Depths of Depravity (23 page)

“
I don’t know. I—”

“
Victoria, stop holding yourself back. I’m attracted to you, so I state it plainly. I have basic needs and desires. I have instincts. But I don’t let them control me.”

“
That’s just it. I don’t want to lose myself to it.”

“
You won’t. I’m here for you. I promise. This doesn’t change who you are. You’re just discovering a part of you that you weren’t aware of. The sooner you accept it, the sooner you’ll be able to breathe easier.”

Luther held me
close. Everything that happened over the past few days was like a whirlwind. I had trouble making sense out of all of it. But through it all, Luther was there for me. He was there to pique my curiosity and he was there to satisfy my deepest desires. And now he was here consoling me and helping me keep my composure.

I looked up at him and sighed. His stare was so comforting, a polite smile across his face.

“Where did you come from?” I asked him. “Who are you? What did I do to deserve you?”

“
I might ask you the same thing, Victoria. Come on and eat your breakfast. I think you’ve made enough excuses.”

I started to laugh at him. I took a deep breath and finally regained my senses. Luther took his seat back across the table from me. I shoved some
of the eggs into my mouth to stop any further emotion from pouring out of me. The taste of it was enough to make me forget about everything I was just worrying about. Instead of trying to come to terms with my own self-discovery, I marveled at Luther’s other hidden talent.

“
You know, this really
is
good.”

“
Now I know you’re lying.”

We laughed with one another. Breakfast immediately became more enjoyable. With good food and an even better man here with me, I could finally smile.

* * *

I looked over all of
my notes to make sure that I got all of my facts correct. When I had questions, Luther wasn’t shy to answer them for me. I promised to maintain his anonymity. Even though he said he didn’t have anything at stake, I knew that wasn’t the case. When the article was published, everybody would look in his direction. It wasn’t a secret how close the two of us had become, even if it was only to his friends Landon and Romeo.

The hours passed quickly. I spent most of the day sitting in front of my computer. I only
got up out of my seat to enjoy some of the food Luther prepared in my kitchen. When night came, the sun went down. The only light came from the halogen bulb of my desk lamp. I hunched over my desk and combed over all of the details I had put together. I typed out the last sentence then leaned back in my seat. I exhaled a deep sigh of relief. My hand rubbed the back of my neck as it had been strained this entire time.

I spun around in my chair and saw Luther sitting upon my sofa. He looked so peaceful sittin
g there, his eyes closed and his chest rising and falling slowly. I didn’t know if he was passed out from fatigue or boredom but it didn’t matter. I was glad to have his company.

I stood up from my chair and then took a seat next to him. He continued to sl
eep there in peace as I stared at him. I thought about everything he had shown me.

“
All of this… Did I do it for the article or did I do it for me?”

I whispered the question out loud. He had already given me his answer. He said this article was just as muc
h about me as it was about anybody else. As I stared at him, I realized how fortunate I was to have him here.

I stood back up from the sofa and made my way back to the computer. I loaded up the file and prepared to send it to my boss. The cursor of my mous
e hovered over the
SEND
button. My hand rested upon my mouse. I hesitated for just a moment before eventually sending the file away.

Chapter 23

The Price of Platinum

By Victoria Hill

How much would you pay to satisfy your deepest desires? How far are you willing to go to fulfill your appetite? In this city, there are more than a few men and women who have yet to meet their limits.

The gentleman
’s establishment “Platinum” rests just on the outskirts of the city. The sole black building sits in the middle of a massive parking lot that’s usually populated by stretch limos and expensive luxury sedans. It sits there ominously though you might not even notice it when you drive by. But if you were to look close enough, the plain facade belies something deeper within. Inside of this particular club, you’ll find the men and women who will show you more than anything you thought possible…

Mr. Kelsey paced back and forth as he read my article. I sa
t there more nervous than I usually was. This wasn’t like most of the things I wrote for him.

When he finally finished reading the rest of the article, he held it in his hand. He shifted his eyes between me and the paper, his furrowed brow hard for me to r
ead. He then set it down upon his desk and lit himself a cigarette. It was frustrating as I sat there and waited for his response.

He took a slow and long puff then exhaled a white line of smoke off to the side. He stared at the window and waited a few mom
ents before finally saying something to me.

“
This is… impressive.”

“
Thank you, sir.”

“
I didn’t mean that in a good way.”

“
Sir?”

“
Strippers being paid for sexual favors. A club owner collecting a premium from every millionaire and billionaire in the city. All of these affluent men being sexual deviants. Wild sex parties. This is all hard to believe.”

“
But it’s all true.”

“
And who are your sources? You didn’t list a single one.”

“
I promised them anonymity. But it’s all true, sir.”

“
Then this is no good.”

“
What?” I exclaimed. “Why?”

“
Victoria, you weren’t listening to me. These people you’re dealing with… They’re not like anybody else. If what you’re saying about them is true then it’s their word against yours. And someone like Landon Schrader has enough money to convince people that this is a lie. I mean, did you actually see any of this for yourself? Did you witness any of these negotiations? Were you at any of these orgies that you claim he hosts?”

“…
No. No, I wasn’t.”

“
Then your anonymous sources are useless. You might as well have spoken to an imaginary unicorn.”

“
But…”

Luther was right. This article was about me. But the last thing I wanted to do was become the center of the story. I never intended to write something about myself. It wasn
’t until I was sitting in Mr. Kelsey’s office and trying to argue with him that I realized that this wasn’t about anybody else. My own experiences were memorable and nearly indescribable. But my own opinion and story didn’t matter. It wasn’t enough to convince readers that everything was true when everybody, from Franklin to Landon Schrader to every dancer in the club, would just deny it. I had been through so much and suddenly found myself right back where I started.

I sighed knowing that it was the biggest story I
’d ever written and I didn’t do enough to get it published. I couldn’t argue with him.

“
Do you understand what I’m saying, Victoria?”

“
I understand. I… I don’t know what I was thinking.”

“
Come on, Victoria. You’re better than this. This is little better than the gossip that Lily churns out. Sure, it’s an interesting read but how is anybody supposed to believe you? How much investigating did you really do?”

“
Not enough,” I sighed.

“
You came up with this faster than I was expecting. Take your time, Victoria. Take a break. Maybe somebody will be willing to talk. Or maybe you’ll find something else to write about. I still trust you, Victoria. And I still think you’ll come up with something. Come back to me when you do.”

“
Yeah… I will, boss.”

He took another puff of his cigarette then stuffed my article off to the side. I stared at it for a moment before eventually making my way out of the office. I didn
’t remember the last time I had left Mr. Kelsey’s office so dejected. I wanted to run into a corner and hide myself in embarrassment. But before I could do anything, I heard the familiar voice of the blonde woman my boss just compared me to.

“
So, how’s that story coming along, Victoria? It’s rare that I see you in here so often. What is that? Like, three times in a week? Keep this up and people will start to think that you actually work here.”

“
Good one, Lily,” I said as I walked over to her cubicle. “I… I’m not in the mood though.”

“
What happened? What did the old man say to you?”

“
Nothing that I didn’t already know,” I sighed. “I… I just need to keep going and find something else to work on.”

“
Well, you always seem to come up with something. I’m sure you’ll figure it out.”

“
Yeah, it’s just…”

This story was important to me. But I couldn
’t tell her how personal it was. I had put myself into that article. I knew that I couldn’t tell her that though, so I bit my tongue.

“
I’ll find something else,” I said.

“
If you’re still looking for something, you know that you could always write some gossip. I could use a few people finding out some dirty little secrets about the celebrities in the city. You won’t even have to double-check your sources.”

“
I’m not at that point yet, Lily,” I laughed. “But thanks for the offer.”

“
I’m just giving you something to think about.”

Lily spun around in her chair and turned her attention back to the gossip she was churning out. I looked around to see if there was something that could help me come up with another story. I needed to figure out a new angle for the story I had alre
ady written or I had to find something else to write about. I made my way over to Roy’s workstation. He didn’t notice me when I walked up behind him. As usual, he was hard at work, sorting through a stack of photos on his desk. When I got near him, he turned and looked at me.

“
Well, what did he think?” he said with some enthusiasm in his voice. “Is Mr. Kelsey going to run it?”

I shook my head and sighed. I felt bad about it. I had wasted as much of Roy
’s time as I did mine. But he still wasn’t as disappointed as I expected he would be.

“
Why not? I mean, there is something going inside of the club, isn’t there? You did get in touch with Landon Schrader… didn’t you?”

“
I did. But you know that I can’t use anything without their consent. Mr. Kelsey is right. I put down everything I learned but it didn’t matter if my sources were anonymous. It wouldn’t be enough to handle the spin that a billionaire could put out. It would just be his word against mine and I’d look like a liar.”

“
Yeah, I’m really sorry to hear about that, Victoria. I know how hard you worked on this.”

“
How do you figure?”

“
You always work hard on your stories. You go the extra mile when it comes to finding out the details and putting out a story.”

“
That’s just part of the job, Roy.”

“
I know. I wish I could have taken some better photos. Maybe you could get me inside so I can see what’s going on for myself.”

I laughed at him. There wouldn
’t be any chance of him ever taking a photo of anything I wrote about. Not inside of Platinum and definitely not at one of Landon Schrader’s parties. If we were going to print any pictures about this story, it would be the long-distance photos Roy took with his zoom lens of all of the wealthy men standing outside of the club.

“
Well, here are the photos I took anyway,” he said as he pointed to a small stack on my desk. “There isn’t much variation. But they’re all in there.”

I sorted through the photos. I recognized all of the businessmen I saw on a regular basis during my nights at Platinum. I saw photos of Landon Schra
der. I saw Romeo. Roy even managed to snap a couple of Luther, which put a smile on my face.

“
So, now what?” Roy asked me.

“
What do you mean?”

“
Well, are you going to do what Mr. Kelsey wants to fix this story.”

“
I don’t know if there’s anything I can do, Roy. I’m sorry I wasted your time but—”

“
You didn’t waste my time. There has to be a way to get more sources. All you need is one or two people. Someone who isn’t afraid to step up and talk about what’s going on, whatever that may be.”

“
I don’t know if those people exist, Roy.”

“
It’s your story, Victoria. But I really think you should look into this a little more before you decide on ending it.”

“
I just don’t know any more.”

I didn
’t know how much deeper I could dig. I couldn’t outright ask any of the men to talk to me about what they did at the club. This wasn’t a serious enough issue for me to jeopardize my career. There was no way I would be able to talk to anybody at one of the orgies. All I had was Luther and I couldn’t ask him to squeal on his secret… on our secret.

I left the office that day feeling more dejected than I thought I would be. As soon as I stepped out of the building, I was greeted by the man I had quickly grown accustomed to and no longer felt as terrible as
I just did.

“
So?” he asked me.

I didn
’t say anything as I walked up to Luther. He leaned up against the side of his limo in his suit, a smile on his face. I shook my head and frowned to let him know that Mr. Kelsey wasn’t going to run my story.

“
I figured as much,” Luther sighed. “I didn’t read it but that story you told… I imagine it reads like nothing more than speculation. Without some valid sources, it doesn’t sound like you have much.”

“
Yeah. When you’re dealing with millionaires and billionaires, anything you say about them is practically heresy.”

“
Of course, you could talk about—”

“
No. I… I can’t put myself out there like that. Maybe you’re right. Maybe I should write a story about my experience and talk about everything. But…”

“
You want to keep it private.”

“
Yeah.”

“
How is that any different from the story you’re trying to tell about Landon or Platinum or me?”

“
It’s different. You’re in the public spotlight. People don’t want to read about me. I’m just an ordinary woman. Platinum is the most exclusive club in the city. There are people who want to know what’s going on inside.”

“
Well, it seems the only way they’re ever going to find out is if they go there for themselves.”

“
Yeah… It’s too bad most people will never be able to afford to get in.”

“
But you did. Was it worth it?”

“
I didn’t have to pay to get in though.”

“
But let’s say you did pay to get in. How was your Platinum experience, Victoria?”

The two of us stood just outside of the small offices of The High Standard. While the rest of the city past
us by, I marveled that I was in the company of a man who could afford this entire block. I smiled at Luther then slowly nodded my head.

“
I’m 25 years old,” I said. “I felt like once I got out of college that I was ready for the world. I knew what I wanted and I was going to get it. Now I don’t know what to think.”

“
You’re still young, Victoria. Now you realize that there’s a lot more for you to learn.”

“
You’re right. And that’s why I’m not giving up.”

“
So you’re still intent on trying to write this story?”

“
Not just that. It’s just like you said. I want to learn. More about Platinum. More about the parties. More about myself.”

“
I take it you’re not quitting then.”

“
No. I thought I had gotten to the bottom of this but there’s still more to find. I could use some help finding it.”

“
Well, I hope you find what it is you’re looking for, Victoria Hill. If you need any help, I’ll do my part.”