Lukus decided it was pointless to argue with his friend. A few months ago, everything would have been so black and white. Now, loving a BDSM novice who had grown up in a conservative vanilla family, Lukus found himself questioning things he hadn't given a second thought about before meeting Tiffany.
Derek slapped him on the back. "Let it go. You're a good man. You're not Jake Davenport. I'm going to the grocery store to stock up on some staples. If we're going to have all four of us camped out here, we're gonna need supplies."
"Later."
The house seemed too quiet once Lukus was alone. It gave him too much time to think—to worry about the best way to keep Tiffany safe. He'd already asked Markus and Brianna to move in at the loft while he and Derek were out of town. The girls were begrudgingly on lockdown there with Rachel. While they'd balked at first about not being allowed to go in to The Beauty Box for a few days, now they were settling in as if they were having one long slumber party.
He couldn't stop the grin from coming to his face at the memory of saying goodbye to Tiffany the night before. She was like a drug to him. He'd never get enough of her. Even knowing the three women were probably busy maxing out his credit card, online shopping for Rachel and Derek's baby or Tiffany and Lukus's upcoming wedding, he couldn't be happier.
Well, that's not true. Having Jake Davenport dead or behind bars would make me pretty fucking happy.
As much as he hated it, there was one person in Chicago Lukus still needed to bring up to speed on the danger Brianna and Tiffany were in. He reached for his phone, scrolling through his contacts until he found the name he was looking for and pressing 'call' before he could second-guess himself.
The man on the other end of the phone obviously had Lukus's number programed in his phone. "You have some nerve calling me after last week."
"Hello to you too, Aiden."
"Don't 'hello' me. What the fuck do you want? Calling to rub it in that you've successfully corrupted my sister? Or to give me shit because she went to lunch with me yesterday?"
Lukus could hear the anger in Tiffany's favorite brother's voice. Clearly Aiden still hadn't come to terms with his sister marrying a Dom who owned a BSDM sex club.
"Listen asshole, I didn't call to argue," Lukus said.
"So why did you call?"
"Do you love your sister, or what?"
"You know I do. Why else would I be so anxious to get her out of your clutches?"
"Can we set our differences aside for five fucking minutes? I have something important I need to talk to you about."
"More important than saving my sister from being corrupted by you?" Aiden spat.
"How about life and death important? Tiffany's in danger. I thought you might want to help protect her, but you know what, if you're too busy worrying about me corrupting her moral fiber to keep her alive, I'll let you go."
"Wait... danger? What the fuck?"
"Do you remember a guy named Jake Davenport?"
Aiden hesitated for the first time in the conversation. "That name sounds familiar.... but... wait... didn't he date Brianna back before she got married?"
"More like he abused Brianna a few years ago. If you'd get your head out of your ass, you'd know that Jake has been threatening both Brianna and Tiffany for years. So much so that Tiff has nightmares."
"How would you know?" Aiden asked.
"Are you that naïve? Because she wakes up screaming in her sleep, dreaming that he was caning her until she bleeds."
"Why would she think that? That bastard hasn't hurt her, has he?"
"I'm not sure she'd want me to tell you everything. Just trust me, Jake Davenport is bad news," Lukus said.
"Do you want my help or not? I need to know what's going on."
Lukus had started this conversation. Holding back facts helped no one. "Listen, I know you think I corrupted your sister, but she used to go to BDSM clubs with Bri years ago, before I even met her. That's where Brianna met Jake. He was her abusive Dom. He broke every rule in the Dom handbook, even to the point of caning her until she bled, and then would send her home to Tiffany. Your sister was, of course, furious and tried to protect Brianna from Jake. You know how sassy she can be, and Davenport clearly didn't like Tiff threatening to go to the cops. He has a real hard-on against her. Jake showed up in Chicago a couple of months ago trying to weasel himself back into their lives, and now shit is snowballing. The girls are in danger."
Aiden was quiet for several long seconds before answering. "I don't believe you. Tiff knows she can talk to me about anything. She would have come to me for help if she were in danger."
"Well, apparently not. And the reason she didn't tell you or your brothers was because she was afraid you'd judge her about her submissive desires; which, I might point out, you've proven she'd been right to worry about, since all you've done since you found out she was with me was judge her and her choices."
Lukus knew he was being an ass, but Aiden deserved it. Still, he needed the cop's help, so he continued. "Tiff also has nightmares because years ago Davenport compiled a video of himself with Brianna that made it look like the shit he was doing to her was consensual. Then he added on to
