Chapter 291

Erik stopped Auggie outside of the Four Seasons in Seattle.

"Brother. Finally. I have been calling you for three days now. Get in." Erik said, standing outside of the suv, holding the door open.

Auggie looked at him and reluctantly got inside. Erik closed the door and walked around the front, and got in on the opposite side.

"How did you find me?" Auggie asked.

"Come now, little brother. You know we have our ways. Now... where do we begin? Ah yes. What the hell is going on and why have you renounced your title?" Erik said.

"I want to marry Maggie." He said.

"Augustus. This isn't a hundred years ago. You don't have to abdicate to marry Maggie. I didn't. And Pearl is an American. And a divorcee. So that's a line of complete rubbish." Erik said.

"Erik. You don't understand." Auggie said.

"What don't I understand? It is not necessary. You have father's blessing. You are a prince and she will be a princess. What is the problem?" Erik asked.

"Maybe I don't want her to have to live that way? Maybe I want to have a life away from it. From the pretension, the lies. The politics. Maybe I want a life of my own and to protect her from the real monsters. The close ones" he said. "And there was time that you would have agreed with me, brother."

"Never. Not you. You were born to lead. To rule. I'm not a good man. I don't deserve it. But you are and you do." Erik said.

"You see, brother. That's exactly it. The people that know that you are not a good man yet continue to fight and lie to keep you in a position of power, even when you yourself know you do not deserve it, is what frightens me the most." Auggie said. "I'll get out here." He said as he tapped on the drivers window. The car stopped and Erik looked at his brother.

"I can't be in a family of corruption and deceit. I know what father has been doing with the thugs in Spain and Saudi Arabia. And I know what he did to cover up for you. For others. I found out all of it." He said. "And I found out about Sebastian's fiancée as well. You are all ugly and liars. I don't want the only woman I have ever loved anywhere near it. And if you truly loved Pearl, you'd let her go, too." He said as he opened the car door and stepped out.

Erik couldn't believe it. How did Auggie find out? Pearl? No. She wouldn't tell a soul. And how did he find out about Sebastian's fiancée? No one but he and his father and one other person knew about that night. And that person was no longer alive to tell the story.

He knew, for now, that Auggie wasn't going to change his mind any time soon. He would give him a few days and try to speak to him again. He needed to find out what Auggie knew and how he knew it. He called his father.

"Erik. How is it going with you brother?" Edward asked.

"Not as good as I'd hoped. Father. We may have an issue. Augustus knows. He knows about what we have been doing with Spain. He knows about my past... the women. And he knows about... father he knows about Anna." Erik said. There was silence on the line.

"How in the bloody hell would your brother find out about that? Erik. I am not kidding around when I tell you how dangerous it is for him to know about that." Edward said.

"I know. I am aware, father." Erik said.

"Do not come home until you get this sorted out. And do not come home without your brother." He said and hung up. Erik looked out the window. Seattle weather was so much like London, he thought. So ugly and dreary. He picked up his phone again and called Pearl.

"Hello. How are you? How is little Christian?" He asked.

"I am good. Beau is good." She said, sounding sleepy.

"Who is Beau?" He asked.

"Oh. That's his new little nickname. We have been calling him that for a few days now." Pearl said.

"Get some rest. I have to be stateside for a few more days. Everything alright there?" He asked.

"Yes. We are all good." She said. He told her he loved her and hung up. He knew she was not ever going to be his fully, not ever again. Especially if this ever came out about Anna. He typed some information into the search bar.

"Magnolia Bridge. 15th avenue west." Erik instructed to the driver. The car pulled up in front of an ordinary looking concrete building at the base of the bridge. Erik told the driver to come back in three hours. He nodded.

"Erik! It's been awhile. Two years maybe? Three? How are you?" A gorgeous blonde in a form fitting dress greeted him as he walked into the lobby. She kissed his cheeks and took his coat.

"Four." He said, handing her his coat and his briefcase.

"What will it be tonight?" She asked. "And I'll have to update your paperwork. Six months is the longest we can allow the lapse." She said.

"Fine. Type it up. And I think I'd like the cage tonight." He said.

"Ah yes. You're usual preferences included?" She asked.

"Yes." He said.

A few minutes later, she had him sign a few documents and she ran his credit card.

"You're all set. Give us about fifteen minutes and you can go back. You remember the rules and the way, right?" The blonde asked.

"Indeed." Erik said.

He went to the locker room and took off his suit, hanging it neatly on a clothing rack. He donned the complementary robe and walked down a flight of stairs into a small dimly lit room, surrounded by a chain link cage. A petite brunette with only thigh high boots on sat on a stool with a gag in her mouth. He walked over to her and took the zip ties placed in a box below her, wrapping them around her wrists and tying her to the fencing of the cage. She made a noise and he slapped her, hard, across the face.

"Shut the fuck up." He instructed.

He turned around and looked at her, splayed out and ready for punishment. It pleased him very much. He grabbed a leather riding crop and walked toward her, looking forward to the release he hadn't felt in a very long time.