After her initial rendezvous with the Maestro, Evelyn Jane was beckoned back to Shaun Piper’s penthouse again and again nearly every day. She obliged him, of course.

Her explanation to anyone that asked about her increased time with the elder gentleman was that he was giving her advanced ‘violin lessons’. Shaun Piper would be the type to appreciate true talent, and he had never had a protégé before. Though it was clear to Evelyn Jane that Shaun coveted more than her talent when he had kissed her.

Evelyn Jane was currently basking in the summer’s afternoon sunlight next to Shaun Piper after a particularly invigorating violin lesson. He had given her praise where she deserved it but critiqued her quite thoroughly. She had been critiqued right out of her clothing and into his bed.

His wife was away again. Evelyn Jane had little care of where the woman was as long as she wasn’t there.

She rolled to her side and faced Shaun while sliding her hand over his. She couldn’t help but to stare at him with a twisted sort of fascination. She actually liked his company and if things went her way she wouldn’t mind continuing lessons with him. The boys her age were pathetically immature and boring.

He glanced down at her with a quick smile before sitting up and entering the en suite bathroom.


She rolled further across the bed, and into the spot he had been laying before, kicking up her leg to rest on her opposite knee and splaying her fingers out before her eyes to admire her recent manicure. The Battle of the Bands was only three days away and it was time to see if her plan had worked.

“What are you doing this weekend?” she tested the waters.

“You’ll have to be more specific,” he answered.

“Saturday Night. I’m playing violin in the regional Battle of the Bands and want to know if you could come watch me play?”

She heard the click of his medicine cabinet and she pulled herself up to hear his answer with baited breath.

“I’m actually judging the Battle of the Bands,” he answered. Maybe less amused than she anticipated him to be at this ‘coincidence.’

“That’s kind of funny,” she popped a counterfeit giggle, “Why would they have the Symphony conductor judge that kind of competition?”


“Musical diversity I guess,” she heard Shaun mumble, “Don’t expect any favoritism, you will either win or lose based on your skill and sound.”

Her feigned expression of innocence faded into a pout, “You don’t want me to win?”

“You’ll win if you deserve it,” he said, “You can’t expect me to judge your band’s music on how well you are in bed.”

That’s exactly what she expected. Honestly, she didn’t know if she could pull it off winning without his favor. Pulling out Classical music at this sort of venue wasn't something that had ever happened before. People didn't like challenges to the status quo.


She bit her lip and frowned, she hoped it wouldn't have come to this. She heard the sink water running now, Shaun was washing his face.

“It would be a shame if your wife found out about what we’ve been doing,” she changed the subject. Her tone was casual yet her words had a definite threat laced within them.

She heard the faucet turn off and a small, deep, chuckle. For some reason, it made her skin prickle. That wasn’t a reaction she expected.


“If my wife should find out, she would hardly be surprised,” he said and then appeared in the threshold between bedroom and bathroom, “You two actually have a lot in common.”

She certainly didn’t know how to reply to that.

So he kept talking, “My wife manipulated me into proposing to her. She convinced me that I couldn’t have her, so I tried harder to make her mine. In the end, I fell right into her scheme,” he threw the hand towel draped around his neck into the sink and pointed at Evelyn Jane, eyes narrowed. “So do you think I’m really that stupid to fall for the same type twice? I can see a politician’s daughter from a mile away, Miss Orbinson.”


Her eyebrows arched in genuine surprise. She had never exactly told him who she really was. She had always just been ‘Miss Evie’ and let him assume otherwise.

“So you don’t…care…if she finds out about this?” she asked suspiciously.

“I’d welcome it. She’s a degenerate gambler and I have a prenup. She’d be out on the street if she divorced me.”

This wasn’t going Evelyn Jane’s way at all. It had turned south rather quickly.

“I guess this little affair of ours is over then if you can’t be of use to me,” she said curtly and made a move to stand and find her clothes. In a sudden, unexpected movement, she was knocked backward into the mattress. Her head whirled from the sudden fall as she focused on the face above her and tensed at the animalistic look in his eyes.


“You can be of use to me, though. I’ve taken a real liking toward you,” he smiled wickedly and ran his fingers along her cheek in a gesture of affection.

“I’ll tell my father,” she hissed, throwing her hand up to push his leering face away.

“Tell your father what exactly? That you’ve been screwing a man older than him and who happens to married no less?” he growled and grabbed her wrist and slammed it into the mattress where he held it there tightly.

“I’ll tell him that you took advantage of me!” she retorted with an angry squeak that was rapidly turning to panic as she struggled to throw his weight off of her.

He actually laughed, threw his head back and laughed as if she were the most amusingly pathetic thing he’d ever witnessed,“You won’t do that.”

She stilled and gave him a hard look, demanding an explanation.

“Did your father ever tell you about your Aunt Margaret?”

That was certainly a change of topic and hardly answered the question of why she wouldn’t hesitate to tell her father that Shaun Piper was a disgusting old pervert.

She knew of Aunt Margaret, her father’s estranged sister. “She disgraced the family. That’s all they ever said of her. They removed all pictures of her from family albums. It's like she never existed.”

“The Orbinsons care a great deal about their image. They’d do anything to protect that political legacy of theirs. Including shunning any family member they felt tarnished their reputation.”

She didn’t like where the conversation was headed.


“Maggie slept around, seduced men of power. She was in the tabloids, and ended up spending millions of her inheritance being a high roller. Some sorry jerk actually felt bad for her and let her into his life and that same sorry bastard was dumb enough to marry her even.”

Evelyn Jane felt her stomach lurch despite not being ill.

“If you tell anyone about us, I’ll make sure it becomes public knowledge. No doubt your family’s reputation will be damaged, your father’s career would take a hit, and you, my dear, would become just. like. her”

He pointed across the room at a picture on a shelf that was of him in his younger years smiling next to pretty brunette who only looked vaguely familiar because she shared the Mayor’s same calculating blue eyes.

Aunt Margaret.


Shaun released her wrist and stood, seeming to trust that Evelyn Jane understood her circumstances and his conditions.

He picked out fresh attire from his closet and dressed. All the while, Evelyn Jane had slowly pulled herself upright while furiously trying to think of anything she could do to get back at him, to ruin him, to get out of this predicament she had stupidly allowed herself to fall into. She clutched her wrist to her chest, realizing it still hurt from all the pressure Shaun had put on it.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, same time,” he said in a dismissive tone while adjusting the cuffs of his jacket, not bothering to face her again. An awful and rare feeling of helplessness washed over Evelyn Jane. She could think of nothing she could do that wouldn’t expose her and ruin her family’s reputation. It looked to be like Shaun was a much better and experienced chess player than she ever was. This was checkmate. She begrudgingly picked up her clothes and dressed in silence before brushing past him to escape as quickly as possible. However, they both knew there was little chance of Evelyn Jane escaping her violin lessons now that Shaun Piper had her under his thumb.