Page 10 of Tormented Kings

“Also told her if she said anything to anyone, he would kill her,” I add in and watch as my brother’s jaw ticks.

“He wants you to marry Connie,” Declan continues. “And because you refused, he felt the need to take matters into his own hands, I guess.”

“Fuck!” Collin roars, swiping his hand across the top of his desk, sending everything crashing to the ground.

“Would you fucking chill?” I grumble, pushing off the door frame and closing the door behind me to join the others by Collin’s desk.

“Don’t tell me what to do,” Collin seethes. “As if you don’t have a temper of your own.”

“Wonder who we got that from.”

We lock eyes, sharing an unspoken moment. That seems to have the anger simmering down just a little bit.

“What are we going to do?” Declan asks, refocusing the group.

“So many fucking questions tonight.” I sigh in annoyance. “I hate not knowing, not having control.” It’s why I thrive on it. I have it in every aspect of my life except when it comes to my father. And now Sadie. But for two completely different reasons.

Part of the reason I’ve been such a jerk to her is because I don’t like the power she holds over me. I don’t like the feeling of losing control, and that‘s all I ever seem to be able to do when it comes to that girl.

“Let’s lay out what we know. Sadie’s deal with us is over, but we still want and need her... Dec has already voiced his intenton dating her. Collin has pretty much pissed on her, staking his claim whether she wants him or not.” Grayson snorts, and Collin shoots him another look. “And I’m throwing my hat in the ring because.... well, I’m obsessed with her.” Grayson shrugs, pulling a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket and lighting it up. “Not sure what I’m going to do about the arranged marriage bullshit, but I figured I’d deal with that once Sadie picks one of us.”

“No need to waste your time.” Collin glares. “She’s mine.”

Grayson rolls his eyes and sighs. “Yeah, we fucking heard that. It’s getting old now, man. Give it up. And after those photos, I don’t think you're in the running for this one.”

“It’s not what it looks lik–”

“We know. It wasn’t you,” I finish his sentence. “Heard that one before, too.”

His face flashes with guilt. “About that.”

“So it is you?” I snarl. “After all that crazy possessive bullshit, you went and fucked another woman.”

“It’s not what it fucking looks like!” he snaps, repeating himself. He grabs one of the photos and spins it around to face us. “Look.”

“Ew, no thanks, man. I’m not interested in seeing your junk.” Grayson wrinkles his nose as he blows out a puff of smoke.

“Fuck off,” Collin mutters. “Not that. Look.” He points to a tattoo. “I had this covered up years ago.”

“Okay...”

“So if this was me, just a few days ago, how the fuck is the tattoo I had covered up still there?” He points to the tattoo again. “The photos are good, not going to lie. Somehow they managed to get all my new tattoos pretty damn close. If someone wasn’t going through this with a fine-tooth comb, it would be easy to fool them. But I know my body and the fact that I didn’t fuck anyone other than Sadie for years.”

“So they just photoshopped your faces and tattoos onto these people?” I ask, brows furrowing.

“Not really,” he sighs, sitting down in his chair. “After I looked at these longer than I’d like, I realized it was me. But that’s not Connie. Just her face.”

“So it’s you fucking another girl?”

“Yeah. When I was sixteen,” he sneers. “I haven’t had eyes for another woman since my feelings for Sadie turned to something more. But before, when she was still too young to feel anything but the need to keep her safe, I was a bit of a man whore. But that was years ago. At least a decade, give or take.”

“How the fuck would our father have photos of you having sex when you were a teenager. What the fuck is wrong with him?” A look of disgust takes over my face. I already know what's wrong with him. He’s sick and fucked up. I shouldn’t be surprised about this at all.

“Because he’s fucking crazy. He’s probably been keeping tabs on me for years. I have this place swept for bugs all the time, same with my phone. But if I’m correct, these photos were taken at a party thrown by one of my good buddies way back when. Meaning, that asshole had his house bugged. Fucking sick,” Collin growls, grabbing handfuls of his hair in frustration.

“So he altered them to make it seem like it’s you now, with Connie, and hoping it would be enough to send Sadie running?” Grayson summarizes.

“And if that didn’t work, threatening Sadie to leave town and kill her if she talked. He was betting on us not seeing this,” Declan says, looking at the three of us.

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