The Favor

It had been a calm week. I hadn’t had any further contact from Travis or Hope. There hadn’t been a peep out of Heather either. It had just been … normal. But I wasn’t confident that it would last.

Now, standing at my desk, I screened Dane’s mail, separating the letters he’d need to respond to personally. Only once that was done did I flick through my own mail.

Tearing open a brown bubble envelope, I slipped my hand inside and pulled out a small jewelry box. I double-blinked. A gift from Dane? I doubted it. Since he was out of the building, I couldn’t even ask him.

It had better not be a damn gift from Owen. I’d thought he’d given up trying to stupidly “win” me back.

I opened the box, expecting to see earrings or something. I felt my face scrunch up as, instead, I found a USB flash drive. The fuck?

I glanced inside the envelope. There was no note, just as there was nothing written on the envelope itself that would indicate who sent the package.

Picking up the flash drive, I pursed my lips and glanced at my computer. I should put my “gift” back in the box and deal with it later. I was working right now, and I highly doubted that whatever was on the flash drive was anything to do with work. But curiosity won out, and I soon found myself inserting the flash drive into my computer.

A few clicks on my keyboard later, I discovered there was only a single folder saved to the memory stick. It had been named: “Just thought you should know.” I frowned. What the hell was this?

My scalp prickled. Part of me wanted to eject the damn thing from my computer and put it back in its box. But, again, curiosity overrode my wariness.

Using the mouse, I double-clicked on the folder to open it. I felt my frown deepen. Nine photographs had been saved into the folder, all titled from “Pic1” to “Pic9.”

My heart began to pick up speed, because I had the distinct feeling that I wouldn’t like what I was about to see. I clicked on the first small thumbnail to enlarge it. I found myself looking at a side-on view of Dane standing on the doorstep of a house. A slim brunette stood in the doorway, clad in only a tank top and shorts. My stomach did a slow roll.

God, please don’t let this be what I think it is.

Licking my lips, I enlarged the second photograph. The camera lens had zoomed in so that I could see Dane inside the house. He stood in the living room facing the brunette, who was a mere foot away. I flipped to the next photo. Now they were standing closer, and his hand was cupping her chin. My chest went tight, and I swallowed hard.

In the next picture … oh God, she was in the process of peeling off her tank top. I hissed out a breath and shut my eyes. I didn’t want to look at the other photos. Hadn’t I seen enough?

No. No, I had to know what else there was to see.

I took a deep breath and continued down the list of pictures. The next two were also taken at her house, but they were clearly taken on a different day from the first three—hers and Dane’s clothes were different. They weren’t in her living room this time.

They were in her goddamn bedroom.

I gripped the mouse so tight I was surprised it didn’t crack. In one image, she and Dane were standing near her bed, facing each other, and he was holding a pink sweater … as if he’d just stripped it right off her. In the following picture, she was on her knees in front of him, her head bowed in a somewhat submissive pose, her hair shielding her face.

So, what, was he into BDSM or something? Was she a sub? His sub?

I didn’t realize my hands were shaking until I struggled to focus the cursor on the seventh thumbnail. I finally brought up the picture, blinking in surprise to see that the setting had changed. It showed Dane walking toward a large, black building. His suit was once again different.

My nose wrinkled. I didn’t recognize the place, and it wasn’t surrounded by other buildings, so I couldn’t even guess at the area.

I clicked on the eighth photograph, hoping it would give me some clues, but it only showed him disappearing into the same building. Biting my lip, I enlarged the final picture; it was an image of him exiting the place, his tie dangling from his hand, and his shirt open at the collar.

Not whatsoever understanding why anyone would think to send me the latter three photos, I took a better look at the building. There was a sign above the door on which something was written in red and gold lettering. I zoomed in on the image. Club Euphoria.