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“She wasn’t just booking with me either,” he said. “The weekends Eloise didn’t book with me, the two nights she wasn’t at my house - she was with other men she booked through the agency.”
“You’re kidding me,” I said.
“I wish I were,” he said grimly.
“The sisters didn’t figure out what she was doing?” I asked.
“How could they? They didn’t care how much she worked or if she booked every night. They made a ton of money from her, and I was the only one she was breaking the rules with by seeing me outside the agency.”
“I’m so sorry,” I said again. “How did you find out Eloise was still with her ex?”
“After she stopped booking with me, I kept texting her, asking her to meet with me to talk. She went to the sisters and said I’d become inappropriate with her, that I was obsessed with her, and that I was contacting her outside of the agency.”
“What an asshole,” I said.
“Eloise counted on me not telling the sisters my side of the story. She thought I’d be too humiliated by how much money I’d given her or that I wouldn’t admit to breaking the agency's rules. She thought I would fade away quietly, but she was wrong,” Deacon said. “I told the sisters everything. They confronted Eloise, and she initially denied it, but Catherine can be… persuasive when she wants something.”
“She probably threatened to rip out Eloise’s fingernails or something,” I said.
That earned me a small smile from Deacon. “Probably. Anyway, Eloise fessed up to what she was doing, including admitting to having a boyfriend, and the sisters fired her from the agency.”
“That’s it? Did you get your money back, at least?” I asked.
“No. I’d willingly given the money to Eloise, she hadn’t blackmailed or coerced me into giving it to her, so it’s not like I could go to the police.”
“But the sisters couldn’t have done something? She broke the contract. They could have, I don’t know… sued her or something,” I said.
“That isn’t how they work,” Deacon said. “The sisters look out for themselves and no one else. Eloise signed an NDA just like everyone who works for them does, but there’s still a risk that their business would be exposed if they sued her or pissed her off enough. I suspect they paid Eloise a hefty sum to stay quiet, fired her from the agency, and swept the whole mess under the rug. I thought they’d fire me as a client, but they didn’t. I think they were embarrassed that Eloise had fooled all of us.”
“And they wanted to keep their one hundred percent client satisfaction guarantee,” I said a little bitterly.
“That, too,” Deacon agreed.
“All the background checks they do, and this still happened,” I said.
“Eloise was very good at lying and manipulating,” he said. “But it’s not like she had a history of doing this sort of thing. Her boyfriend came up with the idea. I think she was as much of a pawn as I was.”
My body went still. I didn’t want to ask the question. I didn’t want to know, but I had to know. My heart demanded it. “Are you still in love with her?”
He gave me a blank look before cupping my face and staring intently at me. “No. Riley, I am in love with you.”
“What?” I whispered.
“I love you.”
“You love me,” I said.
“Yes.”
“You… love me?”
A smile crossed his face. “Yes. I’ll keep saying yes, no matter how many times you ask, good girl.”
“Holy crap,” I said.
The smile faded from his face. “You don’t believe me because of how I treated you, and I deserve that. But I promise if you give me another chance, I will make it up to you, Riley. I’ll spend the rest of my life making amends for what I’ve done. I was a judgmental prick who isn’t worthy of your forgiveness, but if you give it to me, I’ll -”
“Deacon, stop,” I said. “Of course I forgive you.”
