CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
PARKER
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T wo weeks have passed since I left Aurora’s house with as many video tapes as I could carry. There aren’t many, but there are enough to go to the cops.
That was the plan.
But I haven’t.
The stress it will cause Aurora will be enormous. Who knows if it will leak and then she could end up with cameras in her face? I can’t do that to her.
But I’m consciously aware that there could be other children being hurt. Fuck, of course there are. The pedophile industry is thriving. Even if Mary-Anne’s ring ended.
I should be happy I’ve found the tapes. Never in a million years did I imagine I’d find so much evidence. But here I am sitting on them.
Aurora won’t speak to me.
I could show up at her home, but I won’t do that to her. I’m processing the shock myself, and I knew about it. She didn’t.
I want to hold her in my arms while she cries. I want to ask her what she meant about Mary-Anne not being who she said she is.
But she needs space.
Another few days or a week isn’t going to change anything.
Except I fucking miss her. I’m worried. I walk circles around my office and penthouse.
My mother messaged telling me how disappointed in me she was for not showing up to Michael’s birthday, and I almost replied telling her to fuck the whole way off.
She doesn’t know what’s going on, but she should. She is my mother. After apologizing for fucking up, she should have stood by my side, supported me, nurtured me. Loved me.
Instead, she gave birth to Parker Version Two and is doing her best to make him her perfect child.
I can’t deal.
Aurora is my priority.
I can’t sleep. I can’t focus. I think about her all the goddamn day and night. My cock aches for her.
My heart fucking aches for her.
I send off another message and let out a long sigh. I need to make a decision about how to move forward if she doesn’t reply. Ever.
It’s a possibility.
A few days ago, I shared what happened with the guys over breakfast at Dune.
“Jesus.” Maddox shook his head as he held his fork a few inches from his mouth. “How many?”
Killian, Travis, and Zayne looked just as shocked.
“At least a hundred. Maybe more. Two entire fucking walls.” I said, playing with my coffee mug.
“So, you got what you wanted from her,” Travis said, stabbing a roasted potato and shoving it into his mouth. “Now what?”
I glared so hard my eyes almost popped out of my sockets. “Yeah. I did.”
Fuck him.
“Good.”
“What does that mean?” My brows lowered.
“Guys. Stop.” Killian raised a hand. “No fighting in my restaurant. Or I will fucking remodel and send you both half the bill.”
Travis shrugged.
It was the stupidest threat ever. We were both worth billions.
“Yeah, cut that shit out. We aren’t kids anymore,” Maddox said, and Travis and I had almost smiled at one another. Almost. “What now? Are you handing them over to the cops?”
I sighed. “I don’t know.”
They all stared at me like I had two heads.
“Dude. This could expose a lot of people,” Zayne said. “You have to give them to the authorities.”
Maddox nodded in agreement.
“Is that how she made money? By keeping them and blackmailing them?” Travis asked.
“Could be.” I sipped my coffee.
“How has Aurora taken it?” he asked next.
“She’s thrilled. How the fuck do you think she’s feeling? Jesus. And yes, I’ve walked away and left her alone. So fuck you.”
His dark eyes glared right inside my soul. “You’re a fucking asshole.”
My coffee cup slammed down on the table, sloshing everywhere. “You want to fuck her?” I yelled, pointing across the table.
He held out his hands all come at me dick . “Yeah. I do. Unlike you, who just fucked her over.”
My chair pushed back and the guys all shot into action.
“Keep away from her. Do you hear me?” I yelled as Killian groaned and nearby patrons moved from their tables.
“Aurora doesn’t belong to you. She’s mine.” I growled, ready to rip his throat open.
Then the asshole smiled. He sat back down and picked up some toast and started munching on it.
We all stared at him.
She’s mine.
“What?” Travis asked, taking his napkin and wiping his hands. “Someone had to make the idiot realize he was in love with her.”
Killian pushed on my shoulder and I sat down.
“Jesus, I thought he was going to hurt her.” Maddox shook his head and sat, then dug back into his breakfast. “I miss everything now.”
I kept glaring at Travis. “Just because I’m in love with her doesn’t mean jack shit. I can’t be with her and neither can any of you assholes.”
He picked up another piece of toast and started munching, smiling still.
“You guys keep this up and breakfast is being held at fucking McDonald's from now on.” Killian grunted, sipping his coffee, annoyed.
Travis snorted.
Wiping his hands on his napkin, his smirk disappeared. “Peace, brother. Nobody is touching Aurora. She belongs to you. You need to go to her.”
I gave a curt nod, acknowledging our friendship and peace deal. As for Aurora, he didn’t understand the complexity of our relationship.
“First, you need to handover the tapes,” Maddox said. “Unless you want to deal with this privately?”
I nodded slowly.
The desire to cut their throats and risk going to jail had weakened since falling for my girl, but that didn’t mean going to the feds was right, either.
A private organization might get information quicker and deal with it more effectively.
I needed to decide either way.
“I vote to hand them over to the authorities and Romeo here goes to get his girl. But I’m romantic like that.” Travis chucked his napkin on his plate while Zayne choked on his coffee.
“You own a fucking sex club.” Killian laughed.
“I like to think of it as a dating agency.” He smirked, then gave us a salute as he stood. “Speaking of, I have to get going as I have a hot date tonight and a lot of work to get done beforehand.”
My mouth fell open.
The others stared at him like he’d announced he was gay. Which would be fine. But highly unlikely because of the amount of pussy he had on the daily.
As far as I knew, he’d never been on a date in his entire life. I mean, the guy owned a fucking sex club, so he had pussy on tap.
“With your mother?” Maddox laughed.
“Gross dude.” Travis gave him a sick look.
“I didn’t mean...forget it. Who’s the girl?”
I was also curious. I got why he was such a rogue playboy. His father was a beloved American TV actor and the source of his pain.
Like us, Travis’s father was responsible for his innocence taken way too early. The two are estranged and I’ve often wondered why he didn’t just out the guy to destroy him.
I don’t know for sure, but I think Travis has threatened him on occasion, but we all know people love to hate a billionaire. Travis is worth ten times what his father is, and in the world of social media, it could bite him in the ass.
Like a snake.
“Let’s just say I’ve found a new toy to play with. Someone who can help me destroy my father very publicly.”
“One star. Wouldn’t recommend it,” Maddox said with his mouth full.
Zayne and Killian laughed.
“You have to be fucking kidding me. You’ve been riding my ass about Aurora for weeks and now you plan to drag some girl into your family drama?” I shot him a look.
Travis tipped back his head and laughed.
“I’m not stupid enough to fall in love like you two losers. Watch and learn boys. Watch and learn.”
He drops some big notes on the table, grabs his jacket, and leaves.
“This is going to be bad,” Killian said, shaking his head.
“Yup.” Maddox sipped his coffee. “Make sure you keep an eye on him at the club.”
Pretty sure we are all mentally reciting our code.
Strength in silence: revenge is a patient man’s game. We act in the shadows and never reveal our hand too soon.
“But until he needs us to pick up the pieces, let’s focus on what Parker needs,” Maddox says. “Are you in love with Aurora?”
“Yes.” I admit. “But it’s not that simple.”
“Never is.”
These men know. They’d lived through their own hell. But those green eyes are reminders of that hell. My past. Yes, I love her. I just don’t know if I can be with her.
Now that Aurora knows who I am—the little boy she remembers—and what took place in her home, I doubt she could love me back.
Plus, there’s something else that has been nagging at me.
“Aurora asked me who her mother really is. As if Mary-Anne Whitlock is not her real identity.” I share. “Some of her own memories and experiences don’t add up.”
Maddox watches me for a long moment and a chill runs down my spine.
“What?”
“Send me some of that footage. I don’t want my security teams touching it, but I think the Black Hawke Security guys in Los Angeles might help us. They have access to some dark web and government files that shouldn’t exist. They don’t exist.”
Got it.
Don’t ask.
I’d heard Maddox talking about Josh and Aidan on the odd occasion. The former Navy SEAL and US Marine started the private security company on the West Coast a few years ago. Maddox must supply them with tech equipment.
“I’ll send it over this afternoon. What are you thinking?” I ask Maddox.
When he starts sharing my blood turns cold. I know in the core of my being that he’s right. I hope not, but it all makes sense.
Proving it is one thing, but telling Aurora will be a whole other ballgame.
One that could destroy her.