“Are you kidding? Why don’t you come up? I’ll find out which room they’re meeting in—”
“Actually, could you come and get me? I don’t have a pass anymore.”
There was a moment of silence, and Maisie could just imagine what was going through Jayne’s mind. Bringing a visitor up without a pass was against the rules, but weighed against a chance to get in at the top with a huge client?
“On my way,” Jayne said. “I’ll meet you on the street, just outside the lobby.”
Jayne was even prettier than Maisie remembered.
Her mane of wheat-blonde hair tumbled over her shoulders in soft waves, and her peaches-and-cream complexion was positively luminous.
Today she wasn’t wearing one of her sexy pantsuits. No, today she was wearing a white dress. It wasn’t clingy—in fact, the bottom was loose—but it highlighted her curves, especially when she walked.
She looked like a fashion doll, only prettier.
Fuck. Maisie really had to get her job back.
She trusted her bosses. They’d brought up the idea of being exclusive, after all. Or was that exclusive without condoms?
There hadn’t been much discussion around it.
And Maisie was a realist. Trent, Ethan, and Raphael were powerful and dominant, but they were still men.
Men who were very, very hot, and filthy rich.
Eventually they were going to get tired of her. Attorneys worked late hours. Anything could happen.
It was a losing game; Maisie knew that. But if she could get even three good months, then she would let go…
Jayne pressed a badge into Maisie’s hand.
“It’s Mrs. Donahue’s,” Jayne said once they were through the turnstiles. “I told her I misplaced mine and just had to run down here to grab something from a client, but I’ll need to take it right back to her when we get up there.”
That felt like a bad omen.
Things weren’t bad enough, and now she was impersonating Mrs. Donahue? It would have been funny if it weren’t so tragic.
“The meeting is in the conference room at the end of the hall. Could you wait for me just outside, and we’ll go in together? I wouldn’t feel comfortable walking in alone—you were invited, not me.”
“No problem.”
“Thanks, Maisie,” Jayne said.
Don’t thank me yet, Maisie thought.
A few minutes later, Maisie was pacing outside the conference room. She could hear muffled voices, but she’d managed to stop short of bursting through the door.
So far.
Jayne turned the corner and quickly walked toward her. Her eyes were shining. “Ready?”
As Jayne turned the handle, Maisie steeled herself for the performance of her life.
“The second concern…” Trent’s voice trailed off.
Everyone in the room was staring at Maisie and Jayne.
“Hello,” Maisie said. She’d had a whole thing rehearsed, about how she wanted to make sure that everything was going smoothly, but the look on Ethan’s face froze the words in her throat.
She could sense Jayne getting uncomfortable as well.
“Please take a seat,” Raphael said. His tone was polite, but there was a threatening darkness in his eyes.
Maisie and Jayne quickly followed his suggestion. So far, Maisie hadn’t looked at Heather or the two men, though she’d seen them in her peripheral vision. She finally looked over and saw that absolutely no one was paying attention to her.
They were all staring at Jayne.
Well, not everyone was, but Ethan, Trent, and Raphael had seen Gorgeous Jayne every day for years. They were probably immune to her beauty.
“The second concern,” Trent said, “is a potential conflict of interest. We represented Triple Why until four months ago. I’m not at liberty to discuss details, and their current status here at the firm is uncertain, but they are one of your competitors and would present a conflict for us.”
One of the Bobs nodded. “We anticipated that,” he said, “but this is a lot of business we’d be bringing. Far more than Triple Why, I’m sure.”
“We’re merely alerting you to the potential obstacles,” Trent said, but he was looking at Maisie again.
There was nothing in his expression to suggest that he’d somehow guessed her reason for showing up. Well, if they did ask her, she planned to deny, deny, deny.
And then, deny some more.
She rested her hands on the tabletop and clasped them together.
“I’m more concerned about finding someone we can work closely with,” Heather said. She was smiling at Trent.
Who was looking at Maisie.
It would have been a nice feeling under different circumstances.
“That won’t be an issue, Heather,” the other Bob said. He was distinguished and rather attractive. Maisie wondered if he was sleeping with Heather.
“It shouldn’t be,” Raphael said. “But if you can’t trust your potential new law firm, who can you trust?”
“Any more questions?” Ethan asked.
Now Heather was staring at him, and Maisie wanted to punch her. Not because of jealousy, but because Heather’s behavior was so goddamn rude. Maybe she wasn’t gawking at his scar, but it sure looked like it.
Maisie had never hated Heather as much as she did in that moment.
The two strangers started to stand, and then everyone was getting to their feet. Maisie expected Heather to come over, maybe say something snarky, but instead she pushed her way to where Ethan was standing.
“I wanted to take a moment to say hello,” she said. “The benefit last night was nice, wasn’t it?”
Ethan nodded once. Maisie knew him well enough to see that he was irritated… and she also knew the reason for that irritation.
She was the reason. By showing up at the office when she’d been ordered to stay away.
“Did you enjoy Penn?” Heather asked in a simpering voice.
“I confess I barely remember it,” Ethan said. “Excuse me.”
He turned and headed right for Maisie. “A word, please. You, too, Jayne.”
12
Jayne shot Maisie a questioning look as they followed Ethan down the hall.
Maisie shrugged one shoulder, feigning confusion.
This was going to be bad. Ethan being pissed at her was one thing, but if he yelled at her in front of Jayne, Maisie was going to die.
And if he yelled at Jayne, if he somehow ended up blaming her, or firing her…
Maisie couldn’t think about that.
“Get the door,” he said when they were in his office.
Both Maisie and Jayne started toward it, but Maisie stopped short. Usually, when Ethan said to get the door, it was because he planned to fuck her.
It was just a normal request. Get the door. There was nothing inherently sexy about it.
And Jayne had said that nothing had happened between her and Ethan.
Get a grip, Maisie told herself.
She’d never been the jealous sort. In fact, she’d even encouraged some of her exes to go their own way, to find someone who made them happy.
Ethan crossed his arms over his chest. “What’s going on?” he asked.
“I referred Heather to LB&B,” Maisie said. “Based on previous discussions with Heather, I concluded that she would feel most comfortable if a woman our age was an integral part of her team.”
Ethan’s eyebrows slowly crept up in an expression of profound skepticism.
“I see,” he said. “In that case, Jayne, you’d better get back down there and introduce yourself to the client. Maisie, you were fired.”
Jayne shot Maisie a concerned glance, then left the room at a pace so fast, it was nearly a run.
“Should I close the door—”
“Don’t bother,” Ethan said. “I’m sure the others will be interested in hearing that line of bullshit you just tried to feed me. Go sit on the sofa.” He turned his back to her.
; Maisie took a seat. She didn’t unbutton her blouse, and she didn’t pull up her skirt a few inches. It was the sort of thing that worked on some men, but Ethan?
It would have been a waste of time.
“Lotani is a big deal. Don’t you want to try to schmooze a little?” Maisie asked.
Ethan shot her a deadly glare.
Somehow, she found the presence of mind to smile. “It’s a pretty big commission.”
“Keep your mouth shut.” His tone was so curt that Maisie winced as if he’d cut her.
Apparently, he was really pissed.
A few minutes later, Trent and Raphael entered. Upon seeing Maisie, Raphael immediately closed and locked the door.
“What the hell were you thinking?” Trent growled.
“I—”
“Stop. Think before you speak.” Ethan walked from behind his desk to stand between his friends. Maisie looked up at the three men.
They didn’t look horny. In fact, they didn’t look like they wanted to breathe the same air as her.
“Byron Ballystock will never know I was here,” she said in a panicked rush. “I had an interview a block away, and Jayne borrowed a badge to bring me up, so I’m not in the security system as a guest. And anyway the city is out of his jurisdiction. It’s fine.”
“It’s not fine, Maisie.” Raphael stared at her, the intensity in his blue eyes like a laser. “What were you thinking?”
Maisie looked from man to man. None of them was the least bit amused.
“Byron plays dirty,” Trent growled. “Is that not obvious to you?”
“If the question of why I returned here comes up, I’ll just say I left some stuff behind. In fact, Jayne’s got a bag of books for me.”
“Why would Jayne have books for you?” Ethan demanded.
Oh, she didn’t want to answer that. It was personal. She didn’t even know if she wanted to go to law school.
But Ethan was expecting an answer.
“For a test.”
“What test?”
“The LSAT,” Maisie stammered. “We’d talked about…”
Raphael raised his hand, cutting her off. “I don’t know why you came back here today, and I don’t care. How can we keep you safe if you won’t listen?”
“How am I not safe?”
“You can’t be associated with us, Maisie,” Ethan said. “For your own good.”
“But I’m not in danger. I was in the city for a job interview—”
“What job interview did you get since we talked to you last night?” Raphael asked. Suspicion dripped from his words.
Maisie straightened up. “A temp agency.”
“You must really want a job,” Ethan said. “Not many people would be so intent on scraping up work when they have a guarantee that all their bills will be paid.”
“My parents raised me to be independent.”
“I have an idea,” Raphael said. He looked at Maisie. “You need to work? I know someone who’s hiring right in this building.”
Ethan and Trent exchanged a confused look.
A wicked gleam glinted in Raphael’s eyes.
An hour later, Maisie was at Fortune Tower’s security office, waiting for the man with the pierced eyebrow to finish helping the woman in front of her.
She was starting to hate this place.
“You’re back,” he said with a smile when it was Maisie’s turn. “This is why we keep former employees on file. So, who’d you find a job with?”
Maisie pushed the paper with her new job details across the counter.
“Janitorial services,” he read.
He didn’t have any commentary to share after that. In fact, he barely looked at Maisie.
She fidgeted. Her bosses were waiting for her to return.
Maisie knew what they wanted—to witness her disgrace and defeat—but after being informed of her new duties, which included scrubbing filth out of the drains and carrying around heavy buckets of water, she didn’t have the patience to endure their mocking.
And if they wanted sex—no way. It would be too humiliating.
“Here’s your badge,” the man said, sliding it across the counter. “Congrats on the new job.”
She didn’t even have the energy to laugh.
What if she simply went home?
No, that wouldn’t work. Her bosses were too creative in their punishments. They would show up at her door, and they wouldn’t be very understanding.
Her heart heavy, she took the elevator back up to the top floor.
13
When the elevator doors opened, Maisie was treated to the sight of Mrs. Donahue, arms crossed, disapproving scowl fixed in place. Her gray-streaked dark hair was pulled into a severe bun.
The slightly glazed look in her eyes told Maisie she’d had a couple of drinks already.
Maisie tried to walk past her, but Mrs. Donahue cleared her throat. “Follow me.”
Great. Now she had Mrs. Donahue breathing down her neck again.
“Follow you where?”
“I’m to take you to Mr. Brennbach’s office.”
“I know where it is,” Maisie said.
“No one said you didn’t, but this is a law office. We can’t have janitorial staff running around unsupervised.”
Maisie felt her blood pressure spiking. “Really? So, who empties the trash cans?”
“They have special security clearance.”
Are you fucking kidding me? Maisie almost screamed. “Fine. Do you want to put me in handcuffs?”
“Don’t blame me,” Mrs. Donahue said. “You’re responsible for your own mess. Learn to make better decisions if you don’t like how your life is turning out. This way.”
Maisie crossed her arms over her chest as she followed Mrs. Donahue.
Ethan’s office door was open. Mrs. Donahue insisted on walking her right to the entrance and making sure that Ethan saw her.
“Thank you, Mrs. Donahue,” Ethan said.
“I feel like a criminal,” Maisie said once the older woman was gone. “I want to go home.”
“I’m not interested in your opinion,” Ethan said neutrally. “Trent is downstairs, getting something for you to wear.”
Her mood lifted slightly.
The time Trent had bought her clothes, he’d been extravagant. A new outfit or two wouldn’t make up for the humiliation of being demoted to a cleaning job, but at least it would be something she could feel good about.
Raphael entered. “Trent’s not back yet?”
“I don’t know that they keep Maisie’s size in stock.”
Maisie’s smile faltered. Sure, she was curvy, but most women were. What kind of boutique wouldn’t carry her size?
A moment later, Trent entered, carrying a black trash bag. Maisie could smell the plastic. He closed and locked the door.
“What’s that?” Maisie asked.
“Strip,” Ethan said.
The one word she normally craved hearing, but at the moment she was so annoyed that she wanted to tell him to fuck himself.
“If you’re not going to obey, then use your safe word,” Trent said.
Maisie slowly began unbuttoning her blouse.
Ethan went to his desk, opened a drawer, and pulled out two metal rulers. “Bend over.”
Her mouth went dry. “What did I do?”
“Maisie, we’re not going to keep repeating ourselves,” Trent said. “Bend over.”
Stiffly, she bent over and braced her hands on her knees.
“Open.” Ethan shoved one ruler into her mouth. “If that ruler touches the floor, I’m going to punish you with it until your ass is covered in welts. Do you understand?”
She nodded, eyes wide. “Yeth, thir,” she said around the tangy metal.
Ethan’s strict, disciplinarian side always made her hot and wet.
Raphael pulled up her skirt, and Ethan walked behind her with the second ruler.
“The next time we give you an order, you are to obey immedia
tely.”
He struck her across the backs of her thighs.
It stung so much that tears blurred her view of the room, and she had to clamp her jaw to keep from dropping the other ruler.
“What do you say when one of your doms gives you instructions?” Trent asked.
“Thank you, thir,” she said. “Thorry.”
“Better. Now, finish undressing.”
Maisie started to remove the ruler from her mouth, but then she remembered what Trent had taught her: if a dominant man had put something around her neck, then she had to wait for him to remove it.
The ruler clenched between her teeth was likely governed by the same rules. Better to leave it in place, then.
Without delay, she shed her clothing, then stood before her bosses, her body bare, the ruler in her mouth causing her to drool slightly, and her muscles quivering. The room seemed cold, though when she glanced down, she didn’t see any goosebumps on her arms.
“Much better,” Ethan said. “It seems you only lacked proper motivation. I’ll make sure to keep a ruler on hand from here on out. Trent, will you do the honors?”
Trent walked to the sofa and dumped the contents of the plastic bag onto it.
At first, all Maisie saw was dreary gray.
A thick-soled black sneaker rolled off the pile and tumbled to the floor. Maisie shook her head as understanding dawned.
“This is your new work uniform,” Ethan announced.
Maisie shook her head even harder. No, no, no. They couldn’t do this to her.
Ethan ignored her wordless protest. “At the moment, the janitorial staff has no free lockers, so you’ll need to wear your uniform to work.”
Maisie pulled the ruler out of her mouth. “Please don’t do this, sirs. I know it was wrong of me to come here, but I was very, very careful, and—”
“You disobeyed us,” Raphael said as he snatched the ruler out of her hand. “From the beginning, we had doubts about your suitability, Maisie. You are ignorant of how little you know, and you lack the wisdom to curb your impulsive nature. The very nature that attracts us to you, granted. However, that’s no reason for us to be lenient.”
Lenient? Was he insane? These men were nothing but demanding.
Good thing it turned her on.
Willful Violation (Lawyers Behaving Badly Book 3) Page 6