Their Greatest Treasure (Power Surge: The Billionaire Club 1)

“I don’t know what to believe,” Nash stated. He turned away and shook his head. He ran his hands through his hair in frustration and confusion. His heart ached. It literally ached.

“Fuck that. You fucking know that she’s the real thing. I know you’re upset. I know that you feel betrayed. So do I, Nash, but Chastity is not part of this. It’s a sick fucking coincidence,” Riker told Nash.

“We can’t afford to believe in coincidences,” Nash said as he held Chastity’s gaze.

“Let’s just calm down and not jump to conclusions. I’m sure that if we have any questions, Chastity will be more than willing to answer them,” the commander stated.

Chastity straightened her shoulders and walked into the room. She now stood directly in front of Nash and Riker.

“You asked me to trust you. You promised to protect me, to love me, and it wasn’t easy for me to do. I understand that this woman hurt you. But the fact that you think I am somehow involved with this hurts more than anything. More than Desi’s attack and more than the inadequacy I’ve felt my entire life until meeting both of you. I get it. I see how it is.”

She turned toward their commander.

“I’ll answer any questions you have, but not with them present. Hook up a lie detector. Do whatever it is you do to ensure that someone is telling the truth. I will do it, and then I’m leaving.”

“Chastity, you’re not going anywhere,” Riker said, but she didn’t turn to look at him or Nash. Nash walked out of the room, and Riker followed him. So did the others.

* * * *

Cash sat down next to Chastity. He took her hand into his own, as she tried her hardest not to cry. This was a total nightmare. Just like those in her past who said they loved her had failed her, now so did the two men she loved more than life itself.

“Miss Malone, my name is Commander Samone. I’m the federal agent in charge of the investigation. I have some questions for you, since you are willing to answer them.”

She nodded her head at the man. He looked fierce. He had dark hair and a bit of gray by his ears. She pinned him as being in his fifties, and uptight, maybe even paranoid, as he looked her over.

She glanced at Cash.

“I’m staying here with you. No one is charging you with anything. We’re just asking questions to verify who is or isn’t involved with this.”

“Oh, you’re wrong, Cash. I’ve already been accused, charged, and sentenced. It’s over between Riker, Nash, and I. I’ll cooperate. I have nothing to hide. I can’t fight for something, for two people who can’t trust me.”

She looked toward the commander and asked him to begin.

* * * *

“Let’s listen in. I don’t believe that she is involved. It’s not true and you need to get your head out of your ass, brother,” Riker said. They stood in the other room, listening along with their friends and some agents as their commander interrogated their woman.

But she wasn’t their woman anymore. She’d told Cash she was done with them. She was right. In a flash, they’d turned against her and believed that she could somehow be involved. Riker knew that she wasn’t. He loved her more than anything, and now their past careers as agents were about to take the one woman they truly loved away from them.

They all listened to Chastity answer the questions. Their commander wasn’t going easy on her, not by a long shot. But the entire time, Chastity kept her cool, and even asked for a lie detector test, or whatever devices they had, to prove that she was innocent and not involved with the case.

As the commander backtracked about her life in Charlotte, more heartbreaking information came out. Chastity had been through so much in her life.

“So your mother was involved in an abusive relationship?”

“Yes. It went on for over a year, and when she wound up hospitalized after one of his beatings, she left him.”

“Where were you at the time?”

“Hiding.”

“Hiding from him? Why? Didn’t your mother take you with her?” They heard her shaky voice as she revealed information about her past. “He refused to let me leave with her. It was a bad night for both of us.”

“How did you get out?”

“I didn’t,” she whispered.

“How did your mother die?” the commander asked.