Page 35 of A Little Discovery

The last two weeks of my marriage were nothing more than a series of gaslighting and abuse to wear me down emotionally. When I was served the divorce papers at work, my father-in-law came to me less than a minute later to tell me I was fired. At the time, I thought he was angry with me, that I disappointed him yet again.

I went back to the house I shared with Sabrina only to find a notice on the door from the sheriff’s office telling me I had twenty-four hours to vacate the premises. I rushed through packing only to find that my cars were all being towed away, including the one I just arrived in. I tried to call my lawyer, the one my father had work on the pre-nuptial agreement, but he was not answering my calls.

Turns out, my mother had informed him that he would lose Holloway Industries and all of the affiliated clients if he took my call. I only found that out when it was too late. Insteadof someone who knew what they were doing, I was forced to get a fresh out of law school newbie thanks to my mother’s reinforcement of Sabrina’s smear campaign.

The hearing was two days later. It wasn’t until Spencer told me that I found out that this was highly unusual and suspicious, especially considering I hadn’t even signed the divorce papers when I received the notice for the hearing. Sabrina’s cousin stayed at the house while I was there before the hearing to make sure I didn’t take anything. I don’t know where she was or what she thought I would take that mattered to her. But while Jasper slept, I started packing in secret and hiding the boxes in the gardener’s shed. I couldn’t risk him seeing me valuing something and having it disappear.

When we got in front of the judge, my lawyer just sat there, frozen. Sabrina’s lawyer spun a crazy tale about me cheating and being manipulative and I couldn’t say a word. It was my lawyer’s job to defend me, but when the judge asked him about a rebuttal, he stuttered and sat down. I was shocked and upset at his incompetence, but he apologized profusely after the fact. I was his first case and he said he was pretty sure the other side missed some steps they are legally required to take, so he was completely thrown off. He said he was going to appeal, once he figured out how to do it.

The judge at least seemed pretty decent since he refused to give Sabrina everything. In fact, he opened up an investigation into how things got so messed up in his courtroom with my case. The accounts are still frozen until that is finished, but Sabrina somehow has total ownership of the house and cars.

When I got back from the court hearing, the police were at the house, denying me entry. I had to order another ride share to take me to the motel I had been visiting. Thankfully, Chris was a good guy and let me hide my cash in the safe there or else I wouldhave had nothing. I still don’t know how Sabrina continued to spend money over the last month or so since the accounts were frozen.

Even at the motel, I was constantly being harassed. Drug dealers and prostitutes kept knocking at my door, even after Chris switched my room twice. It was obvious they had someone watching me. After buying the car and paying for the two classes, I could no longer afford the motel room beyond a couple more nights at most, even with my new friend using his discount for me. So, I snuck back to the house in the middle of the day to grab a couple of boxes of my most important things from the shed and took off out of the city to find somewhere that the Carlisle family couldn’t find me.

After the week I had, there was little left of me except for paranoia and fear. Everything was out to get me at that point because Sabrina had infiltrated everything in my life. There was not a single aspect that she didn’t have a hand in. Everything was somehow only in her name, even though I remember the deeds and titles all had both of our names. She had controlling interest in every investment. Her father was my employer. Her friends were the only people I could associate with. I was her plaything, and she needed a new game to torment me with.

Between being overwhelmed and coming out of the panic attack, I was at my lowest point when I recognized Spencer that day. Thanks to the previous week, my first thought was that he knew Sabrina and was fucking with me for her sake, that he was going to turn me back over to her for her sadistic pleasure. The thought of her finding me, dragging me back into hell when I thought I had broken free…

I ran without thinking.

I was stuck so deep into flight mode that nothing anyone couldsay in that moment would matter. I was convinced that they were all fucking with me and were going to tell my ex-wife where I was. Reading the articles didn’t help either. I had almost convinced myself that I overreacted when I made the connection that Spencer was her friend from elementary school that she mentioned in her interview. I made the decision that none of them could be trusted out of a survival instinct based on the psychological torture of the previous week.

Meeting everyone on a fresh slate without all of that extra crap weighing me down allowed me to make unclouded opinions on each of them, especially Spencer. Had I known then what I know now, I would have runtohim, not away from him that day.

CHAPTER 24

LUCKY

Turns out the Devil’s club is that old supermarket just a quarter mile or so up the highway from McKinley’s. I’m surprised when Jace, Shiloh, Scott, and Eli head into the woods while Jay and Eric join me and Spencer in the car. Eric tells me that there is a path through the woods that leads directly to the back door of the club and that when the weather is nice, most of them will hike down and back while one of them will drive with any gear needed for the night.

When I ask why the guys insist on going as a house instead of as individuals, Jay is the one who answers. “Some of us do go by ourselves,” he says with a yawn. He got up earlier than usual to come out with us. “But we try to come out as a group primarily for the subs in the house. We can keep an eye out for each other better when there are more of us here.”

Spencer adds, “Some of us get into more trouble than others.”

“I resemble that remark,” Eric pouts from the backseat, causing Jay and Spencer to laugh.

I am feeling a lot better about going by the time we pull into the parking lot. After making the trip using the car, I can understand why the guys prefer to walk through the woods. For a club that is less than a half a mile away to drive home, we had to drive almost five miles out of the way to get turned around on the highway because of the concrete median on the road. By the timeSpencer puts the car in park, the rest of the guys are coming out from behind the building.

Spencer and Jay grab the bags of gear from the trunk, and we all move as a unit to the front. When we walk through the front doors, I’m surprised to see what looks like a regular office lobby. There is a seating area, a couple of televisions mounted and playing what looks like music videos, and a person sitting behind a reception desk.

I am so confused.

A rather large man dressed in well-worn and practically painted on jeans and a tight black t-shirt comes from a hallway behind the desk and says, “Sorry to leave you alone, Clarence. Nature called and I couldn’t hit the snooze anymore on that one.”

Clarence, the person behind the desk, clears his throat and lifts his chin toward us. “Theodore, sweetie, look before you speak next time.”

Theodore blushes slightly but doesn’t apologize. Instead, he waves away the comment.

“It’s just the guys from Kink Manor. We’re good.”

Eric glides forward and pats the larger man on the bicep. “Teddy, dear,” he purrs. “We have a newcomer to the house. Mind your manners. He is family after all.”

Clarence takes advantage of the bouncer’s confusion and waves me over to him.

“Hello sweetheart,” he says in a much gentler tone than he used with the other man. “My name is Clarence. You can use whatever pronouns you want for me. I answer to everything, includingHBIC despite certain others trying to steal my crown.” He smirks at Eric who returns the look with a rude hand gesture. The man in front of me just laughs it off, as does the rest of the room.

“If you give me your ID I can scan it and get the forms pre-filled for you. You’re living up at the manor house?” I nod in response. “Good. I’ll update that. Now, what do we call you? Not everyone goes by their legal names here and that is perfectly alright. And do you know where you want to go inside or do you need a tour?”

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