“But it is my fault. We never should have gotten together in the first place. I was the one who kept pushing her. I had to find out if she was the woman in the corset. I had to confront her when she was being cold to me after the party. I convinced her to continue with this twisted fling of ours, even though we both knew it would put her family at risk. If I’d just let things lie, none of this would have happened.”
“You know that’s not true. You didn’t force Eve into this relationship with you. She made a choice, just like you did.”
“Well, clearly she regrets it now,” Faith said.
“Are you sure? For starters, did Eve say things were over between you?”
“She didn’t have to. She said she needed space. And considering what she’s dealing with, that’s understandable.”
“I’m sure the two of you can work it out,” Lindsey said. “Believe me, you don’t want things between you to end over a misunderstanding. ”
“There’s no point in trying to work things out. Even if she still wanted to be with me, I wouldn’t want to mess things up with her family any further.” Faith shook her head. “This is for the best.”
“Faith—”
“Really, it is,” Faith said. “This is hard. I want to be there for her. I care about her so much. But that’s why I have to stay away. You should have seen the look in her eyes.” Her shoulders shook in a silent sob. She steadied herself. “I can’t risk tearing Eve’s family apart. I can’t be the reason the twins grow up without a mom.”
“Oh, Faith.” Lindsey put her hand on Faith’s arm. “None of this is your fault. And you haven’t torn her family apart. You still don’t know how this custody situation is going to turn out.”
“Eve doesn’t even want to fight it. She’s just given up. She thinks the video is the final nail in the coffin.”
“Wait.” Lindsey cocked her head to the side. “That video. It’s from inside Lilith’s Den?”
Faith nodded.
“And Eve’s ex-husband took it?”
“Yeah.”
“You can’t take videos inside Lilith’s. Didn’t you read those agreements you signed the first time you went there?”
“Of course not,” Faith said. “There were so many pages!”
“Well, if you’d read them, you’d know that filming inside the club isn’t allowed. Even photos aren’t allowed. Confidentiality is a big deal there.”
“I don’t think Harrison cares.”
“Maybe he doesn’t,” Lindsey said. “But he signed those agreements too. Everyone who walks through the doors at Lilith’s Den does. They’re legally binding. There are serious penalties for breaching them.”
“Penalties? Harrison can just pay his way out of them. Or lawyer his way out of them.”
“I don’t think so. You know the owner of Lilith’s Den? Vanessa? You met her that night I invited you along, remember?”
Faith nodded.
“She’d want to know that this kind of thing happened at her club,” Lindsey said. “She takes privacy really seriously. And she might be able to help.”
“I doubt she can do anything. I don’t think you understand how much money and power Harrison has.”
“Vanessa has money and power too. You and Eve should talk to her.”
“There’s no ‘me and Eve,’” Faith said. “Not anymore.”
“Well at the very least, you can still tell Eve to talk to Vanessa. Let her know Vanessa might be willing to help.” Lindsey frowned. “Now that I think about it, I’m surprised Eve isn’t looking into that angle already. If she’s a regular at the club, she knows what a big deal it is for someone to take a video inside Lilith’s. And on top of that, there’s an unwritten rule in the BDSM community that you don’t out anyone. Ever .”
Eve had said the same thing to Faith once. “I guess she didn’t think of that. This whole situation has her really shaken up.”
“All the more reason you should talk to her about it,” Lindsey said.