Liberated Heart (Windy City Book 4)

by Measha Stone

  "I don't think I can do this. This, you know, this thing." Erin's cheeks burned with a new blush. Why couldn't they understand what she was saying without making her actually say it out loud? Didn't they know how embarrassing it all was?

  "What? Sell the house? Break up with Jonathan? Date Bradley?" Jessica sipped her diet coke. The sound of the lunch rush happening around them covered any concern that they'd be overheard.

  "Yes. All of it. I mean no, not the Jonathan thing. That's a done deal, and really it was for the best." And for the first time, she said the words without any hesitation or conflicted feelings.

  "Okay, then let's take this all one step at a time." Kelly pushed her chicken salad sandwich to the side and folded her hands on the table. Her signature getting-down-to-business move. "Do you want to live in the suburbs still? I mean it's a long ass way from work, your family doesn't live out there, and we are all in the city. You make enough money to live in the city if you want, so that's not a reason to stay out there." Kelly ticked off the reasons finger by finger.

  "No, I don't really want to stay out there." Talking about her living arrangements meant dealing with Bradley. She managed to avoid him that morning, taking off for work right after Kelly and Kendrick left. He tried to waylay her, but she told him she had a meeting she couldn't miss. It wasn't a total lie. She did have plans to meet with a client she'd been pushing off, but she could have moved it if needed.

  "Okay, so that solves the house problem. That leaves Bradley." Jessica spoke in a hushed tone, dancing up to the subject.

  "Bradley is great," Erin said with conviction. He was. Bradley could not be more of anything that she would want in a man. He was strong; he was dependable; he was responsible, and loving, and would hold her all night and let her sob on his best shirt if she needed it. The man was downright perfect.

  "I feel a but coming any second now." Kelly said.

  "Well, you don't like him." Erin pointed to her. Yep, use Kelly as scape goat, good plan!

  "No, don't put this on me. It's not that I don't like him. He's just more than I could handle. I'm not his biggest fan at the moment, he did get my butt busted last night."

  Jessica laughed. "No he didn't. You did that with your damn mouth."

  "Wait. What?" She still felt like an outsider.

  "You didn't tell her?" Jessica gave Kelly a dark look. "You were there this morning and you didn't mention it?"

  "When I got there she looked all puffy. She'd been crying, so I figured, you know, worry about her sore ass before mine."

  "You're doing it again," Erin grumbled and shoveled a piece of chicken into her mouth.

  Both women at least had the decency to blush. "I'm sorry. We really do need to do better about that." Jessica placed a hand on Erin's arm.

  "Just tell me what happened." Erin wiped a drop of dressing from her lips and eyed Kelly.

  "Well after I let the cat out of the bag—and again next time tell me first—I got a little mouthy. I might have raised my voice at Bradley, and it's really quite possible I said he was cruel. Kendrick took exception to me saying that."

  "Cruel?" Erin clenched her hands in her lap. "He's not cruel. I mean, it felt that way last night, but afterwards, he just held me. Let me slobber all over him, then took me home and tucked me into bed. I mean it felt a little childish, but he tucked me in, and kissed me good night. I felt more intimacy in that moment with Bradley than I ever did with Jonathan."

  When she finally finished speaking she plopped a cherry tomato in her mouth and chewed while Jessica and Kelly exchanged a glance. "But you aren't sure if you should date him?" Kelly asked with a wrinkled brow.

  "Didn't you just hear what I said?" Erin asked with irritation. Did she really need to spell it out for them?

  "This must be what's it's like talking to me when I'm all blubbery. Royce has the patience of a saint." Jessica took a deep breath. "Erin, if he's so great, why would you question dating him."

  "Because obviously he's going to get sick of me real quick." Erin rolled her eyes. "He's so experienced, and I'm still getting my feet wet. I suck at this. I mean, I thought it was what I wanted. I mean it is, I think. But I suck at it."

  "At what?" Kelly asked again, blowing an errant strand of hair out of her eyes.

  "This." Erin pointed at the two of them then back at herself. "You know, being what we are." Still seeing the confusion on their faces she hissed the word. "Submissive."

  "Oh!" Kelly slapped the table and laughed. "That's not a problem. I mean of course you suck at it, you just started to realize what you want. It's just that you're new. Hell, I still suck at it sometimes. That's when Kendrick just yanks me back into line."

  "Yeah. Royce isn't exactly handing me any perfect sub medal any time soon. If we were perfect at it, wouldn't it be kind of boring? Every relationship has ups and downs. Someone screws up, then it gets worked out. Vanilla or kinky doesn't change that part. Just how it gets worked out."

  They obviously didn't understand. Erin tried to explain it again. "A true submissive wouldn't have lied like I did yesterday."

  "First off, there's no such thing as a true submissive." Kelly pointed a finger at her with dark eyes. "I hate that term. It's not real. Everyone is different, every relationship is different."

  "Yeah, I mean Kelly would probably pee her pants if Bradley came up to her with one of his floggers in his hand."

  "Hey," Kelly moved her pointed finger, aiming it Jessica. "That's not my fault, that man looks terrifying."

  Erin wanted to laugh. He did look rather scary when he was dressed for play, hell, even when he wasn't dressed for play. His eyes portrayed so much about his intentions, and his intentions were never covered in rainbow dust. Why didn't he terrify her when he looked at her with such intensity? Shouldn't someone who had such fire in his expression scare her? The kinkiest activity she participated in before him was doggy style sex. Yet with Bradley, seeing him stalk her with a flogger in hand, his eyes narrowed, and his jaw set tight always melted her insides. When he called her pet or yanked on her hair, her body responded as though he'd stroked it with his hands. The harshness of his slaps, the clamps, the whippings, all drove her closer to her end than any bouquet of flowers, or kiss could possibly hope to achieve.

  Something was obviously wrong with her. She'd lost her mind.

  "She's over thinking," Kelly whispered as she sipped her drink.

  "Erin, listen to us. One of us should be able to get through this part unscathed, and you are lucky to have two experienced burn victims to learn from." Jessica patted her hand. "Don't think too deeply about the why's and the what if's."

  "I wasn't." She tried to smile through the lie but Kelly pinched her. "Hey!"

  "Well, you weren't listening." Kelly shrugged and pushed her soda away from her. "If I drink much more of this I'm going to blow up like a balloon."

  Erin's phone buzzed on the table, and she hesitated before she picked it up. What would she say if Bradley asked her why she'd rushed out of the house that morning? What if he wanted to talk about what happened?

  A wave of relief hit her when she read the notification reminding her of her afternoon meeting.

  "What's that about?" Kelly jerked a thumb in her direction while asking Jessica the question.

  "I'm guessing she was afraid Bradley was beckoning her, but it turned out to be something else. Which both relieved her, but then disappointed her. You see how her shoulders sort of slumped after she read her screen?" Jessica waved a pointed finger toward Erin.

  "The two of you are really annoying, you know that?" Erin tried to keep a straight face, but couldn't manage it. "It was just a reminder. I have a new client meeting me this afternoon. Some big company that manufactures security systems wants new branding. We're going over some ideas for the logo."

  "Anything to keep from dealing with Bradley, right?" Jessica smiled.

  "Hey, that reminds me. I heard Kendrick talking with Bradley about the stalker situation. Have you gotten any mo
re funny letters?" Kelly sat back in her seat with her arms folded over her chest.

  "No. I'm sure it was just a screwball. I mean it was so stupid, like I could break into Bradley's computer to get his financials. I'm not worried."

  "You aren't thinking of going after the stalker on your own are you?" Kelly's eyes narrowed. "I mean you aren't hiding that you got some secret letter and have the brilliant idea to take them on by yourself?"

  "No, Kelly." Erin sighed heavily. "I'm not reliving your adventure. No thank you. Besides, that would probably be a sure fire way to get Bradley to finally realize he's too out of my league and dump my ass at the first Metra stop he could find."

  "I don't understand where these doubts are coming from. I mean, is it because of Jonathan?"

  "No. I mean, who knows. One guy woke up and realized I wasn't worth his time. What's to stop the next guy from doing the same thing?" Erin slipped her phone into her purse while pulling out the bills to pay her tab. "Look. It's fine. I'm fine. I'm just having a day, okay? Bradley was supposed to be a rebound guy, maybe that's all it was supposed to be." Erin dropped her money in the center of the table and pushed her chair back to stand up.

  "I think he'd take you back to that office of his if he heard you talking like that," Kelly said. "I may think he's a bit more than I could handle, but I can't deny what he's done for you, Erin. You've really come out of your comfort zone, and look how much you've grown. I mean you're out to lunch with us in the middle of a work day. You wouldn't have done that before. And you wouldn't have put yourself out there at the auction. You sure as hell wouldn't have explored all of your fantasies, gone after what you want. Face it—Bradley is good for you."

  Erin swallowed the knot in her throat and took a deep breath in. "That may be true, but what's he getting out of it? Nothing. Look I have to go meet this woman, from what I hear she's a real bear."

  "Okay." Jessica gave a sympathetic smile. "You call us if you need to talk, okay? I know you are doubting everything right now, but I promise you, things will be more clear after you talk to him. So talk to him."

  "Yeah. Thanks." Erin slipped her purse over her shoulder and gave a little wave before she left for her meeting. Talk to him. Right. They'd have a long talk, and he'd tell her she was thinking too much, when in fact she might be the only one thinking at all.

  Her client had already arrived when Erin ran through the door of Pete's Coffee. At least she assumed it was her client sitting in the back of the shop, her fingers typing over her phone with more agitation then Erin would think being a minute late would warrant.

  "Miss Hoffman?" Erin bobbled her purse and her bag as they slipped from her shoulder at the exact moment she reached her hand out toward the woman.

  When the woman looked up at her Erin felt a twist in her stomach. She looked very familiar. She'd seen her somewhere before. Short blonde curly hair, deep green eyes, and perfectly applied made up, nearly perfect complexion—she'd seen this look before.

  "Erin!" A warm smile spread over her berry red lips. She stood up from her seat, leaving her phone on the table.

  "Yes. Hi. I'm so sorry I'm late."

  "Oh, no. You're not. I'm just early." She waved a petite hand through the air before using it to grip Erin's outreached hand. "Sit. Sit."

  Erin slid her bags from her shoulder and plopped into the chair across from her. "I'm sorry, but you just look so familiar." Erin studied her for another moment. "Really familiar. Have we worked together before?"

  Claudia's smile slipped a fraction before quickly recovering. "No, I don't think so." She tilted her head to one side. "I think I would remember you."

  "Hm, well." Erin brushed the subject away, though the nagging sensation didn't lessen as they began talking about Claudia's company and her need for a new branding.

  After they both finished their drinks Claudia looked at the shining silver watch encrusted with small diamond chips around the face, and sighed. "Oh shoot. I have another meeting across town I need to get to."

  "Oh." Erin looked at her phone for the time. They'd only been talking for twenty minutes. Surely she could have scheduled more time for the initial meeting. "Um, okay. We can schedule something for later in the week?"

  "Or, well, this may seem a bit needy, but I really want to start getting this new logo and all that up as soon as possible. I'm going way across town which will take at least a half hour at this time of day. Come with me? We can chat on the way, and my driver can bring you back to your office afterwards."

  Erin looked at her phone again. Still no message from Bradley, and technically her work day still had another two hours in it. "Sure. That works. Let me let my boss know I won't be back in the office for a while." She quickly shot a text to the office.

  The two women walked the short distance to the car waiting on the corner of the street. Erin slid into the backseat while Claudia made a phone call. Erin couldn't hear what she was saying, but she could have sworn she heard her name being used. Maybe she was just telling one of her business partners the meeting had gone mobile.

  When Claudia settled into the car, Erin continued to wrack her brain about where she knew her from. It wasn't a random place. She'd seen her, really seen her, somewhere. Claudia scrolled through her phone and frowned. It was then that it hit Erin.

  "Top Floor!" Erin called out triumphantly.

  Claudia slowly turned her gaze from her phone to Erin. The once warm, inviting smile curled into a chilly stare. "What did you say?"

  "Where I know you from," Erin repeated with much less vigor.

  "Yes." Claudia nodded then went back to her phone.

  "You were talking with Bradley. You know him." Erin's throat tightened, the little hairs on her neck began to stiffen.

  "Yes. I do." She tapped out another message on her phone. "And you have been a big enough nuisance already. I would appreciate it if you would shut the fuck up for the rest of the ride."

  The locks on the doors clicked loudly, resounding in Erin's mind. Panic struck her and she tried to pull the latch open. It wouldn't budge.

  Claudia didn't even look up from her phone. "You'll only hurt your fingers. It won't open. Do sit still, I don't want to have to sedate you. It takes so long for it to wear off."

  Erin looked to the driver. His eyes were fixated on the road. Surely he heard everything being said, so she wouldn't get any help from him. At a red light, deciding it was worth the risk, Erin threw herself at Claudia, trying to scratch at her.

  A sharp pin prick pierced her neck, and she pulled back touching the offended spot. The driver turned back around to face the road, dropping something into the front seat as he did so. The car lurched forward again, and her head started to spin.

  "Dammit. I told you to stay still. Disobedient little bitch." She heard Claudia's snarl just as she rested her head against the window. She just needed to close her eyes for a moment, then she'd be okay. She'd be fine in just a minute.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  Bradley hung up the phone with Jerry more confused than he had been at the beginning of the call. As if on cue, there was a knock on the office door, and Alex walked in.

  "Hey, I was just going to head over to your office." Bradley sat back down in his chair.

  "I was just bringing you a copy of the ad I'm going to run on Kink Academy. If we're going to start offering classes, we'll need to partner up with some other websites and clubs. Maybe start doing a yearly retreat."

  Alyssa had been right. Alex may have left his career in marketing and advertising, but the career hadn't left him yet.

  "Sure, that sounds good. But, uh, well, I just got a call from Jerry."

  "Did he find more theft?" Alex's shoulders slumped.

  "No, not theft. But something weird. I know you and Kendrick worked closely on the security set up for this floor. Do you remember what company he used to buy the cameras?"

  Alex screwed up his face in thought for a long moment. "Yeah, Hoffster, Hoffman something like that. I still have the
invoices. I can pull them. Why?"

  "Jerry found a few big payments to them during the building phase. They all check out fine. But there's at least half a dozen in the last three months that don't have any invoices attached. When he tries to get a hold of the old firm to get them, all they tell him is they never received any. They said they were told to pay those exact amounts to that company, and that was it."

  "Travis?" Alex nodded, though it didn't need to be said.

  "Yeah. But it's weird. They aren't in odd amounts, like for purchases, there are four payments each for the exact same amount. Twenty-five hundred dollars each."

  "That's ten grand. What would he be buying for that amount? The security system for the club was only a bit more than that."

  "Yeah. Jerry didn't think much of it when he did the original audit, but now that he's been given all the bookkeeping since the beginning, he noticed the company showed up the second time."

  "Let me go grab the invoices. You know we need an IT guy to come in here. We need to go entirely electronic. We should have this stuff on a server or something." Alex tossed the papers he had in his hand on the desk and disappeared out of the office.

  As the door closed behind Alex, Bradley's phone rang. Erin's ring tone. He answered it by the third ring. "Erin." He held the phone to his ear, his breathing ragged. The radio silence with her all morning had him a little on edge. Something was turning in that pretty head of hers, and he needed to get to the bottom of whatever it was. If the punishment from the night before had been too harsh, or had left her emotionally wounded he needed to know. He would make it right, he would soothe it away, but she needed to tell him.

  An electronic voice greeted him, "Bradley. Erin's a bit indisposed at the moment."

  "Who the fuck is this?" He launched himself out of his chair. Alex walked in at that moment with a folder in hand, his expression darkening when he saw Bradley.

  "That's not important at the moment. What is important is Erin. She hasn't been playing along with my game very well. Hasn't been following the rules, but she's a new slave, so I suppose that's to be expected."