Page 19 of Tempting Alec

“You don’t have to be anything other than yourself,” Samantha said softly. “If you want to explore that side of yourself with Alec, then talk to him about it. You might be surprised by what you discover.”

Grier sat in silence for a long moment, Samantha’s words echoing in her mind. She had spent so much time trying to be strong, trying to be everything to everyone, that she hadn’t allowed herself to truly explore what she wanted, what she needed. But with Alec, she felt safe enough to do that, to push her boundaries and see where it led.

“Would you do something for me?” Grier asked quietly, breaking the silence.

“Of course,” Samantha replied.

Grier hesitated, then nodded as if making a decision. “Would you ask Alec to show me the dungeon at Club Southside? When it’s closed, I mean. I want to see it, to understand what this could be.”

Samantha’s smile was warm, supportive. “King would tell me to tell you that you need to ask him yourself. But King isn’t always right. He can be a bit rigid about the roles of Dom and sub. I’d be happy to talk to Alec for you.”

Grier felt a strange mixture of anxiety and anticipation at the thought. She had no idea what to expect, but she trusted Alec. Whatever happened, she knew he would guide her through it.

That night as she lay nestled in his embrace, he said, “I understand from Samantha that you’d like to return to the dungeon and have a look around. You should have asked me yourself.”

Something about the mock severity in his tone made her laugh. “Yeah, she said you Doms could be sticklers for protocol, but would you mind showing me your world?”

“Not at all. It would be my honor. She also said I need to let you get more sleep.”

“I don’t know that Samantha knows everything.”

Alec’s deep chuckle as he wrapped her tighter in his arms made her believe that her world was finally being set right. The next day, however, that same world was turned upside down.

She had just finished her morning coffee and was back at her laptop, sifting through the data she had been working on, when she stumbled across something that made her blood run cold. Her fingers froze over the keyboard, her breath catching in her throat as she stared at the screen in disbelief.

It was a message, encrypted but unmistakable in its intent. The communication was between the mole they had been hunting and someone she knew well—Agent Tyler Simmons, a close colleague and friend. The realization hit her like a physical blow, knocking the air from her lungs.

“No,” she whispered, shaking her head in denial. “It can’t be.”

But the evidence was there, undeniable. Tyler Simmons was the mole. He had to be. The person she had trusted, had worked alongside for years, had betrayed them all.

Grier felt the ground shift beneath her, the world she knew crumbling around her. She struggled to breathe, her mind racing as she tried to make sense of it. How had she missed this? How had she not seen the signs? Now that she had the key to who the mole was, all the pieces of the puzzle fell into place.

She replayed every interaction she had ever had with Tyler, every conversation, every mission they had worked on together. Had it all been a lie? Had he been playing her the whole time?

The betrayal cut deep, deeper than she had ever imagined possible. Tyler had been one of the few people she had trusted implicitly, someone she had considered a friend. And now, that trust had been shattered.

Her hands shook as she closed the laptop, unable to look at the screen any longer. She felt sick, her stomach churning with a mixture of anger, disbelief, and overwhelming sadness. She had been fooled, and the thought of it made her feel weak, foolish.

A knock on the door startled her, and she quickly wiped at her eyes, trying to pull herself together. The door opened, and Alec stepped inside, his expression immediately turning to concern when he saw the look on her face.

“Grier, what’s wrong?” he asked, crossing the room in a few quick strides to kneel beside her.

She looked at him, her vision blurred with unshed tears. “It’s Tyler,” she whispered, as if saying it quietly might not make it true. “He’s the mole, Alec. He betrayed us.”

Alec’s expression hardened, but there was no surprise in his eyes, only a deep sadness. He reached out, taking her trembling hands in his, his touch grounding her in the midst of her turmoil. “I’m sorry, baby,” he said softly. “I know how much this hurts.”

“I should have seen it,” she whispered, her voice thick with emotion. “I should have known. I trusted him, Alec. I trusted him with everything.”

“That’s not a weakness, Grier,” Alec said, his voice firm. “Your ability to trust, to see the good in people, is one of your greatest strengths. Tyler took advantage of that, but it doesn’t mean you were wrong to trust. It means he was wrong to betray that trust.”

Grier shook her head, the tears spilling over despite her efforts to hold them back. “But I was so blind, Alec. I didn’t see it, and now… now everything is falling apart.”

Alec pulled her into his arms, holding her close as she cried, her body trembling with the force of her emotions. He didn’t say anything, just held her, his presence a steady anchor in the storm of her grief.

When the tears finally subsided, Grier pulled back slightly, looking up at Alec with red-rimmed eyes. “What do we do now?”

“We expose him,” Alec said simply. “We take what you’ve found, and we make sure the Agency knows what he’s done.”

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