Chapter 23
Chapter Twenty-Three
Camille
The Spy Museum had been as much fun as she’d imagined and even more interesting than she’d hoped for. They’d decided to just do one museum before heading over to Marquis for a drink and possibly dinner. The museum had been big enough, with enough activities, to take up the whole day.
Maybe it would be fun to try new restaurants, but Camille was more comfortable with the familiar, and after a day of doing something new, she wanted to go to a place where she knew exactly what she’d be getting.
It was fun to sit in the downstairs dining room of Marquis and look around and wonder who knew what was happening on the second floor.
Of course, being with Freddy meant she could just ask if someone was a member. A few of the answers surprised her.
They were midway through a thoroughly enjoyable meal when it happened.
“What the hell is this?” As if out of nowhere, Nicholas Alexander III made an extremely unwelcome reappearance in her life.
Looming over them at the table, he glared at Freddy for a moment before turning his glare on her.
“You’re dating him? Is that why you forced me into that stupid agreement?
” Completely flabbergasted, Camille’s brain froze.
She couldn’t think of how to respond before the man turned.
“Jared, are you seeing this?! She’s dating my ex’s lawyer!
That’s got to be a conflict of interest.”
Freddy got to his feet. Despite the fact that Mr. Alexander was an inch taller, Freddy appeared even larger than life as his lawyer side took over, turning him from the happy sub to the fierce shark he could be for his clients.
A few feet away, Jared Donaldson, Jr. was staring at her, his gaze going back and forth between her and Freddy, trying to figure out the truth.
Both of them were dressed in slacks and dress shirts, contrasting to Freddy’s jeans and sweater, but that didn’t matter.
“First of all, your divorce has already been finalized. Which means there is no conflict,” Freddy said, his voice colder than she’d ever heard it.
“And it wasn’t a stupid agreement. She made the best deal she could for you, and it was a better one than I would have liked.
You got a lot more than you deserved, and it was because of her.
If I’d had my way, we would have taken you to the cleaners, but your ex-wife just wanted to get it over with.
Your lawyer was able to negotiate a great deal for you, so you benefited from both women, despite the fact you deserved neither of them. ”
Shaking off the panic and guilt that had frozen her, Camille lifted her chin. Freddy was right about everything. She’d done an exemplary job for Mr. Alexander, despite everything. She didn’t bother to stand up. The man wasn’t worth the effort, and neither was Junior.
“This is my personal time, Mr. Alexander. You are no longer my client. If you have a problem with the deal I made for you, perhaps you can ask yourself why none of your buddies at the firm wanted to take your case.”
“Well, because I’m their friend. It would be a conflict-“
“No, it was because they knew you weren’t going to be able to get everything you wanted and that I would get you the best deal possible.
Which I did. Now, leave us alone.” Behind Douchebag Number One, Douchebag Number Two had turned bright red and looked as if he was about to explode, but Camille didn’t care.
She was so tired of covering for the partners’ inadequacies and the way they’d thrown her under the bus with this case.
“You—”
“Excuse me.” Olivia’s voice snapped out like a whip as she strode toward them, eyes flashing. It seemed everyone in the dining room had stopped to pay attention to the drama. “You are creating a disturbance. I am going to have to ask you to leave.”
Both douchebags puffed up.
“We have a reservation—”
“You can’t just—”
Olivia held up her hand, and miraculously, the gesture silenced both of them. They looked appalled but shut up. For the first time, Camille noticed the host standing off to the side, clutching a pair of menus. They must have been on their way to be seated when Mr. Alexander spotted her.
“You are in my house now, boys, and we have the right to refuse service to anyone.” She glanced at Camille, raising her eyebrow as if asking what Camille wanted. Both assholes picked up on the look and turned back to stare at her, wondering what the connection between her and Olivia was.
“They can stay… as long as they sit down now and behave themselves,” Camille said regally.
She looked at Freddy and gave him a nod.
He sat down and pulled his napkin back across his lap, then turned his back on the other two men and dismissed them with his actions as thoroughly as she had with her words.
Mr. Alexander appeared stunned as he realized he was only being allowed to eat on her sufferance.
The host seemed to have gathered her courage in Olivia’s presence and stepped forward.
“If you would follow me, please, sirs, without any more interruptions.”
Across the table from Camille, Freddy covered his laugh with a cough. His reaction made her think the young woman was likely a submissive, one who had a bit of a bratty side now that she’d regained her footing. Camille knew how she felt.
While Mr. Alexander toddled off after the host, Junior stopped for a moment to glare at her over Freddy’s head.
“We’ll talk on Monday.”
“Yes, we will.” She gave him a pointed stare. She was not going to be intimidated by him. As Olivia said, they were in her house. Marquis was hers. She could have them removed with the snap of a finger. And worry about her job didn’t have the same kind of control over her that it had.
Besides, if he fired her for having a personal life, she could sue the pants off the firm, and she would.
Disturbed his threat hadn’t had the effect he’d intended, Junior stared at her a moment longer.
Olivia cleared her throat. Junior glanced over his shoulder at her, then scampered away, while the redhead shook her head.
Olivia looked back at Camille, moving closer to the table, so she could talk without having to raise her voice.
“You should have let me kick them out.” She sounded disappointed. Around them, conversation resumed since the show was over.
“Sorry for ruining your fun,” Camille replied, a little smile lifting her lips. It would probably be less funny to her on Monday, but right now, she could joke about it, despite the little pit in her stomach that said she’d just messed up her life. She hadn’t.
“Don’t be. Now she can torture them all evening,” Freddy said, turning his head to look up at Olivia. She smiled fondly at him.
“He’s right. It’s going to be a fun evening.
Maybe I’ll end up getting to kick them out, anyway.
I’ll certainly be keeping a very close eye on them.
” Sauntering away, Olivia followed to where the pair had been led.
The table was on the other side of the dining room, thank goodness, but it meant she couldn’t see what Olivia was doing to them.
Probably for the best since it would have been a little distracting.
“Well, that was… unexpected.” She sighed, and Freddy looked at her with concern.
“Is it going to cause a problem for you at work?”
“Probably, but there’s only so much they can do.
I’m already looking for a new job, so if they give me even more reason to jump ship, oh well.
” She shrugged, even though she didn’t feel quite as nonchalant as she was pretending to be.
“I can power through until then. If Junior convinces the rest of the partners to fire me because we’re dating, I’ll have good reason to sue. ”
“What about your mom?”
The concern in his eyes made her want to reach across the table and kiss him. She loved that he immediately thought about what would be far more important to her than getting justice for herself.
“I can keep her where she is for a few months, which would hopefully give me enough time to find a job. Fingers crossed for Murdoch.” She held up one hand with her fingers crossed.
Freddy reached across the table toward her, and she reached back to take his hand, their fingers twining together.
“Anything you need, I’m happy to give it to you,” he said quietly, his gazed locked onto hers in a moment so achingly intimate, she could hardly bear it.
Hearing him say that and knowing it was true, knowing he was there for her, that he wanted to help in whatever way she needed, made her feel painfully vulnerable.
“Thank you, but I hope you understand when I say I hope it doesn’t come to that.”
“Of course, I do.” A smile tugged at his lips. “It’s come to my attention that I’m not always very good about letting people help me, either. It’s a struggle.”
She had to laugh because he was right, and she believed he understood her problem on an intimate level. Squeezing his fingers, she filled her expression with all the gratitude she felt.
“Thank you.”
Freddy
Convincing Camille to go to Stronghold after dinner wasn’t difficult. He shot a message to Lexie to find out if any of the rooms were open for the evening. He nearly crowed with delight when he passed the answer on to Camille, and her eyes lit up.
Yes, the Office was exactly what she needed after the confrontation with her former client and one of her firm’s partners.
One upside to being at Marquis over Stronghold was the amount of privacy it afforded, and there was no way to get a room at Marquis for tonight.
They headed over to Stronghold as soon as they were finished with dinner.
Camille hadn’t actually been to Stronghold yet, and she wanted to look around.
They would have some time to kill before dinner was ready, but Freddy had agreed, though he’d warned her they’d likely be ambushed by his friends.
Alone time was much harder to arrange at Stronghold.
She said she didn’t mind.
He really hoped she meant that.
The moment they walked through the door, Lexie lit up from where she was standing behind the front desk.
Beside her, Angel beamed at him. It was all he could do not to facepalm.
He knew damn well Angel wasn’t on tonight.
Though she occasionally volunteered to work the front desk when they didn’t have anyone to cover it, Lexie was more than capable of handling it on her own.
It wasn’t like Marquis where she would have to lead people to their tables.
All she had to do was get them checked in and take their coats and phones.
“Hello Mistress Camille,” Lexie and Angel chorused together, beaming so hard, Camille actually stumbled. She recovered quickly, partly because she had her arm threaded through Freddy’s, but clearly, she hadn’t been expecting to be greeted by name, despite his warning.
Freddy sighed.
A deep chuckle came from Jared, who was standing next to the door between the lobby and the club.
“Fair warning, Freddy, the gang’s all here tonight,” he said when he looked over at him. “It’s a packed crowd.”
“Then how did we get a room?” he muttered, though he had noticed the parking lot seemed particularly full.
“Adam and I gave it up for you,” Angel answered. Tonight, she was in full fetwear with one of her signature keyhole corsets that showcased her cleavage. The deep purple hue looked gorgeous next to her creamy skin and the brown curls that brushed her shoulders. “May you use it in good health.”
“You didn’t have to do that,” he said, touched beyond belief.
Angel and Adam’s baby had just turned two, and he knew that getting out to the club could be hard for them.
He’d even babysat baby Melody a time or two to make things easier on them.
Angel’s parents were usually on call, but when they weren’t, Freddy had offered to be a go-to.
“I know we didn’t, but we’re very grateful for all the times you’ve given us a night off from parenting so we could do some coupling, and we wanted to give back to you.” She grinned at him as Camille squeezed his hand and shot him a significant look.
Right. He was supposed to be getting better about letting people do things for him, especially his friends. Taking a deep breath, he nodded and did not argue with her.
“Thank you.”
Lexie nudged Angel in the side, both of them beaming even brighter at Mistress Camille.
“See, I told you she was a good influence on him,” she whispered.
Freddy didn’t bother to point out that they could hear her. She knew and was doing it deliberately. He rolled his eyes while Mistress Camille laughed.
“You have me at a disadvantage,” she said. “You know my name, but I don’t know yours.”
With a resigned sigh for extra dramatic effect, Freddy made the introductions.
Then he introduced Mistress Camille to Master Jared on the way into the club.
Once they were inside, it took them nearly half an hour to reach the bar so he could introduce her to Master Andrew and Kate, who were both working behind the bar.
Despite the crush of people and her preference for being an introvert, Mistress Camille handled herself with calm assurance. He still felt a little bad. He hadn’t even realized how many friends he’d made, all who were thrilled to meet Mistress Camille because she was with him.
It made him feel warm and fuzzy and slightly embarrassed.
“Wow, you really have a lot of friends,” she said when they finally made it through the crowd and managed to snag a bar table to themselves.
Despite everyone being nosy, they were also understanding of him and Mistress Camille wanting some privacy.
It didn’t hurt that they stayed at the bar area where the Dominants tended to congregate, rather than in the Lounge, the area with a bunch of low chairs and loveseats and comfortable carpet, where the unattached submissives hung out.
“Sometimes, I forget how many,” he admitted.
“What about that group over there? I noticed you waved, but they didn’t come over.” She tilted her head in the direction so as not to draw too much attention, and Freddy smiled, though it wasn’t quite as genuine as before.
“That is a mixed group. I’m friends with about half of them and civil with the other half.
” Morgan was seated between Sam and Amy, chatting with Noelle, Caroline, and Marissa.
He’d introduced Q, Sam’s boyfriend, to Camille on their way through the bar area, but he was hanging out with his friends, including Master Law and Iris, and Iris and Noelle did not get along.
“Are you sure you want to hear about the drama?”
Eyes alight with wickedness, Mistress Camille leaned forward, resting her forearms on the bar table. Her breasts pressed against her arms, deepening her cleavage.
“Absolutely. Spill the tea.”