Page 19 of Hacker Auction

Rachelle turned to Rex; the tall bouncer gave her a smile that the subs at Club Sanctorum swooned over. “Well, hello, pretty lady.” He stuck out his hand. “I haven’t seen you here before.”

“Oh…”

“She’s with me, Rex,” I growled at the bouncer, but he didn’t even look my way.

“Well, that means next time you come, we can talk.”

Yep, I was about to fight the man. “She’s not here for the club.”

The fucker pulled a card out of his pocket. “Well then, why don’t you give me a call and we can go on a date.”

I plucked the card from his hands before Rachelle could grab it. “Really? You ask so many women out that you have your own business card?”

Rachelle giggled. “I think it’s kind of cool. I might give you a call once the ogre gives me your card back.”

Rex went to open his mouth, but I pushed past him and shoved the door open. “Let’s go.”

Mia and Sylvia were behind the reception desk. Rachelle stopped walking next to me. I realized she had mentioned Sylvia was one of her favorite authors.

“Good evening, ladies.” Sylvia looked up from the laptop. She was dressed in skin-tight black leather. Her long black hair was tied back in a ponytail. “Mistress Sylvia, I was wondering if you had an extra one of those books you signed last week in your locker. Rachelle is a big fan.”

The Domme’s face lit up. “Of course. I didn’t realize you were playing tonight. You going to do another fire demonstration?”

“Not tonight. Rachelle came into a little trouble. Brock is waiting for us upstairs.”

“I’ll bring it up to you once I finish helping Mia.”

I nodded and tugged Rachelle toward the stairs that led up to Blackwood Security. The other stairs led to the dungeon. Rachelle’s eyes were on the second door as I tugged her by. Brock had said he was in the conference room when he last texted.

Voices floated through the hall the closer I got to the conference room. Inside, Brock was on his laptop. Next to him was Jessica, dressed in a red corset, and across from him was Matt. The large window that overlooked the dungeon was not frosted, and on center stage was a woman tied to a cross. Zane stood to the side with a whip in his hands. “What the hell. I told you I was bringing, Rachelle.”

Brock glanced up from his computer. “Shit. I thought you wouldn’t be here for another hour. Jessica wanted to watch Sophie’s scene.” Brock reached for the remote.

“You don’t have to close the shades because of me. I promise it doesn’t bother me.” Rachelle said, not looking away from the scene below.

“I like you. I’ve seen you a few times over the years, but I don’t think we’ve ever met. I’m Jessica McKenzie, Brock’s wife.”

“Nice to meet you. I’m Rachelle Carlton, currently being watched because this one was overreacting.”

Brock looked up from his laptop. “He’s not overreacting, Rachelle. You know, we have been looking into things at the hospital since your dad took over. I happened to go through your emails. You want to tell me why you didn’t report any of the threats.”

“Threats?” I asked the same time Rachelle harrumphed. “This feels like an invasion of privacy.”

“You didn’t answer him, Rachelle,” I growled.

“There is nothing to report. A few people are upset Dr. Cobb was let go. Then there is the issue of the rumors of why I was kicked out of the program. It doesn’t look right when your father buys the hospital and puts you in a top seat. Especially when so many rumors flew about me over the years. In time, it will settle down.”

Brock grunted before the projection screen populated with his desktop. After which, an email addressed belonging to Rachelle appeared, with each line I read. Anger bubbled inside of me. He flashed another email. They were all from dummy Gmail accounts and not signed, but each one seemed to threaten her more and more.

“This isn’t something that will go away. Whoever is sending these is escalating.”

Rachelle’s cheeks turned red. “Honestly, I haven’t seen the last ones. I set up a rule for the email address to go to the trash. Do you think this person is the same person who cut my brake lines? All of this seems a little over the top. Yes, Calvin had a lot of people that liked him, but I think the list of people who disliked him was longer. Someone told me the other day he opened his own private practice out of state.”

“Each of these emails talks about you thinking you’re too good. I have to wonder if it’s a scorned lover or someone you turned down.”

Rachelle frowned. “Calvin was the only person at the hospital that ever asked me out. I can tell you he isn’t coming after me.”

“What happens if something happens to you? Does he get your son? Because that could lead to your money.”

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