Killing Time: The Bonus Collection (22 page)

“Once Trésor and became exclusive, I withdrew from the life for a while. I participated in enough club functions to throw Severin off or cause him to become suspicious but it was just the two of us in our relationship. I lied to her and told her it was because I had to break her down until she eventually became a good slave but I had absolutely no inclination to make her my pet or treat her like a slave. It was an act because I realized your sister wasn’t good with half-measures. She lived her life in extremes and she had to believe she would have to be reduced to the lowest level to comply.

“You can rest assure the worst it got for us in our TPE was the whole chastity belt thing. That was a sadistic piece of equipment but ironically, she was the one who
suggested
it to
me
. She said I wasn’t giving her harsh enough punishments and what good was it for me to leave her in the cage when she could cheat and get herself off? I told her it was about trust but she didn’t get it. She told me I should never trust her and if I was smart, I would make it so she had to suffer more than the humiliation of the cage.”

Rory sighed. “I realized then Severin had been impersonating me and probably told her I was too soft on her and she took advantage of my generosity. I bought the damn chastity belt and she had never looked so grateful in her life. She wanted me to use it immediately and because I was a bit reluctant, she found a reason to disobey me on something extremely trivial therefore I would have to punish her and use the chastity belt.”

“Is that what Severin meant when he talked about falling in love?” I inquired.

“Yes and no because…I wasn’t in love with Trésor,” he responded in a soft voice. “I was very fond of her—don’t get me wrong—and I admit I loved her very much but there is a big difference between being in love and loving someone. I have thought for a long time I was incapable of falling in love with anyone. My last great love…I was eighteen and stupid. She didn’t deserve my love and she is the catalyst I use why I got into the whole BDSM lifestyle in the first place when in reality, it was probably always there.”

“What happened between you two?”

He clicked his tongue. “Do you really want to hear about this? It’s all so impossibly dreary and boring. It’s worse than an album by The Verve when it comes to all the angst.”

I raised an eyebrow. “You know all about Renaud, my long lost great love. I think I want to hear about the woman who broke Rory Krieger’s heart.”

“Fine but I’m only telling you because well…it is you. And I feel like I can tell you anything without judgment. Her name was Mathilde and she was gorgeous: tall and statuesque with olive skin, long honey-blonde hair and the most gorgeous gray eyes I’ve ever seen until I saw your eyes for the first time. Yours trump hers by a mile because they are my favorite colors: green and gray.”

“And I thought your favorite color was black. Most of your clothes are at least.”

“Black is a favorite too but when it comes to eyes, I have always had a weakness for gray and green eyes. Anyway, her coloring came from being a quarter Turkish although three out of four of her grandparents were ethnic Germans. We met at university and she was the apple of my eye.

“Our relationship was very vanilla for about the first six months until she took me to an exclusive BDSM club she belonged to in Munich. I didn’t realize that is why she wanted me to dominate her in bed. I wasn’t doing what she wanted so she took me there and I had to watch Severin fuck her in full view of the club to understand what she wanted but at the same time, she needed my anger.”

I wrapped a leg around his waist. “I’m starting to see a pattern. Do you ever have a woman to yourself or do you always have to share with your brother?”

Rory grabbed my face and made me look at him. “Listen to me: he may have fucked you up the ass but he will never fuck you the same way we just did, do you understand? Your pussy belongs to me and don’t you ever forget it. If he even looks in your direction just tell him and he will back off.”

“That’s great in theory but what if I don’t want to do anything sexually with him ever again? No hand jobs, no blow jobs and no backdoor love. Absolutely
nothing
,” I explained in a rational manner.

He stared at me intensely. “I’ll make sure he gets the memo and he will never touch you again. Is that clear? And as you know what to look for with him, don’t you ever let him trick you into thinking it’s me?”

“Is there a question I can ask about you only you would know?”

“Yes. When did I break up with Mathilde? He believes it was in the spring but it was actually in the winter. December twenty-ninth. She would have never told him and he doesn’t know.”

I leaned on my elbow as I sat up. “How can you be so sure he doesn’t know or she won’t tell him now?”

“Because she’s dead. She died on my birthday. I had planned to get back with her but when I found out about the accident, I couldn’t believe it. She was the first death in Munich where Severin was a person of interest.”

“When is…your birthday?”

Rory suddenly tackled me on to my back and kissed me deeply. “You’ll know soon enough but that isn’t something you need to be worried about at the moment.”

I laughed and settled into the comfort of his embrace.

Part Two

Discovery

Chapter Thirteen

RORY AND I WERE ONLY
supposed to stay at the Waldorf for a day but business kept him in Manhattan for longer than we would have wanted. The police still hadn’t completed the inquiry and would not release Trésor’s body until the autopsy results had come back.

It got to the point where not only did my family become involved but Rory had to call both Gabriel and his family’s personal attorney just to get any news on the investigation. This spurned the department in action and we were promised her body could be flown to France in several days.

By this time, we had spent more than a week and half in a city I had grown desperate to escape. I didn’t want to explain my resignation from CNW and I sure as hell didn’t want to run into Grayson or any of the Compston family to be honest.

No one was more surprised about my change of residence or status than I was and I thought it only fair to tell my parents what had happened. In typical Gallic fashion, my mother wasn’t the least bit phased by the change of events. She’d never liked Grayson and although she had her suspicions, she kept most of her opinions to herself.

“I take it you haven’t met Johann and Lorelei yet?” she inquired out loud in rapid French.

“No, not yet. We are still in Manhattan and his parents are back in Germany. You don’t…think what I am doing is a bit…I don’t know…it can’t be copacetic in the least bit,” I paced in the sitting room of the elaborate suite I’d called home for almost two weeks.

“What do you care what I think or anyone else thinks for the matter, Aurélie? It’s
your
life. Your sister is dead and it isn’t like you took him from her although it’s probably good you two didn’t meet while she was alive. It sounds like he is crazy about you and with Rory that is a rare characteristic,” she explained.

“Maman, did we ever hang out with the Krieger children when we were young?”

My mother was silent. “What makes you think that? There are a lot of adults your age, Aurélie. You two being the same age shouldn’t have anything to do with your decision and whether you want to make a life with him.”

“That isn’t what I asked and no one ever said anything about a
life
. We are talking about a very adult relationship where we enjoy having sex with one another and that is it.”

“If you say so. Perhaps the Krieger children showed up to a seventh or eighth birthday of yours but that is about it. Your birthday is at the end of September and the twins are at the end of May or the first part of June. I’m not good with birth dates, you know.”

“Maman, I am starting to think you aren’t good with anything that doesn’t concern you directly,” I said in quick French as I turned around to face Severin. His eyes gave him away as usual and he looked less than pleased.

“Well, we’ll see you two soon, right? I’ll make a Sunday dinner and you two can come by. How about it?”

“That sounds great, Maman. Did you two get the…money from the estate yet?”

“Yes, Gabriel handled it quite quickly. Your father and I were able to pay off our little cottage and we are very happy. After Trésor’s funeral, we are taking a holiday on the Norwegian Cruise Line. We’re going to Alaska.”

“Sounds like fun, Maman. I will talk to you soon. Love you.”

“
Je t’aime!
” she exclaimed and I immediately pressed the off button.

“What are you doing here?”

“I could ask you the same but with you having such a charming conversation with your mommy dearest on the phone, I didn’t want to appear rude,” he greeted as he looked around before he sat down on the sofa.

There weren’t many places in the suite Rory and I hadn’t christened so my face burned with embarrassment as I sat beside him. “How can I help you?”

“He sure did move fast with you. In fact, I haven’t seen my brother move quite so fast since…well that quarter Turkish bitch who wasn’t good enough for him. That little pain whore got exactly what she deserved and now I am seeing him repeat the same mistake with you so I am worried of course.”

I stood and walked over to the bar. “Can I get you something to drink?”

“It’s a bit early for booze. A bottle of water is fine.”

“Pellegrino or Evian?” I inquired out loud as I grabbed the French brand of course.

“The same as what you’re having.”

I grabbed two Evians’ and walked over to Severin before I handed him his bottle of water. “Are you merely here to intimidate? It’s the vibe I am getting from you. Rory isn’t here.”

“Yeah, I know where he is. I didn’t come here to see him, I came here to see you.”

I bit my lip and set my bottled water on the glass magazine table. “What could we possibly have to talk about?”

“Oh you would be surprised what we have to discuss. You should know this up front, sweetheart, if you break his heart, I will fucking kill you and not bat an eyelash.”

I didn’t doubt the severity of his words though the reporter immediately came to the surface. “Is that what you did to Mathilde?”

“Ah, he told you the bitch’s name? That fucking slut didn’t deserve Rory’s love and he thought her ass was lined with gold. I hated her from the moment I met her, similar to the way I feel about you.”

I was taken aback by his attitude. “What have I done to you to make you think I am using your brother? Furthermore, how could you hate me when you don’t even know me?”

“I hate how you’ve stepped into Trésor’s place and replaced her in his mind’s eye. She should never be forgotten yet he is slowly losing himself in you. What I find so distasteful about the whole situation is he wasn’t in love with her though she was
perfect
for him. According to Rory, she had some kind of ‘flaw’ he found rather unsettling and he felt he could never truly
trust
her. However, he
can
fall in love with you though we both know this relationship is a disaster in the making,” Severin explained as he leaned toward me in anger.

I didn’t even know how to address his words of venom. Furthermore, I wasn’t sure exactly what he wanted from me. Something inside me screamed he had no right to accuse me of trying to steal my sister’s memory from Rory because this wasn’t the least bit true.