Reveal Me, Sir (Doms of Decadence Book 9)

by Laylah Roberts

  No, but it had to hurt when she had feeling for the big Dom.

  “He assures me that everything is going to be okay, but . . .”

  “It will be.” Ria squeezed her hand. “I promise.”

  “Let’s get down to business,” Hunter spoke up. “Sticky, you want to give us a recap of everything.”

  “Why do you call him Sticky?” she asked, unable to resist.

  “Because he’s a stickler for the rules and he’s always telling me what to do.”

  Connor sat next to her. “Nobody tells you what to do. Well, not that you’d listen anyway.” He turned to her and Sophie. “The only person he really listens to is his wife.”

  “She must be one tough woman,” she replied.

  Hunter grinned. “She sure is. Tough. Smart. Beautiful. Whole damn package.”

  “And don’t forget filled with immeasurable patience,” Roarke added dryly as he sat down in the seat he’d been in before. Ajax stood behind Sophie while Hunter moved back to his place by the fireplace.

  “Yep, she’s all that. Sticky here is real particular about everything being done according to the book. ‘Hunter, you can’t assassinate a man just because he cut you off in traffic. Hunter, you can’t sue someone just because he took your coffee order by accident.’ That was no accident, by the way. That bastard knew what he was doing when he took my order.”

  Connor shook his head. “Nobody else in the world wants to drink a four-shot latte with five sugars and two shots of caramel syrup.”

  “Cady won’t let me order that anymore. Says it’s bad for my heart or some such shit. Look at me, I’m a fine specimen of a man.” Hunter patted his chest.

  Ria just stared up at him. It was hard to imagine anyone trying to tell this man what to do.

  “Now someone else always gets his coffee and where possible, someone else also drives him everywhere. And gets his lunch for him. And deals with the accountant. Come to think of it, what do you do? Cause Gray is the one who deals with all the clients.”

  “I didn’t get Gray,” Roarke said mournfully. He looked over at Ria and Sophie. “Gray is civilized. He wouldn’t call my dog a rat or make fun of her bow.”

  Hunter snorted. “Gray is just a good liar. He would totally make fun of that rat-dog behind your back. And I work. I just can’t be bothered dealing with assholes all day. I’m not the fuckface whisperer, you know.”

  Ria had just taken a sip of beer, then choked on it, her eyes watering. Connor patted her back while Sophie took the bottle from her hand.

  “Um, sorry,” she gasped.

  Hunter shrugged. “I get that reaction more often than you’d think.”

  Yeah, she bet.

  “Besides, you can’t complain,” Hunter said to Roarke. “You’re getting our services for free. I should probably be charging you to find this blackmailer. I repaid the favor I owed you when Connor found the thief.”

  Sophie sucked in a sharp breath.

  “Can we get on with business,” Ajax asked quietly. “I think Sophie has waited long enough to find out what’s going to happen next.”

  Roarke turned towards Sophie, and Ria was surprised by the compassion in his face. She’d come here ready to defend her friend, but Roarke looked almost sorry for her.

  “I’m sorry you had to wait and worry, Sophie. I wanted to be here in person and I had to tie up a few things at home before I could get here.”

  “I hope you told someone to rescue Ava and Sam after a few hours. You shouldn’t leave them bound and alone. That’s BDSM 101,” Hunter said.

  Roarke rolled his eyes. “Don’t worry, it wasn’t my submissives I had to tie up, although I came close to doing just that in order to stop Ava from coming with me. Ava hasn’t been well lately and I don’t want her traveling yet. Sam was actually in agreement with me.”

  “What a change,” Hunter said. “You know, if your daughter ends up with his personality, you’re going to be in trouble in a few years.”

  “My daughter is perfect.” Roarke smiled. “And she will be perfect no matter who she takes after.”

  She couldn’t help but feel a bit jealous of Roarke’s obvious happiness. She wondered what Ava was like. How she managed to handle two husbands. Ria couldn’t even find one man who wanted to stick by her for longer than a few weeks.

  Connor leaned forward and pulled his laptop from the bag he’d bought with him, balancing it on his muscled thighs. “Right. I’ll recap. We all know Sophie was the one stealing from the club. But she was stealing was because she was being blackmailed, most likely by someone in the club since she had a conversation with her mom there about her ex. We figure from there the blackmailer did some searching around and discovered that Sophie was hiding from her ex. The first threat came while she was at the club. The notes were sent away to be analyzed for finger prints. Nothing came back.”

  “Let’s just say it, Sophie is an idiot,” her friend muttered.

  Ria turned to her, “Soph, that’s not—”

  “No one is calling you an idiot, Sophie and I’m not going to allow you to do it, either.” Ajax’s low voice filled the room authoritatively.

  Sophie turned to look at him over her shoulder. She was silent for a moment. Then she turned back. “Sorry,” she whispered.

  Roarke leaned forward with a sigh. “Sophie, look at me please.”

  Ajax moved closer to Sophie. He was tense. Like he was ready to pounce. Why? To defend Sophie? Did he think Roarke would hurt her?

  Roarke looked up at Ajax. A smile played at the ends of his mouth. “Easy, man. I’m not going to hurt her. I remember what we talked about.”

  “What did you talk about?” Sophie asked.

  “Ajax told me everything that happened. He also spoke to me about the money that was taken—”

  “I’ll pay it back, I promise. I know you won’t want me working there anymore, but I’ll get another job and pay back every cent. I’m so sorry, I know I should have taken another job to pay him off instead of stealing. It was totally wrong. I just—”

  “No,” Ajax said coldly, moving around to stand in front of Sophie. Then he crouched, getting to her eye level. “What you should have done, little one, was come to me with the note.”

  “But why? You were my boss. I didn’t think you would care.”

  Ajax’s gaze seemed to grow deeper. “Now you know differently. This was not for you to handle on your own and even if you didn’t think I would care, you should have known I’d be furious over someone in my club doing this.”

  “I’m sorry,” she whispered to him. Then she looked over at Roarke. “All I can say is I’m sorry.”

  Roarke nodded, his face kind. “I know you are, sweetheart. Ajax isn’t wrong, though. You should have gone to him.”

  “I know. I made a mess of things. I can’t fix that.”

  “You can.”

  “By paying the money back? Will you not call the police if I do that? I mean, I won’t blame you if you do, I just please give me a chance to pay you back.”

  “I’m not going to call the police, Sophie.”

  Relief filled Ria, and she could only imagine how Sophie felt. She reached over and grabbed her hand. Ajax sat on the arm of the sofa next to Sophie.

  “And you don’t have to pay me back,” Roarke told her.

  “Because I will,” Ajax said firmly.

  “No, neither of you will. The money doesn’t matter, and I won’t be taking any of yours, Ajax.”

  “You will,” Ajax said stubbornly. “I’ve taken responsibility for her.”

  “Nobody needs to take responsibility for me. I can take care of myself.”

  “Previous actions suggest otherwise,” Ajax said coolly.

  Sophie’s hand trembled in hers. “I suppose you’re right.”

  “What I really care about is finding who blackmailed Sophie,” Roarke told them. And whether you think this goes beyond her.”

  Sophie gasped. “You think others could be being blackmailed?”r />
  “I think it’s a definite possibility,” Connor said grimly.

  “What?” Ria turned to him. She hadn’t known that.

  “Unfortunately, it’s not something I can go around just asking people. But I’m certain if this person has done it once, successfully, they’ll do it again.”

  “God, I never thought there might be other people.” Sophie sounded ill.

  “We need to concentrate on figuring out who it is.” Connor typed into his computer. “I’ve been running deeper checks into the staff’s background as well as the club Doms. It’s more likely to have been one of them who overheard Sophie’s conversation as they all have access to the back areas of Indulgence. I have a few people that raised some questions.”

  He hadn’t told her he’d been looking into everyone who worked at the club. Although she should have guessed. Her stomach tightened. Had he looked into her? Her identity was pretty solid though, right? And he knew she wasn’t the blackmailer so he’d have no reason to do that.

  “One is Trevor Johns,” he said. “Thirty-four, works in both the public and BDSM bar. He’s a Dom, right?”

  “Supposedly,” Ajax agreed. “But he doesn’t usually play at the club. Told me he prefers to go to a club in Dallas to play.”

  “Trevor’s a jerk,” Ria said. “This would totally be something he would do.”

  “His jerkness aside,” Hunter rumbled. “Why do you like him for this?”

  “Financials don’t add up to what I know he earns,” Connor answered.

  “Always a red flag,” Roarke murmured.

  “He’s got a cousin who is a cop. That indicates he had the means to get hold of police records and Jerry’s details.”

  Sophie sucked in a sharp breath.

  “Plus, he’s a jerk.” Connor’s voice grew hard.

  Hunter raised his eyebrows. “Not like you to feel so heated over someone you hardly know.”

  “He failed to keep Ria safe behind the bar when that brawl was going on.”

  “Ah, he’s a Domabe, then?”

  “A what?” she asked Hunter.

  “Jesus, don’t ask,” Connor muttered to her.

  “Well,” Hunter said, leaning forward. “A Domabe is a combination of the word Dominant and wannabe. He likes to think he is a Dom. Probably enjoys wielding his power. Gets a surge from being in control.”

  “Isn’t that what you guys enjoy?” Ria asked.

  “Yes, but what makes us different is that we always put a subs safety and wellbeing above our own,” Hunter told her. “If he were a real Dom, he’d have picked you up, dragged you behind the bar and handcuffed you to something to keep you there.” Hunter’s eyes twinkled as though he greatly enjoyed that thought.

  These guys were crazy. But it was a good kind of crazy. Not the sort she was used to.

  Oh, yeah? And hasn’t Freddy been crazy protective of you all your life?

  Yeah, up until he thought I was a traitor.

  “Okay, so there’s Trevor. Jeremiah hired him, didn’t he?” Roarke asked calmly.

  Ajax nodded. “Yeah.”

  “Then there’s Chrissy,” Connor told them.

  “Really?” Ria asked, sitting forward. “Why?”

  “She’s in some financial difficulty. She’s heavily in debt. She has a brother who is an attorney, he could get hold of police records.”

  “Doesn’t mean she’s the blackmailer,” Ria defended.

  Hunter raised his eyebrow. “You’re very protective of her.”

  “She’s protective of everyone,” Connor muttered. “Usually at the expense of herself.”

  She glared at him. She didn’t really understand what he was upset about. Wasn’t like she went around throwing herself into danger.

  “Then there’s Hayden,” Connor noted.

  “It’s not Hayden.” Ria shook her head. She wouldn’t think that of the quiet, gruff Dom. “He couldn’t do this.”

  “You really think it could be Hayden?” Ajax asked with a frown. “He’s been a member of the club for a long time.”

  “He had some trouble with the law a while back. Got arrested a few times for being in bar fights,” Connor explained.

  “I know Hayden, he had some problems with PTSD when he came back from Afghanistan,” Roarke said quietly. “I doubt it’s him.”

  “We still can’t rule him out,” Connor insisted.

  Roarke nodded. “All right.”

  “Anyone else?” Hunter asked.

  “Jonty has a lot of medical bills to pay from when his mother was ill.” Jonty was another club Dom.

  “Jonty is a good guy,” Ria said stubbornly.

  “That’s it?” Hunter asked.

  “So far,” Connor replied.

  “All right, so we have our suspects, what are we going to do to catch this bastard?” Hunter said, rubbing his hands together.

  “I’ve put some extra cameras in the back parking lot. I wasn’t focused on that area before as the money was going missing inside the public bar. I’ve also set some up outside the entrance to the locker rooms for the staff.”

  “It would be helpful to know if anyone else is being blackmailed. Unfortunately, nobody is going to tell me.”

  “You want me to ask around?” Ajax asked.

  “Actually, I thought it might be better coming from someone who is less of an authority figure.” Connor looked at Ria. “Reckon you can help me out with that?”

  “Yes.” She raised her eyebrows, surprised he would let her get that involved.

  “I’m not planning on letting you out of my sight so you should be safe. You’ll need to be discreet, though. And listen to me.”

  “I can be discreet. In fact, I could be really sneaky.” She frowned, thinking it over.

  “What do you mean?”

  “I can read lips pretty well, remember? Since you can’t put listening devices and cameras inside the dungeon, it might come in handy, right?”

  “You can read lips?” Ajax asked. “How did you learn to do that?”

  Oh, crap. She forgot he didn’t know.

  “Um, I learned when I was young. Made it harder for my mom to realize that I actually had a hearing problem.”

  Ajax scowled. “A hearing problem? Why didn’t I know about this?”

  “You reading our lips right now?” Hunter asked looking interested.

  “No. I have a hearing aid. I’m mostly deaf in my left ear. My right ear functions pretty well. So when the aid isn’t in, I can hear in a one-on-one conversation but if there’s background noise I have problems.”

  “Interesting. Always wanted to read lips. Thought it would be a good skill in our business.”

  “Why wasn’t this on your contract?” Ajax barked at her.

  She bit her lip. “I didn’t want anyone to know.”

  “She’s filled out a new contract.” Connor leaned forward, giving Ajax a look. “And she’s been punished for not completing the other club contract properly.”

  “Please, dear God, just let the Earth open and swallow me down,” she muttered.

  Sophie squeezed her hand.

  Ajax turned to Sophie. “Did you know?”

  “Leave Sophie out of this,” Ria said firmly.

  “You’re right. She does protect everyone around her,” Hunter commented.

  She turned back to glare at him. “Can we please get back to the topic at hand?”

  “Good idea,” Roarke said. “How are we going to catch this guy?”

  “We need to find a way to get him to target me,” Connor said. “Something he can blackmail me with.”

  “Like what?” Ajax asked.

  “Could put it out there that I’m have financial difficulties or running from something,” Connor mused.

  “Or that you’re married,” Hunter added.

  She flinched at that thought.

  “We’re not saying that,” Connor said firmly.

  “It’s a good idea,” she heard herself saying.

  “No. It�
��s not.”

  “Something else might take time to set up,” Hunter mused. “But this could be as simple as someone hearing you talking to your wife. We should go with that.”

  “No.” He turned to her.

  She smiled at him. Then reached up to cup the side of his face. “It’s okay. It’s not like you’re really married. And if it helps catch this person, it’s worth it.”

  Hunter rubbed his hands together. “All right. That’s settled. You two will have to start playing at the club. Be lovey-dovey and all that crap. Then somehow let it slip that Connor’s married. Maybe take a phone call in one of our target’s hearing. Let your wedding ring slip out when you’re in the men’s changing room. Shit like that.”

  “You’re enjoying this,” Connor accused Hunter.

  “Not at all.” But Hunter grinned.

  “It will be okay, Connor,” Ria told him. “I’ll be there to help you.”

  He gave her a firm look. “Just so you know who is in charge of this op, okay?”

  She sighed. “You’re in charge.”

  “I’m being serious here, Ria. You don’t follow my rules, then you’re out of this.”

  “I always follow your rules.”

  “If only that were true.”

  “This guy isn’t dangerous.”

  “We don’t know that,” Roarke said seriously. “Connor’s right. You need to follow his lead. This is what he does. I do not want you in any sort of danger.”

  “I don’t know if your lip-reading abilities will help or not, but you aren’t to go searching for trouble. You’re to stick close to me. When you’re working, I’ll be in the bar. When we’re playing, you’re next to me. Understand?”

  She nodded. “I understand.”

  “Brave little subbie you have there.” Connor stepped out of the bathroom and nearly bumped into Hunter.

  “Jesus, man. What are you doing? Were you waiting out here for me?”

  “Yep.”

  Connor had to sigh. “You have problems, you know that, right?”

  “Sure. It’s what makes me endearing.”

  More like frustrating and annoying. But, hey, he paid Connor and paid him well. Plus, he kind of liked the big lug.

  “You know what you’re up against with that girl?” Hunter got straight to the point.