Chapter 12 – Late-Night Calls
The first real slip came on a Thursday.
I was in the study past midnight.
Hunter had left an hour earlier—another slow, deliberate goodbye at my bedroom door.
I pulled up the east wing feed instead of sleeping.
Alex’s room.
Light still on.
He sat on the bed in boxers, laptop balanced on his knees.
Headphones in.
Screen glow painting his face blue.
He was smiling the way he used to at sixteen when he thought he’d gotten away with something.
A woman’s voice leaked faintly through the mic.
Low.
Teasing.
Familiar.
Chloe.
I turned up the volume.
The picture was angled just right—hidden lens in the smoke detector.
She appeared on his screen.
Silk robe slipping off one shoulder.
Hair loose.
Eyes sharp even through pixels.
“You’re doing so well, baby,” she purred. “Keeping her distracted. Keeping her happy.”
Alex leaned closer to the camera.
“I hate leaving you like this.”
Her laugh was soft.
Mocking.
“You’re not leaving me. You’re getting us everything.”
She shifted.
The robe fell lower.
His breath caught.
Mine didn’t.
On screen, Chloe crawled forward until her face filled his view.
“Show me how much you miss me.”
The laptop tilted.
Clothes rustled.
Skin met screen.
Sounds followed—breath, fabric, low commands.
Her voice stayed steady.
Controlling.
He followed every word.
Afterward, he lay back gasping.
She lit a cigarette on her end.
Exhaled slow.
“Now tell me what you saw today.”
He talked.
Eager.
Gave her the layout of my office.
The safe combination he’d glimpsed when Hunter spun the dial wrong on purpose.
The fake folder labels I’d left visible.
Everything useless.
Everything tracked.
I paused the recording.
Saved it to the encrypted drive.
Felt nothing but mild contempt.
Not for the sex.
For the leash she held so loosely he didn’t even feel it.
I closed the laptop.
Went to bed.
Hunter’s scent still lingered on the pillow.
I didn’t change the sheets.
Not yet.
He was useful.
They all were.