Page 128 of Masked Sins
I see a young man who had no idea what he wanted to do with his life. He floundered for so many years—bouncing between jobs and shirking his responsibilities.
I see the stepbrother he aspired to be—the one who took care of me and always made sure I was happy.
I see the need for control—always pleasing me, always making sure he was good for his four older brothers.
And now… I see the man who’s had feelings for me for years.
The audition… he didn’t ruin my audition because he was drunk.
He ruined it because he didn’t want me to move to Paris.
Don’t do this. Don’t move to Paris.
I remember his voice cracking on the last word. I remember how anguished he’d looked.
I squeeze his hand. “Anyway, thank you. For kicking the shit out of him.”
“Since we’re being honest, I suppose I should tell you that I’ve spent far more time than is healthy ensuring all of his prospective employers know what he did so that he’s unemployable.”
I furrow my brows. “But didn’t he end up playing for USC?”
Orion chuckles. “Nope. He was accepted and went for a week, but then the administrators got word of what he’d done. Plus, questionable videos may have been uploaded to his university account.”
I stop walking. “You planted the videos?”
Orion shrugs. “I had nothing to do with it.”
Narrowing my eyes, I focus on his mischievous expression. “You had someone else plant the videos, didn’t you? What was it?”
“Let’s just say it was an explicit video I paid one of his exes to send to my guy. And heaccidentallysent it to his female professor.”
I use my free hand to cover my mouth. “Oh my God, Orion.”
“He’s still living with his parents, and last I heard, he’s in massive debt from some pyramid scheme.”
I lower my hand, and I can’t help but smile. “You ruined his life.”
He tugs me closer, blue eyes blazing into mine. “You wanted a villain, baby. So you got one.”
My breath catches. “You ruined his life… for me?”
He places my hand around his waist so that I have no choice but to be pulled close to him.
“If it was legal to cut off the hands that hurt you, I would have. Trust me, I looked for a way.”
I open and close my mouth. No one has ever…
No one has ever done something like that for me.
In a sick, twisted way, Ilikethat he ruined Derek’s life. I like that he cared enough, that hestillcares enough.
If he’s a villain, what does that make me?
“Well, thank you.”
We continue walking to his apartment, and when we arrive, I mull over his earlier declarations. It was an intense scene—if it was even a scene, I don’t know. I’m still new to all of this. To the lifestyle. All I know is Iwantedto be good for him. Iwantedto please him. None of his confessions mattered at the end of the day because he did them all for me.
If I knew you in real life, I’d ask you to be my submissive. Full stop. I’m holding back. So let me do this.
