The Sweetest Temptation
Chapter 186: The video

Chapter 186: The video

Chewing on her lips, she gave Rhys an apprehensive look as he dragged her down the hallway leading to her father’s office, uncertain about how to prepare herself for what he’s about to share.

She still doesn’t understand why he was dragging to her father’s office. When they reach the door, Rhys leans forward and presses his lips to hers, cupping her face with his hands.

He hesitates to pull away but eventually does, only to steal another quick kiss before removing a key from his pocket and unlocking the door.

"You...." She was interrupted as he turned the knob of the door and gestured for her to enter.

Beatrix’s eyes narrowed and her brows scrunch in confusion. Why did he have the keys to her father’s office and why did he want them to watch the video here?

As she stepped into the room, she saw her father sitting in a chair, his hands bound with zip ties, and a gag over his mouth. Panic and fear washed over her, and she turned to Rhys with wide eyes, silently questioning what was going on.

Beatrix’s heart raced as she realized the gravity of the situation.

"Rhys, what is this? Why is my father tied up?" she demanded, turning to face him.

Rhys sighed, his voice sounded filled with grief.

"I’m sorry Beatrix," Rhys said.

Beatrix’s face falls and she can’t help the panic that starts in her chest. "Sorry? For what?"

She looks at Rhys, sees his eyes bloodshot and his face is riddled with guilt and so much fear that Beatrix’s heart aches.

"I haven’t been... Honest with you... I barely slept tonight, and I can’t let you love me and keep hiding things from you, if I’m gonna do right by you - I can’t keep secrets... Doesn’t matter how scared I am."

Beatrix’s heart drops so hard she’s surprised she didn’t hear the thud on the floor and her blood freezes in her body.

"Rhys... What are you - What are you talking about?"

Any grogginess Beatrix had has been smacked straight out of her body, she is wide awake now and her stomach is tying itself up in dread.

Rhys rolls his lips into his mouth, his face wincing like he’s in pain and he walks towards the table and placed the laptop on it, turning it on and putting the drive inside.

"I need to show you something," Rhys said.

Beatrix just stares, darting her eyes from him and back to her father; feeling the dread in her stomach, scrape and claw its way up to her chest and it only digs its nails into her to the point the air freezes in her lungs when Rhys locks his scared eyes on hers.

"And I don’t know if you’re still gonna love me after this" he added.

"Wh-"

Muffled sounds from her dad interrupted her and she look over at him to see he’s awake now. Still a bit dazed but he was staring at Rhys’s eye trying to speak.

The gag in his mouth was kinda making it a little difficult for him.

"Great, you’re awake. We were about to start the movie."

Beatrix feels nauseous as she looks at her father , noticing the distress he is struggling to hide on his face. She can see that he looks scared, and the emotion is causing her stomach to churn even more.

Beatrix wonders why Rhys thinks she won’t still love him, and what could possibly be that bad.

The words, ’I haven’t been honest with you,’ keep ringing in her head, and she tries not to let her thoughts spiral out of control with dread.

The idea that Rhys has been lying to her is almost too much to bear. She had thought they were past this, that he would no longer keep things from her.

Although there were things that he found hard to talk about in the past, Beatrix thought she knew the important things.

The fact that Rhys had trusted her with something so personal had meant a lot to her, and now she feels like she doesn’t know him at all.

Beatrix’s heart was pounding in her chest as she watched Rhys move towards the laptop. She could feel the fear and uncertainty building inside her. What was on that laptop? What could be so terrible that Rhys was afraid she might not love him after seeing it?

Rhys turned the laptop to face them and hit play. Beatrix’s eyes were glued to the screen as she watched the video play out in front of her.

The screen flickered and she saw a basement probably where his kidnappers took him.

Beatrix’s frown deepened for some reason the place looked so familiar.

She looked at the screen. Her eyes fell on Rhys, who was now staring at the ground, his shoulders rigid and his fingers tightly interlaced.

She noticed his knuckles turning white from how hard he was squeezing his hands together. She realized that watching this might not be a good idea.

"Is this where they took you?" She asked quietly.

Rhys’s jaw tensed, and he muttered an answer, "Yes.."

She frowned at how cold Rhys’s demeanor had become, as if he was disappearing into his own head. But the sound of voices from the laptop caught her attention, and she turned back to it.

As she watched, a man came into view on the screen. However, what made her blink as if she was hallucinating was the fact that the man was not a stranger to her. She could remember that face anywhere.

Her blood ran cold when she saw the little boy on the floor, his hand tied behind his back and his trousers were pulled down.

It was just out of frame, she could only see part of it but the sound she heard had her clasping her hand over her mouth. The sound of skin hitting ass checks.

He watched as the man walked towards Rhys and he undid his belt once he reached the kid, he grabbed his hair and lifted his head up.

The scene had Beatrix’s chest crushing itself while her body felt like it went numb and her blood went cold.