Unfold Me (14 page)

I sense someone’s intent gaze on me and realize Archer is the one staring at me, his jaw tight. He doesn’t like that I’m talking to Theo. Good.

“Yeah, I’d love to see them.” What I want is to make Archer annoyed even more when he sees me leaving somewhere with Theo. I wonder if he’ll follow us. If Archer starts to see Theo as a threat, that could be useful and cause a serious rift between them.

“Then come with me.” Theo offers me his arm and I take it, letting him escort me out of the room. My stomach does a nervous flip when we get into a dark room, and Theo steps away from me and switches on the lights. The room is completely filled with dog cages, barely big enough to fit a person, and the slaves are crouched in them, their eyes covered with blindfolds. Nobody moves or makes a sound as Theo leads me toward three cages at the back.

“This one is Bindy.” Theo points at a woman huddled in the cage. “This is Rex. He’s like your Isaac, but a bit older. And the last one is Oscar.”

“Nice,” I say quickly. If I stay a minute longer, I’m going to throw up. “Let’s go back, shall we? I don’t like it here. It’s so cold and dark.”

“Yes, of course.”

“So where do you keep them?” I ask. “I mean, I have only one and I find it difficult to keep him hidden.”

“I have a big house,” he says. “And my staff knows about them, so it’s not a problem. They all signed non-disclosure agreements, so I don’t have to worry about anything.”

“No one ever called the cops on you?”

“God, no. But even if they come, my slaves are well-trained not to say anything stupid.” He grins, and I want to bang his head against the wall until his smile disappears.

“Oh, mine would do the same, but I don’t know... Sometimes they act like such mindless animals that I just don’t know.” I innocently bat my eyelashes at him.

“Too true.” The light in his eyes intensifies. “I really like you. We seem to have similar opinions.”

“I like you too.”

“Katherine, can you come over here for a second?” Archer says as soon as Theo and I return to the main room.

“I’ll be right back. I think we have much more to talk about.” I wink at Theo, a broad smile on my face, as I make my way across the room.

Archer’s fingers painfully wrap around my arm and he tugs me toward the hallway, into the shadows and far enough from everyone else.

“What are you doing?” he hisses. “First your slave, and now that man...”

“Let go of me.” I pull my arm out of his grip. “I’m not your slave. Don’t talk to me like that.”

He exhales, his nostrils flaring, his jaw clenched, but then he wipes all emotion off his face. “You’re right. I’m sorry, but seeing that guy all over you and you smiling so sweetly at him... It makes me angry. You’re mine, Katherine. I don’t want anyone else near you.”

“No, Archer, I’m not yours,” I say. “At least not yet.” I can’t exactly outright refuse him now that he trusts me.

“Then tell me what to do.” His eyes are almost pleading, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen him like this. It amuses me to no end.

“First, don’t accuse me of things I didn’t do. I was only inspecting my slave for damage. I like the scars on his back, but I don’t want any on his ass.” I place my hand on my hip. “I was talking to Theo because I was trying to be nice. That guy actually knows my father. Do you know what a disaster it would be if my father found out that I’m here with you after everything that happened between us?”

“Theo won’t say anything about you to anyone, I promise. I wouldn’t be throwing parties for people I can’t trust.”

“Are you sure about that? Because people are people, and if someone has a good enough reason, they’ll turn against you.” I meet his eyes. Come on, Archer, tell me what you really have on him.

“Don’t worry. I have a deal in place.” He lowers his voice, leaning toward me to whisper into my ear. “I have enough evidence against Theo that if it somehow reaches the cops, he’d never get out. You think having slaves is the only thing he does? He’s killed two people, and no, it wasn’t a hunting accident like he claimed, although hunting was involved. He got away with it thanks to his friends at court, but I assure you no one would be able to save him if I handed over what I have.”

“Good.” Of course Archer is hanging out with criminals. That doesn’t surprise me in the least. “Let’s get back to the party.” I place my hand on Archer’s arm, and his face immediately lights up. “The host shouldn’t be gone for so long.”

“Yeah, you’re right. Let’s go.”

“You should go lie down in my room,” I say to Isaac when we get home. “I’ll go get some cream for the bruises.”

“I’ll be fine.” He flashes me a smile, but it doesn’t reach his eyes. “You don’t have to fuss over me. Archer didn’t break me. I’m tougher than that.”

“I know, but just...”

“Okay, I’m going.” He heads for my room. As I get to the bathroom and grab what I need, my thoughts drift back to Archer.

“Shh,” Archer says, caressing my hair. “It’s okay. I know it hurts, but it’ll go away.”

He wraps his arms around me and holds me close. I bury my face into his shoulder while he traces circles across my back, careful not the touch the welts on my skin. The welts he’s made.

“I’ll take care of you.” He leans back so his head rests against the headboard, and I settle in his arms. When he pulls the covers over me and plants a soft kiss on the top of my head, I forget about the pain and close my eyes. His gentle touch and protection is exactly what I need right now.

I push the memory away and hurry toward my room. I don’t know what Isaac needs or wants. Maybe he’d prefer to be left alone. When I walk into the room, he’s almost finished undressing. He turns toward me.

“Do you want me to do this or...?” I ask.

“You can do it.” He shrugs. “If you want to. I told you it doesn’t matter. It’s nothing. Raphael wouldn’t even spare it a second thought.”

“Okay then, take off your boxers and lie down on your stomach. Just because you think it’s not serious doesn’t mean you can’t get an infection or something. And Raphael’s an asshole.”

He raises his hands up in defeat, and does as I say. There’s only one tiny dot of blood on his skin, and I carefully clean it with an antiseptic, then gently rub in some cream onto the welts and bruises. When I’m done, I wipe my hands with a tissue.

“You should get some rest,” I say, getting to my feet.

He lifts himself up and looks at me. “I... Can you stay with me? Please?” His face is unreadable, but his eyes are filled with anguish.

“Yeah,” I say, and his lips part in surprise. Pulling away the covers, I climb into the bed. I don’t want to lie down, so I sit with my back resting against the headboard. Isaac shifts, eyeing me carefully, then lowers his head onto my thigh. I place my hand on his head, caressing his hair, and he pulls himself even closer to me. Grabbing the covers with my free hand, I tug them over him. His hand searches mine and I take it. I keep running my fingers through his soft hair as he closes his eyes.

***

When Isaac is fast asleep, I slowly and carefully extract myself from his embrace and head to the living room. After I turn on my laptop and get some hot chocolate, I go on a hunt for details about people I’ve met at the party. A couple of clicks later, I find Theo’s social media profiles, and decide to send him a friend request. He accepts only a few minutes later, and a slow smile crosses my lips. All I have to do is get Archer jealous enough, and that might start a chain of events that could lead to Archer’s downfall.

Messing up Theo’s life is just the beginning. He totally deserves it, which makes everything easier. All I have to find out is if Theo has any innocent family members that Archer could threaten or kill to send Theo a message. Would Archer hurt someone else to get back at Theo or would he go straight for him? Just because I want him to go for Theo alone doesn’t mean he’s going to do it. I have to make sure Theo isn’t important to Archer or to any mob boss in the city. Knowing Archer, he could easily snap and he’s capable of anything if he thinks he’s been wronged.

As I scan through the photos on Theo’s profile, I notice he’s usually surrounded by a lot of beautiful women, but never the same one. Besides, his profile says he’s single. Good. At least an innocent girl won’t get caught in the potential crossfire. Theo’s family apparently lives on the other end of the country, and they aren’t really talking much.

That could be good too. I wonder if it has anything to do with the type of lifestyle that Theo leads. I bet he wouldn’t invite his mother over for a visit and introduce her to his slaves. She’s far enough that she can’t really come over unannounced. When I’m about to close Theo’s profile, I notice the background in one of the photos. It looks familiar... I realize it’s one of the clubs downtown. If Theo likes to hang out there, I could try finding him there. I’ve been to that club before, so it wouldn’t be a surprise.

Actually, I’ve probably been to every club around here, because finding one-night stands without running into your old ones is kind of easier in different clubs, and by the time I return to one, everyone has already forgotten me. For a moment, I wonder if Archer went after men I hooked up with. If he’s following me all the time, he probably knows all about my sex partners, but I suppose he knows I’ve never done anything else with those men and he isn’t stupid enough to go around attacking people. Hell, maybe he was even glad when he found out, because he knew I was still in a way his... unable to ever form a serious connection or a relationship with anyone.

I check Theo’s friends list, but I don’t see anyone familiar, except for that woman, Miranda. That’s good. He’s not friends with the Senator’s daughter, so she’s still my best target. I search for her profile, but it’s private, so I can’t do anything, but I end up finding more photos of her and a few articles. She’s Senator Marxon’s only daughter and the articles say only the best about her: she graduated from a private high school with honors, she speaks several languages, she’s gotten into one of the best colleges, plays a violin, and has won multiple trophies in horse jumping.

She’s this city’s perfect girl... well, if any of that is actually true. She even has a boyfriend, a guy from an upstanding family, with whom she’s been in a relationship since high school. Oh yeah, a sex scandal would ruin everything for her forever and put a stain on her whole family. If the whole thing leaked out about sexual slavery and human trafficking... well, there goes everything.

I was a victim, and yet my father has done everything to hide my secret from the world because he knew that if people saw one of the videos Archer filmed, they would look at me differently, and he didn’t want that for me. I didn’t want it either. All I wanted was to push everyone away from me. It had taken days until I finally dared to go out, but I still kept looking over my shoulder and seeing the people around me as potential monsters. So if people found out the truth about Ericka Marxon, even if she somehow managed to convince everyone she didn’t know, the world would still turn against her.

I close my laptop and sit back. The only problem is how to make Ericka scared enough so she turns against Archer, because I can’t exactly talk to her about this or Archer would immediately know. I don’t even know if she has enough resources to fight Archer’s men, who are everywhere, from police stations to fancy hotels. But she’s still my best option.

“Where are you going?” Isaac asks with suspicion in his voice as I put my earrings on.

“Out. I know where Theo will be tonight, and I want to make sure I run into him,” I say. “He’s our best shot, especially because Archer already lost his mind just because I was talking to him.”

“If you say so,” Isaac mutters.

I glance at my reflection in the mirror, satisfied with my makeup, and turn to face Isaac. “That’s what we want, isn’t it? To get Archer jealous so he turns against one of his own. If he does that even though Theo didn’t do anything wrong, everyone else will freak out.”

“I know. I just don’t think you should be going out with him.”

“I’m technically not doing that. I’m just going out to have fun like I always do. No one will see anything suspicious in that. And if I see Theo, all the better.”