The Price of Deception
In the time that Pepper Green had been working for Charles Elwood, the agent had thought that sheâd been doing fairly well for herself. Grievous chest wound aside, Oli Greyson had performed flawlessly. She was prompt. Unquestioning. Competent. She maintained a close relationship with her client.
Perhaps too close.
The injury was what had doomed Pepper Green. With all the attention Altaire was giving her, Charles Elwood was finally beginning to take notice of just how close the two had become. Pepper had known he was a horribly jealous, cruel man, but she hadnât thought he would drag her out of recovery so soon. That he would force her to do a watered down version of her job just so he could watch her sweat, as the strain slowly began to kill her.
She shouldnât have been standing, let alone moving and completing tasks for the twisted enjoyment of Charles Elwood.
The worst part was that Pepper knew it was destroying Altaire. She knew that it was horrible to make the other woman watch her go through this. But it would be over soon. A few more days. A few more days and her assignment would be over and Altaire and Pepper would both be free of that wretched man.
Or so the agent had thought. She hadnât considered that, after her now considerable time under Elwoodâs employ, that one of his men would actually find her out. That Elwoodâs jealousy and irritation at Pepperâs stubbornness would lead him to order an investigation, which would lead him not to find the agentâs actual profession, but instead something far deadlier.
Her connection to Perceval Hastings.
And so, with very little warning, Pepper found herself summoned and escorted to Elwoodâs office under the pretense of some new assignment.
Little did she know what awaited her inside.
@immortallxs
âOh, of course, of course.â If he had to pander to Hastings to ensure he got his way, then he would layer it on thick. âI assure you, Mr Hastings, I will return her to you safe and sound- provided you get me what I want in good time.â He smirked down at Pepper, assessing her battered and bloodied state, holding a finger to his lips to silently shush her as his lackey landed another punch to her jaw.
As she spoke, Elwood glared across at her, but it was clear he didnât think much of it, tutting and moving on before he could spare it much thought. Likely, he didnât even recognise what language it was she spoke.
âYou have six hours, Hastings, to fulfill all my demands. Iâm sure you wonât disappoint me, but, well, you know just how high the stakes are, Iâm sure.â
Without another word, he ended the call and slipped his phone back into his pocket, turning back to Pepper with a smile somehow even more smug than before. In this moment, absolutely nothing could shake the confidence of Charles Elwood. His plan was going off without a hitch, after all.
âIâd say heâs even angrier with you than I am, Green.â He tutted, instructing his lackey to cease his assault and moving to stand over her once more. âRather selfish, wouldnât you say? Just think about how many people youâve hurt with these plans of yoursâŚâ
The irony of his words were, as always, entirely lost on him. A knowing gleam in his eye, it was clear he had more in store for Pepper than the onslaught she had faced already this evening.
Something likely far more painful than what she had gone through so far.
âNow that reminds meâŚâ He glanced across the room, speaking over Pepper to another of his lackeys, one equipped with an earpiece. âI think itâs about time we call for her, donât you?â
He turned away, speaking into the earpiece at a volume not quite loud enough for Pepper to hear. But it was far from a grand secret she would need to uncover, it wouldnât take a genius to figure out what he had meant.
âYou know, I could have forgiven you for many of the things you did.â He let out a sigh in mock disappointment, but a smile still played on his lips in his unbridled pride.
âBut to manipulate Altaire like that, you hurt her more than anyone else. I think you owe her an explanation, donât you?â
A timid knock at the door heralded her arrival, any time to prepare for Pepper to prepare thrown out the window.
âCome in!â A malicious grin played on his face, eyes lighting up with excitement for just how his girlfriend would react to the scene at hand.
âExcellent.â Hastings said, not at all taking Elwoodâs at his word. Though Hastingâs tone indicated that he was quite pleased by what he was hearing, the man was shaking with fury, white knuckling his desk as Pepperâs cries rang in his ears and shook his core.
At hearing his daughter speak to him, however, he audibly growled in frustration, clearly not happy to hear Pepper yell out of term. The last thing the agent needed, with Charles Elwood already so eager to see her bleed, was to take unnecessary risks.
âBehave yourself, Pfeffer.â Hastings hissed, his very real disapproval causing Pepper to visibly wince. Hastings knew his daughter. He knew that she was stubborn. Defiant. Unbreakable in her resolve.
And Pepper knew her father. She understood the meaning behind his sharply spoken words.
Stop taking unnecessary risks. Donât make things worse for yourself. Donât do what you always do, Pepper.
The agent hoped that, once this was all over, Hastings would find it in himself to forgive her.
âIâm sure you can⌠restrain yourself for the right price, Mr. Elwood?â Hastings said, hoping that, as angry and vile as Charles Elwood was, he lived up to his reputation of being the type of man who would do anything for money. Even let someone like Pepper Green go.
The call ended before Hastings could receive any sort of reassurance.
Which left Pepper Green once again alone and at the mercy of Charles Elwood.
The agentâs sat slumped in her seat, her head heavy on her neck as her bonds kept her battered frame upright. Her face was bleeding considerably, both from her nose and a few deep gashes that had opened up over the past few minutes. As Elwood approached the agent, she spat at his feet, blood hitting the ground a few inches from his shoes.
She didnât respond to his words at first. Instead, she just watched him, her bleary gaze ice cold. Despite her labored breaths, Pepper set her aching jaw, her lips tightened in a disapproving pucker as she took Elwoodâs condescending nonsense in silence.
The agent didnât have a lot of strength to spare.
It wasnât until his focused turned to Altaire that Pepperâs eyes grew dark with fury and she gave a slight cough, clearing some of the bile out of her throat before she began to speak in a low and dangerous tone, her voice hoarse and quiet.
âWhy is it⌠Mr. Elwood⌠that you take such pleasure⌠in making that poor girl⌠so miserableâŚ?â
Charlie didnât care about Altaire. He cared about owning her. About controlling her and having her do as he pleased.
Pepper knew that there was nothing she could say to prevent Elwood from bringing Altaire into this room. He wanted to hurt the both of them for their closeness. For Pepperâs mistakes.
How much she regretted in this moment not being more honest with Altaire. Not moving more quickly. Not doing enough for her.
There was nothing Pepper could do at this point except try to mitigate the damage. To try and protect Altaire. To try and offer her some sort of apology or comfort without Elwood completely twisting her words. To try to do what she could to keep Elwood from hurting Altaire, even if that meant continuing to lie. All that mattered, at this point, was keeping Altaire safe.
It was her job. But more than that, it was her sincerest desire.
As the door to Elwoodâs office began to open, Pepper braced herself as best she could for what was to come, drawing a soft breath and attempting to straighten some in her seat with the knowledge that things were about to get infinitely worse.
If absolutely nothing else, Altaire knew she could always rely on her intuition. Her ability to sense when something was wrong was truly infallible. Of course, she didn't always act on this intuition- she could have evaded many mistakes over the years had she simply trusted her gut- but she was seldom wrong.
And today, she was convinced that something disastrous was going to happen.
It wasn't often that Altaire found herself alone. Especially recently, where if she had not been called away to accompany Charlie on whatever business he wanted her for, she would slink away to spend hours with Oli in private.
But not tonight. Both were nowhere to be seen, and Charlie's men refused to tell her anything.
And so she was left, entirely in the dark as to what was going on. Unable to so much as sit still or try to distract herself, Altaire found herself pacing back and forth across the marble floor of the bedroom she and Charlie shared.
Most of all, her mind lingered on thoughts of Oli. She was acutely aware of Charlie's jealousy, she remembered all the snide comments about how much time they were spending together. Altaire knew it was really just a matter of time until her bodyguard got in trouble with him. She felt hopeless, anxiously praying for any news or information.
It felt like hours, night had long since fallen before she was summoned down to Charlie's office. It was eerily quiet outside as she reached the door, offering no reassurance whatsoever. If not for the two men flanking her on either side, Altaire most likely would have fled long before entering the room.
Nothing could have prepared her for the overwhelming smell of blood that hit her the second the door opened. There was Charlie, a deranged look in her eye and blood on his knuckles, smiling at her in the way that never failed to make her anxious. And there, slumped over in a chair bloody and bruised, was...
"Oli!" She had cried out without thinking, stumbling over her own legs as she knelt down beside her chair, her fingetips comjng to gently brush her blood-matted blonde hair away from her eyes as she desperately tried to assess her condition, albeit knowing there was nothing she could do to help.
She hated how often she had seen Oli so grievously injured in their short time together.
Before she could do or say anything else, a firm hand gripped her arm, Charlie pulling her to her feet, distancing her from where Oli was sat.
"I'm sorry you had to join us like this, kitten." Charlie planted a kiss on her cheek, malice in his eyes as he smirked over to Pepper. Altaire could barely register his words, unable to tear her eyes off her bodyguard.
"But this was really rather urgent, as Iâm sure you can see..." Charlie let out a sigh, his demeanour having shifted since Altaire entered the room. He was immediately softer, a thinly veiled act to hide the true extent of his rage.
Altaire slowly turned her head, glistening eyes looking between her boyfriend and her bodyguard. She seemed somewhat distant, unable to process exactly what she was seeing before her. She knew what Charlie was capable of, and she knew just how much contempt he held for Oli. Perhaps it was out of naivety that she never truly expected him to act so viciously.
âOli Greyson here has been holding secrets from us, havenât you?â He eyed Pepper with another smirk, incredibly satisfied to have his plans work so perfectly.Â
âWhy donât you tell her? If Altaireâs going to hear how much you betrayed her- well it should really be from you directly, right?â























