Bound In Secrets

The Strange Night

JT

There is a knock on my office door. I pause my paperwork, commanding the person to enter. "Mr. Brandt a guy is looking for you. I left him at the bar because I didn't know if you would welcome being bothered, " Dustin says.

Dustin is one of my dancers, however, he also works as a server on nights he isn't dancing. The nineteen-year-old has shown he has a great work ethic. He is naive, quiet, and at first unconfident but he has gotten better about being more being more bold since he started working here about three months ago. I'm proud of how far the timid boy has come. It is obvious to me the boy needs someone who can take care of him. He seems more interested in men than women, so I think a Daddy Dom would be perfect for him.

"Boss? Mr. Brandt, what would like for me to do?" His queries bring me out of my thoughts and back to the present.

"What does this guy look like?"

"He is wearing sunglasses. It's dark in here so I thought that was strange. He mumbled it was too noisy. Brown hair. Tall. Yawns a lot. He laid down in one of the booths of soon as I left."

Based on Dustin's brief description, I know exactly who is asking for me. After what that asshole did, I'm furious he is in my club.

"Bring him to me!" I snap at Dustin. A look of shock mixed with watery eyes is what I see briefly before my employee scurries off. I feel guilty for being so harsh with the sensitive boy.

In walks Callix Lane, alive and in excellent health. I grit my teeth.

"Dustin. A word before you go," I say softening my voice and feature so that I don't terrify the boy further. He gulps nervously but pauses to meet my gaze with one foot beyond the threshold, poised to leave in a flash. "You did good. I apologize for snapping at you. It's not you I'm upset with."

"It's me," Callix yawns. Four of his teeth seem to be more pointed than they used to be.

I nod and offer a reassuring smile to Dustin. He beams at the praise I gave him and at the news of not being the cause of my ire. The boy strives to please me at all times. I appreciate his submissiveness. "Thank you, sir! Do you need anything else?"

"No, Dustin. But, thank you for asking." The boy's smile becomes impossibly wider before he is back out of the room and shuts the door to my soundproof office.

It's a good thing my office is soundproof because my voice becomes deeper. louder, and biting as I address this man who is slumped in one of the leather oversized chairs facing my desk. "How dare you! Why are you here?!"

He shushes me. "Keep it down, JT. I have a headache. Your club is way too loud, I can't see a thing," he drawls through a yawn.

This man is insufferable. I don't understand why I loved him. It's as though lazy is the default setting. I know better. I'm fully aware of just how clever and dangerous he is.

Callix takes a deep breath and sighs as he exhales. "I don't like how things ended between the four of us. I should have just ended things with Rory only, but I didn't because I was angry. And this is the reason..."

"I'm—sorry. I shouldn't have fucked you and then ghosted. I panicked. There was so much blood. You were so pale. I thought I killed you, so I ran. I turned into this demon and killed one of the men I loved."

"Love?! How can you say you love me when you left me to die!" I roar indigently. I clutch at my chest, thankful to have already been sitting down. He was correct when he called himself a demon, though I still don't know how my neck was punctured deep enough to my carotid artery which caused me to bleed out. Now Callix is saying he did that...why?

He winches as if in pain and then holds his head in his hand with his elbows resting on his knees. "I fucked up," he whispers. "I hurt you."

I scoff at him. "Yeah, asshole. You did. If it weren't for Carter being a universal donor and finding me when he did, I would have died. He brought me back. I might not trust him, but he has earned my respect for performing CPR. He could have let me die so he wouldn't have one less team member to betray. He didn't."

"I know. Carter was feeding information on your team, C.H.A.O.S., and the Death Kings to Razor Grothman. Sawyer and Dr. Fuchs-Jamison got him the help he needed. I cannot imagine you guys still fully trusting him, even though it's been five years since then. Your woman Sawyer is something else. She is a fearsome force. Are you and Jensen happy to finally be with her?"

"We are the happiest we've been in a long time. Happier now than when we were with you and Rory. I'm glad the relationship ended. I just wish the words leaving your mouth while I died weren't you breaking up with me. You shouted at me that you couldn't love us anymore. That we were the reason you were turning into a self-proclaimed monster."

"I'm not where I can forgive you, but I would like it if we could be friends again. Only friends. I have enough lovers," I tell him with a heavy sigh. He apologized, and now we can move on without these uncertain emotions between us.

"Friends work. JT, if I could go back and redo the past, I would have done it differently. No drain—kill—ghost. I promise I would have stayed and gotten you help. I was horrified and frightened of myself."

Drain? I somewhat want to question him on that as well as the puncture marks he claims to have made, but at the same time I just want to put the past to bed so we both can move forward.

I wave in front of him to gesture then I'm done with this conversation. "Thank was the past. What's done is done, Lix."

He gives me a result nod. "I won't see you again in this life. Goodbye, JT. Die well so you don't haunt my ass." I laugh at our running joke to die without attachments to the physical plan or have a traumatic death with unresolved feelings.

We take a moment to laugh together. He yawns and then our gazes meet. "Goodbye, Lix." He nods, stands, and leaves. That's the final time the final time I would see or hear from him.