Entangled Pt. 08

Blake took another step back. "This whole situation is messier than you know."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Eric asked. He leaned forward and rested his elbows on his thighs.

Blake took a breath then let it out in a rush. "Jess and I slept together."

Eric surged to his feet and turned to Jess. "You what?" Blake stepped forward. Eric rounded on him, grabbed the front of his shirt, and hauled him closer. "You know how I feel about her!"

"Eric!" Jess jumped up and grabbed his arm. "It's not his fault."

"Let go," Eric growled. Jess didn't budge. "Jess, I don't want to hurt you—"

"Then let him go and let us explain," she said softly. His hands tightened on Blake's shirt. "Please let him go." She tugged at his arm. "Eric please—"

Eric shoved Blake back. Jess let go and stepped back. "What reason could you possibly have to justify fucking the woman I'm in love with?" He threw his hands out to the side.

"My first day there, when I saw her on the beach—" Blake started.

"She ran off and you asked to see her that night," Eric said. "You told me this already."

"I skipped a few parts," Blake said then looked at Jess.

She backed away from them until she bumped into the couch then sat down. "Francois goes with the women if it's the guy's first visit," she said.

"He was there?" Eric asked. She nodded.

"All I wanted to do was talk to her, to find out what happened so I'd have an answer to give you when I called," Blake said. "But with him there we couldn't just talk—"

"You should have sent her away," Eric said loudly.

"I couldn't—"

"Yes, you could," Eric said.

Blake shook his head. "I had no idea what he would do to her if I did." Eric looked at Jess. Her head was down and her hands tight fists in her lap. "I stood there, with that asshole breathing down her neck, thinking about you, seeing how scared she was, trying to figure out a way out of it, and there was none." Blake took a breath and looked from Eric, who was staring at Jess, to Jess. "So I told her to close her eyes and think of someone else."

"Jesus Christ," Eric said.

"The next day I saw Richard Davenport and his buddies raping her," Blake said. Eric looked at him and if Blake didn't know better he would have sworn someone had punched him in the gut. "I tried to stop it. But all I could do, without blowing our plan up, was talk to that fucker Francois. The next morning I did the only thing I could think of to keep her away from Davenport for a couple of days and asked for her the rest of my stay."

"It went on for days and you didn't tell me?" Eric asked in a pained groan.

"No, not days. I faked a couple 'I'm too drunk to get it up' episodes so we could avoid having to put on another performance," Blake said quickly. "Until my last day."

Eric turned back to Jess. "Francois pulled me aside and reminded me that the whole point of me being there was to learn how to please patrons. If I couldn't even charm my own patron's son then I'd need more correction," she said in a small voice.

"What does that mean?" Eric asked as he sank down onto the couch.

Jess sucked in a breath and her body seemed to curl inward with it. "Give me to the guards," she whispered. "Again."

Both Eric and Blake stared at her for a minute, then Eric turned to Blake. "You should have told me. We were on that island for four fucking days—"

"I owed it to her to let her decide when we told you," Blake answered. "If I hadn't demanded to have her sent to me it wouldn't have happened." He turned to Jess. "I know that ultimately all of this is dad's fault but if I had slowed down, thought about what I agreed to, and waited till I could catch you alone. You wouldn't have had to go through that with me." He looked at Eric. "I screwed up and I'm sorry. This entire situation is so fucked up and I'll never forgive myself for my part in it."

Jess looked up at him, her eyes sparkled with tears. "You were trying to help."

"By fucking you." Eric leaned back and looked up at the ceiling. "That's not right."

Jess wiped the tears that escaped over her lashes, stood slowly, then turned to him. "Eric, I'm sorry that you've been hurt by all of this, that I was so fucking stupid, that I fell for your dad's lies. But have you even thought about how that was possible? Why it was so easy for him to suck me in?"

"What?" Eric's brow furrowed as he looked at her.

"You couldn't trust me with the truth about Marcus. But it was because I trusted you, actually trusted you, when he made me believe that you'd broken that trust, destroyed it for your own fucking amusement, that's how he got me." She waved her hand at Blake. "Neither of us wanted what happened to happen. It wasn't an affair, we didn't plan it, it was a really shitty situation, and he tried to help that's all." She turned to Blake. "I'm sorry that you ended up in the middle of it." She closed her eyes for a second. When she opened them she went to the door. She grabbed the knob and pulled it open. "Eric, I'm grateful for what you did to get me away from your dad. And I realize there's no way to fix this, but if you're going to hate either of us let it be me." She looked at Eric as she pressed her hands against her stomach and swallowed hard. "I'm just some woman. He's your brother."

Both men stared at the door after it closed behind her. "Eric," Blake said. "I'm sorry—"

"It was Jess," Eric said the words in a terse bark.

Blake took a step back as Eric got to his feet. "I know—"

"How could you." Eric's hand connected with Blake's chest hard, hard.

Blake stumbled back. "They were hurting her." Over Eric's shoulder he saw the door open.

"Everything okay in here?" Ryan asked.

"It's fine," Blake said.

"He fucked Jess," Eric spat the words out as he drew back his fist.

Ryan was on him before he could take the swing though. "That's not going to solve anything," he said as he pulled Eric back a couple steps.

"It'll make me feel better," Eric growled.

"Only for a minute," Ryan said.

"Neither if us wanted to hurt you," Blake said.

"You just saw an opportunity to get your dick wet. You selfish little prick." Eric yanked at Ryan's arm.

Blake stepped closer and poked him right in the middle of his chest. "Fuck you. You didn't have to stand there like a pussy while Davenport rammed his dick in her ass. You don't have that image in your holier than thou brain." Eric went quiet for a minute then slowly stopped pulling at Ryan's hold. Blake took at step back. "I get that you're hurt, I would be too, and if there was some way to take it back I would do it in a second."

"Blake, we should go," Ryan said then jerked his head toward the door. "Give him some time to process."

"Okay," Blake said with a long look at his brother. "I'll get the elevator." He got to the door and turned back for a second. "You know Eric, you didn't just bring her into her life, you brought her into mine. She's my friend and she needed help."

Ryan waited until the sound of Blake's footsteps faded before he let Eric go. "Do you want me to take Jess to my place?"

Eric shook his head. "I'm not going to hurt her if that's what you're worried about."

"That's not my concern. Besides, Jackson has a particular hatred for men that abuse women. He wouldn't let that happen." He clapped a hand on Eric's shoulder. "I just thought you might want some time to yourself."

"Maybe after this is over and I know she's safe."

"Okay, man." Ryan hand squeezed then fell away. "Give me a call if you need to talk."

Eric nodded then turned away and went to the wall of windows to look out at the city. He stayed there, staring at the other buildings without seeing them, after Ryan left. About twenty minutes later Jackson walked into the library and took a seat on an arm of the couch.

"You okay?" Jackson asked. Eric snorted. "Right, stupid question." Jackson waited but Eric didn't turn around. "Is there anything I can do?"

"Were you listening at the door?" He looked at the big man's reflection. "Or did you know?"

Jackson looked down for a second. "Both." He spread his hands open. "Ryan asked us to keep our mouths shut and to be honest the priority was getting your lady out, not mediating a war between you and your baby brother." He took a breath as his hands slapped his thighs lightly. "For what it's worth, they're telling the truth."

Eric turned around. "How do you know that?"

"I've seen the videos," Jackson said. "All of them."

Eric walked over to stand in front of him. "There's more?" Jackson nodded. "With Blake?"

"Ya but—"

"I want to see them," Eric said as he took a step back.

"That's not a great idea—"

"Maybe if I see what actually happened it'll be easier."

"I don't see how," Jackson muttered as he stood up. "Wait here, I'll bring you the flash drive."

Eric turned away and went to his desk while Jackson went up to the bedroom he was staying in. Eric opened his laptop, took a seat, and waited. Jackson was back a few minutes later. He handed Eric the flash drive without saying a word then turned and went back to the kitchen. It was a good spot for keeping an eye on everyone. If Eric or Jess tried to leave they'd be able to catch them. If Eric flipped out they could stop him from running upstairs and taking it out on Jess.

Eric stared at the little silver drive for a minute then pulled the cap off and plugged it into the port. He stared at the screen as a window opened. It took a minute for him to click on it. Folder icons filled the window. The folders weren't named, they just had dates. He clicked on the first one and swallowed a wave of nausea as the sound of Jess' muffled cry poured out of the speakers. The frame was focused on a weird table. The top was padded, one end was curved inward, on that end of it there were what looked like little shelves that stuck out from the legs.

Jess was pushed into the frame, naked and clearly afraid. She was propelled forward with Francois' hand on the back of her neck. She banged into the curved end of the table, and he shoved her down. Eric's fists clenched as Francois kicked her feet apart, leaned over her back, then slapped the back of her thigh. "While you're here you belong to me," he said loudly. "You fuck whoever I tell you to, when I tell you to." His hand moved between their bodies. Eric didn't need to guess what he was doing. Jess' hoarse cry told him everything he didn't want to know. "You'll do it willingly, with a smile on those pretty cock sucker lips or we're coming back here." He pulled his hand out and stepped back. "Get on the table, face up."

Jess straightened slowly, wiped at her face as she turned around. She must not have moved fast enough because Francois grabbed her by the waist and sat her on the edge of the table. With a hand on her chest he pushed her back, then grabbed her legs, and pulled her feet up to set them on the little shelves. She cried out as two sets of hands grabbed her wrists, pulled them to the top of the table, and hooked loops of rope over them. "You keep those legs open till I say you're done."

"Marcus wouldn't—" Jess yelled.

Francois slapped his hands on her thighs then shoved them wide. "You should have read that contract a little closer."

She pulled at the ropes but her hands were held tightly. "There was nothing about being tortured!"

He laughed, a cruel mockery of a laugh that made Eric's skin crawl, as he leaned over her and looked her in the face. "Not torture. Corrections as I deem necessary during your training. All neatly laid out in your contract." Jess turned her face away. "And yes, everything is being recorded. One word about this to any of the patrons, including Marcus, and I'll release it." He nuzzled her neck. She tried to shift her body away. "There's a huge market for rape porn and I'm sure we could make a few more videos before he could get to you."

Eric hit the stop button and sat back in the chair. After a minute he leaned forward, closed the video, and opened the next one. It was in one of the patron's suite. When the man turned toward the camera Eric didn't recognize him. He closed it and moved on to the next one.

It took him five minutes of searching to find her first night with Blake. He managed to watch it until they got on the bed. Before he closed out of it he backed it up and watched Jess' face as Francois unclipped her sarong. There was no excitement there, no eagerness or desire. Only fear.

He closed out of it and pulled up the next one. His finger hovered over the key as he looked at the room on the screen. It wasn't a suite. It must have been a training room. When he pressed play Richard Davenport led Jess into the room and Eric's stomach rolled over. This as the night Blake had brought up.

Eric turned the volume down quickly so he didn't have to listen to those men laughing about how they were abusing her. He leaned his head on his upturned palms as they got her clothes off.

The video continued on unseen by the man struggling to make himself watch. He sat there digging his fingers into his hair, taking deep breaths, and trying to swallow the bile that had risen to the back of his throat. When he was able to force himself to look up at the screen he saw what had prompted Blake to try and stop it. He closed it with a curse then pulled up the next one.

It was another one of Blake and Jess. Eric scrolled through the first few minutes and got to the part where she gave him a massage. He let it play for a few seconds then scrolled forward a little more. The room went dark and they both got under the covers. He watched for another minute but nothing else happened. Eric closed it and brought up the next one. He almost laughed when Blake flopped onto the bed and pretended to pass out. It was not an award winning performance.

The act that Jess put on in the next one was much better. Eric's stomach clenched hard as Jess knelt in front of Blake. He looked down at the keyboard and swiped a hand across his face, as if he could wipe the memory of that image from his brain. He scrolled the video without looking at the two of them. The screen went dark for a second. He stopped scrolling and looked up. It was the next morning.

Jess was curled up to Blake's side, her head on his shoulder. Blake was still asleep but Jess' eyes were open. Eric leaned closer as she lifted her hand from his chest and wiped at her eyes a few times. She took a breath then reached her hand across Blake's front and hugged him. Blake's eyes opened. Eric turned the volume up. Their voices were barely audible. He cranked it all the way up and pulled the laptop closer. His eyes closed as he listened to Jess' voice. When it got to the part where Blake pulled her on his chest Eric scrolled back and listened to it again.

He listened to it one more time then closed out of the video. There was one more video left . Eric clicked on it and immediately regretted it. Jess was back on that damned table. He grabbed the top of the screen and closed it quickly. The muffled scream that the speaker emitted before it was all the way down would undoubtedly haunt him for a very long time.

He sat there staring at the closed laptop for a minute then opened it up and copied the files from the flash drive, ejected it and set it aside. Then he opened his email, scrolled through the saved contacts. It had been a long time since he'd used that email address but it was still there. He typed a short message quickly.

Give me Jess' contract or I'll tell Blake the truth about mom.