Page 46 of Bound by Adoration

“Liam,” Raid growled low, turning his head to him and narrowing his eyes. “Don’t talk about my fuckin’ club.”

“That’s the crux of it, though, Raid. You were prospecting for the club and didn’t want them to know you had me on the side. You didn’t know how your dad would’ve reacted. Nor Cruz or the other guys. Hell, even kept it from Ax as far as I knew. So, yeah. We have to talk about the club, because that’s the reason you kept me a dirty little secret.”

It was Raid’s turn to sit up and put his back to the headboard. He reached over and turned on the side lamp, illuminating the room in brightness.

Both men had no shirts on and were not covered up with blankets. Each with boxers on that left little to the imagination. Not that I needed mine, considering I’d seen them both. Lucky me. It was a woman’s wet dream come true.

But hell, I was so damn interested in what Raid had to say, and I had to get my libido under control, or I’d be just as bad as they were.

16

NYX

“You came around the club, so don’t start with that shit,” Raid fired back. Obviously it was Liam’s turn to strike a nerve in him.

“As your bud. Never as a lover,” Liam retorted.

“Lover? We were in high school, Liam. What did you think? We’d get married and have kids or some shit? You know the shit I had to deal with.”

Liam chuckled, but it was not humorously. “You fucked yourself there. But that had nothing to do with me. That was all you and your fucked up decisions. Don’t lump me in that mess.”

“Didn’t say it wasn’t. But fuck me. I had to cut everything off and focus on the club,” Raid said.

“But you could fuck any woman who’d spread their legs. Right. Focus on the club. You’re a fuckin’ joke.” The anger in Liam’s tone was powerful. No way Raid didn’t feel that.

“Wait,” I said interrupting. “What happened? What did you do, Raid?” There was something huge missing here.

Raid sighed and rubbed his hands over his face. “This is a long fuckin’ story. You don’t want to hear this shit. I was young and fucked up a lot and especially with people I cared about. Nothing to break down outside of; I fucked up.”

It was my turn to laugh loud and sarcastic. After all the shit he gave me for not talking to him, and he wanted to pull this? No. Just no. “Right. Just like I didn’t want to tell you my shit, but you kept at me until I did. Talk. Now.”

“Yeah, Raid. Talk,” Liam tossed in, and Raid’s glare went to him.

“Fucker.” Raid’s attention came to me. “Later my senior year, I fucked a teacher. It wasn’t something I wanted, but he was clever in his manipulation. Baker was his name, and I told him it was one and done. He didn’t like that. I fucked up and ended up going to him again, thinking I was doing a makeup test, and he had a woman there. The three of us ended up fucking. I was a teenager and didn’t think it would have any serious consequences. What I didn’t know was Baker was recording it. He pulled it out, saying if I didn’t continue fucking him, he’d put the video out there saying it was Ax and Indie.”

“Wait,” I said, anger bubbling. “You were fucking a teacher while you were fucking Liam? Did I hear you right? Please tell me I didn’t hear you right.”

“Nope. He broke it off with me before all of it, but I did see him in the classroom fucking the two of them,” Liam said, and I gasped. “Claimed he was doing the honorable thing in ending our shit, whatever you wanted to call it. Saw what he was really doing, and it all made sense. Nothing honorable about any of it.”

“You were fuckin’ there?” Raid asked, puzzled.

“Yeah. Knew we were over for good then. You bailed. It was obvious moving on was easy for you. You gave up. I was done.”

“So let me get this straight,” I interrupted. “You were with Liam. Broke up with him. Fucked a teacher, and got blackmailed?”

“Pretty much. Made a fucked-up decision. Dragged others down with me. Can’t say it was my finest moment.” The hitch in the word dragged my attention. This really affected him.

“What happened?” I asked. “I mean, did you keep fucking him? The teacher. Did he release the video? Explain more.”

“Young and stupid, Ax and I decided to call his bluff. To handle this guy ourselves. We were very close to getting our cuts with the club and didn’t want to fuck that up. Instead, we told Baker to fuck himself not thinking he’d put it out there. But he proved us wrong and released the video. Everyone assumed it was Ax and Indie. Fucked Ax and Indie’s lives. Fucked my family’s lives. Fucked Liam’s life. Fucked my life. It was a great time to be me.” Raid stared up at the ceiling. “One bad decision spiraled into a million more. All for the sake of not trying to hurt anyone, and you can see how that turned out.”

My mind swirled as I tried to process everything that he was saying. There was so much to unpack. So many layers to sift through.

“You’d already fucked up with me, big guy. This just sealed the deal,” Liam told him.

“Right. Can’t believe you saw that shit,” Raid stated with a heaviness in his tone.

“Yeah, I did. Wanna tell me why you fucked him in the first place?” Liam asked, and I wanted to know the same thing.

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