Page 40 of Savage

Savannah's fingers twisted in her lap, her mind screaming at her to stop, to keep her secret. They might judge her. They might hate her. Continue to lie to them. But she couldn't. Not anymore. These women had become friends. Savage’s chosen family.

"I... I haven't been entirely honest with you all," Savannah began, her voice trembling. "There's something you need to know about why I'm really here." The girls exchanged glances but stayed silent, letting her continue. “The first night I met you at The Citadel, I lied to you. I wasn’t there because I was interested in becoming a little or to play. I was there to spy on The Watchmen. I was blackmailed–”

“Blackmailed to spy on them? What does that even mean?” Emilee asked.

“Shh,” Trinity scolded her. “Don’t interrupt. Let her finish. I’m sure she will explain.”

Taking a deep breath, Savannah continued. “I’d never done anything like that before. I’m not a liar and I don’t hurt people,” she said, her voice trembling. “It started with my mom. She got sick with cancer. We’d never had a lot of money, but we always made the ends meet until the diagnosis. We had insurance through my mom’s work, but it was a high deductible plan.

Thousands and thousands of dollars. We met the deductible pretty quickly but then she was laid off for missing too much work. She didn’t qualify for FMLA or anything, just laid off. Once she was without a job, we lost insurance, too, and the bills kept piling up. Soon, we couldn’t pay for the medication she needed and then she was moved into hospice. We didn’t have the moneywe needed for her medication. I tried everything—worked two jobs, sold whatever I could, but it wasn’t enough.” She paused, the memories clawing at her. “I was desperate. That’s when I met a man who said he could help. He lent me the money to pay for her treatments and, later, her funeral. I didn’t realize he was a loan shark until it was too late.”

Trinity reached out, placing a comforting hand on Savannah’s knee.

“I tried to pay him back, but the interest… It was impossible. And when I couldn’t pay, The Rejects came knocking.” Her voice wavered, but she pushed on. “They said I owed them now. They’d bought my debt. I tried everything in my power. I was working sixteen-hour days and donating plasma. They gave me a week to pay it off, in full, plus interest. They added interest on top of the interest the original man charged me. I couldn’t pay. I couldn’t pay the amount they wanted in a lifetime. So, Zeb, the leader, offered me a way out. They wanted information on The Watchmen. I could get them the information they needed, or they’d kill my sister and niece. The only family I had left.” She couldn’t look at the women. Didn’t know if she could handle seeing anger or judgement in their eyes.

“Zeb told me terrible things about The Watchmen. He said they were into arms dealing and trafficking children, made them sound like real scumbags. Almost like I was doing society a favor by spying on them. He told me to read up on BDSM and DDlg, and use it as a way to manipulate my way in. So, I did. The night we met, I was playing a part. Trying to save my sister and niece. Zeb’s brother was the bartender. I knew then, they really did have eyes and ears inside. I was terrified.” Tears filled her eyes. “I didn’t do it to hurt any of you. I just…I was trying to save my sister and niece. They threatened to hurt them if I didn’t cooperate.”

The room was silent, the weight of her confession settling over them. Savannah braced herself for anger, for accusations, for the inevitable rejection. But when she finally looked up, all she saw was compassion.

Trinity moved first, wrapping Savannah in a tight hug. “You did what you had to do to protect your family,” she proclaimed. “It must have been so difficult for you.”

Makenzie joined in, followed by Emilee, their arms encircling her in a cocoon of warmth and forgiveness. Savannah’s tears spilled over, and she clung to them, overwhelmed by their kindness. After the group hug, the girls had what felt like a million questions and Savannah answered them all.

“I find it weird that Tim would have passed all of Jay’s scrutiny,” Trinity said. “He’s normally on top of all of that.”

“Yeah, but the club has grown so much he hired a new human resources person,” Emilee said. “Remember Trinity? We introduced you to her at the tea party the other day.”

“There were several new people at the tea party, I’m getting old. Remind me again?”

“Lily,” Mackenzie told her. “Adorable blonde wears her hair in pigtails.”

“Lily,” Savannah parroted. “Lily from the playdate?” She felt the blood drain from her face.

“Yeah, why? You, okay?” Emilee asked.

“Lily knows Tim, or at least, she seemed to,” Savannah said.

“That makes sense,” Emilee confirmed. “She’d be familiar with him if she was the one to hire him and do the background check.”

“What if–” Savannah couldn’t find the words.

“Are you thinking that she’s one of them?” Trinity asked.

“Tim told me there were others. Others who had eyes and ears on us,” Savannah explained.

“That means one of two things,” Trinity replied.

“What two things? I’m only thinking one,” Savannah told her. “I’m thinking she’s one of them. A Reject.”

“Or the other thing…” Trinity said. “She could be just like you. Being blackmailed.”

“Oh my gosh, you are right!” Savannah said. That poor girl. If she was being blackmailed like I was… and she doesn’t have a clue that The Watchmen are all over it.”

“Right?” Trinity said. “She could be in the same situation you were in.”

“Should we call her?” Emilee asked, reaching for her phone.

“Absolutely fucking not,” a loud male voice said, causing them all to jump.

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