The Seduction 3 (10 page)

“Great guy,” The
man nods to a photo on the wall. “They founded the company
together. I don’t know what went down, but Jack left a few years
in. Killed himself not long after, terrible business. Great guy,
devoted to his sons.” He gives me a regretful smile. “Time and
fate will get us all one day.”

The man slowly walks
away, but I stay, looking closer at the image. It’s from the early
years, Ashcroft and his buddy, but this one has an official caption
too.

Charles Ashcroft and
Jack Vaughn.

Vaughn
.

Holy shit!

My blood runs cold. It
can’t be related. No, it’s a coincidence, it has to be. Plenty of
people named Vaughn.

Except Vaughn said his
father killed himself too. And every time I talk about Ashcroft, I
can see him tense up. I told myself I was imagining things, that he
was just taking my side against the man who abandoned my pregnant
mother. But now...

Now I realize, he’s
been lying to me all this time. Vaughn’s father was Ashcroft’s
partner.

But why keep it a
secret? What’s he doing here -- with me?

I hurry downstairs,
trying to keep my panic under control. There’s a simple
explanation, there has to be. I just need to find Vaughn and hear it
for myself.

Because if he’s been
fooling me for some hidden agenda, using me to infiltrate the
family...

I feel sick, but force
myself to stay calm. I look around, but it’s a sea of tuxedo and
gowns, with no sign of Vaughn in the revelry.

“Keely.” I feel a
hand on my arm. It’s Brent.

“Not now.” I shake
him off.

“I need to talk to
you, right now.”

He looks too happy. I
can’t deal with his games right now, so I keep walking. “Later,
OK?”

“Keely!” He trails
after me. “It’s important.”

“I need to find
Vaughn,” I tell him, still looking desperately through the happy
faces for any sign of him.

“You’re going to
want to hear this then.” Brent grabs me again, and this time I
stop. He’s smug, full of satisfaction. “What I have to say
concerns your
friend
.”

I gulp. “What is it?”

“Not here.” Brent
looks around. “I have something you need to see. Come with me.”

I pause, torn. I need
to talk to Vaughn right now, but Brent is waiting, impatient. Maybe
he knows something about Jack and Ashcroft. Maybe he has more
information.

“Fine,” I agree.
“But you better make it quick.”

Brent grins. “Oh, I
will.”

He leads me out of the
main ballroom, gesturing someone a security guard to come follow us.

My stomach flips. This
can’t be good.

Brent opens the door to
a room down the hall from the party. He instructs the security guy to
watch the door, then gestures us inside. It’s some kind of office,
with a big TV screen on one wall. Brent heads for the video system,
and slips a disc into the drive.

“Whatever you have to
say, just get on with it.” I try to sound like I’m not cold with
dread. “People are waiting for me.”

“It’s not what I
have to say, but what I can show you.” Brent turns back to me.
“Vaughn isn’t who you think he is.”

My heart pounds so loud
I think the whole room can hear. “What are you talking about?”

“I didn’t meet him
at a function, like he said.” Brent smiles. “I hired him, a month
ago.”

“Hired him...?” I
frown, confused. “To do what?”

“To fuck you.”

His words crash through
me. I gasp for air and stumble back, collapsing on a chair. “What…?
No. You’re lying,” I stammer. “I don’t believe you!”

“It’s true.”
Brent smirks, sounding amused. “Your boyfriend is actually a
highly-paid gigolo. The Seducer, I believe he calls himself. He’ll
screw anyone, for a price. His charge for you was pretty high,”
Brent adds. “But it looks like it was worth every penny.”

He hits a button on the
remote, and the huge TV screen flickers to life. It’s grainy
black-and-white footage of a bedroom somewhere.

“What is that?” I
ask, not understanding. This is all too much to take, I don’t
believe it. I can’t.

“The Seducer in
action,” Brent chuckles. He fast-forwards a couple entering the
room, then pauses.

It’s me. Vaughn and I
-- in the bedroom at Ashcroft’s estate.

I freeze.

He fast forwards again,
“This is my favorite,” he muses cruelly. “Blindfolds. And oh
look, bondage. I didn’t realize you were such a kinky bitch.”

I stare at the screen
in horror as he plays it out. The night that Vaughn tied me up, it’s
all there right in front of me in grainy footage. The spanking, the
sex, the passionate screams.

It was all a lie. I was
just a job to him, nothing more.

“Make it stop,” I
whisper, dizzy.

“But we’re just
getting to my favorite part,” Brent laughs cruelly, winding it on
again so that Vaughn is fucking me on my hands and knees. He turns up
the volume, until our animalistic noises fill the room.

Oh God.

“Stop it. STOP!” I
yell, leaping up and grabbing the remote from Brent’s hand. I rip
the disc from the machine and grind it with my heel, snapping it in
two.

Brent laughs. “I’ve
got copies. Fuck, you guys didn’t give it a rest. You really are a
dirty little slut.”

My head spins. I feel
sick, to see our private, intimate passion playing out for them to
see. God, Brent’s been watching it all. All this time!

“Why are you doing
this?” I whisper, choking back sobs. I feel so betrayed, like the
walls are caving in. “What do you want from me?”

“I want what’s
mine.” Brent’s smile drops, and I see the rage hiding under his
cruel laughter. His eyes drill into me, full of contempt. “Ashcroft
Industries should belong to me. My father must have been out of his
mind to think I’d stand by and let anyone steal
my
company,
my
property!”

He’s yelling now,
spit flying from his mouth at every angry word. I shrink back,
scared.

He’s the crazy one,
not his father. I can see it in his eyes: he’s way out of control.

Brent catches his
breath, dialing it back. “Don’t worry, I’m willing to make you
a generous settlement.” He pulls some papers from his jacket
pocket, and lays them on the desk. “This contract transfers all
your shares to me, and agrees to install me as CEO and publicly back
all my proposals for the company.”

“Like breaking it in
pieces and selling it off,” I realize in horror, scanning the
document.

“You’ll be paid a
million dollars for your troubles,” Brent adds with a sneer. “Which
is more than compensation, considering it looks like it was no
trouble at all.”

He leans closer,
sliding his hand over my arm. “If I’d known you were such a
filthy animal, we could have had some fun.”

I shudder, pushing him
away. “What if I don’t sign?” I think fast. “What happens
then?”

“Then I release these
tapes on the internet. All of them.”

I feel dizzy again, and
hold onto the desk for support. “You can’t...”

Brent gives a cruel
laugh. “Oh, I will. Journalists have been buzzing to get to know
the new heir to Ashcroft Industries. I bet they’d love to know what
a whore you are. I’m guessing a sex tape would trigger that
morality clause in five seconds flat. You’d be disinherited, and
I’d get the company anyway -- but you’d be a national scandal.”

He pushes a pen towards
me. I shake my head. It’s all happening too fast.

“I need to think
about this,” I protest weakly.

“What’s there to
think about?” Brent scowls. “Either you give me the company, or I
ruin your fucking life. You want to be a national joke? Just try and
show your face after everyone’s seen you on your knees, gobbling
cock like a common whore.”

Tears sting my eyes,
and I fight to keep from crying. He’s right. I would never live
down a scandal like this. The press has already been asking to
feature me, speculating about my life. A sex tape would ruin me
forever.

As if my heart isn’t
already destroyed knowing the truth about Vaughn.

Suddenly, there’s a
commotion outside. “Get the fuck out of my way!”

There’s the sound of
a scuffle, then the door flies open and Vaughn comes bursting in.

“Keely!”

The security guard
tries to pull him back, but Vaughn shoves him away. “What’s going
on?” he demands, “They said you were off with Brent. Are you OK?”

My heart twists. I
could almost believe the worry in his eyes is out of concern for me
-- that he’s just worried about my safety. But then his gaze slides
to Brent, and I see the panic there, like he knows a secret only
Brent can tell.

It’s true. Oh God,
it’s all true.

“You’re too late.”
Brent smirks. “I told her everything.”

VAUGHN

She knows.

Realization slams
through me, seeing her standing between them in the middle of the
room.

Fuck. Keely knows
everything. The bastard told her.

“You can’t listen
to him.” I take a step towards her. Keely flinches back. “I can
explain.”

“Explain what?”
Keely blinks, tears in her eyes. “Is it true? Are you this seducer
guy?”

How the hell can I get
out of this one? “It’s not like that,” I try to argue, needing
her to understand, but Keely shakes her head.

“Answer me!” she
cries, her voice breaking. “Did he hire you to fuck me?”

I steel myself. She
deserves the truth now.

“Yes.”

Keely gasps, reeling
back. I can see the heartache on her face, and damn, it tears right
through my chest.

“But I broke the
contract before we slept together,” I tell her, my voice rising. “I
gave him his money back.”

Brent stands back,
holding his hands up to say, ‘keep me out of it.’ He’s watching
like we’re a fucking spectator sport, but I only care about Keely.
I take another step towards her, pleading. “Please, baby, let’s
just go talk it out.”

“I can’t believe I
didn’t see it.” Keely isn’t listening. She turns away. “Of
course you didn’t want to be with me, you were just doing your job.
God, you must have thought I was such a fool. Why else would a guy
like you want me?”

“I wanted you!” I
growl, clenching my fists. “That’s why I told him to fuck off. It
wasn’t just a job to me, you’re more than that.”

“I trusted you,”
Keely tells me, tears streaming down her face. “I can’t believe I
trusted you!”

“And I told you not
to,” I remind her, hating this guilt that squeezes tight around my
chest. “I said you should stay the fuck away. I tried to break it
off, but you came to me, remember. You’re the one who dragged me
back in!”

“So this is my
fault?” Keely stares at me, eyes wide with pain. Fuck, I can’t
bear that she’s hurting like this, and it’s all because of me.

“No, that’s not
it.” I stumble. Why the fuck can’t I find the right words? “I’m
just saying I tried to do the right thing.”

Keely shakes her head,
trying to collect herself. “Is this about your father?” she
whispers.

What the hell?

I freeze. Keely looks
at me, her face changing to disgust. “So that’s true too. Jesus,
Vaughn, is anything you’ve told me real? Or is everything about you
a lie?”

“You don’t know
what you’re talking about,” I warn her, shooting a look at Brent.

“I know that I’ve
told you everything,” Keely shoots back fiercely. “I know that I
believed the best in you, despite everything. But it was all just a
game to you, wasn’t it? A job, a way to get what you wanted, no
matter who got hurt!”

I hang my head. She’s
right. I’ve been lying to her, using her. “If you just give me a
chance to explain,” I try, but her expression hardens.

“I’m all out of
chances. We’re done.” She beckons to the guard, who enters with
another two guys. “Please remove Mr. Vaughn from the premises, he’s
not welcome here anymore.”

They step forwards,
grabbing my arms. “Get your fucking hands off me!” I curse,
struggling. “Keely!”

She turns her back on
me.

“Fuck! Keely, you
can’t trust him!” I yell, as the guards drag me out. I try to get
free, but it’s three on one, and these guys are built like fucking
mack trucks. Panic rises. She has to understand. “This was all a
set-up! He’s trying to hurt you!”

“Too late.” Keely
looks at me sadly. “You’re the one who took care of that.”

The look on her face is
like a knife through my heart. I sag, guilty as fuck, and the guard
uses the chance to slam his elbow into me. They pull me from the
room, hustling me to a side exit and throwing me out on the sidewalk.

“I’d take the
hint,” one of them laughs. “The lady doesn’t want you.”

I see red. With a roar,
I lunge at him, slamming my head into his stomach. He cries out in
surprise, and then his buddies are on me, kicking and punching in a
rain of brutal blows.

My jaw cracks. My ribs
explode in pain, and I fall back. Still I keep swinging. I need to
hit something. I deserve to hurt.

“Fuck, are you trying
to get yourself killed?” The guard finally pushes me away. I fall
to my knees, spitting a mouthful of blood onto the asphalt. “Let it
go, buddy. No one’s worth this shit.”

They head inside. The
door slams shut.

He’s wrong.
She’s
worth it.

I slump to the ground
defeated. My whole body hurts like hell, but it’s nothing compared
to the pain in my chest. I remember Keely’s look of betrayal when
she realized the truth: that I’m a lying sack of shit who played
her from the start.

I did this to her. I
let her down.

But I can’t lose her,
not now I know how much she means to me. Fuck Ashcroft and my quest
for revenge. Fuck Brent and whatever mind games he’s playing. Only
one thing matters in the world to me: