Page 44 of Bad Boy Billionaire Protector

“You have a lot of information about it…”

I looked at her and shrugged. “My FBI liaison was very candid about it all with me.”

She hugged me close again and I relaxed into her embrace. She felt warm and safe and I kind of didn’t want her to ever let me go.

We eventually pulled apart and Beany stood up.

“You want some hot chocolate?”

“No thanks. I feel a bit sick. I don’t think my stomach could take it.”

“Okay. Well, do you want me to stay or go?”

“Stay please.”

“Of course. Come on, let’s get into your bed. It’s more comfortable than being on the floor.”

I dragged myself to my feet and took the few steps to get into my bed. Beany got in beside me and pulled the covers over me. She snuggled up to me, wrapping her arm around me again. I was exhausted from crying but my brain kept running a million miles an hour.

Earlier that evening I’d been deliriously happy in love, with the new man that was lighting up the darkness in my life. Now that I knew Adam was alive I was conflicted over who I should give my love to. Would he be expecting me to wait for him? Was he still in love with me? Did he ever think of me during this time that he had been away in Witness Protection? So many thoughts ran through my head. So many questions that I didn’t have the answer to. They would drive me crazy the whole night and the next days to come.

I had to know how Adam felt. I had to know how Mason felt. I had to figure out how I felt. Overwhelmed, the tears rolled down my cheeks again. It felt like I had just experienced a second death. Christos hadn’t been real. The man I fell in love with was gone. I had no idea if any of the love and affection was genuine or if it was all fabricated. I just felt so sad.

I buried my head in Beany’s shoulder. She pulled me closer and stroked my arm.

“Everything is going to be all right,” she whispered.

But how could everything be all right? How could it be when there was just so much wrong? I didn’t know what to do. I felt like I was drowning in my thoughts.

Eventually, exhaustion took over and I fell into a fitful sleep.

Chapter 21 – Mason

IwasworriedaboutAmber. She wasn’t returning my calls or messages. It had been three days since she found about my true identity and about Adam. So, I made sure to check on her and make sure she was all right. I parked the economy car I borrowed from a fellow grad student around the corner of her building and waited for her to come out. I had a good visual of her building entrance. I didn’t have to wait long. Within about ten minutes, she came out with a small friend with dark curly hair, who looked familiar though I couldn’t place her. Amber hugged the girl and they both went separate ways. Amber looked stressed and had lost that beautiful smile she used to give me. I felt my heart breaking for her all over again and just wanted to go over and pull her into my arms. But I couldn’t. I knew I had to give her time to think things through and hopefully come back to me. So for now, I had to be content with following her to make sure she was okay. I wanted to give her space and not put any pressure on her.

It must have been such a shock to find out that Adam was very much alive. I wish there had been a better way to tell her, but now at least she knew.

Where that left us, I didn’t know. I felt so guilty at having to lie to her about who I was. I was definitely not Christos Ianthos. But the person Amber had fallen in love with was really me, not the person who didn’t exist. I didn’t know if she would see it that way though.

Then, there was the whole problem of Adam. Now that I had revealed that he was alive, she might want to be with him. The whole thing was a complete, fucked up mess. I just wanted to see her and make sure she was all right, but events kept conspiring against me.

It was time to try and get into the inner circle of The Order. The games were starting tonight and I knew I had to do my best to pass the tests. I had no idea what the games would consist of but it was paramount that I gain access to this inner circle so I could get more information about the deaths.

Andrew and I had some heated words with each other that night. I was more than a little pissed at him for making me reveal my true identity to Amber before I was ready. By showing up the way he had and talking about needing to stay in contact, he had put us in a position where we had to either tell her the truth or make up another lie about why he was in my apartment going ballistic for not keeping in contact with him. I was tired of lying to her yet again. We sorted it out when I realized he had been genuinely worried and had only gone to the apartment because I had been out of contact for so long. And of course, it was true what he said about Adam hinting at going AWOL with his witness protection.

He had given me some interesting information about the deaths. He had spoken with Adam and discovered that all of them had attempted to get into the inner circle and failed. There definitely was a connection there. But why would they kill themselves or want to die as a result of failing? It didn’t make much sense. It just made me think that Professor Owens was involved with the deaths even more. I just didn’t know how he did it.

I thought about Paul Robertson and his death. I’d told Amber that he was my friend and that he was the reason I was investigating The Order. Paul hadn’t been my friend. He’d been Adam’s. He was the reason that Adam had been compelled to seek out The Order in the first place.

I prepared myself for the evening’s festivities. Putting on a warm sweater and a pair of jogging pants, I grabbed my mask and cloak and went downstairs to the waiting black paneled van. This time I wasn’t hooded as I knew where the clearing was, having participated in the initiation a few nights ago.

We arrived at the clearing in about fifteen minutes and I jumped out of the van and headed towards the rest of the group, which was beginning to form over at the far end. There were five of us who had been invited to attempt to gain entry to the inner circle. Five lambs to the slaughter.

We formed a short line in the middle of a circle of attendees. The group was much smaller than before, which made me think that it was only inner circle members who had attended. Professor Owens stepped forward and held his arms out.

“Welcome, dear friends. You are the lucky five individuals who are closer to finding entry into the inner circle. Tonight and tomorrow night, you will be put through a series of tests. If you pass these tests you will be one step closer towards your acceptance into the inner circle of The Order. Much power and influence awaits you there. For the few who don’t pass these tests, you will unfortunately be taken to undisclosed location where the punishment will be guaranteed to be painful but not fatal.” He chuckled at his sick joke. "But don’t worry, I hate blood and mess. You’ll walk away with no wounds. Just an experience that will give you a few nightmares.”

The five of us looked at each other, with varying expressions of worry and grim determination.

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