“Enjoy.”
They helped themselves to salad and slices of pizza.
While Julian dug into his food, Cresley picked at hers.
“What’s happened recently to put you on alert?”Julian asked between bites.
“It was something he said in a text.”She picked up her phone, found the text and handed it to him.
I want to see more of Ty,Marlon had written.Before you say no, ask yourself if there are things you wouldn’t want made public, things that might embarrass you—and Ty—or if it would be easier to just let me see him once in a while or maybe even share custody.
The text had Julian putting down his fork and wiping his mouth with the linen napkin.“What’s he got on you?”
Her lovely light brown eyes filled with tears.“I’m a… um… a member at Club Quantum.”
The club, owned by the actors, director and producer behind Quantum Productions, including Aimee’s superstar brother, Flynn Godfrey, was for practitioners of the BDSM lifestyle.Julian had spent some memorable evenings there himself, but not recently.
“How does Marlon know that?”
“He must’ve followed me and saw me go into the building.I’m not really sure how he found out what goes on there, but he knows.”
“When were you last there?”
“About three weeks ago.”
“How often do you stop by?”
“A few times a year.It’s a stress reliever, and it gives me an outlet without all the hassle that comes with relationships.”
“You don’t have to justify it to me,” he said with a grin.“I used to love hanging out there.I go way back with Flynn’s family.”
All the way back to when I used to be in love with his older sister…
“It’s hard to explain to people who don’t get it,” she said.
“Believe me, I know.They think it’s something sick or twisted, when it’s one of the healthier ways to express yourself sexually.”
“Exactly!There’s no crap like there always is in vanilla relationships.”
“I love that about it.In fact, the crap has been piling up lately.I might need to go back to the lifestyle and take a break from the madness.”
“I totally get that, and it helps that you understand.”
“I really do.”
“Marlon certainly knows there’s nothing wrong with being a practitioner of the lifestyle, but he’s also fully aware that it’d be embarrassing for me to be outed.I’ve just signed a big new deal with D&G, which includes an airtight morality clause, so this is the last freaking thing I need right now.Not to mention it breaks my heart that he’s probably more interested in money than he is in his amazing, beautiful, bright, funny son.”
She used her napkin to dab at tears that seemed to infuriate her.“I need him to go the hell away, even if it means paying him off.”
“I don’t recommend that, unless it includes an ironclad NDA and a signed agreement indicating it’s a one-time payment in exchange for him keeping his mouth shut about you and his son, and never again asking you for anything.”
“To be honest, I might consider that to be rid of him.”
“Do you have a number for him?”
She used her phone to find it.
Julian wrote it down as she recited it.
