Chapter Six #5
Violet wasn’t supposed to know even half of what she knew, but sometimes men needed to talk, especially when things were eating at them.
Grit had confided in her a few months ago, swearing her to secrecy before filling in a hell of a lot of details she hadn’t been aware of when it came to the mysterious sub.
“The doubts started creeping in. Grit’s solid, he has a loving family, he comes from good, kind roots.” Those ice-blue eyes ticked to Violet, a hint of madness dancing in the pupils. “You know what I come from.”
“I—”
“Don’t worry, I’m not going to kill you for knowing too much information.
Grit admitted he’d told you everything. Can’t lie and act happy that you’re one of the few with the power to eviscerate me with my own history, but if anyone needs to know, I’m glad it’s you.
” She sighed heavily. “My bloodline is pain, death, and pure evil, Violet. It is a bloodline that needs to be eradicated, scrubbed from the face of the earth. Burned from the soil until nothing is left.”
“Jasper has kids,” Violet reminded her gently.
“Yeah, and the idiot keeps on expanding. He’s breeding the bloodline that forced his wife to become a murderer, kidnapped said wife while she was pregnant.
The bloodline that was going to rape her, impregnate her, turn her into a broodmare to continue the line.
” Tabitha snorted and switched the tap on, filling her cupped hands with water.
“Ironic, isn’t it, that he’s fulfilling my father’s sick wish to prolong the family name?
Consensually, which makes a big fucking difference, but Dominic is probably laughing and gloating from hell. ”
“Do you really see your brother making a life and a family in that way?”
“How can I not? I love those kids. I’ll kill anyone who lays a hand on them.
But they carry Dominic’s blood in their veins, just like me and Jasper and our brothers.
” She dunked her face into the pool of water, gasping as the cold hit her flushed skin.
“We’re monsters at the core, Violet, and I don’t know if I can bear the thought of creating another human being with my father’s biological influence staining its DNA. ”
“Have you talked to Grit about these concerns?”
“Pretty sure he’s not going to be talking to me at all once he realizes I’m actively undermining his efforts to knock me up.”
That was somewhat of an understatement. Doms generally didn’t appreciate their subs making decisions without some form of input—particularly Doms who were in committed, loving dynamics and heading for a more serious, official kind of contract.
“He’s going to find out a lot faster than you’d like.”
“I know my time is limited, trust me.”
Violet reached out to grab a towel as Tabitha dunked her face a second time. “Why steal the meds? Why not make an appointment with Doc Isaac and get him to prescribe you them?”
A laugh bubbled into the water. Lifting her head, blinking against the drops on her eyelashes, Tabitha took the towel and dabbed her face dry.
“I’m phobic when it comes to medical shit.
The Doc would probably end up with his head stuffed in his ass and a few broken bones if he tried to touch me.
Risking that once is bad enough, but over and over again?
I couldn’t take that chance, and eventually, he’d rat me out. They always do.”
There were laws that prevented that, but Tabitha had never been protected by them during her childhood. Explaining that to her now was superfluous—the damage may already have been done… just not to her.
“I just figured what was the harm, you know? It’s a sex club.
Everyone’s either got their dick wrapped or birth control implanted.
I checked the Doc’s records; there hasn’t been any Plan B prescribed for months.
So I took the meds and assumed he’d just order some more after the next stock take. I mean, who was it going to hurt?”
A laugh erupted before Violet could prevent it. The damn thing burst free, slightly hysterical, shocking both her and Tabitha. Once it started, she couldn’t stop it despite the hand she clamped over her mouth.
“Did I say something funny?”
“Oh, sweetheart, you have no idea.” Eyes watering, Violet blew out a quiet breath as more laughter threatened to rise.
The situation was not a laughing matter by any means, but something about it tickled her.
“I’m going to let you in on a secret, Tabitha.
You have to promise, on your life, you won’t divulge it to anyone, not even Grit. ”
Pale blonde eyebrows lifted. “Did you miss the memo about him not speaking to me once he knows the truth?”
“He loves you. He’ll understand. I need you to promise.”
“Callie insists a pinky swear is the best promise.” Holding out her right hand, littlest finger extended, Tabitha waited until Violet curled her own around it, then nodded once. “There. Anything you tell me is now classified data.”
If only, Violet thought. Around here, it seemed like nothing was classified, no matter how hard she tried to keep it that way. Trust, however, was a two-way street. “I needed the Plan B, Tabitha. I needed it and it wasn’t available.”
“You?” Blue eyes narrowed suspiciously. “But you don’t have sex. It’s one of the highly debated subjects discussed by the subs when they get drunk. The general consensus is you’re a closet lesbian who likes squashing men’s balls as an act of retribution.”
“I—what?”
“That’s the general consensus. A few subs believe you’re hiding from a broken heart, others think you’re just a private person, and Leona from laundry services is convinced you’re not actually human.”
“Then what the hell am I supposed to be?” Violet demanded.
“Well, she’s got this idea in her head that you’re an advanced form of AI in a really realistic robotic body. Of course, she’d downed almost a full bottle of tequila at that point, so she might have a different perspective when she’s sober.”
Christ Almighty, that’s what people thought of her?
She was either a man-hating lesbian, a hermit, or a freaking robot?
It was demoralizing to say the least. “Oh, I’d just love to know what she thinks of me when she’s sober.
How can it possibly be worse than being an instrument of artificial intelligence and technology? ”
“That was sarcasm.”
“Yes, it was. The last I heard, AI robots can’t get pregnant when someone steals all the goddamn Plan B from a medical clinic.”
“Wait, you’re pregnant?” The word sang loudly off the marble floor and walls. “Doc Isaac didn’t order more?”
The hint of panic in her friend’s voice soothed some of Violet’s temper.
Things happened for a reason, she reminded herself.
She and Tabitha were approaching this from different ends, but they’d both acted for similar reasons.
It had just worked out for Tabitha, that was all.
“He did, but there was a delay in the delivery. I meant to go into the city and get some, but… I was hiding from reality and missed the deadline for taking it.”
Those blue eyes popped wide. “There’s a deadline?”
“Seventy-two hours,” Violet said slowly.
“Oh fuck. Oh fuck.”
“You missed it.” It was just a guess, but the panic that had been in Tabitha’s voice was now etched into her face. Laughter began to bubble up again. “Well, sweetheart, guess you and I are going to be taking a test together real soon. Are you late?”
“Late for what?”
God, it was like talking to a child. Belatedly, Violet realized that was an unfair comparison because, in a lot of respects, Tabitha was far too innocent about a lot of things, and too experienced in others. “Your period, Tabby. When is your period due?”
“Oh. I don’t know. They’re kind of sporadic, I guess. Some of the drugs Rita gave me fucked me up, sent my hormones out of whack.”
“Wonderful. I suppose we’ll just have to take events as they come. Right now, you need to go out there and confess to Grit before one of his team beats you to it.”
Her nose wrinkled. “What about you? Are you going to tell… the guy?”
Violet snorted. “Not in this lifetime, sweetheart.”
“It’s the guy at the bar, right? The hottie who can’t stop staring at you?”
“If I’m pregnant, there is no father. The child will be mine and mine alone.” Violet sighed and turned to study herself in the mirror. Unless she wanted to look like a woman twenty years older than she actually was, a vacation was in order. “Do me a favor, Tabby?”
“Yes?”
“Tell the idiot at the bar he can sleep wherever he chooses tonight. I won’t be home.”
“Oh, so just a little favor then?”
“In the grand scheme. He won’t take his anger out on you, he wouldn’t dare.”
Tabitha grinned, even though she’d lost some color in her cheeks. “Of course he wouldn’t. I’m a Fairfax. Most people instinctively know not to fuck around with us—unless they’re my sister-in-law, in which case, she lives for pissing my brother off. I think it’s a kink.”
“The makeup sex is probably epic.”
She cringed, a shudder running through her. “Ugh, don’t even bring my brother and sex into the same conversation. It’s bad enough knowing he’s procreated without having the mental images in my head.”
For all her murderous tendencies, the woman was truly a sweetheart, softer at the core than she’d admit. “You’ve survived worse. Now, if you’re feeling okay, I’m going to make my sneaky exit before Boudreaux becomes suspicious and stands guard at the door. Come find me if you need help, yes?”
“Yeah, I will. Thanks.”
“No problem.” Violet tossed her hair over her shoulder and walked toward the door, then stopped. “Tabitha, talk to Grit. All those fears you’re harboring about your father, your bloodline… he won’t understand until you give them all to him. Every last one.”