Page 42 of Erotic Behavior (Observant Behaviors)
“He saw my laptop and the website when I was submitting my application.Cal made a big deal about it being a trafficking website on the dark web, but he was just wasted.He couldn’t have remembered any of that.”
“Is that why you submitted you paperwork late?Because you were too busy entertaining your ex-boyfriend?”
My head jerked back in shock.“How would you know that?”
“It doesn’t matter,” he said as he turned and stepped away from the table, pacing the room and running his hands through his hair.“What matters is that the night before you would have met your future husband, you were with another man.A man who is now terrorizing me.He’s a fucking cop, Raven.”
“You don’t think I know that?”
He grunted out a response I couldn’t even understand if I tried.
“I want to know why you knew my paperwork was in late.Did you know I would be at that auction, Beckett?Was I there because you wanted me there?”
This time he turned and looked at me, finally having the decency to look ashamed.He shook his head and his mouth opened slightly as if he were going to say something, but then he stopped.
“Beckett, tell me the truth.I deserve that much.”
“The truth?Raven, you can’t ask me for the truth when you haven’t even been honest with me.Had I known you were involved with a dirty cop, then I would have taken precautions to protect my business.”
“Your business?Is that really all you can think about right now?”
“I have to go deal with this.Pack enough clothes for the week.When I come back, we are heading to my house in Colorado.”
“Colorado?”
“his would be a fantastic time for you to just do as I asked.”
I watched as Beckett turned his back on me and walked out of the room, leaving me there to wipe away the tears that rolled down my face and calm the anger running through my body.He didn’t answer anything for me, but he left me alone and went to Pamela.The same woman who just ruined not only my morning but likely the entire relationship Beckett and I had been building together.
I left the dining room and started down the hallway to our bedroom, only to hear Beckett yelling at someone on the phone and the front door slam behind him.I had no idea how Cal would know that I was with Beckett, and that Beckett immediately assumed I was the reason for the problems just made me more frustrated than before.Cal was known for taking down people he believed were corrupt.I didn’t know enough about Beckett’s business to know what his reputation was in the world of commercial real estate.He was certainly successful, but money didn’t always mean honesty.The one thing that kept swimming around in my head was that he knew more about me being at that auction than he let on.I’d had an uncomfortable feeling through the entire process and now I knew I wasn’t just being paranoid.Yet I still had no idea how he was involved with everything.
When I got to our bedroom, I pulled open the closet and realized my bags were still in the guest room.I made my way into the room and just stood there by the bed.It felt like a lifetime ago that I arrived at this house and was brought to this room instead of Beckett’s.I pretended like I had no expectations going in to all this, but that wasn’t true.I wished for the world and compared to Talia, I got it.I reached into my back pocket and pulled my phone out, dialing her number.As usual, it went straight to voicemail, and I hung up without bothering to leave a message.The second I hit end, my phone lit up again with an incoming call from a blocked number.My heart leapt in excitement that it had to be her and Leo calling, but the second I heard the voice on the other line my blood went cold.
“Talia, is that you?”
“No, Raven.You have Talia’s number, so why exactly would you think this number was hers?”
Surveillance
Beckett
Isatinmyoffice downtown and watched the security feed from the cameras out front of The Pendulum.Sure enough, just like every other day this week, my future wife’s ex-boyfriend was parked outside with the window down and a camera pointed at the front doors.I knew he had nothing on me.If he did, then he wouldn’t park out front.He would be around the back where our high-profile clientele enter the building.Had I known this guy had a connection to Raven, I likely would have handled it differently.Since I had no idea who he was, I was trying my best to ignore it.This wasn’t the first time the police had looked into my club, and I was certain it wouldn’t be the last.There was something about taking down powerful members of the city that they just loved.But this wasn’t just a cop looking to make a name for himself, this was a scorned lover.Well, not lover, since I know my sweet girl really was a virgin, but that may have just made everything worse.
Since I couldn’t reach Leo, I called in a favor to Luca Corsetti.I needed information on this guy and other than Ares Sabino, one of The Dark Kings, Luca was the best one around.By the time I got to the office, I had an encrypted file full of everything I needed to know.Raven’s ex had made quite a stir over the last few years that he was on the force.Now he was known as a dirty cop that would stop at nothing to get his way.I didn’t know who he knew in the department, but it looked like the most he had ever dealt with was temporary leaves of absence until someone else took the blame for what he did.
I sat back in my chair trying to figure out what my next move was when Pamela came walking into my office with two cups of coffee.Instead of sitting across from me, she walked around my desk and leaned against it as she handed me a cup.
“I thought you could use this.”
“Thanks.”
“You know, secrets like this could hurt us more than you may think.Ms.Wessex isn’t what you think she is, Beckett.I hope you understand that.”
She had placed her cup of coffee on the side of the desk and leaned over me as she whispered the last bit in my ear.When her hand ran over my chest, it made my skin crawl.
“Pamela, get your fucking hands off me, and this is the last time I’m going to say it.”
She stood up and crossed her arms as she looked at me.“Relax Beckett.Damn, that little bitch has you wound up tight.”