When her phone rang, Colleen almost ignored it, but she saw it was Anya.
“Have a couple of beers. I’ll be right back.” She gave him a quick kiss and ducked outside the casino playground to take the call.
“How’s Paris?”
Chase had followed her out of the dungeon. Maybe she should have made that more of an order, but she changed her mind when he wrapped his arms around her and started kissing her neck.
“Colleen, we don’t have the clothes.” Anya’s anguished cry cut through Colleen’s mellow happiness.
For a moment Colleen tried to misunderstand. Maybe Anya meant she had no clothes.
“Did you hear me? Fierocity isn’t with me.”
So much for suspension of disbelief. “What? Did the airline lose it? I’ll have their heads.”
Chase stepped back, frowning. “Holy shit,” he said.
“No, we got the wrong boxes. We have Max’s samples.”
“How the fuck did that happen?” Colleen shouted.
“How the fuck do I know?” Anya shouted back.
“Okay. No problem.” Colleen paced the corridor. “I’ll handle this. When do you have to be in Calais?”
“Tomorrow at ten.”
Colleen did mental calculations with timelines and couriers and prices. “Go to the location. I’ll get you the correct boxes.”
“You don’t even know where they are,” Anya lamented.
“I’ll find them. I’ll call you when they’re in the air.”
Colleen hung up and turned to Chase. “Shit. I need to fix this.” She dialed Nefertiti, praying she was still at her desk.
“I heard,” Chase said, taking off his mask and stuffing it in his back pocket. “I saw Max and Mallory at Cielie’s about an hour ago. I’ll run up and see if I can catch him.”
“Bless you,” she said to him. And when Tee picked up, “Holy shit, we’re fucked” was what Colleen said to her by way of greeting.
Luckily, Max and Mallory were lingering over their Guinnesses when Chase came charging in. He explained the situation, and they all took off to the lending closet, where Max’s designs should have been stored.
Nefertiti was already there, with Colleen and Istvahn. There were boxes all over the floor. Max and Mallory started pawing through the ones closest to the door. Chase pushed through toward Colleen.
“I don’t know how this could have happened,” Nefertiti said, her voice shrill and panicked.
“No one is blaming you, Tee,” Colleen said. “Why don’t you check and make sure that the plane is fueled up and ready to fly?”
“It’s still at Charles de Gaulle airport.” Nefertiti pointed to boxes above her reach. Istvahn grabbed them and tossed them down to Chase.
“What?” Colleen whispered.
“There was no reason to bring it all the way back home and send it out again, duh,” Mallory said, but then she sobered up when she realized Colleen was stricken.
“Max, over here,” Chase said. “These taped boxes have your logo on them.”
Max got busy opening them up. “These shouldn’t be sealed.”
“Don’t worry,” Nefertiti said, talking over Max’s mutterings. “I called in a few favors. You’re using Samuel Kincaide’s private jet.”
“Sam?” Colleen tapped her finger to her lips.
“Who the hell is that?” Chase frowned at Colleen’s blush.
“An old friend. He’s a financial analyst on Wall Street.”
“Actually,” Nefertiti said, “he’s heading up the M&A department at Shelby Davis Associates.”
“No shit.” Colleen made an impressed face.
“What the hell is that?” Chase glared at Colleen.
“Mergers and acquisitions at an investment firm with notoriously deep pockets,” Colleen explained. And then she gasped when she recognized the pink suit in the box Max had just opened.
“I didn’t put your stuff in my boxes,” Max said. He held up a Hello Kitty pink suit with black rhinestone skulls. It was her signature piece for the line.
“I know,” Colleen said. “What a nightmare. Let’s get all these boxes open so we can take inventory.”
Mallory took charge. Istvahn made sure Nefertiti was comfortable and not agitating herself too much while she negotiated a last-minute flight plan from JFK to CDG. In the end, they were able to get LaGuardia to Lesquin airport with a few stops in between, and that was even better. It was tight, but the clothes should make it in time for the shoot in Calais.
“How did this happen?” Mallory said. “Is someone trying to sabotage you?”
“I can’t think about that right now,” Colleen said. “It’s probably just a simple error.”
“I hope it wasn’t my pregnancy brain,” Nefertiti moaned. “Maybe I made the mistake?”
“I said it doesn’t matter.” Colleen went over to hug her. “Your health and the baby’s are more important. We’re all human and we all make mistakes. We’re fixing this. Just get papers ready for Clint to do the clothing exchange.”
“Clint?” Max said. “I figured I would go and get them.”
“Let Clint go,” Colleen said. “Anya will be thrilled, and he’ll help keep her calm. He knows the line well enough to make sure he gets everything right, doesn’t he?”
“Sure,” Max said. “That works for me.”
Mallory gripped his hand. “Good, because if you went to Paris without me, I’d be pretty pissed.”
“First of all, he’s going directly to Lille. Anya went via Paris because it’s physically impossible for her to be in France without shopping on the Champs-Élysées. Nord Pas-de-Calais is lovely, though. You could have gone with him.”
“I’ve got double shifts tomorrow. And since I’m not the boss, I can’t make my own hours.”
Colleen stuck her tongue out at her sister.
“Which is my cue to leave. You’re all set. Those five boxes were the entire Fierocity line,” Mallory said with a wave.
“I’ll put them in the car if you’ll stay with Tee,” Istvahn volunteered.
“Of course,” Colleen murmured.
“I don’t need a goddamned babysitter. I’m pregnant, not an invalid.”
“He just worries about you.” Colleen sat next to her and put an arm around her.
“I know. I’m sorry,” Nefertiti sniffed.
“Don’t cry,” Istvahn said. “It is nothing. I’ll be right back.”
Chase picked up a box when Nefertiti started weeping, and carried it out of the closet to where a trolley cart was waiting. “Don’t worry, man. My sister was the same way when she was having my nephew.”
“Thanks,” Istvahn said as they loaded up. “And for helping.”
“Don’t mention it.” He walked with Istvahn out to the main entrance, where the truck and Clint were already waiting.
“Are you going to be able to manage all by yourself?” Chase asked as the three of them loaded up the boxes.
“The hard part will be after I land, but Nefertiti is clearing the way for me and hopefully customs will go smoothly and I can pick up a decent truck. Anya’s going to meet me at the airport in Lille.”
“Good luck.” He shook hands with Clint and watched as they pulled out of Couture.
“So Istvahn,” Chase said, trying to be casual, “what can you tell me about this old friend Samuel Kincaide?”
“He and Colleen dated for a while, but they’re too much alike and it didn’t last. They’re still friendly.”
“How friendly?” Chase scowled. “Is he…you know…in the lifestyle?”
Istvahn shook his head. “He was never allowed into the club levels.”
“Good.” Chase wasn’t sure why that pleased him, but the relief in his gut was a welcome feeling.
Istvahn’s phone buzzed. He read the text and then said, “Colleen brought Tee up to her room. I’m going to check in on them. Colleen said for you to go back to the dungeon and she’ll meet you there.”
“Okay.” Chase shr
ugged. It wasn’t any fun without her. Well, that wasn’t completely true. He’d just rather have his hands around his woman than watch everyone else fucking their brains out. Still, she was the Mistress, so what she said went. Once he was in the elevator going down, he wished she’d told him to meet her in the penthouse. Or, even better, back at his place. Wait, his place was a mess. Better off if they stayed here.
Chapter 14
The staff development party was still in full swing and getting rowdy. Chase ordered a shot and a beer, and it eased the hard edges off. The Fierocity mix-up could have been a real nightmare. Chase was glad there had been a simple solution. He slammed a second shot, and the tension just rolled right out of him. As he nursed a second beer, he put his back to the bar and did some people-watching. He was itching to try his hand at blackjack, but he was pretty sure Colleen would take a piece off his ass if he sat across from Angie.
A crowd had gathered around a rather unique roulette wheel. Instead of being attached to the table, the giant wheel was attached to a frame. Chase recognized Jana strapped to it and being spun ankle over head. Dante was blindfolded, and of course Jana was completely naked. The wheel had black and red numbers around the outside. In the space between her spread legs were the green zero and double zero.
Chase didn’t think it looked too safe and tensed each time Dante let fly. But six spins later, he was elbowing his way up to place a bet on red nineteen. The chips had Colleen’s face on them, which he thought was a trip. He quickly lost his stash and was considering what he was willing to do from the job board for another handful. Reading down the list, he discovered that blow jobs were worth ten chips and anal was worth one hundred.
“Something in the middle,” he murmured, “and then only if it’s Colleen.” He nursed his beer and was trying to barter either a hot oil massage or a foot rub for twenty more chips when Dante tapped him on the shoulder.
“Jana needs a break. Get on the wheel.”
“I beg your pardon?” Chase said.
“Dom.” Dante pointed to himself. “Sub.” He pointed to Chase. “Wheel now, or I’ll show you what it means to beg.”
If he told Dante to go fuck himself sideways with a pitchfork, would that get Colleen in trouble? Probably not; she owned the place. As he opened his mouth, Chase wondered if mouthing off to Dante would get him punished. He didn’t want any more abstinence. And if it was just a matter of going for a ride on the wheel a few times, it wasn’t worth not seeing Colleen.
He tanked his beer. “You’re the boss.” He shrugged.
Chase kind of liked the catcalls and appreciated the light slaps on his ass. In a way, it was like he had just sacked the quarterback again. Smiling, he waved to the crowd. Jana helped buckle him in.
“Don’t worry,” she said. “Master Dante seldom misses.”
“Seldom?” Chase wasn’t sure seldom was a wide enough margin and had a second to realize he was an idiot before Jana heaved the wheel and it spun around three times before she jumped clear. He heard the thunk as the knife sank in.
“Black twenty-two.”
Aside from a slight dizziness, this wasn’t so bad. The second turn was uneventful: “Red twelve.” That was closer to his face than he liked but still far enough away that Chase only blinked at the knife. The next spin came up green zero.
“Hey now,” Chase said and tried to rip himself down.
Jana tugged the blade out from under his balls. “Don’t be such a crybaby,” she said.
The wheel spun again before he could retort that when she had a scrotum she could tell him not to bitch, but until then she could jiggle her ass over to the stage and tell Dante to lay off the bladed weapons.
Suddenly, sharp pain pierced his arm. “Fuck,” Chase snarled, looking at the hole in his shirt. Dante had only nicked him, but fury took over. “Get me out of this thing.”
Jana hurried back over and started unbuckling his legs. “You’re all right. It’s just a scratch.”
“This idiot has no business throwing knives if he can’t hit what he’s aiming at.”
A collective gasp sounded from the watchers.
“Leo, bring me my cat,” Dante said with undisguised glee.
Chase wasn’t sure why he was calling for pussy at a time like this, but he was glad his legs were free. By the time Jana had taken off the cuffs, the little cut had clotted up. Chase was still pissed, especially when a naked man wearing a penis cage—Chase did a double take. A penis cage?—handed Dante a cat-o’-nine-tails.
“Kneel before me, sub, and take your punishment.” Dante sauntered over to him.
“Eat shit,” Chase said, and hauled off and hit him in the jaw.
Staggering back, Dante struck out with the whip. It hit Chase low on his leg, and the sting spiked his temper. Launching himself at Dante, Chase caught him around the waist and slammed him into the floor. Dante bounced almost as good as a rookie quarterback. Chase was feeling a little too pleased with himself and wasn’t paying attention, because he got kneed in the head as soon as Dante recovered. He tackled him back down again. Dante bucked and tried to flip them, but Chase outweighed the bastard by a good seventy pounds.
A whip crack thundered an inch over his head, and Chase instinctively ducked. Dante threw him off but stayed on the floor when Colleen snapped a short whip next to where he was sitting. Dante held up his arms in surrender.
“What the hell is going on here?” She stood over them like a leather-clad avenging angel. The whip dangled in her hand. Chase swore it was almost vibrating with a life of its own.
“Your sub attacked me.” Dante eased up into a sitting position. “I demand the right to punish him.”
“This maniac stabbed me in the arm.” Chase showed her the cut on his biceps.
“In my office, now. And not another word out of either of you.”
“Yes, Mistress,” Chase said, getting to his feet.
“As my Mistress commands.” Dante gave her an artful bow as he rose.
Show-off.
How could he do this to me? Colleen seethed. Both of them. She had to get a grip on her temper before they made it back to her office; otherwise, it could get out of hand very quickly. The elevator ride up was silent except for their breathing. She was pretty sure steam was coming out of Dante’s ears.
Colleen waved them into her office. Like she really needed this shit after the Fierocity fiasco and having to calm Nefertiti down. “Sit down,” she ordered, slamming her door. She came around the desk. “You boys want to tell me why I saw my sub and one of my Doms fighting like school kids?”
They both started talking at once.
“Silence,” she snarled out. “Dante, your side of the story first.”
“He attacked me.”
Colleen waited, holding up a hand to stop Chase’s rebuttal. “Is that all you’re going to say?”
“He struck me in the face and then tackled me to the floor. I demand—”
“Shut up,” she said, cutting him off. She turned to Chase. “Your side.”
Please have a good excuse.
“He cut me with one of his knives.”
“What?” She wheeled on Dante.
Dante crossed his arms over his chest and looked away from Colleen’s glare. “I missed. He was on the wheel and was moving around and the knife pierced his skin.”
“Let me see the wound.”
“That’s not the point,” Chase said, pointing to the hole in his shirt.
Colleen ripped the sleeve open to take a look. “It’s just a scratch. What were you doing up on the roulette wheel anyway?”
“He ordered me,” Chase said. “Said he’d punish me if I didn’t go.”
“Where the hell do you get off threatening my sub?” Colleen whirled on Dante again.
“He didn’t safeword. I thought it was fine.”
Colleen arched an eyebrow at Dante, who dropped his gaze. “I didn’t miss on purpose,” he said. “Which is what he accused me of, and then he embarrassed m
e in front of the entire club.”
“He was going to hit me with a whip. So I punched him,” Chase said.
Colleen walked back around her desk and sat down. She practiced her breathing exercises and waited for serenity to flood through her. When that didn’t happen, she folded her hands in front of her on the desk. “I can’t have fistfights breaking out in my dungeon. You’re both lucky this was done on a staff development night and not in Club Inferno. Although the subs are going to talk.”
“They’d better not,” Dante said darkly.
“Chase,” Colleen sighed. “You disrespected a Dom and physically attacked him. If we were in a regular club, the police would have been called and Dante would be well within his rights to press charges.”
“He threw a knife at me,” Chase protested, gripping the chair’s arms until Colleen thought they would crack.
“Which brings me to my next point. Dante, in threatening a sub to make him obey you, you disregarded every rule we have. You have to earn a sub’s respect. You may be a Dom, but you are not his Dom, and he has no obligation to follow any of your orders.”
“I already explained to you—”
“Shut up,” Colleen ordered.
Dante sulked in his chair.
“You’re both punished. One week of abstinence for Chase and a one-week ban on Club Inferno for you, Dante.”
“That’s bullshit.” Chase bolted to his feet, and his chair went flying.
“I do not deserve a ban,” Dante said calmly. “And my reputation was tarnished by his disrespect. I respectfully request the right for me to punish him.”
“Come at me, bro,” Chase said, waving him on.
“Denied,” Colleen spat.
“I’m out of here.” Chase slammed the door on his way out.
Dante stayed and waited a few breaths. “That’s some sub you’ve got there.”
“You are out of line. You were out of line down there, too.”
He stood up and stretched, rubbing his jaw. “You should have Istvahn watch out for him. He’s a beast and can’t be controlled.”
“I control him just fine.” Colleen got up, ready to bodily throw him out of her office.
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