Page 125 of Reckless King

I cross my arms to fortify myself and hide my trembling hands. “I saw you, Tate. I saw the photos of you with those women. They made it very clear that you’d moved on without any difficulty.”

This time he does step toward me, but I hold up my hand to stop him. Allowing him to get too close is what caused this heartbreak to begin with.

He rocks back on his heels and grips the back of his neck. “You believing I’d moved on was exactly what I needed. It’s what I needed everyone to believe. Particularly Eric.”

Shock reverberates through me, and I drop my arms. “What does Eric have to do with this?”

With a heavy exhale, Tate scrubs his hand over his mouth. “You know Eric was arrested for embezzling. What you don’t know is that he tried to extort me in order to replace the money he stole.”

Now it’s me rocking back. “What? When?How?”

“The day I went to Onyx. Eric came to see me at my office that afternoon. After I got him to leave, I needed to talk to Reid. I needed his help handling the situation.”

I shake my head. “But what could he possibly have to hold over your head? You’ve never even met before.”

This time when Tate moves toward me, I’m too shocked to keep space between us. He cups my shoulders, holding me gently in place. There’s a line between his brows, and for the first time, I notice the shadows under his eyes.

“What did Eric do?” I whisper.

“He had compromising photos.”

I blink. “How would he get photos of you?” A sudden thought occurs to me, and it’s followed by a slow roll of nausea. “Were they during our arrangement? Did he catch you with… with another woman?”

“Fuck, no,” he says, pain flashing across his features. “I haven’t touched another woman that way since you came into my life again, Violet.” He sighs. “They were photos of you.”

I stare at him blankly. “Me? But I didn’t do anything while we were together.”

“They were taken when you were with him.”

My insides twist sharply. “What?” It comes out with hardly any breath behind it.

He rubs my shoulders soothingly. “He took photos of you without your knowledge when you were being intimate. I’m so fucking sorry, Violet. He’s a piece of shit who deserves everything he’s got coming to him.”

“No.” I shake my head. “No. He wouldn’t.” I search his face for a hint of doubt. For any inkling that he may be wrong. But the rigid set of his jaw and the fire in his eyes tells me the truth, and a stone settles in my gut. “I can’t believe it,” I whisper. “I can’t believe he’d do that.” Tears spring to my eyes. God, I’m so tired of crying. It’s exhausting.

“There was no way I’d let him hold those photos over your head and risk the possibility that he’d use them later when he needed something. Or, God forbid, threaten you with something worse. The only way I could think to handle it was to tell him the truth but lie through my teeth at the same time.”

Understanding hits me. “You told him about the arrangement?”

He nods, worried eyes scanning mine. “I told him I didn’t care what he did with the photos because our arrangement was temporary. He left, but I knew he’d be watching. So Cole,Roman, Reid and I removed any threat he might pose in the future. Him and those fucking photos. But it took time.”

“The photos are gone?” My voice shakes as I ask the question.

He nods. “Every copy deleted.”

The relief I should be feeling is dulled by shock. How could this have happened? I wrap my arms around myself, as if I can hold myself together. “Why couldn’t you just tell me? Why did you have to make me feel so unwanted?”

Tate steps back and pushes his hand through his hair. “What we did wasn’t legal, and I couldn’t risk you getting caught up in that if it went wrong. If things went to hell and the police got involved, you couldn’t be implicated. If you knew, you could be charged with conspiracy or as an accessory.”

I stumble to the couch and sit as his words sink in. “So you ended our engagement and kept me in the dark to keep me safe?”

His only response is a simple nod.

I don’t know what to think. My head is rattling so much I can barely process everything he’s telling me. Eric turning out to be a criminal and someone who would betray me even more than he already had. Tate protecting me by breaking my heart. Everything that’s happened over the last few months. The last fewyears. Even True Brew finally turning around. It’s all too much.

A chill settles in my chest, and my body shakes. Tate sits beside me, and I let him gather me in his arms. I’m desperate to wrap my own arms around him and hold tight, to let him anchor me when I feel so untethered, but I can’t do it. My thoughts are whirling around my head, and my muscles are taut. I can see Tate’s reasoning. How he thought he was doing the right thing. I can’t fault him for that, but the last few weeks have been devastating. I’ve cried almost as much as I did when Dad died. My heart has been torn to shreds. I fought so hard to protectmyself against Tate, only to fall for him anyway. And then the rug was ripped out from beneath me just the way I feared.

“Violet,” he murmurs. “I’m sorry. I’m so fucking sorry that I hurt you, that Eric hurt you.”

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