Chapter 32
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Derek groaned as Sonja answered her cellphone. He cracked one eye open. Aside from the blueish light from the phone, the room was pitch dark. He checked his watch on the nightstand. Four, bloody, thirty in the morning!
“Slow down, Suzie.” Sonja was silent before muttering, “Okay.” Again a pause.
Derek was now wide awake.
Is there something wrong at the café?
“Yes. All right, I’ll be there as soon as I can.” Sonja disconnected the call without saying goodbye and was out of the bed the same moment.
“Troubles?”
“Someone threw eggs all over the front of the café. Since it was the weekend, we don’t know when, but it’s a humongous mess, and Connor says the paint is damaged.”
Derek also got out of bed and struggled a leg into his jeans.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m coming with you.” His tone didn’t leave room for discussion.
“You don’t need to. This isn’t your problem.”
“Babygirl.” He gave her a stern look before pulling his long-sleeved shirt over his head. “We might not have said our vows, but I’m in this relationship for better and for worse. Besides, you don’t go wandering around in the middle of the night without me.”
He grabbed his phone with one hand and closed the other around her trembling fingers. “Let’s check out the mess and see what we can do about it, okay?”
It was so early, they had the streets to themselves. Derek parked his car in Sonja’s spot behind The Sweet and Savory Table. When they went around to the front, Connor was busy with a bucket and scrub brush, cleaning the facade. All the interior lights were on, and Connor had rigged up a work light so he could see what he was doing in the early morning darkness.
“Suzie’s inside,” the burly man told them. “She needed to start baking. The cops have been and gone. Won’t do much good. Asshole didn’t leave a note.”
Derek studied the wooden window frame and was taken aback by the damage to the finish.
Connor followed his gaze with a grim expression. “Eggs corrode.”
“Damn.” Derek scrubbed his face. “What’s the smell?”
“Vinegar to break down the protein.”
“Can I help with the cleaning?”
“Nah, almost done here. Need to wait for the store to open so I can buy paint. You any good with a brush?”
Despite the situation, Derek grinned at Connor’s bluntness. “Yes, I can paint. I don’t know what kind of job we can do in this cold, but I’m sure we can hide the worst of it.”
“I know. We were already planning on repainting the front, come spring,” Connor said.
“Sorry. I don’t mean to tell you your business. Can you manage without me for a moment? I want to check on the ladies.” Derek turned to go inside.
“Aye.”
Derek heard the last part of Suzie’s sentence as he entered. “—could this be connected to the reviews?”
“What do reviews have to do with vandalism?”
Both women jumped at the sound of his voice.
“Probably nothing,” Sonja said.
He made a disapproving sound. “Tell me.”
“Damn it, Derek, it’s not your problem,” Sonja said.
“Tell what?” The growl in Connor’s voice told Derek that Suzie had kept the other Dom in the dark as well.
Derek didn’t turn around when he addressed Connor. “I’m not sure, but it looks like our submissives have been withholding information from us.”
Connor stepped up beside him, and Sonja tried not to shrink away. The big, blond sadist intimidated her on a good day, and even Suzie seemed nervous at the combined force of their displeasure, although she tried for an assertive stance with her hands on her hips.
“Tell us,” Connor ordered.
Suzie threw her hands in the air. “Recently, we’ve had some nasty online reviews of the café.”
“Nasty?” Connor asked.
Suzie made an annoyed sound. “Yeah, you know.”
“Rùnag, I don’t know.” Connor’s voice was dangerously low. “Ye haven’t told me about your troubles. What exactly is going on here?”
His question was met with stunned silence by the women.
Derek intervened in his best Daddy voice. “It’s time to ‘fess up, ladies. Who wants to go first?”
Sonja spoke up. “Like Suzie said, we’ve had negative reviews online. Some were just typical bad reviews where people complain about the service or whatever. But there were at least a dozen that were mean, nasty, and untrue. A bunch of them showed up right at the same time. They accused us of causing food poisoning and said the place was dirty to the point of having rats and cockroaches.”
Connor sputtered. “Th-that’s nonsense.”
“We know,” Suzie said. “We could tell there was something odd, so I called Laura.”
“Why Laura?” Derek was puzzled at this apparent non-sequitur.
“Because the reviews were online. For computer stuff, I always go to Laura,” Suzie answered. “Anyway, it took her a little while to track the reviews back to their origins, but what it came down to is that the first six reviews, all supposedly by different people, were all posted on the same day, within an hour’s time, from a computer at the public library. The rest of the reviews were spread out, but they all came from library computers. Laura said there was no way to find out more.”
“When did this start?” Derek asked.
“The first reviews were posted a week after Thanksgiving. The rest went up over the next week or so,” Sonja answered. “Yvonne brought them to our attention the week before Christmas. There haven’t been any new ones since then.”
“What do you suspect, Derek?” Connor asked. “You seem to have some ideas about this.”
“I don’t know anything for sure. This is just guesswork on my part. You’ve heard that my ex-girlfriend has been in town?”
Connor and Suzie nodded.
Sonja’s face fell.
“She stalked me in St. Louis, then she turned up here before Thanksgiving, first at the munch and then at work. She was supposed to go back to St. Louis after her psych hold at the Center for Behavioral Medicine. We got her put there because of the show she put on at work. I suspect she’s still here.”
He turned to Sonja. “I’m pretty sure we were followed to your place after Thanksgiving dinner. I think Angie staked out my sister’s house and broke my taillight so she could follow us in the dark. She must have seen us go into your apartment building and managed to identify you. Then she followed you here. I’m sorry my past is causing all of your problems. What did the police say?” he asked Connor.
“Not much. They took photos and left. Told us we can pick up a copy of the report for our insurance later,” Connor said. “They had one helpful suggestion.”
“Oh?” Derek and Sonja responded in unison.
“They said we should consider getting security cameras.”
“That makes sense,” Derek said.
“Aye, I’m going to get them when I go for the paint. Once I’m finished, we’ll have views of the entire property.”
“Derek, don’t feel bad. It’s not your fault that your ex is a stalker. It could happen to anyone,” Suzie added.
“Intellectually, I know that, but as a Dom, it feels like something I should be able to control,” Derek said. “I’ll call Jackson Cagney when it gets to be a reasonable hour. In the meantime, I believe we have subs to punish, wouldn’t you say so, Captain?”
“Indeed, I would.” In one big stride, he was in Suzie’s face and had her by the neck. Over his shoulder, he addressed Derek. “I’ll take care of this one in the office. Feel free to join us if you like.”
Suzie spluttered and protested, but Derek ignored the couple and turned his attention to his babygirl. She was going to feel his hand on her bottom very soon.
Sonja gulped and took a tentative step backward.
“Damn it! It’s not your problem, Derek.” Sonja jumped when the sound of a harsh belt landing on bare flesh, followed by a shriek, reached them from the office. Connor took his punishment seriously, and so would Derek.
“You’re only adding to your punishment, babygirl.” Derek pushed his right sleeve up and took a step in her direction.
“You wouldn’t punish me when you’re angry, would you, Daddy?”
Oh, the brat!
“You know me well. I won’t lay a hand on you in anger, but I am going to punish you.” He grabbed her by the upper arm and guided Sonja to the office. Connor hadn’t closed the door, so Derek marched Sonja right in. “Look at your partner getting her ass reddened. This is what happens to naughty submissives who keep important information from their Doms.”
Suzie’s ass cheeks were bright red, and the belt had left stripes on her upper legs as well. Since the petite woman was a real masochist, Derek suspected she was turned on, too, but Sonja would be horrified by the pain Connor was inflicting. He grabbed her chin and forced her to face the other couple. “Look. At. Her.”
Connor finished and put his belt through the loops of his jeans again. When Suzie reached behind her to pull up her panties, Connor warned, his slight Scottish accent now more pronounced, “None of that. Ye’re going to finish yer pastries with yer bottom bared for my pleasure. Hand me the panties.”
“But, Sir,” Suzie whined, only to give in after one look at his expression. She handed him the panties with a face as red as her abused bottom.
Connor squeezed the marred flesh and grinned at her wince as he leaned down to stage whisper to her, “And I’m going to enjoy watching ye.” With that, he steered her from the office, with a wink in Derek’s direction.
Derek had enjoyed the interchange between the experienced couple but now turned his attention to Sonja. “Strip.”
“What?”
“You heard me.”
She pouted. “I thought you wouldn’t punish me when you’re angry.”
Derek grinned in his best Jack Nicholson fashion. “I promised not to lay a hand on you when I was mad. There are other ways to discipline you, though.” He aimed for a touch of nonchalance as he added, “If you don’t want to be naked when your staff arrives, you should hurry.”
Sonja gulped, but she stripped off her dress obediently. She shot him an uncertain look, and he gestured for her to continue. She took off her panties and bra, and after a moment’s hesitation, she placed the garments in his hand. He draped the bra over the chair and stuffed the panties in his pocket.
“Lean over the desk.”
She eyed the desk and looked at him dubiously, clearly thinking about Suzie’s punishment.
Good, let her worry for a bit!
Luckily, he had something in his car that was perfect for this kind of situation. Hmm, did he have any lube?
“Don’t move!” he ordered and headed for the back. Suzie was rolling and folding dough for puff pastry with her bright ass on display, while Connor was leaning against the opposite wall with his arms crossed in front of his chest and a prominent bulge in his pants.
“Lovely view,” Derek commented as he headed to the back door, causing Suzie to jump.
“Continue,” Connor growled, “or I’ll spank ye some more!”
Derek went to his car and found the package in his trunk he’d forgotten to take up to Sonja’s apartment. He came back in to look for lube.
“Do you have some olive or coconut oil in here?” Derek asked Suzie.
She nodded with a bright-red face. How the woman could still be embarrassed was a wonder to Derek, but he had to admit her obvious discomfort was amusing.
“It’s in the third cupboard from the left.”
Suzie quickly wrapped her dough to keep it from drying out and said to Connor, “The dough has to cool, Captain.” She carried it to the walk-in cooler and retrieved her second portion which was ready to be worked again.
When she returned, Connor massaged her red buttocks until she moaned and arched her back, pressing her ass up and into his big hands. The woman was a hardcore masochist, and she matched Connor’s sadistic needs perfectly. Just like Sonja was his match.
Derek pulled the oil from the cupboard and left the couple. It wouldn’t surprise him if they had makeup sex. He wasn’t opposed to watching, but he had a submissive to punish and a message to drive home.
As he re-entered the office, he was pleased that Sonja was still leaning over the desk, her gorgeous round ass on display for him.
“Babygirl, I’m displeased you kept your troubles hidden from me. I know that you’re capable of dealing with problems on your own, but the point is you don’t have to anymore.” He stroked her ass, and his reward was a similar reaction he’d witnessed from Suzie a minute before. “Do you understand why you’re being punished?”
Sonja nodded and pleased him by verbalizing her answer. “Yes, Daddy.”
“Good girl.”
Derek drizzled oil between her ass cheeks, and Sonja squeaked.
“Hold still,” he ordered as he worked the oil around and in her asshole. He pulled the plug from his pocket and pressed the metal tip against her puckered hole. Sonja moaned and pushed back. Hmm, maybe not a suitable punishment after all. Although?—
“Babygirl, you’re going to walk around in your café today wearing a butt plug for me. The feel of it will remind you of the fact that you have a Daddy in your life.” He helped her stand upright, and she shifted around. “You can put on your bra and dress.”
“What about my panties?”
He gave her a level look.
She shrugged and returned a mischievous expression. “I had to try.”
He laughed, happy she felt comfortable enough being a brat, even when he punished her. She really was his perfect babygirl.