by Gwyn McNamee
Not far off.
It’s like I’ve been walking around in a trance since I left Stone’s. And what I read online didn’t help. My imagination has been running wild with all the things he can and probably will want to do. Things I didn’t even know existed a day ago. Things I never thought I would want to try. But with Stone, it feels like anything and everything is possible, and a whole new world has been opened to me…kind of like walking through a wardrobe into a foreign land.
“Sorry!” I jump from my chair and offer an apologetic smile. “Just thinking.”
He leans against the counter and raises an eyebrow. “You’ve been off lately, even more so tonight. Want to tell me what’s going on?”
I shrug and try to brush past him, but he places a hand on my shoulder, effectively stopping me in my tracks.
“I’m fine.”
“I don’t buy that. You know we’ll help you if something’s wrong. You’re family.”
And therein lies the rub.
“Thank you for worrying, it’s actually really sweet. But I’m fine, I promise. Just have a lot going on right now that I’m trying to sort through.” Like sleeping with the man who’s basically your little brother…who likes to tie women up and bang them senseless, who also works for a mafia don.
“Don’t let it interfere with your work, and if there’s a problem, come to me or Savage.”
I nod my agreement, and he releases me.
“Robert’s waiting for you in the Champagne Room.”
Criminey, I’m too exhausted for a lap dance.
Stone really managed to wring every ounce of energy from me during our time on that devil chair. And then with the flogger…when he entered me after…it was like he was melding our bodies together. His lips and hands were all over me, and I couldn’t do anything but accept every ounce of pleasure he gave me. And when he finally came and ripped the blindfold off, the look in his eyes was so feral, so raw, so…Stone. The bath was incredible and relaxing and certainly needed, but the shower this morning, together, was anything but relaxing. Who knew tile could be so dang cold against your back? I had to bolt this morning before he could pin me against the front door for round four.
Just thinking about it makes heat and moisture rush to my core.
Dangit.
This thong is way too tiny and too thin to hold up to the memories of being with Stone.
Robert’s a regular though, so I can’t turn him down. It would be bad for business. He’s been coming by to see me several times a week for the last few months and seems like a decent guy.
I make my way to the Champagne Room and try to push what happened earlier today and last night to the back of my mind. It’s the only way I’ll get through this night.
Giving lap dances is just part of the gig, and I really don’t mind it, as long as the guy keeps himself in check and follows the rules. Some of the girls let things go a little too far, but not me. I’m not afraid to do what it takes to get some perv’s hands off me if he gets a little too friendly.
Unbidden, images of Stone’s large, warm hands and memories of how they felt all over me fill my head. My body heats, and I have to pause and lean against a wall briefly to gather myself together before entering the Champagne Room.
Do your job. Forget Stone. At least for now.
Easier said than done.
I pull back the curtain to the small, private room, and Robert sits waiting for me on one of the couches. He’s older, probably in his forties, with dark hair and an olive complexion that reminds me of Stone.
Crap. Stop it, Nora.
Thankfully, Robert has never done anything out of control or that made me feel uncomfortable. I’m not sure I could handle dealing with that tonight. Stone has certainly thrown me off my game. Not that it’s a surprise. He is a true force of nature.
“Hi Robert.”
He scans me up and down and offers me the same gregarious smile. “Cashmere, it’s so good to see you.”
I nod and chuckle to myself when he says my stage name. He may be the only customer here right now old enough to actually get the joke. He’s seen my spotlight dance, so I have no doubt he’s figured it out.
He grins while I remove the sheer wrap I have covering me and let it fall to the floor. His eyes track my every movement as I make my way over to him, gyrating my hips in time with the music thumping through the room.
All I need to do to forget Stone is concentrate on this dance and making the customer happy. I’ve done this hundreds of times. It seemed right, fitting, where I was supposed to be and what I was supposed to be doing. But that was before Stone.
Here goes nothing.
My lunch with Mom earlier only confirmed my suspicions about Dom. The fact that he’s fishing around for information tells me he’s worried. It also pisses me the fuck off that he’s using Mom that way after what he did, that he can maintain the façade of a friendship with her after trying to harm her children. But I need to know more before I can confront him.
There has to be a reason he went after Dani. Something more than just her digging around. Reporters, local police, the FBI, they’ve all been after him for years. And he never does anything so rash. He analyzes. He assesses. He waits for the right time to strike, and only when necessary. But none of what he did was necessary. It makes me wonder what he would have done if this had all gone down when I was already working for him. Would he have brought me into the fold? Asked me to deal with Dani? Give me an opportunity to sort things out? Or would he have gone behind my back and resorted to violence just the same?
I need to talk to Savage and Dani. She may be able to shed some light on what went down. When I met with Savage and Gabe, I wasn’t exactly thinking clearly, and certainly wasn’t in any shape to be asking them the questions I really need answers to, in order to understand the entire situation. And I can’t know how to approach Dom without all the information and being one hundred percent on my game. That would be a very bad idea, one that could cause a lot of trouble for more than just me.
So instead of relaxing on the couch on my lazy Saturday night while Nora’s at work—because God knows, if I went and watched her, I wouldn’t be able to keep my hands off her—I’m jumping in my car and driving over to their condo building.
How the hell did things get so tangled and fucked?
Even the rumble of the Aston Martin engine doesn’t soothe the discord roiling through me. A non-descript grey sedan parked across the street from the condo building catches my eye as I park in front. The driver has his face buried in a newspaper.
Weird place to park and read.
But I shrug it off and enter the building, intent on getting the information I need. The ride up in the elevator only adds to my unease about the situation. Gabe and Skye can take care of themselves, that much is readily apparent, but Savage and Dani have weaknesses, ones Dom can and will exploit if he needs to.
I hear the biggest one through the door. Kennedy’s wails are hard to miss.
After a quick knock, I throw the door open and enter.
Savage appears in the archway to the kitchen. “Stone? What are you doing here? Is everything okay?”
“We need to talk.”
His eyes narrow on me, and then he motions me to follow him toward the kitchen.
The scent of fried garlic, olive oil, anchovies, and red peppers hits my nose before I even make it to archway. “Are you making aglio e olio?”
He stops in front of the stove and stirs something in a pan on the burner. “Yeah, it’s just about ready. Stay and eat with us. Dani is just trying to get Kennedy down for the night.”
I’m never one to turn down a good meal, especially since I don’t cook. Savage and the girls were always the ones under Mom’s foot in the kitchen. My time was spent mostly with Dom at that age. I’m just glad Nora likes Pop Tarts as much as I do and is willing to overlook my lack of domestic talents.
“Sounds good. Can I do anything to help?”
“Just grab
a bottle of wine and some glasses. Otherwise, everything is almost done.”
I wander over to the wine fridge and grab a bottle of Pinot Grigio. A dry white always goes well with this dish. By the time I have the bottle open and the glasses poured, a frazzled Dani appears in the kitchen and gives me an awkward smile.
“Oh, hey Stone. I didn’t know you were joining us.”
“Unplanned. Sorry I’m crashing.”
She waves me off but tosses Savage a questioning look. “Are you two going to behave?”
Savage laughs and I offer a tight chuckle.
Dani grabs a giant bowl of pasta off the counter before joining me at the table, taking the seat across from me and adjacent to the head of the table where Savage always sits. “Kidding.. You’re welcome any time. Is something up?”
I glance over at Savage when he settles. “Well, did Savage tell you we had a talk the other night?”
Her mouth presses into a thin line, and she nods. “Yeah. I’m sorry you had to find out like that. I mean, having that kept from you for so long, but the situation is delicate, as I’m sure you now understand.”
No shit.
“I think that’s an understatement. And that’s why I’m here.” Dani serves herself and passes the bowl to Savage, who then passes it on to me. After dropping a hefty helping onto my plate, I take a bite and savor the familiar flavors. “I need to know more about what you found out about Dom. I don’t understand why he flew off the handle like that. Something doesn’t sit right with me about the entire situation.”
Savage pauses with his loaded fork halfway up to his mouth. “Really, Stone? It shouldn’t surprise you that Dom tried to have Dani killed. He’s a ruthless crime boss, not the warm, friendly uncle you seem to think he is.”
A couple days ago, I probably would have gotten pissed and told Savage off for a crack like that against Dom but speaking in his defense now seem less…well…defensible.
“I know what he did was awful and unforgiveable. Believe me. But what I don’t understand is why he would be worried about Dani digging into things she would never be able to prove enough to actually mean anything to him in terms of affecting his business or getting him thrown in jail.” I look over to her. “I’m not trying to insult your work, Dani, it’s just that, from a legal standpoint, most of what Savage told me you’d been investigating could never be proven enough to charge him, let alone beyond a reasonable doubt to convict him of anything.”
She smiles and takes a sip of her wine. “No offense taken. I knew it was an uphill battle. I thought I’d finally made some headway when Paul agreed to get me information, but, we all know how that ended.”
With a gunshot to his head and Gabe killing three of Dom’s men. That goes unsaid. Kind of would have ruined the meal.
“Dom is smart. Smart enough to know he wasn’t in any real danger. So why do you think he was so intent on getting rid of you?”
Savage offers a muffled cough, and I know he’s holding back from whatever he really wants to say, but I let it slide and keep my focus on Dani. “My best guess? I was going deeper and deeper into his history, I’m talking decades back, looking for anything that might have been missed that would still be within the statute of limitations. Maybe there’s something there he doesn’t want found.”
That would make sense, I guess. There are probably hundreds of things that could have gotten Dom thrown in the slammer, that happened before I was even born, and I have absolutely no clue about them. But still, it would have to be something pretty damn major for him to have reacted that way.
I guess there’s only one way to really find out.
“You know he’s having us watched, right?”
Savage’s words have me jerking my head in his direction. “What?”
He nods solemnly and reaches for his wine glass. Two long pulls later, he places it on the table and relaxes back. “We’ve always known he’s kept eyes on us since it happened, but it’s picked up. There’s a rotation of five or six cars that are always outside the building, outside the club, or following one of us.”
The grey sedan out front…
Motherfucker!
“Why is he watching you? And why more recently?”
Savage shrugs and leans forward, resting his elbows on the table. “Beats me. It seems to have become more noticeable since Gabe was released from the hospital, but that could just be coincidence. I do know it’s definitely become more frequent since you moved home.”
Son of a cocksucking bitch!
I managed to avoid Dom’s texts and calls all day yesterday, all last night, and all day today. He keeps telling me we need to talk about our next step, and he needs me to call him or come in. But I just can’t.
That bloodbath is still the lead story, and I can’t stomach watching that video and then talking to the man I know is responsible for it. Dinner with Savage and Dani last night gave me some ideas about why things went to Hell in a handbasket so quickly between them and Dom, but I still have more questions than answers.
Which is a total motherfucking bitch.
It’s crazy how quickly things have changed.
I still owe Dom my life, but I can’t make excuses for his actions anymore, not when they’re directly affecting me and my family. I also can’t charge in there, guns blazing and demanding he back off and give me answers. That would never fly with him. Even for me, he’s not going to just lay it all out there and agree to stop what he’s been doing. No way.
If Savage and Gabe being basically family hasn’t stopped him so far, why would anything I have to say change that?
There needs to be a plan in place before I do anything. And right now, I have nothing. It feels like that night before my first trial when I had no fucking clue what to put in my opening statement. My mind is a complete blank.
Well, that’s not entirely true. One very sexy blonde is occupying a lot of my brain right now.
I have so many plans, so many things I want her to experience. And I’m selfish. I want it all now.
Having someone so naïve to my world, who’s willing to experiment, is rare indeed. When I was studying under Master Tadashi, I almost exclusively used experienced rope models. And the women at the two BDSM clubs I was a member at in San Diego were all more than willing to try just about anything outside of shibari.
Nora’s innocence is like crack to me. I need to have my hands on her, see her bound, touch her, tease her, and drive her wild.
Fuck yes.
A plan starts to form, and I need to see her tonight. It would have been amazing to have her come over after her shift last night, but she got off at three, and I know she has to be utterly exhausted after working that long.
I glance at the clock. Ten a.m.
She should hopefully be awake by now.
Even if she’s not, she’ll get my message as soon as she gets up. I pull out my phone and shoot her a text.
< I’m sure you’re just waking up, but you need to be here tonight. >
It’s kinda stalkery that I know her schedule and that she has tonight off, but I’m sure she expects that by now. It takes a few moments before she replies.
> Yeah, I’m exhausted. Just getting up. Why do I need to come over there? <
Smartass.
< Because I told you to. >
There’s a long wait before she finally replies.
> Am I going to need my safe word? <
I chuckle.
< Yes. Did you check out Dear Mistress? >
This time, her response takes long enough that I’m starting to get worried. Maybe I’m pushing her too hard. Maybe she looked at the articles and it freaked her out instead of having the opposite effect.
No.
Having her read it was the right thing to do. She needs to understand completely before I let things go any further.
> I looked at it before work yesterday. <
I wait for the three little dots that tell me she’s writing more but they don’t come. And I’m
impatient. This thing between us is all kinds of wrong for a hundred different reasons, but it’s also the only thing that seems to help me turn off my head besides the occasional line. I want her to want this. And I think deep down, she does too. She’s just too afraid to admit it. Her interest in the flogger demonstrated her inquisitiveness and willingness to at least try. But I know Dear Mistress’ column can be very eye-opening for someone who isn’t very familiar with the lifestyle yet.
< AND? >
Another five minutes passes, and I’m confident I won’t like what her reply is.
> Chill. My mom called. I found it very informative. It answered a lot of questions I had, and it definitely made me blush more than once. <
I bark out a laugh imagining her in front of her computer getting all hot and bothered by Dear Mistress’ tales. It’s a very good sign.
< So you aren’t going to run away screaming? >
> No promises. <
The smile spreads across my lips. I can’t fucking wait to see her tonight.
< Be here at 7. >
> I’m supposed to go to your mom’s house for dinner with my sister. Not sure why she wants me there.<
Shit! Family dinner.
I had not anticipated her being invited again. It puts a minor kink in my plans, but it gives me an idea for something much more interesting.
< Be here at 5. Wear a black dress and no underwear. >
I’m confident she’s going to ask why, but instead, she just sends a simple smiley emoji.
She may not be smiling when I initiate my plan tonight.
I relax back into my leather chair, trying not to dwell on the uncertainty and turmoil in my life right now. I’d much rather concentrate on planning my evening with Nora.
But the third glass of Scotch I’m currently draining doesn’t seem to be helping me keep a clear head. All I see are those images from the news over and over again. And that damn grey sedan sitting outside the condo building.