Chapter 273: Trying To Piece The Puzzle Together
Thane carried Brooke to their room, he took off the prosthetic and had it sent to the charging room. While it was being taken care of, they both filled each other in on what was going on.
"Cassie is definitely a thorn in your side, but the real problem is her mother, Serena. Even with Luther gone, they’ve managed to stand firm, it seems Serena was a more formidable enemy than we gave her credit." Thane analysed.
He always figured that since he took Luther out of the equation, Serena would crumble and Cassie would become minced meat. However it seemed Serena was Cassie’s biggest support.
"From what aunt Sarah told me, Serena was always good at adapting to situations. Unlike Cassie, Serena is willing to lick any boot, or get her hands dirty to get what she wants. She doesn’t have that entitled mentality Cassie has." Brooke added.
Her tone shifting she asked, "What do I do about that photo? It could destroy my career if they post it."
"It’s alright. First of all, drop out of the movie and then we can discuss our next line of action." Thane said to her.
"Drop out? Why would I?" She frowned.
"Why would you not? You have too much on your plate, not to mention your reputation is very fragile at the moment. If you leave the public eye for a while, people will slowly forget what’s happened. We can start with rebuilding your image and then..." the more he spoke, the more he noticed the sparkle in Brooke’s eye dwindle.
Was he wrong for saying that?
"Brooke." He held her hand. "What is it?"
She sighed, "I understand what you’re saying. It makes sense that I drop out. Cassie knows this too, so she wants me to keep runining my image. But...I just can’t do it. I worked hard for this role, and not just me, Sadie helped out so much. I feel like I’ve lost to Cassie if I backed out right now."
She stopped to look at Thane, "Is that too selfish?"
He cupped her cheek, "Of course not. If you want to play in this film, then that’s what you’ll do. In fact, I think this could help us, we’d be fooling Cassie into thinking we’re cooperating with her demands." He suggested.
Brooke’s face lit up, "You mean I can? I can keep this role?"
Thane smiled at her, "Yes."
Brooke reached out to hug him, but he turned the hug into a kiss. He smiled when Brooke pulled away and covered her lips, "Hey! That’s cheating Thane!"
He crawled on top of her and laid her out on the bed, "How is kissing my wife cheating?" He teased, his hand snaking up her thigh.
Brooke grinned from ear to ear, "Really? You’re gonna use the wife card?"
Thane lowered his head and planted kisses all over her face.
Laughing in-between words she playfully slapped his shoulders, "Thane! Stop it...you’re cheating..." but soon her playful laughter turned into sensual moans, as Thane’s quick kisses slowed down.
"T-Thane..." she moaned when his lips touched the side of her neck, nibbling and licking, leaving a trail of love marks.
"You’re so beautiful." He groaned, drawing circles over her stomach.
Brooke’s heart skipped a beat, she wrapped her arms around his neck, embracing the warmth he gave her. Her hands fell from his neck, to his head, following his head which went lower and lower, from kissing her neck to her shoulders, to her cleavage....
Jen mouthed a thank you when Axel returned to his car with two cups of coffee.
She reached for hers, bringing the hot cup closer to warm her up.
"Sorry for taking you out in the rain. But, I felt if I didn’t show you this, you wouldn’t believe that I’m honestly your ally." Axel explained to her.
Jen stared at the coffee, she had had her doubts. First of all, Axel told her he was the one who sent her the knife, the weapon Ethan used to stab someone. After that, he insisted that she move out of her apartment and move her family into a safe house outside the city.
"Will my family be okay? Can I really trust this friend of yours?" She asked.
"Yeah, he’s trusted, your family won’t be found out by Ethan Halton. However, since you’re going to work with me, I think it’s better we live together."
Jen nodded, "I agree. I don’t think Ethan would think to look for me in a detective’s house."
Axel hissed, "That bastard won’t ever be able to connect the dots between Zara and I, he sees everyone as insignificant. And that arrogance will be the death of him one day." He balled his fist tightly.
"Still, it’s impressive that you were able to reach out to me. How did you know that I was a victim of Ethan? I was always very careful." It was something she wasn’t proud of, but Ethan made sure that she left no traces behind that could incriminate him.
"I studied Ethan Halton carefully, all of the people around him. And while I’m not proud to say it, I tailed you, monitoring everything about you. Not just you, your friend Avery, after what happened to her, I was certain my investigation was going in the right direction." he informed her.
He went on to say, "I investigated all the workers at that company, and discovered something strange. There was a worker who was accused of embezzling funds and fired. I looked into him, but he was later pronounced dead. Apparently, he had jumped down and killed himself after the embezzlement was discovered."
Jen gasped, she remembered that. "Back then, I had just started out as an intern, I think he was on one too. I had no idea he was dead." her eyes widened in fear.
Axel nodded, "And then, there was your friend, Avery, who was admitted into the hospital after a fire incident. I immediately knew that there was something about that batch of interns, especially you, who worked the closest to Ethan Halton."
The more he spoke, the more the picture became clearer in her mind. There was a start to all this, one common factor linking everything together.
"I learned that there was another intern that worked with you, from what I found out she was crippled. But, I haven’t found anything out about her. It’s as if, Ethan Halton made sure to hide everything about her." He frowned, trying to piece the puzzle together.