending e-mails.
She’d simply stopped. Was she doing that again?
“I think it is. Serena gave you that script last week. Have you even picked it up? You told her you would help, but you shoved it to the side.”
Guilt sat in her gut over that. She knew she should be further along. “I read it. I made a few notes.”
“Then why haven’t you called her?”
Because getting back into that world meant opening herself up again. “You don’t understand what it’s like.”
Sarah stared at her. “Then tell me. Make me understand why you would ignore such an obvious gift. I thought about it all night. I think everything comes back to what happened to you in Hollywood. It’s why you won’t fight now.”
“I was criticized every single day.”
Sarah shook her head. “You had a shitty Master.”
“It wasn’t just Morgan. It’s everyone. You put your he
art and soul into your work every day and once a year you get called in for a performance review with your boss. I got fifteen performance reviews every hour of every day, and it’s all on the Internet. My dialogue is stupid. The plot of this film desperately needed to find a writer whose head wasn’t stuck up her ass. Do you know what that’s like? And every minute of every day I was terrified that it would all be over.”
There was very little sympathy in Sarah’s stare. “That’s tough on you. No one in the whole world has ever had that happen.”
“Don’t be a bitch.” Very few people had to deal with that level of scrutiny.
Sarah waved her off. “I’m simply saying that we all have our issues. You had the greatest job in the world. You got to make a living doing what most people would kill to do. You don’t see Jared out there crying and quitting because some people think his show is stupid. That man gets told every single day that he’s a bad actor. Guess what—he doesn’t believe them. He gets up and does his job and he’s thankful for it.”
“No, apparently he murders people when the going gets tough.” Kori closed her eyes in shame. “I didn’t mean that.”
“I’m glad because he didn’t do this and if he’ll let me, I’m going to stand by him. I care about him and damn it, I’m going to fight for what I want,” Sara said passionately. “I’m never going to let a few shitty voices stop me. And I’ve read your reviews. You don’t mention the ones where they talk about how much they loved the script, how close they felt to the characters, how the films you wrote gave people something to think about other than the bad things happening in their lives. God, Kori, you don’t get the gift without the curse. It doesn’t work that way. You don’t throw away the gift because it comes with some strings. And you don’t throw away a man like Kai because you’re still a scared girl who thinks no man will ever love you. Love is hard. Love isn’t guaranteed. It’s something you work at and you fight for. Happily ever after is something you earn every damn day of your life. You want it easy. There’s no such thing.”
