Page 33 of Property of Mercy
“I said I was looking forward to not being covered in bruises.”I glance at his hand, then at him.“But it seems you had other ideas,Pres.”
“In that case,” he growls, just before slapping me across the face.
I slowly turn my head back to look at him and fight the tears that want to escape their prison.When I win the battle, he tosses me down in one of the chairs across from his desk before going around it and taking a seat.He watches me with narrowed eyes, his fingers steepled in front of his lips, looking very much like the man in control.
“Will you just spit it out already?”I snap.
“Paisley, how about we go over your story one more time?”he says.
I grip my hands together so tightly my knuckles turn white and do my best to hide the fear currently coursing through my body.“I’ve told you everything there is to tell you.Why don’t you get to the point of what this attack was really all about?”
He slides a file folder across the desk toward me.Leaning away from the desk as far as the chair will allow, I watch as if it’s a snake about to attack.
“Why don’t you see what we found out?”The tone of Relic's voice sets off all the warning bells in my head.
“What is it, Paisley?Why would you be afraid of what I had to show you unless you had something to hide,” Relic says.
I reach out with shaky hands and pull the file off the desk into my lap.Flipping the folder open, I want to scream at what looks back at me.There in front of me is the evidence that I am exactly where I did not want or need to be.
“Or should I call youAinsley?”The look of pure satisfaction on Relic’s face when he drops his bomb makes me want to punch him.
Anger like I’ve never felt before bursts inside my chest.I toss the file back on his desk, letting the contents spill out.“So what exactly is this big show all about?”
“Tell me if I’m wrong.Weren’t you tasked with keeping sweet little Jenny safe while she was at school?What do you think the man who assigned you the failed task would do if he discovered you right under his nose?”Relic wonders.
Huffing out a laugh, I pretend to relax into my chair.“I mean, I didn’t run and change my name for the hell of things.So, tell me exactly what it is you want.Because to be honest, I don’t see how any of this matters to you.”
“Oh sweet, sweet Ainsley.It very much matters to me.”Relic stands coming around his desk to sit on the corner glaring down at me, “It very much fucking matters to me.Keeping this little secret to myself not only keeps you breathing, it also gives me eyes and ears where I wouldn’t typically have any.”
“Why exactly do you need eyes and ears in places you usually don’t?”That’s when it all finally clicks.“It’s you!You’re the one that’s helping the sex trafficking ring.”
“Well fuck, it seems Hermes being impressed by your abilities was warranted.”Relic stands walking back behind his desk, taking a seat.“As smart as you are the brothers would never believe that their Pres would do something like that.I mean, I grieved Jenny’s death just like everyone else.”
Standing abruptly, I fight tears once again.“You son of a bitch.She didn’t deserve what happened to her.How could you?”
Shock flashes across his face before settling on a bored look.“She chose wrong.And … how else was I supposed to keep the brightest of us distracted?”
I want to rage at this man, but I know I must play this smart if I’m going to get out of here alive—and mostly in one piece.
“As great as all this is, what the fuck is stopping me from just telling the brothers what I know?”I question, crossing my arms over my chest.
Relic throws his head back and laughs.“Are you serious?Who are these men going to believe their Pres and brother—or the woman who was supposed to watch out for sweet little Jenny but instead abandoned her and turned her over to those monsters?”
“No, that’s not true.That’s not what happened at all.I would never have done that.”The tears are now falling unchecked down my face.
“I know that, and you know that.When the story gets told, what version is everyone is going to hear and believe?”Relic’s words hit me in the chest like a bullet.
Sitting on the edge of the chair, I rub the pain in my chest, trying to stop the rising panic attack.“What do you want from me?Why didn’t you leave me to bleed out?Why go through all the trouble?”
“When the time comes, you’ll know what I need you to do.Until then, just keep doing what you’ve been doing.”Relic’s grin is pure evil as I stand on shaky legs.“Oh, and Ainsley?This stays between us.”
I look at him over my shoulder.“Like you said before, who would believe me anyway?I’m just the bitch that let Jenny die.”
Relic’s sinister laughter follows me out the door as I nearly run to Mercy’s room.I make sure to lock the door before rushing to the bathroom, making it just in time to fall on my knees over the toilet and lose everything in my stomach.When there is nothing left, I stand on shaky legs, rinse my mouth out, and climb into bed, too emotionally and mentally drained to do anything else.
I’ll figure out how to save myself another day.For now, I’m just going to wallow in misery.And that’s exactly what I do every day after my meeting with Relic until the night Mercy gets back.
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