Page 184 of Torrid Passion
CHAPTER 30
Lochlan
“What the fuck?” Larkin growls, pacing his living room, Kyla’s phone in his hand.
“I’ve played it a million times in my head, Larkin, I’m still stumped,” Kyla says. “I don’t even know if it’s a man or a woman.”
It’s six in the morning and we’re at Larkin’s place in Carbon Beach. I guess I should say one of his sumptuous houses. Larkin lives in one of the many pricey Malibu enclaves—if not the priciest. This exclusive area is known as Billionaire Beach—including one of the highest property sales when a mansion was snatched up for over forty million dollars. In Larkin’s world, that’s adorable.
“Pardon the intrusion…” Larkin pauses. His eyes bounce from mine to Kyla’s. “Perhaps the two of you might have gotten carried away on Loki’s deck?” he asks.
I shake my head vehemently. “We don’t do anything crazy outside of the club. I’ve made it clear to Kyla from day one. Other than kissing, we haven’t gone any further under prying eyes.”
“It seems a member from my club isn’t afraid of repercussions,” Larkin says in a low growl. “I don’t mean any disrespect, but Miss O’Keeffe, why did you wait so long to tell me?”
“I couldn’t wrap my head around what was happening. I was scared shitless. I was embarrassed. All of the above,” she says.
“I can understand,” Larkin sympathizes.
“I guess I was hoping it was all a bad dream,” she adds.
“But it’s real and the asshole won’t go away,” Larkin says.
“After three days of incessant text messages, I knew there was no way out,” she says. “It’s not like I can tell my parents or my brothers. I thought I’d wait for Loki to come back. Telling him while he was in London was going to inconvenience him.”
“You should’ve told me immediately,” I scold her gently.
“I know that now,” she concedes.
I’m still upset Kyla didn’t text or call me immediately to let me know this asshole was creating havoc in her life with his cowardly threats. She didn’t want to worry me she says. As if telling me after I landed would worry me less. We didn’t sleep last night. After tossing and turning, I decided to contact Larkin for help.
“Who’s the weasel behind this?” Larkin asks. It’s a rhetorical question. “Who has the gall to threaten some of my most valuable members?”
“I don’t get it,” I say. “All the members know the rule.”
“Some members, like Mr. Waitfield, choose to ignore them… even after several warnings,” Larkin reminds me. “Not that he’s the first former member we’ve had issues with.”
“Magnus?” Kyla asks, her eyes widening in surprise.
“Do you think he’s the one behind this?” I ask.
“He’s proven rules don’t apply to him.”
“Larkin, he may be an idiot, but those text messages grow nastier by the day,” I say. “And there’s something really conniving––and fairly mean––about them. Magnus doesn’t seem smart enough to be behind this.”
“Not to mention Magnus and Bliss are madly in love. I’m old news to him,” Kyla points out.
She’s right.
Since the gala, #MagBliss are the most talked about couple these days. Their annoying grinning faces are everywhere. I doubt Magnus has spent a second thinking of Kyla since he bumped into his so-called soulmate.
“We can’t rule anybody out this early in the game,” Larkin says. “Too often, people have a hidden agenda.”
“Good point,” I agree.
“I adhere to a very important rule in business,” Larkin says. “Sometimes you have to piss people off––voluntarily or involuntarily––and sit back to watch their true colors unfold. Sometimes it's instantaneous… others you have to wait for it. From my understanding, Mr. Waitfield was confused about what he shared with Miss O’Keeffe.” Larkin knows the bare minimum.
“True,” Kyla nods.
