Shades of Pleasure: Five Stories of Domination and Submission by Tawny Taylor

the concerned guy she’d met the first
night. But that guy was long gone.
    “I tried to tell you earlier,” she confessed. “In the
kitchen. Remember when I told you about the cousin my brother and I had been
sent to live with?”
    His brows furrowed, he nodded, steepled his fingers under
his chin. “Yeah.”
    “Well, Elena Caine is—was—her name. How’d you find out?”
    “My father has a private detective on the payroll.”
    “Your father needs a private detective on his payroll?”
    “Long story. We don’t have much time. I’d rather hear
yours.” His voice had softened a little, which was a surprise. She’d pretty
much expected him to keep playing the heartless bastard he’d become since this
morning.
    “Mine’s pretty long too, but I can give you the abbreviated
version. I was born Amy Harris. Our cousin, Elena Caine, died shortly after my
brother and I had been sent to live with her—and no, I did not kill her. And
well…my best friend got rid of her body somewhere—I didn’t tell her to—and I
took over Elena Caine’s identity.”
    He looked bewildered. She could understand his reaction.
“Why would you do that?”
    She stared blindly at the floor, unable to meet his gaze.
“Seems pretty crazy, doesn’t it? Right out of a movie script or crime
television show. In fact, my friend got the idea from a TV program and
convinced me it was the only way. I did it for one reason—my brother.” She
glanced up, afraid of what she’d see.
    He encouraged her to continue with a nod. His expression was
totally blank, devoid of all emotion. She had no clue what he was feeling.
    “Eddy’s…sick. He has been in and out of the hospital for
much of his life. The only constant in his life has been me. I was afraid that
if he were put into foster care he’d either be abused, misunderstood, neglected
or die.”
    “What’s wrong with him?”
    “He’s severely bipolar. But at the time of my cousin’s death,
we still didn’t have a diagnosis. I was pretty much taking care of him around
the clock. Later, I was given legal power of attorney, or rather Elena Caine
was. I was forever trapped in my lie. There was no going back. And so I’ve
carried around this secret for years. Until Matt found out somehow. He
threatened to have me fired. Without insurance, my brother’s treatment will
stop.”
    “Maybe Becker stumbled upon the same photograph my father’s
detective found.” Kyler’s gaze dropped to his desk. His expression turned grim.
He leaned back in his chair. Finally, he lifted his eyes. “Why didn’t you tell
me?”
    “Because what I did is against the law, and frankly I didn’t
feel I could trust you. I don’t just go to jail if my lie is discovered. I
could live with that. It’s what it would do to my brother…”
    He bit his lower lip. “Yeah.”
    The most agonizing silence followed. She felt sick to her
stomach, wondering, waiting. What would Kyler do with the truth?
    He finally lifted his head and stood. She watched him walk
across the room, stop in front of her. He scrubbed his face with his hands,
then shoved his hands into his pocket . “Your car’s outside. I had it towed
here. Go home, Elena. I’ll figure this out on my own.”
    * * * * *
    Kyler hit the button, ending the call. Sure enough, at least
some of Elena’s story had been confirmed. Tom and Sue Harris had tragically
died in a car accident, leaving their two children parentless. In addition,
Edward—Eddy—Harris was a patient at the Longfellow Center in downtown Ann Arbor.
    Elena had told him the truth, at least about those things.
    Before he ended the call with the detective, he gave him one
more assignment, “Check out Stacy Russell for me. Dig deep. Either she’s dirty
or she’s being fed some shitty information from somewhere. I want to know which
one it is.”
    * * * * *
    Elena must have sat in her car for at least an hour, staring
at Kyler’s house. He’d given her her walking papers, told her she could