Page 72 of Forgive Me For I Have Sinned

"Hell, no. I'm a married man. I love one woman."

"Then all is good. I'm sure Veronica feels the same way."

"Trust me. It was weird, and now that I know the truth, I get why it happened. No offense, but at the time, I'm a man, and she is a beautiful woman. I don't think you could blame me if she had come on to you the way she did. Fucked with my ego."

Draven is a confident guy. I’m curious at what he meant about her messing with his ego, so I ask, "Ego?"

"She didn't get off, dude. It was like a switch," he snaps his fingers, “Just like that. It was over. It was weird. That is all I'm gonna say. It was a game, and she plays it well, but I must warn you."

I slow down in front of his father's office door. "Warn me about what?"

He pinches his nose like I've seen his brother do countless times. It's like watching a clone but with a different demeanor.

Draven looks grimly at me. "What I'm going to show you, all I have to say is…I'm sorry."

A feeling of unease sweeps over me. It feels like I am looking down, and I’m not sure how hard the fall will be if I jump or if there is another way down, so it doesn't hurt as much when I fall. Whatever it is he needs me to see, I am not going to like it.

It is mainly the reason he wants me to come here. He said he needed to show me something when Reid dug into Veronica's past. Whatever it was, Reid couldn't show me. He said he couldn't, meaning...it’s bad.

"Alright."

He opens his father's study door, and Mr. Bedford sits behind his desk. He has a sharp look in his gaze when we both walk in.

"Alaric."

"Mr. Bedford," I say, shaking his hand.

He takes a deep breath and I take a seat, but I don't miss how he moves irresolutely back to his desk, like he isn't sure if he should leave me with Draven and let him show me what I need to see or if he should stay.

"I'm going to make this quick. I have never seen this before because I don't partake in these things. This is more for the generation before me."

He means my grandfather's generation of sick fucks. Our generation fucks girls in college, knowing our lives after we graduate are to serve the Order with a wife in our arms. Chosen by us or not. We play games and don't take them seriously, but who in college does? Frat and college parties are full of college kids, getting drunk and high, having the occasional coke habit, and fucking girls. Not these guys. They're more sadistic and take shit to a new level of fucked-up. I read the book on their history.

Mr. Bedford glances at Draven and then at me. "I'm sorry, Alaric."

He turns the screen, and I see her, and my blood turns to ice. My eyes sting, and I suddenly feel hot. I see the men around her, their faces, and what they are doing, and I imprint it into my memory. The ritual. But I can't get the image of her face out of my head. The look of agony. The pain, her skin and the way they touch her, the way they masturbate like the sick fucks they are.

"It started––" He trails off because even for a man like him, it's difficult to watch an innocent woman being treated that way. "After the night with you. This is nothing compared to the so-called sin she committed. It was never supposed to be you she ended up with. Everyone knew how she felt about you, and the only reason it’s allowed now is because they know she can't marry you."

I swallow the lump in my throat. "I can only use her."

"Right," his father says. "You have to let her go, Alaric."

"I'm not."

"Do you know what you are saying, Alaric? She belongs to the Order and to Dorian Black. I hate to say it, but he played you. He played the game and knew where to aim. He wants her and has her."

I glance at Draven as two tears escape down my face. "I need all the names and locations of those men in that video." He nods.

"Are you out of your mind?"

I turn to Mr. Bedford. "Shut it off," I demand.

He turns the video off and says, "You can save her from them, but you can't erase the damage that was done, Alaric."

"We're all damaged, Mr. Bedford. Fucked-up even."

"You're just going to find and kill them, and then, they will vote to kill you too. The higher Order. I can't vote against it, but––"

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