Page 46 of Echoes of Desire

“He likes to be alone,” someone says from behind me.

“That’s what he tells everyone,” I respond. “I think there’s more to it than anyone realizes. Sometimes, people say one thing but mean another because they don’t want to feel like a burden. Trust me, I know that from personal experience.”

I don’t say anything more about the topic while the others talk amongst themselves. But I do catch them sneaking a glance in Mitchell’s direction every once in a while.

No one truly wants to be alone. With a family this large and filled with so much heart, how has no one been able to see him the way that I have after meeting him for only a few minutes.

Mitchell has a story and I don’t think it’s a very happy one.

Chapter Fourteen

Steel

I’m going to kill someone.

“Blaze,” I call out. “We have a fucking problem.”

“What?” he asks as he jogs into our home office. “Is it Raven?”

“No, brother. Our girl is just fine. But someone’s not going to be when I get my hands on them.”

I gesture for him to look at the computer screen where a video of Doms and their Subs are performing scenes at the club.

“What the fuck?” he growls. “Is that from our security feed? Who posted this?”

“The username is anonymous,” I say, my tone low and seething. “But they’re using a burner account. I’m already tracing the IP.”

Blaze leans over my shoulder, his fists clenching at his sides as he stares at the screen. “That’s private. No one’s supposed to record scenes, let alone share them. It’s against everything we stand for. It’s against their fucking contract.”

I nod, my jaw tight. “Whoever did this didn’t just cross a line; they torched the damn thing. This isn’t just about the club’sreputation. This is about trust. About the safety of everyone involved.”

Blaze slams his fist onto the desk, the sound reverberating through the room. “We’ll find them. And when we do...” He trails off, his eyes narrowing.

“I know,” I reply. “We’ll make sure they understand what it means to betray us. But first, we need to contain the damage. Get ahold of Knox and see if he can get these removed. I have to call everyone in the video and let them know. Luckily the only Subs face that was captured is one that doesn’t care that the world knows about her. The rest of their faces are secured by the Dom’s bodies.”

“Yeah, but some of those Dom’s don’t want their faces out there. Especially the pediatrician.”

Whose face happens to be on the screen as we speak.

“Where did you find this?”

“It was emailed to me,” I answer. “You need to check your email to see if you were sent one. Knox is going to want any information we can give him.”

“Is our scene with Raven in there?” he asks.

I simply glance up at him, and he has his answer.

“Fucking dead,” he growls.

Blaze’s fury mirrors my own, his jaw tightening as he stares at the screen. “They’redead,Steel. They don’t get to walk away from this.”

“I’m with you,” I say, keeping my voice calm despite the inferno brewing inside me. “But we need to be smart about this. If we rush in blind, we could end up doing more damage.”

Blaze paces, running his hands through his hair. “You’re right. But that doesn’t mean we let this slide for even a second.”

“Agreed. First, we deal with containment. Knox can scrub it from the web, but I want to know how it got out in the firstplace. The security here isn’t just good—it’s airtight. This had to be someone with inside access.”

Blaze stops pacing and glares at me. “You think it’s one of ours?”

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