Page 10 of Stripping Keys
Okay, so that might not all be true regarding Marley, she was good at what she did, no matter her career choices. They were hers to make, as mine were mine to make.
“So, you went underground to find all this out without telling anyone?—”
“I didn’t tell anyone because what I do is no one’s business,” I say, interrupting Blow before he can finish his statement. “I don’t answer to anyone.”
“You answer to me.” Calyx grunts.
I roll my eyes and shake my head. “He likes to think I answer to him, but?—”
“How do you two know each other anyway?” Nines asks, interrupting me.
“Calyx is my godfather,” West answers, and Marla is my best friend. “We’ve been working together since Marla was eighteen and I was twenty.”
“Eighteen?” Blow whistles and leans back in his chair.
Calyx leans forward and jabs a finger at the table. “What’s shared here doesn’t go any further than right here.”
“Not gonna share your business,” Nines mutters, cocking a brow.
“Good,” Calyx says and looks to me for a brief second. It was a second too long in my opinion because I realized exactly what he was about to do. He looks back toward Blow and Nines. “You want to know how we came to working together? I trained Marla from the time she was eighteen to be able to work in the field she now works in. She needed to know how to defend herself after what she endured at the hands of men who thought they could do what they pleased and get away with it.”
“Calyx,” I whisper, looking at him in horror.
He looks at me. “It’s time you didn’t have to hide the way you do. If they’re gonna trust you, they need to know the real you. Not the bitch you like to play at.” He glances back at them. “The scar on her face, she got it when a man thought he could tie her up and threaten her with a knife. Took the knife to her face, leaving behind a small slice in her skin. He knew what he was doing . . . how to use that knife. While he and his friends had her tied up, they played with her. Raped her.”
Those last words were bit out venomously.
“I was the one who found her. I couldn’t take on the group by myself. I had the training, but I knew my limits. I called Calyx. I knew he was in town. He helped me get her out of there, and then he offered her a way out. A way to become someone else,” West adds.
I don’t bother looking up at the two men who now knew my secret. A secret I didn’t want anyone to ever know about.
Damn them.
Why couldn’t they keep it to themselves?
It wasn’t theirs to share.
“If I find out any of this knowledge goes further than this table, I’ll make your lives a living hell,” Calyx remarks harshly. “You are only learning this to show you that Marla only allows people to see what she wants them to see. As protective of my daughter as you know me to be and only learning of her not too long ago, you can imagine how protective I am of Marla.”
Calyx turns his attention to me and calls, “Look at me, Marla.” Slowly, I lifted my head to meet his gaze. “That wasn’t yours to share.”
“No, it wasn’t, but I did, and I don’t regret it. You don’t let anyone in behind that shield. Well, I’m making you change that. You know why, and you’ll understand when you figure that out. Now, tell them the rest of what they need to know.”
Sucking in a breath, my chest tight, I do as I’m told. I give them every little detail they need to know—all of it. I don’t hold back. By the time I’m done, I’m exhausted and ready to get out of there and pass out.
Nines offers to let me take one of the guest rooms just as Calyx offered. But I refused. I wasn’t staying here. I couldn’t.
I finally left, West going with me. Not before Calyx drew me into a hug and told me that it was all for the right reasons why he told them the truth. He also whispered that he trusted that they wouldn’t speak of what they learned today.
By the time West and I made it to the hotel and got rooms, all I could manage to do was fall into bed before closing my eyes. My mind and body were both drained. I couldn’t do any more. Not without resetting myself for anything else that might come my way. I hope that whatever comes next will hold off long enough for me to recoup the draining hours I’ve already dealt with today.
CHAPTER FIVE
CALYX
Shoving my phone back in my pocket, I turn back to the two men still seated at the table. Only now with them sat my daughter and Storm.
It figures those two wouldn’t wait long to join the conversation. They at least waited until after West and Marla left to join.
