by Maren Smith
Eamon ran his hand over his head. “I don’t know,” he growled, not sure whether he wanted to strangle her or take her in his arms and apologize.
“Listen, man, I’m sorry I didn’t take you more seriously. I was genuinely delighted to see you take such an interest in someone and thought you might have some kind of real relationship with a girl for once. I had no idea she was a lying little mole. Do you think this is a repeat of what happened with Sandy?”
Eamon didn’t know what to think. Sandy, a local journalist from Granger, had wormed her way into the Castle under false pretenses just a few months earlier. “I don’t think so,” he said, still amazed at the raw fury he’d felt when Dominick had referred to Tasha as a lying little mole. “Marshall was well aware of Sandy’s entry into the Castle from the start.”
“Maybe he’s aware of Tasha’s,” Dominick retorted. “In all likelihood, she conned him somehow, as well.”
“I highly doubt that. Marshall’s impossible to con.”
“Almost impossible,” Dominick said grimly. “He also has a kind heart and a soft spot for a pretty girl with a good story. In any case, we need to take this to him right away.”
“Wait,” Eamon said desperately as Dominick moved to pick up his plate. “Just let me think for a minute.” If they went to Marshall, that would be the end of it. Tasha would be escorted unceremoniously off the premises and he’d never see her again.
And the mere thought of that was like a punch to the gut.
Dominick waited, watching him intently, still gripping the plate.
“We don’t have any proof,” Eamon began slowly.
“We don’t need proof. If the two of us tell him we suspect a new employee of dishonesty, he’ll boot her out immediately. And even if that doesn’t happen, he’ll at least go through her paperwork. There’s bound to be proof there.”
“It just doesn’t feel right,” Eamon said. “And Marshall has a lot on his mind. I’d rather wait until we have something more concrete than a hunch based on a couple of conversations before we risk jeopardizing this girl’s future.”
Dominick’s golden brown eyes—several shades lighter than Tasha’s dark velvet ones, Eamon found himself thinking—widened as realization dawned. “Holy fuck,” he said. “You like her, don’t you? I mean, really… like her.”
“I do,” Eamon admitted at length, wishing for the second time that day that he had an alcoholic beverage to hand. “I can’t put my finger on why, or how, or even describe the feeling, but the thought of her leaving just… fuck, I don’t know.” He sighed. “I don’t want her to go. Not without at least giving her a chance to explain herself. I mean, it’s not like she’s done anything bad—”
“Except lie to everyone she’s come in contact with,” Dominick interjected tersely.
“Well yes, okay, but we don’t know why. Maybe she has a really good reason.”
There was a long, long pause. Eamon realized he was holding his breath and forced himself to let it out slowly.
“All right,” Dominick said. “You have twenty-four hours. Only because you’re my best friend, and only because you made some good points. And my Dungeon has never been tidier.”
The relief crashed over Eamon like a tidal wave. “Thank you,” he said.
“You’d better have some more info for me by lunchtime tomorrow,” Dominick went on, “or I’m going straight to Marshall. And if she fucks up in any way between now and then, I’m holding you personally responsible.”
“Fine,” Eamon said. Considering he planned to stick to her like white on rice for the next twenty-four hours, the chances of her endangering herself or anybody else were slim to nonexistent.
“Just so long as we’re clear on that.”
“Yes, I heard you. I’ll take full responsibility.”
Dominick’s expression lost some of its severity as he got to his feet, taking his plate with the half-eaten burger with him. “The ultimate playboy who can have his pick of thousands of available submissive painsluts,” he said with a tut, “and he goes and falls for a vanilla who is very likely to be unemployed this time tomorrow. Only you.” Shaking his head, he turned and walked away, but not before Eamon caught the glimmer of amusement in his eyes.
The problem was, the bastard was right.
Tasha had spent the remainder of the morning putting as many rooms and play stations to rights as she could and trying to come up with some kind of plan.
Even though a part of her was desperate to see Master Eamon again, to see how he behaved toward her after the night they’d spent together, another part was relieved that he hadn’t appeared, as that gave her more space to think clearly.
If Carmen hadn’t already left the Castle, he would probably do so soon. He definitely wasn’t going to hang around forever. Every day, a bus full of guests departed for Granger, so every day, her chances of running into him grew slimmer and slimmer.
It was hard not to be angry at William for getting himself into such a mess, but Tasha couldn’t really blame him. Desperate people did desperate things sometimes, and when he’d run up a massive gambling debt, some dumb, dodgy acquaintances of his had suggested he go to Carmen for a loan.
Unfortunately for William, he had underestimated just how evil Carmen was, and he hadn’t been able to scrape together even enough to make the first repayment.
It was like a really bad movie. Idiot with a penchant for gambling runs up a massive debt to some mobsters in Vegas and flees home to Wabasha, hoping they won’t find him, but they do, so he gets himself into even more debt to a local gangster in order to buy himself some more time. But every time he wins some money, he gambles it to try and get more—and promptly loses it again.
Unfortunately, that idiot was her kid brother. She cursed herself for not having forced him to seek help for his addiction earlier, and for barely earning enough as a waitress to support herself, let alone help him with his debts.
So he’d ended up owing an even bigger amount—when you added Carmen’s extortionate interest to the sum—to a guy just as dangerous as the Vegas ones, and, no longer being able to flee to another state, he’d called Tasha in a panic and explained everything just before saying he was going to see Carmen to try and get more time. He’d added, “If you never hear back from me, that guy’s behind it. I’ve emailed you all the info I have on him, as well as a photo. Tell the cops.”
Just recalling the desperation in William’s tone was enough to make Tasha’s heart stutter and her stomach roil. Ever since their parents had died in a tragic accident, she’d felt responsible for him. And while she had gone to the cops, they’d been infuriatingly unhelpful and had just said something about ‘looking into it.’
“God, are you still here?” Lishy’s voice interrupted her thoughts.
“Why, what time is it?”
“Time you took a break—to get something to eat, at least. They’ve got you working like a slave down here.” Lishy giggled. “And not the fun kind.”
“Are you here to relieve me?” Tasha straightened the final sheet on the final mattress in the final aftercare room she’d tidied. “Because I’m pretty much done.”
“I’m not here to take over, if that’s what you mean. I’m here to get you. We’re going upstairs to civilization. And food,” Lishy retorted, placing a slender hand on her narrow hip.
“All right.” Tasha knew there was no arguing with her new friend. “Just let me toss this down the chute.” She slipped back into her heels and picked up a trash bag.
“If I were you, I’d ask for a different assignment tomorrow,” Lishy said, falling into step beside her. “You’ve probably done more menial work in the last couple days than most Little Maids do in a year. Or did you ask to be sent down here?” She was obviously fishing now. “To be closer to a special someone?”
Tasha hid her rapidly heating face as she shoved the trash down the chute and slammed the metal lid shut. “Of course not. I didn’t ask to be assigned anywhere. I’ve been sent h
ere every day since I arrived.” That wasn’t strictly true, as nobody had actually told her to go to the Dungeon that morning. Then again, nobody had told her she should go somewhere else, either.
They ascended the stairs to the first floor, with Lishy making a beeline for the restaurant. “I don’t know about you, but I’m starving,” she said.
Shrugging inwardly, figuring it couldn’t hurt to get a bite even though she wasn’t really hungry, Tasha picked up a plate and followed her down the line.
A few moments later, they were seated at a little table in the far corner, as removed from view as it was possible to get in the packed buffet restaurant.
“Right,” Lishy said bossily around a forkful of lettuce, “spill the beans. I want to know everything.”
Deciding she’d never get any peace if she didn’t at least give Lishy something, Tasha took a deep breath. “Master Eamon took his belt to me yesterday.”
Lishy’s pretty hazel eyes widened and she stopped chewing. At length, after swallowing hard, she reached out and gripped Tasha’s hand. “And? Go on, what happened? What was it like? Did he walk you through it, considering it was your first time?”
Deciding to ignore that last question, Tasha considered her response. “It was… actually, it really hurt. But it was also—”
“Amazing, right? God, you’re lucky, having your play cherry popped by a guy like Master Eamon. Women line up for a session with him. The man knows his way around the female body, that’s for damn…” Lishy trailed off, staring at her intently. “Wait a minute. It’s him, isn’t it? He’s the one you spent the night with!”
Fuck. “Yes,” Tasha admitted slowly, wondering how to extract her hand from Lishy’s slender fingers without seeming rude. While she had absolutely no right to feel that way, the other girl’s comments had caused a stabbing, outraged jealousy to spread through her chest. It was on the tip of her tongue to ask exactly how Lishy knew how talented Eamon was but she was able to stop herself by shoving a piece of chicken into her mouth.
Lishy leaned back, her hand sliding from Tasha’s, and let out a low whistle. “Wow,” she said eventually. “He asked you back to his place?”
Tasha nodded, still chewing her chicken.
“Wow,” Lishy said again. “I don’t think I’ve known him to do that in all the time I’ve been here. He has this thing about not getting involved with staff.”
“Huh?”
“Don’t get me wrong, he’s friends with pretty much everyone, and he’ll call on one of us to escort him if it’s his turn to attend the Supper and Show or whatever, but as far as I’m aware, he keeps his actual play limited to guests only. You know, women with a set date to leave.”
Tasha remained silent as she tried to absorb this new information.
“And he’s never, ever asked a girl back to his apartment. He always goes to their rooms so he can leave immediately after he’s done.”
“Well,” Tasha took a sip of soda, “he didn’t really have a choice, in this case. It was his place or the dorm.”
Lishy was shaking her head, her shiny hair catching the light. “I don’t know what to make of this, hon. I really don’t.”
“What are you saying?”
“I’m saying that while Master Eamon looks out for us, while he’s definitely happy to discipline us if it’s warranted, he’s never, ever fucked a colleague—as far as I’m aware, at least. And I make it my business to know these things.”
Relief that he’d obviously never had sex with Lishy warred with a sudden surge of hope that maybe this was a sign that he felt the same way about Tasha as she did about him.
Not that she knew exactly what that was.
“He must really like you,” Lishy confirmed Tasha’s thoughts. “The man has unbelievable restraint and iron willpower. He never usually breaks his own rules.” She frowned and leaned forward again. “Wait, what did you do before he asked you to his place?”
“We went to the Supper and Show,” Tasha admitted uneasily. “It was his turn again.”
“But you did have sex, right?”
Tasha nodded, willing her cheeks not to redden.
“And then you slept—actually spent the night—with him?”
Tasha nodded again.
“What happened this morning?”
“He was still asleep when I left. Master Dominick said it’s his day off today.”
“Are you done?” Lishy pointed at Tasha’s plate.
“Yeah. I wasn’t really hungry.”
“Want to come for a smoke?”
Tasha felt herself smiling. “Is this going to be a new routine?”
“Sure, why not? Our daily patio gossip.” Picking up both plates, Lishy hustled over to return them and motioned to Tasha to follow her.
Within five minutes, they were outside in the sunshine.
“I still can’t wrap my head around it,” Lishy said at length. “I don’t know what to tell you.”
“It’s hardly a huge thing,” Tasha tried to sound casual. “Two adults decided to have sex and they did it in the only available place. Doesn’t have to mean anything.” Even as she said it, she hoped it wasn’t true.
Lishy let out an unladylike snort completely at odds with her model-like appearance and gestured around them with a broad sweep of her slender arm. “The only available place? Give me a break. This is the Castle, hon! He could have—sorry—fucked you anywhere. The Dungeon, one of the cabins, shoot, in the middle of the restaurant if he’d wanted to. But he didn’t. Instead, he took you back to his place. Only his core group ever set foot in his private apartment.”
A surge of hope bubbled through Tasha even though she tried to push it back down. Lishy’s comments were evoking images she really didn’t want to let herself consider because, even if what her new friend was saying was true, it didn’t matter. The clock was ticking. It was only a matter of time before she got caught out in her lies and thrown out—or, although it was growing more and more unlikely, before she found out where to find William, at which point she’d have to leave anyway.
She was tempted to mention that they’d actually done it twice now but decided she’d given up enough information for the time being. Considering the way Lishy was reacting after admitting she’d had sex with the guy once, Tasha could well believe that, in her friend’s mind, twice would equal something akin to an engagement.
Shrugging, she tried to pretend it was no big deal. “People are having sex all over the place here,” she said. “Doesn’t mean anything. I bet you’re reading too much into it.”
Lishy was eyeing her suspiciously.
“Besides,” Tasha went on, deciding to voice her nagging fear, “he never came down to find me this morning. Surely he would have if he likes me as much as you’re implying he must.”
Lishy took another drag of her cigarette before passing it to Tasha. “Maybe he was busy,” she ventured.
Tasha raised an eyebrow. “It’s his day off, remember?”
“Doesn’t mean he didn’t make other plans. I know he goes to the gym with Master Dominick pretty much every morning. Maybe he did that and went back to bed to dream of you.” She winked. “Or maybe he just didn’t want to disturb you while you were working and is planning to seduce you again later.”
Tasha wasn’t convinced but she was suddenly keen to end the conversation. She didn’t want to spend any more time talking about a man she had no chance of being with, ever. “Hey, thanks for the smoke but I need to get back downstairs,” she lied. Considering she was actually an extremely honest person at heart, the ease with which she was learning to flat out lie to people’s faces was beginning to worry her.
“No problem. If you do end up in your own bed tonight, I’ll be waiting to hear whether I was right,” Lishy said with a grin. “I’m pretty sure you’ll run into Master Eamon again before the day is up.”
“Maybe,” Tasha agreed. “Have a great afternoon.”
“You too.”
Tasha slipped back i
nside the Castle proper and took a deep breath, trying to quiet her racing mind. Lishy’s suggestion that Eamon’s behavior toward her was unusual was enough to make her squirm with pleasure, but this was the first time she was completely and utterly unsupervised without someone waiting for her somewhere.
It was also already her third day there—which meant time was running out. Without a real destination in mind, she began to wander around the premises, her eyes constantly flicking to anyone who looked even remotely like Carmen or his bodyguard.
She’d been walking aimlessly round the entire vast first floor for several minutes before the smell of coffee reached her nostrils and she realized how desperately she wanted some.
Ducking into the Café, she ordered a large cappuccino and had just taken it to a table in the corner of the room and sat down when her heart skipped a beat.
They had just come in—both Carmen and his henchman—and they were making their way over to the ordering line. Staring at the backs of their heads, she was immediately transported back to that long, nerve-wracking day of travel where she’d impulsively decided to follow them and ended up here, in Ohio.
Relief that they were still there was closely followed by panic as she realized she still had absolutely no idea how to go about obtaining the information she needed. She could hardly walk up to Carmen and basically accuse him of kidnapping or murder, at least not in front of all these people.
She would follow them, she decided, still watching them furtively as they moved to one side to wait for their drinks. She would stalk them throughout the entire fucking Castle if she had to and wait until they were alone.
They had no idea who she was and she was dressed as a Castle employee. In what amounted to lingerie, basically. Maybe she could somehow coax some information out of one or both of them. She would flirt, wheedle, or even beg if she had to.
It was a long shot but right now, it was all she had.