Page 85 of Web of Lies
Chase shifts uncomfortably in his seat, peering behind him and back at me. He shoves his dinner into his mouth, head hanging low. “Embezzlement,” Chase whispers, eyes finding mine. “You asked me before what they had on me.” I nod.
“Your dad?” I whisper. Shame sparks through his eyes, his shoulders slumping forward. Strands of his shaggy blonde hair fall into his gray eyes, concealing the pain twisting on his face.
“Yeah,” he whispers back. I reach over with my free hand and weave our fingers together, bringing his attention back to me.
“That’s not on you, though. That’s all on him,” I whisper, squeezing his hand in support.
“If-if he didn’t do it—he’d probably be broke. Ainsley and I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for him. Which sounds terrible considering we know about it. He’s taking money from his own company, hiding it just to support us. This school. Our lifestyle.” Chase swallows hard, and I see where the guilt is coming from. Deep in his heart, he knows his father is wrong for what he’s done, but he can’t out him. They’ll be homeless, schooless, and friendless. They’ll lose everything the moment his father is outed as a fraud and a thief.
My eyes stare at the codes swirling on the screen in front of me.
“Do you have proof?” Turning my head towards Chase, I examine his stiff behavior. His tongue darts out, licking his lips.
“I—uh,” his voice stammers, his hands reaching into his pocket. “Just the text,” he says, swiping through his phone.
“So, you’ve never caught your father doing this? No physical proof?” His eyebrows shoot up into his hairline.
“I—uhh—well, I’ve never asked him outright. I just… assumed?” His voice raises an octave, then falls flat. “But what if… what if it’s not true? And they…”
“They played on your vulnerability?” I finish his sentence, his head nodding in agreement.
“Your father plays loose. It’s a shame he’s about to lose. If you play the game, your secrets are safe with us. If you disobey, punishments will await, so play the game, follow the rules, and we seal our lips.” My head cocks to the side, clicking on the file they sent with the text message.
The PDFs download onto his phone, displaying page after page of proof. Money from Benoit’s production company funneled into his bank account, hidden from the IRS and his business partners. Part of me wonders if this is all photoshopped for Chase’s benefit to keep him in line. Although, the twin’s situation really happened. But how many secrets can everyone have?
“This could be faked,” I say with uncertainty.
Chase takes back his phone, pocketing it. “I don’t know. What if it’s real, and they expose this? We’ll lose everything.” Shame fills him again, and his eyes are conflicted about what to do. If he stays with me, he knows what will happen. Zepp and Seger’s punishment is proof of what their disobedience caused them.
“Then it looks like I’m going to have a busy Saturday.” I shrug, switching to a new screen on my computer.
“How?” Chase leans in towards the computer as my fingers get to work.
“Your father has a business, and he has records of everything. In theory, I should be able to access his business files, his personal computer and extract proof. If they could pull these pages to keep you in line, then I should be able to, too.” My grin grows wider at Chase’s wide eyes.
“You can seriously do that?” Chase breathes, relief spilling through his body. His stiff shoulders relax just a little.
“Of course, she can,” Zepp says from behind my chair. His heated gaze spills across me as he watches me work.
“Watching her fucking work gets your rocks off, doesn’t it?” Seger stuffs the rest of his dinner into his mouth, talking through the bits of steak on his tongue.
I snort as my computer finally pings after three hours. “Looks like I found the source of the video.” After a few clicks, I take the original video down from the secure website they put it on, and I ruin every single copy. “After this, I’ll get alerts if anyone tries to upload it again.” The twins stand behind my chair now, surrounding me with their presence.
“We’re never letting you go now,” Seger says in awe, staring at the computer.
“Never, ever,” Zepp says, placing a hand on my shoulder.
“Fuck it,” Seger groans, leaning in towards my face. “You’re the fucking queen,” he mutters before his lips are on mine.
My mind goes back to the little oasis Chase had just taken me to. Seger’s lips are more demanding, more savage against mine. His hand finds the back of my neck, begging me to melt into him, making us one. He groans as my lips open for him. Our tongues twist, melting together in true Seger fashion.
My eyes stay closed even when he removes his lips from mine. His breath fans my face, nose nudging against mine. “Seriously, you’re fucking amazing. You don’t understand how much this means to us that you would take that shit down before our dad got wind of it. We owe you so much.” His lips brush mine again, just one last time, before he pulls away.
Zepp leans down, pressing his lips against my cheek. “Thank you, Kaycee. We are here for you every step of the way. We’ll help you, always.” His lips brush my cheek again, and then he pulls away.
“All right.” Seger jumps to his feet with a clap. New energy bursts through his veins, his eyes wild with excitement. “We have a crazy, blackmailing cult to take down and a murderer to find.” His body jolts, realization churning in his eyes.
The moment hangs in the air. Our gazes turn toward Chase’s confused expression. “You in or you out, Benoit?” Seger asks, taking a step closer to me, placing his hand on my shoulder in support. Zepp takes a step closer to me, too, placing his hand on my other shoulder.
