Page 41 of Erotic Behavior (Observant Behaviors)

“Ms.Wessex, good to see you,” she said curtly as she took in the vision of Raven in my lap.Immediately, Raven tensed and turned to Pamela.Her visits had been less frequent, but she still showed up occasionally.It was getting to where I was annoyed and about to revoke the privilege of coming up all together.Raven went to move, but I pulled her back into my lap, only allowing her to turn and face the blonde woman standing at the other end of the table.

“Pamela,” she said in a voice that sent chills down my spine.Pamela didn’t heed the warning though, instead she moved across the room and handed me a folder.

“This couldn’t wait.It appears we are being served with a search warrant this afternoon.”

I opened the file, trying to keep the information to myself, but failed.Raven’s body tensed and she reached for it.

“What are you doing with information on Calvin Sorrento?”she asked as she pulled the five-by-seven picture of the cop that was terrorizing my business out of the folder.

“You know this man?”

“Beckett, he’s my ex.”

Two Worlds

Raven

ThelookBeckettgaveme when I told him Calvin was my ex morphed from confusion to anger in less time than it took me to let out the breath I was holding.His body tensed and I quickly got up from his lap and stepped back as he stood.

“He’s what?”

“My ex.”I shifted my eyes to Pamela because this was not a conversation I wanted to have in front of her.Beckett didn’t even flinch.“He’s the guy I was dating before my mom got sick.We were together while I was in college and at the beginning of my mom’s illness, but it didn’t last.”

He took a step forward, crowding me, and I stepped back again, trying to keep some space between us.In all the time I had been with Beckett, I had never seen him angry.Not like this.He was furious with his mother and what had happened with William, but there was something different this time.He looked at me like he didn’t even know me and that cut straight into my heart.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Tell you what?It’s not like I never dated anyone.You know that.”

“But you were a virgin!”he yelled, making me flinch.I turned away from him and looked at Pamela, desperate for her to leave, so the humiliation of it all wasn’t on display.The evil woman just stood there with her arms crossed and a sickening smile on her face.Beckett turned to see what I was looking at, and finally something clicked.

“Pamela, go to the office.I’ll meet you there as soon as I’m done with this.”

“Yes, sir.”

The way she said ‘sir’ made my skin crawl.She didn’t have a right to call him that.It was what he liked to hear from me and only me.The tears sprung to my eyes as soon as she turned her back and I watched her hips swing as her high heels clicked along the marble floor.

“Look at me, Raven.”

As much as I didn’t want to obey him, I had no choice.Beckett was my world, and he had trained me to respond to him.My heart, my body and my soul were tied to him and even with him mad at me, I couldn’t deny what he asked.

“This man,” he said, pointing to the photo on the table, “Is trying to destroy me.Do you understand what that means?”

“How?”

“I need to know what you told him about me.”

“Nothing, Beckett I swear.He has no idea where I am.”

“When was the last time you talked to him?”

“The night before the auction.He showed up at my place, wasted, and I let him sleep it off on the couch.By the time Talia and I woke up in the morning, he was gone.”

“And then you just disappeared?That’s all he knows?”

“Not exactly.”

“What, exactly, does he know, Raven?”