by Tl Reeve
She sighed. “Fine, so, I guess I’m back to my original question, how do you deal?”
“It can get overwhelming, but you have to have someone or something to focus on. For me it’s Micah and Olivia. For you it’ll be something or someone else. Best advice I can give you; stay away from the club. I know you want to be there, but without a Dom, you’ll end up hurting yourself more than helping.”
“I thought about that this morning while watching the nine-hundred and ninety-nine thousand security videos you left me,” she razzed.
Once he found a parking spot outside Guido’s, Jude faced her. “This will get easier. At least you know what you want. Some never figure it out or never find it. I know Caelan will come through for you. It just might take some time.”
“Do you know why the Dom who was supposed to take me on left the last night I was at the club?” She’d needed to have an answer. Part of the reason she never connected with any of the Doms, she’d figured out, had been due to this invisible person’s negligence. Had she offended him in some way and she didn’t know it? Had he taken one look at her, seen her age and had second thoughts?
“No, I never heard. It was weird, I’ll tell you that much. Everyone believed he would have you taken you on.” They filed into the rather busy Italian restaurant, and when Jude found an empty table, he led her over to it. “Did anyone tell you he watched every scene you did?”
Hannah shrugged. “I always had a niggling suspicion someone did. I could feel their gaze on me, but I just chalked it up to everyone watching.” There had been one time though. She just hadn’t thought anything of it until now.
Hannah had been strapped to the pillory. Terror mixed with excitement laced with adrenaline, a perfect cocktail for a newbie such as her. She hoped to control herself, however the blinding need built inside her, shredding her composure and her ability to think rationally or hold fast to her steely control. Each strike of the paddle ratcheted her closer to another mind blowing orgasm.
Hannah cried out.
“Don’t you dare come without my permission.” A harsh shudder worked through her at Jackson’s tone.
Completely fucked, her submissive side warred with her libido. Telling her not to come would be like telling the Pope he couldn’t be Catholic anymore.
Her gaze locked with a man watching their scene. His whiskey-hued eyes were filled with desire and need. A shiver skirted down her spine as the man smiled at her. His heated stare singed her flesh. He made her stomach flip flop as pleasure surge through her blood stream.
“Hannah, what do you want on your pizza?” Jude asked, waving a hand in front of her face.
Blinking a couple of times, she cleared her throat, “Huh? Oh, um, meat? Sorry.”
“Where the hell did you go? I swear one minute we were talking about the last night you were here, and the next you’re having an outer body experience,” he said replied.
She told him. “I remember being strapped to the pillory and—”
“Okay, well I don’t need to know about that, thanks,” Jude muttered.
“Ugh, whatever. Look, if I’m going to find anyone, I need to be able to mingle, right?” Which meant she had to go to the club, even if it made her uncomfortable or twitchy. I’ll just keep the guy to myself for now. No need riling anyone up if I don’t have to.
A few hours later, Hannah walked out of the bathroom wearing a Larson’s Security uniform. Excitement coursed through her. For the first time in a long time, she had purpose. The comforting weight of her lock picking kit sat in her back pocket. She hadn’t willfully broken into a home since she’d been a kid. Nevertheless, she never let her skills get rusty either.
Pacing the hall outside Jude’s office, she waited for him to get off the phone with her first client. She had the script she wrote out with Jude’s approval and business cards in her jacket pocket. Hannah chewed on her thumbnail, a nervous habit of hers when she got anxious.
“Let’s go. The client isn’t home and won’t be expecting us to act this quickly.” Jude said, carrying his computer bag with him.
“Fantastic, I am totally stoked about this.” She practically vibrated with energy.
Jude chuckled and shook his head. “Here is what you need to know about the house. It’s a two story brick home with two ways in and out. They have a guard dog named Milo in the back yard. He’s a five-pound Yorkie, with the attitude of a Bull Mastiff.”
“Gotcha,” she said as they got back in the car. “What else do I need to know?”
“The neighbors are nosey. They know everything about each other. You’ll have to be careful about this one. One false move, and the police will be picking you up for breaking and entering.”
“At which time, you will promptly get my ass out of jail and inform the customers of the house what happened, correct?” Hannah asked, watching the city rush by her.
“I will, but that won’t happen, right?”
“Right.” She smiled.
“I’ll be down the block when you break in. As soon as the alarm is tripped, I’ll call you. All you have to do then is deactivate the alarm and reset it before you leave. Simple.”
“Way simple. Don’t worry, I’ve got this.” Hannah replied as they turned the corner and headed for the house.
The sleepy community could be a robber’s wet dream and worst nightmare. If they got too cocky, they’d get sloppy and people would notice. If they did their job correctly, they’d make off like a bandit. Jude parked halfway between the house and the back street, still close enough if she needed his help.
Walking up three cement stairs, Hannah followed the path to the front door while casing the house. Four windows across the second floor drew in the sunlight while downstairs, a giant bay window and side window made the house inviting. She still wasn’t sure why she was breaking into perfectly nice homes, but she wasn’t going to complain.
“Excuse me Miss, the Robertsons aren’t home right now,” a woman said passing by the house.
“Oh darn, I was supposed to meet Mrs. Robertson for piano lessons. Do you know when she will be back?” Shit, shit, shit. Luckily, she had three things on her side. She looked like a kid, she clearly had on a security uniform and she’d spotted a piano while peeking through the window moments before.
“Well, I am sure she’ll be back soon. Would you like a juice pack and some cookies? I baked some for my son. He loves having milk and cookies when he gets home from school. I live across the road there.” She pointed across the street to a mini version of a Victorian home.
“Oh, no thank you ma’am, that won’t be necessary. I can wait right here.” She swallowed roughly, holding back every cuss word she could think of at the time.
The woman nodded and crossed the road. Hannah willed her to go inside and not come back out so she could get back to work. As the door closed to the house, Hannah made a beeline for the back yard. Hopping the fence, she petted Milo before pulling out her kit and opening the back door. She stepped over the threshold, and decided to take a look around while waiting for Jude to call her.
*****
Jonas Raphael walked through the door of Olivia’s and spotted Caelan sitting at the bar. When their gazes met, the other man beckoned him to the where he sat. “I’m glad you could make it,” Caelan said, shaking Raphael’s hand.
“I wish I could say the same,” He replied sitting next to the Dom.
Raphael first met Caelan after the takedown of Mr. Brown, a notorious gangster with a rap sheet a mile long. Why he’d even taken the assignment, he still didn’t know. If Raphael could pinpoint when his life changed, he would point to the minute he’d agreed to go undercover for that particular job. Since then, his had become one shitty situation after another, until he took some downtime. Six months on a boat on the lake had given him time to think about his future and what he wanted out of it. He left LAPD and made the move to Chicago permanent. He also went back to work for Chicago PD. The only thing he hadn’t done? Walk back into Olivia’
s and found a willing sub. That is until Cal called him.
“Let’s get the bullshit out of the way,” Cal said. “I shouldn’t have pressured you before with Hannah. At the time, I knew all the shit you’d been through with the undercover bust going bad, and I thought taking over the training of a new sub would help you work out some of your issues. I was wrong and I am sorry for even assuming it could fix the situation.”
“Shit happens, man,” he said. The minute he’d seen Hannah strapped down, Jackson standing over her all those years ago, some visceral, predatory part of him had come to life. It had scared the shit out of him. He’d have done more damage to her than good. Instead, he feigned indifference to her. Buried his feelings.
“I wish you would have said something. Hell, I saw the signs of you liking her, and teased you about it,” Caelan sighed. “Maybe all of this bullshit would have never happened if I knew the truth of it all. If I could have helped you both.”
“No matter how bad I want…wanted Hannah, I couldn’t put myself out there.”
“I’m hoping you’ll reconsider the wanted part. She needs you Raphael,” Caelan nearly pleaded.
“I’m not the man I used to be. I’ve changed,” Raphael said, motioning to the bartender. I don’t know if I could even try again.”
“I understand. I believe this is fundamentally mine and Jackson’s fault. I overheard her talking with Nisey last night. Hannah has so many questions. Questions I should have answered the first time she set foot in the club. Hell, I wonder if maybe she’d been too young. Anyway, what stuck out most during this conversation, for me, had been the yearning in Hannah’s voice. She wants the connection between Dom and sub so badly, she can taste it. Only, in being so narrow minded in helping her, I cut myself off from connecting with her. By slapping her on the back when the scene ended, and telling her good job like I did those few times we worked together, I damaged her. She has no idea what’s expected of her—she’s floundering when she should be soaring.”
Raphael sighed and scrubbed his face. “She should have asked questions. You can’t take the blame for a situation that went both ways.” The argument sounded weak to his own ears. In fact, it seemed as though he was trying to blame her. He should have been blaming himself. He’d seen how things went down after their session and knew the guys were keeping a wall between them and her. Yet, the predatory part of him who itched to claim the woman, had been drenched with a cold bucket of reality. He hadn’t been fit for consumption, or to be consume. He’d have broken her without meaning to.
“You’re right, she should have asked. I don’t think she fully understood the magnitude of her submission, because I never explained it properly or allowed anyone else to,” Caelan relented. “We could go round and round on the blame game. Hannah is here now and she needs you. You need her too.”
“You have a lot of confidence in us,” Raphael said.
“Yes I do. We’ll start slow. How about dinner, tomorrow night, here? I’ll get everyone to come by, it’ll be fun. No pressure. Deal?”
Raphael considered his friend’s offer for a minute. What’s the worst that can happen? The spark was gone after five years? Not like he’ll be losing anything. “Deal.”
After finishing his beer, Raphael walked out of Olivia’s and took a deep breath. What have I agreed to? I can’t do this. Memories of the night Mr. Brown infiltrated the club flooded his mind.
“Mr. Raphael, can you enter the club and have it secured for me within the next five minutes?” Mr. Brown asked.
“I can Mr. Brown,” Raphael said, holding the phone to his ear.
“Excellent. You have five minutes to take the club. When you are finished, I want the girl strapped to the cross in one of the rooms. When I show up with Dominic LaFontane, he’ll be looking for Kalinda.” Mr. Brown’s maniacal chuckle turned his blood cold as he ended the call.
How the hell did he agree to something this dangerous? Now not only did he have to worry about his ass, he had to worry about Kalinda, her Dom and the people who worked for the club.
Two cars pulled into the parking lot of Olivia’s and Raphael’s phone went off again. “Mr. Brown?”
“Kalinda is in the car in front of us. Please take her out and have her prepared.”
Before Mr. Brown’s arrival, Raphael had entered the club and prepared everyone in the club he could. He knew the asshole’s bodyguards would never let him storm the place on his own and he’d be forced to do things he’d later regret. What and how much, he wasn’t certain. As the enforcers moved from their vehicle, carrying Kalinda in their arms, dread soured his stomach.
“Come on,” he shouted. “We’re sitting ducks out here.”
Busting down the door, one of the enforcers subdued Carlos, while he made his way through the club door. Greeted by Olivia, he stopped. Bile rose in his throat. “We’re taking over this club Olivia, either step aside without a fight or we force you to step aside.” Not moments before, Olivia and Raphael had worked out their plan. He only hoped it looked as good as it sounded.
“Fuck you, Raphael. This is my club. If you want it, you’re going to have to take it.” She spat at him and squared her shoulders, daring him to make a move.
Please forgive me, Olivia. He said a silent prayer and back handed her, knocking her out cold. Turning to one of the men, Raphael told him, “Chain her to the wall in the same room we’re putting Kalinda in. I need to get this one”—He jerk Kalinda’s arm— “ready for our scene.”
He hated himself for punishing Kalinda, he hated he had used her as bait. Half the time, he couldn’t even look at himself in the mirror because guilt ate at his gut. Sure, he’d done it all as part of a sting, and yes, the players knew what would happen. However, he couldn’t reconcile it within his own psyche. Everything he did that night five years ago went against the man he should have been. How was Hannah supposed to look at him? Or trust him? These were the questions he’d asked himself five years ago when he walked away from Hannah. Leaving her had been for the best. She needed someone she could count on.
Getting into his car, he started it and pulled away. At least he had a few hours of work ahead of him at the police department. Sure, six months on the lake had been great for his emotional state of mind but after a while he got restless. Being a detective gave him purpose. Gave him time away from his thoughts. If only it fixed my self-doubt, then I’d be a hell of a lot better off.
Chapter Three
“Freeze! Do not move.” Hannah jumped when she heard the order. Fuck. This could only happen to you on your first day of work.
She turned to the officer standing in the door frame, his gun pointed at her. “Oh please tell me that thing’s not loaded. You look like you couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn,” she said. The overweight man hadn’t missed a meal in who knew how long. Don’t police departments have standards their officers have to follow? He narrowed his dark-brown eyes and curled his lip.
“Get down on the ground and don’t talk,” he commanded before crossing the room to her.
Hannah complied with his orders. She hoped Jude would save her ass before Officer ‘Bubba’ could take her away. “This is all just a big misunderstanding. I work for Larson Securities. My name is Hannah. I have papers.” She grunted as he put his knee in her back to cuff her.
“Sure you do, Hannah. Seeing how it’s one-thirty in the afternoon and school is in progress, you should be there. Then there’s the fact you’re standing in a house you don’t belong in.” He patted her down. His grubby paws groped her as he checked for weapons. “You better not fucking move.” His nasty breath brushed against her ear.
Hannah’s stomach roiled as a shiver of revolt slithered down her spine. “Yes, because with my hands cuffed, I’m able to do so much right now.” Well she could, but she wouldn’t clue him in.
He rolled her over on her back and unzipped the jacket she wore. The bastard leered at her, licking his lips as he raised a shaky hand to continue his search. “We’ll do a
more thorough inspection once we get downtown.” Excitement filled his tone.
She cocked her brow. Ew. “I don’t give my consent to be strip searched. You have no reason to do so.”
“We’ll see. Get up,” he said, yanking her up off the floor of the living room.
Hannah knew only a few minutes had passed since she entered the house. Suspicion said the woman who greeted her at the door called, but she had no proof. Jude promised her the security system would notify him within five seconds of her making entry. So, why hadn’t Jude called? As the officer yanked her out of the house, her phone rang. “If you just answer my phone, you’ll see I have permission to be in here.” She pleaded.
“Sure. First, tell me where your key for the house is, then I’ll let you answer it.” Hannah didn’t say anything. She didn’t have a key, and if she said anything else it could be used against her. So, she let the phone ring until it went to voicemail with the hope Jude would come find her. “Whatever. I know what the truth is. Let’s get this over with, pig.” Done being nice, she followed the officer. If he wouldn’t allow her to answer the phone or listen to what she had to say, then fuck him. He could look like the ass later.
“I demand my phone call, you rat bastard. I hope you lose your fucking job.” Raphael turned his head as he signed in for his shift. Across from where he stood, a woman who looked vaguely familiar struggled with an officer.
“Got a live one here folks, she is spicy.” The arresting officer chuckled, handcuffing her to one of the benches. Leaving her there, he strutted over to where Raphael stood, then threw her belongings on the counter.
“I want my phone call. Fucker.” He’d know her voice anywhere. Hannah. His breath caught as she struggled against the binding cuffs. How in the world?
“What did you get her on?” Raphael lifted his chin toward her.
“A B&E on the upper east side, plus a school violation,” the officer told him with a smug grin.