Page 56 of Mistress A-0002

“Melissa…”

“Please. He’s unwell. He’s going to explode soon if you don’t let me see him. His wellbeing is my priority.Send him to me. I’m the only one who can save him. And I can. I know I can. The triggers,” I forced out. “They’re embedded in him. Let me deactivate them on my end. Five minutes. That’s all I need. You can be right there. You can even let him bring his slave. She said I did something to her.” I clenched my teeth until they were aching, spinning to the clock.Tick. Tick. “I have to stop the triggers. They’re there, Elec. We can’t risk a massacre on Braddock or his slave’s end, and that’s what could very well happen if you don’t let me see them.”

“It’s not going to happen, Melissa.”

Stern. His tone was cemented in decision which had the rage exploding to life. No sway from the taps.Nothing. Elec sounded completely unphased! Had I not tapped loud enough? Bullshit, on some level he would have heard my order.

“Fine,” I gritted out. “But if something happens, the blood is on your hands. And it’s coming, Elec. Mark my words, one of themisgoing to die. When it happens, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

Main Master

There were days I missed colors. The vibrant yellow, orange, and reds of the New England fall. Crisp, grey winter mornings walking across the Bridgepoint campus in Chicago with my coffee. I missed the smell of coconut from summers spent at a random beach. The blue and green of the waves. Seafood. Laughter and live bands. My life had once been colorful. I’d always had motives, but that didn’t mean I hadn’t lived.

Was this living? Was being the ruling Main Master what I had always wanted? More than color? More than…life?

The Death Waltz played in the background. I didn’t need to hear the voices on the screen to know the exact words the couple spoke. I had each one memorized, just as I had every detail of her beautiful face burned into my very being. And yet the beauty was fading. It wasn’t the same, and I knew why. Maybe I didn’t want to face the truth. That didn’t mean it didn’t happen.

Melissa.

That’s who I saw when I looked or thought of Vivia now. My heart ached, and I was torn between the two. I could kill my teacher. I could walk into her apartment this very minute and slit her throat, consequences be damned. It would be over with.My suffering. Braddock’s suffering. Maybe the worlds… I could do it. Or could I? She had a hold over me. One that went beyond what I was admitting to myself. One…that kept me seething on my sofa. I wasn’t sure I could truly kill Melissa. Had she been a good teacher, which she was, she would have made sure of it. Just as I did to those under my spell. Thing was…I wouldn’t know if I could kill her unless I tried, and that was dangerous on more levels than I could think about tonight.

“Tell me we’re going to stay here forever. I don’t want to go back to school.”

The wind blew Vivia’s dark hair around her face as I read her lips. Her voice echoed in my mind, reaching the deepest parts of me, leaving me even more hollow. She pushed the dark locks back, smiling for me as I held the camera trained on her. The truth was, she had been having the time of her life on our weekend getaway to the lake. But not me. All I could think about was my impending finals. I had to study. I had big plans. If we were ever going to have a future together, I had a lot to prove to her father. And we’d been so close at that point. She was pregnant when I recorded this video, and we hadn’t even known.

“Elec. Tell me. Tell me this is our lake. Tell me you love me and we’re never leaving.”

A smile wanted to come. I had beamed from behind the camera when she’d first said it. I didn’t now. It hurt that the woman I loved was tainted. That she’d been used to get something out of me. And what was that exactly? My cock? My…love? Melissa didn’t want me to love her. She had her men.Any man she wanted, thanks to her skills. Why do this to me? Why use Vivia, knowing how it would make me feel?

I did fucked up shit. Sure. But Melissa had crossed the line. She’d argue what I did with June wasn’t much different. Thing was, I had never fucked June. Kissed her…yes. I had done that. But that was it. And after this thing with Melissa, I wasn’t sure Iwanted to see June again.Not like that.The thought hit a nerve. It pissed me off, ruining the comfort I’d once gotten pretending she was Vivia.

Vivia.

My eyes closed, and I hit the button on the remote, changing back to the multiple surveillance screens to those I kept my eyes on. There was no comfort in my past tonight. No refuge in my current position at the Gardens. My colors were dead. The smells and memories…dead. Just like her. I killed Vivia in our secret spot. Even if I couldn’t remember the act, I remembered coming to and seeing her unrecognizable body below me. My fists had been so cut up and swollen. I couldn’t even draw in my fingers all the way. They had been so stiff. The pain had been excruciating, but not as agonizing as putting the pieces together as screams flooded in. I had been breathing hard. I could barely move I was so physically drained. As if I’d been swinging down at her fragile body for hours. Maybe I had. It was Melissa’s voice that broke through first. Then someone else… Two people? Three? I wasn’t even sure anymore. My facts were blurred with desperation. With scenarios I constantly played so that I could solve the biggest mystery of all. But there was no mystery, because Iwasa killer. And I had killed Vivia. Everyone knew it.Everyone but me.

Ringing brought my lids cracking open. Had I thought I’d get to sleep early tonight? I grabbed my phone from my leather sofa, picking it up to look at the number.Braddock.

I didn’t have to answer. I could pretend sleep. The Main Master did need to rest his eyes sometime, didn’t he? Sleep. Darkness. Vivia…

I hit the button, bringing the phone to my ear. “Brad.”

“Main Master. We need to talk.”

“Tonight?”

A pause. “Yeah. Ally’s asleep. Is there somewhere we can go? I don’t want to wake her. She’s not okay.” Hesitation. “Neither am I.”

His tone told me that. From the moment I heard his voice, I couldn’t ignore the slight shake embedded within.

“Ok. I’m on my way, but I want to keep you close to your apartment in case she wakes. She’ll come looking for you. I’ll text when I make it to your floor. We can go to the bar there. It sounds like you could use a drink or two.”

“Damn right. I’ll be waiting.”

I hung up, ignoring how much I itched to throw back a few. Discipline wouldn’t allow it. I had slipped one too many times in the last few weeks. No more. I couldn’t take risks with the Collective High Council breathing fire down my neck. And after the Melissa and Jett buzz, boy were they tearing at the seams. Thanks to Keith’s video I made him reveal, the Uppers were deep in their own private investigations. It was going to take time, but not much, and that put more pressure on me.

Heading for the door, I didn’t pause as I grabbed my suit’s jacket and slid it on. Deep down, I knew this night was far from over. Getting caught up on what I’d missed while I was above ground hadn’t taken long. Watching Melissa and her new toy, Adrian, told me they were up to no good. And I knew his plan. I’d watched him fuck her. I’d heard his confession. Why is it that that video hadn’t disappeared when all the others were nonexistent? A mistake on her part? Did shewantme to know Adrian Bulvere planned to kill Ronald, her husband?

No. She wouldn’t want more scandal associated with her name. It was my new lead guards taking over surveillance. She didn’t have them under her control, and I wasn’t going to let her find out they were new. I wasn’t going to tell anyone I discovered the secret either. Let Adrian do my dirty work. It was one last LaRoe I wasn’t going to have to take out. Accident. Murder. Letthe Collective High Council discover Melissa’s new secret on top of the ones that were already no doubt being exposed. If they were busy focused on her, they weren’t focused on the Gardens…or me.

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