Chapter Six
“So you’re moving in with the new guys out on the G?”
Gemma asked after handing the server the elegant menus.
Brooke sat in the smaller of the two restaurants at the Elk
Creek Lodge. She was happy Gemma had chosen the lodge over Stella’s since she
was sure the Bliss grapevine had been working overtime. Obviously since Gemma
already knew. “I suppose I am. It’s better than the house my brothers built for
me. I bet they bugged it or something.”
Gemma winced. “So you found out about the PI?”
“Does everyone know?”
The blonde shrugged as though saying well, it is Bliss.
“I think it’s only your brothers’ friend circle, which happens to include my
boss. You know for a manly dude, Nate is a gossipy motherfucker. I swear Callie
called and he walked right out to fill in me and Elisa. He called Cam, too.
Anyway, that’s why I changed our lunch location. If you walk into Stella’s
right now, you’re going to have a lot of questions to answer. If it helps at
all, I know Max and Rye were worried about you.”
“Then they should have talked to me.”
“That can be hard for guys. Speaking of, where are yours?”
They weren’t hers. They were pretending to be hers so she
could save the smallest amount of face. “They dropped me off and then they’re
heading back to the G for the day. We’re staying in the foreman’s house. Bo is
pretty much the foreman, so he doesn’t need it. All the hands they have right
now are single, so they’re out in the bunkhouse.”
Gemma’s eyes lit with mirth. “Yeah, I’ve visited the
foreman’s house a couple of times when my dommiest
guy gets a hankering to tie me up.” She winced. “Sorry. That’s too much
information. I’m trying to curb that.”
Brooke leaned in. The last thing she needed was a Gemma who
didn’t tell it like it was. Gemma was brutally honest, and she needed that
right now. No coddling. “Don’t. I actually have questions, and I can’t exactly
ask my sister-in-law. I’m pretty sure they spend a lot of time in Stef’s
playroom.”
Gemma chuckled. “Oh, yes. They have definitely played around
with all the lifestyles.” And then she went a bit red. “Again with the sorry.”
Brooke felt her jaw tense. “I’m not a child.”
Gemma studied her for a moment as though reassessing the
situation. “No, you’re not, but they treat you like one. I’m actually sorry for
that part, not the rest. I guess I’ve spent years hearing about how sweet and
innocent you are, but sometimes the word innocence is just a way to
marginalize us.”
“As Britney would say, not that innocent, and I have
questions.”
Gemma grinned brightly. “Then consider me your BDSM auntie.
Although you should know Jesse and Cade are more on the D/s side. So are you
asking specific questions about the lifestyle or do you want to know what I
know about the Kent brothers?”
Brooke let out a deep breath. At least one person got what
she needed. “All of the things, but start with what you know.”
“They’ve played a lot both in Stef’s private playroom and in
a couple of the clubs Stef belongs to. Stef has been Bay’s…sponsor, I
suppose…for a long time. I don’t even know how they met, but Stef believes Bay
is an incredibly talented artist, and I’ve seen his work and know he’s right.
If that boy wanted to, he could make a lot of money as an artist.”
“I don’t think he would like how he would have to do it.”
She’d spent all of a night and half a day with the man and she already knew he
wouldn’t be able to handle all the bullshit that would come with cracking the
artistic world. “He would never be able to kiss ass the way he would need to.”
Gemma nodded. “I agree, but I don’t think becoming the
center of an artistic world is a goal of Bay’s. I think he’s that artist who
actually loves art and working. I actually find him kind of fascinating. Shane
as well. They’ve got that ‘broken parts that make a whole’ kind of vibe.”
She got that, too. In that fashion they reminded her of her
brothers. Shane and Bay needed each other in a way a lot of siblings didn’t,
but they hadn’t exactly exchanged life histories.
And should they? She wasn’t going to stay, and they would
never be able to live in the city. So why was she pursuing this? Why was she
pretending she was engaged? It was so dumb.
“Does that scare you?” Gemma asked.
“Not really. There are so many other things that scare me.”
Gemma leaned in. “Like how you reacted to them? On a sexual
level? Was it the first time you played around with Dominance and submission?”
“Yes.” It felt better to talk about this part. This part was
way more about her than them. “I liked it. I felt freer than I’ve ever felt in
my life, and I started the whole thing to make myself feel better. It was
supposed to be a little sex with some completely hot but inappropriate cowboys,
and now I’m somehow living with them and I can’t stop thinking about last
night. It was more than I bargained for.”
“What did you like about it?” Gemma asked softly, and there
was not an ounce of judgment in the question.
How to explain it? “I didn’t have to think about anything
except what they were doing to me. I…it’s like my brain shut down, and it’s
always going. Always. For the time I was with them I didn’t think about how my
life is falling apart or how everything’s my fault. It’s almost like a break
from life because for once I wasn’t in control. Shouldn’t that scare me?”
Gemma’s head shook. “Only if the partners you’re submitting
to aren’t worthy of trust, and I don’t think that’s the case with Shane and
Bay. You know Beth and Hope are my girls. We have our girl gangs in Bliss. Like
Rachel and Callie and Jen. Or Laura and Holly and Nell. It’s me and Hope and
Beth, which means I spend a lot of time out on the G. I sometimes wonder what
my younger self would say if I told her one day a cattle ranch will be where
you spend your free time.”
Because Gemma had started out as a big-time lawyer in New
York after breaking “free” from her unorthodox childhood.
They had a lot in common. “So you know Shane and Bay?”
She nodded. “They’re helpful, and my guys like them. Jesse’s
helped them keep that junker truck of theirs running, and Shane and Bay helped
us re-chink the cabin last month. I know they have a somewhat difficult
relationship with your brothers over something that happened many years ago.”
“Stef pulled some shit and dragged in Shane and Bay, and
naturally everything played out exactly the way Stef wanted.”
“Yeah, that’s how things seem to go. And naturally Max can’t
give it up,” Gemma returned. “But I think he also likes having someone to
complain about. I know Max seems like an asshole, but he’s a great guy and he
doesn’t hold a hard grudge. Which is why I’m more afraid of Rye.”
So someone else truly saw her brothers. “Rye is quieter, but
he’s the one who thinks about real revenge. Max can be brought around. Rye
still thinks I’m eight and need him to protect me.”
“And that’s a problem if you really like these guys.”
Did she? Yeah. She kind of did. “I’m going back to New
York.”
Gemma seemed to think about that. “Okay. That’s where your
home is now. But you know not all relationships have to last forever. You can
have a wonderful time and be loving and caring and not get married to the man
or men. As long as all your cards are on the table, it’s okay. But I kind of
got the impression there’s something not so great happening back in the city.”
How far did this go? “What have you heard? I suppose if my
fake engagement is out there, then the fact that I’m no longer employed is
probably out there, too.”
“That’s how the rumor mill works,” Gemma agreed, “though I
don’t think anyone knows exactly what happened. Since you’re sitting here with
me, I assume there are legal implications. What did some asshole boss do and
why is it going to break my heart to tell you how to handle it?”
Tears pricked her eyes. “He stole my designs, but I was told
he can legally do that because of my contract.”
“I’ll read it, but I know that some houses can be predatory
about how they deal with creatives. So they fired you because you took
offense?”
“They fired me because I made two formal complaints to HR.
One about not getting even secondary credit for my designs and the other
because I was told in no uncertain terms the only way I was getting to Milan
was on my knees.”
Gemma sat back with a long sigh. “I’m going to assume he was
smart enough to not do this in front of an audience.”
“We were alone, and there weren’t any security cams.” She
sniffled because she knew what Gemma was going to say. “It’s a he said, she
said, and HR interviewed him and decided he was credible and I was bitter over
the fall line.”
“Okay. What reason did they give for firing you?”
Shame poured through her. “I was fired for creating an
uncomfortable work environment.”
“Because you accused your boss?” Gemma perked up as though
she’d seen the light at the end of the tunnel and there was actually something
she could do.
“No. They said some of my coworkers complained about how I
talked about my family.”
“Your family?”
She nodded. “Specifically my brothers.”
Gemma seemed to get the gist. “You were open about your
brothers sharing a wife. They felt like your friends, so you make a couple of
jokes about how weird your hometown is and suddenly they can use it against
you. I would bet no one had a problem with it until after you went to HR.”
“No. I thought they were all cool with it. I mean it’s not
exactly a prim and proper business. Everyone’s creative and quirky, but they
all turned on me.”
“I’m so sorry, Brooke.”
“I don’t have grounds. Do I?”
“Oh, you have grounds,” Gemma said. “So much ground, but I
will tell you that taking this to court is going to be difficult, and more
important, very costly. It’s better to put together a good case for them to
settle. Basically, threaten a nasty suit and at the last minute you offer to
settle for say a million dollars.”