Chapter 20
Chapter Twenty
Mitch
He was going to be sick.
Everything was happening too fast, right after his dad had hit him with a serious blow.
He needed time to process everything but didn’t know how to get it.
Not with Ana, adorably dressed as Elsa, right there with Domi, and her co-parents, who seemed only vaguely interested in him.
Which was surprising, unless Domi hadn’t told them she was seeing him.
Or maybe she’d only told them a vague ‘someone.’
Whatever. It didn’t matter. What mattered was that his parents were kinky. Kinky. Hell, his dad owned a BDSM club. Was meeting with Stronghold and Marquis’ owners to talk about their clubs and expanding his own club.
All this time, Mitch had thought…
Fuck.
BDSM, kink, it wasn’t the saving grace he’d thought.
He didn’t doubt for one second his dad was a good Dom, which meant the failure in his parents’ relationship still happened despite BDSM.
I can’t breathe.
“Excuse me,” he said suddenly, standing up with the same abruptness. “I need to use the bathroom.”
Splash some cold water on his face. Figure out what the fuck was going on. What he was going to do next. How this changed things.
He stumbled away from the table.
The revelation did change things, didn’t it?
Hell, it changed everything. Not that he thought BDSM would be some kind of magic bullet, a guarantee things would work out with him and Domi, that he wouldn’t end up in a relationship like his parents…
but he’d thought it gave them more of a chance.
He’d seen the happy couples around Stronghold and thought it meant something.
But everything was still a crapshoot.
“Mitch… Mitch!” Domi caught up to him before he could reach the safety of the men’s room. Grabbed his arm. He turned around reluctantly, emotions simmering and bubbling under the surface, barely contained. “What’s going on?”
“I need a minute, Domi.” His voice came out distant, harsh, and she flinched, but he couldn’t do anything about that. It was all he could do to keep his emotions under control, which meant locking them down entirely.
“Fine then, just one question.” Her dark eyes flashed with hurt. “I introduced you to my parents, but your dad clearly doesn’t know who I am. You didn’t tell him about me, did you?”
Fuck. No, he hadn’t, but he wasn’t going to stand here in the hallway and explain things to her when she was supposed to be eating dinner with her family.
“No. I didn’t. Did you tell Ana’s dad and stepmother you’re seeing someone?
” It came out more accusatory than he meant.
Domi took a step back. From the way she pressed her lips together, guilt tingeing her expression, he knew he was right.
She hadn’t mentioned him to her family either.
Sure, he’d met her parents, but they were far away, weren’t they?
It wasn’t a big deal to her. She hadn’t even asked him why he hadn’t told his dad, just jumped on him about not doing so.
“You’re here having family dinner, all dressed up, and I wasn’t invited, was I? Because I’m not part of the family.”
He knew he was venting his frustration about his own parents on her, but he couldn’t seem to stop. Hell, he wasn’t even sure he should. She’d followed him when he’d clearly needed space and had been ready to throw accusations at him.
“If I’d known you were going to be here, I would have told you,” she said, clearly trying to keep a hold of her temper. For some reason, that made him even angrier.
“Why? So, I would take my dad for dinner somewhere else?”
“No… I mean… I don’t know.” She clenched her fists by her side. “It’s Ana’s birthday, and she wanted to come here—” She cut off as a cold, resigned laugh burst from Mitch’s lips.
“I didn’t even know it was Ana’s birthday.” He closed his eyes and shook his head. “This was a bad idea.”
“What was?” Hesitancy crept into her voice, but it was too late.
“This.” He opened his eyes, sweeping out his arm.
Hell, he was never going to be able to come back to this restaurant without thinking about tonight.
His favorite pasta place was going to be tainted forever.
That’s what relationships did. They got people all hopeful, then they shit on everything, ruining it by association.
“All of it. You, me. Probably everything. I didn’t even know it was your daughter’s birthday.
I have no idea if you were ever going to tell her or your co-parents about me.
I didn’t tell my dad about you. Maybe that’s for the best. Makes it easier. ”
“Easier?” she repeated, staring up at him as though she didn’t understand what he was saying. Fuck. Was this what breaking up was like? This sucked even more than he’d ever thought it would.
But it was the right thing to do.
“I’m a bad bet, Domi, I always was. We should end this now, while our lives are still separate.
Go back and celebrate your daughter’s birthday.
You should be there with her, not over here with me.
You weren’t even supposed to see me tonight, remember?
” He whirled away from the shocked expression on her face, shoving his way into the men’s bathroom where she couldn’t follow.
At least, where she shouldn’t follow. There was a small part of him that worried she would, anyway. Another part that hoped she would.
Standing in front of one of the sinks, he stared at himself in the mirror, gripping the porcelain and waiting… but no petite firecracker came storming through the door to yell at him. Hell, he wasn’t even sure what he would say to her if she did. It really was better this way.
Wasn’t it?
Domi
In shock, feeling completely hollowed out on the inside as if she was an empty doll, moving through space because someone had wound her up and set her into motion, Domi turned away and started walking back to the table. The table she had sent the others to while she’d chased down Mitch.
She wished she hadn’t.
Except…
Was he right? Was it better this way?
Hell, if it was going to happen anyway, better sooner than later, right?
That’s why she’d broken off their arrangement in the first place. To end things before her emotions got involved.
Too late for that now.
She should have been angry, furious, but she couldn’t summon the emotion.
She felt like someone had frozen her from the inside out.
As she reached the table where her family was sitting, she also realized that wasn’t the worst thing in the world.
She pasted a smile on her face for Ana and sat down.
The other adults looked at her with worried expressions, Rae more so than the others.
“Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, Mitch isn’t feeling well,” she heard herself say as though from a great distance as though someone else was using her mouth to speak. To smile. She was on autopilot. “Hopefully not something he ate.”
They all laughed, Ana a beat later than the others because she didn’t actually get the joke, but Rae still looked worried. Thankfully, Marcus and Julia seemed to accept her explanation at face value.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Mitch returning to his table, but he didn’t sit down. He leaned down and said something to his dad, giving the older man a quick hug, then walked out the front door. He didn’t look in her direction. Didn’t even glance.
The inside of her chest felt like it was starting to rip open. Her emotions were coming back into focus.
“Mommy?” Ana’s voice pushed them down again, leaving her once more in control.
Smiling, she looked down at her daughter. Her joy. Her constant.
“Yes, sweetie?”
“Can I have the ravioli and the macaroni and cheese?”
“Sure, baby, it’s your birthday,” Domi said automatically. “You can have whatever you want.”
Ana should have whatever she wanted. One day, she wouldn’t be able to have something she wanted.
One day, she would want something more than she’d ever wanted anything else in the world, but it wouldn’t be within her power to get it.
It would have to be given… by someone else.
That person might decide not to give it to her.
They might run away at the first confrontation, leaving her bereft and hurting.
Until that time, Domi was going to make sure her daughter had any small thing she wanted.
Domi, too. Tonight, she was going to want Rae and Ben and Jerry. First, though, she had to get through this dinner, then get Ana to bed.
“Excuse me.” The charming Scottish accent made Domi jerk her head up.
Mitch’s dad smiled down apologetically at her, holding out his hand, and she automatically took it.
This time he didn’t shake it, just held her fingers in his warm palm.
“I wanted to say it was verra nice to meet you. I upset my son before you came in, and he wasna able to give us a proper introduction, but I can tell he cares about you verra much.”
“Thank you,” Domi said robotically.
“G’night then.” He nodded his head, returning to his table to pick up a to-go bag of food, then following his long-gone son out the door.
Domi realized everyone at her table was staring at her.
“Uh, Domi? Was… is… are you seeing…” Marcus' voice trailed off, and his eyes darted to Ana, who looked concerned but also very confused.
Mother fucker.
“Let’s talk about it later, shall we?” She pushed her smile back onto her face, pretending she didn’t see the look Marcus and Julia exchanged as she focused back on Ana. “Dinner tonight is all about Miss Birthday Girl here.”
“Yay!” Ana beamed at her. “Can I have pudding and cake for dessert?”
“Sure,” Domi said. She had a feeling she was going to want to binge on her daughter’s leftovers later tonight. Ben and Jerry’s might not be enough to cut it.
Mitch
After leaving the restaurant, Mitch drove without really thinking about where he was going or even looking at the road. It was a freaking miracle he didn’t get into an accident.
Somehow, without thinking about it or meaning to, he ended up at Marquis. There was even a parking space right in front of the building as if it was waiting for him to arrive. Staring blankly at the front of the restaurant, Mitch wasn’t sure he really wanted to go in.
On the other hand, he didn’t know where else to go and could seriously use a drink. Somewhere to sit. Driving more probably wasn’t a good idea.
His stomach rumbled.
Food would be good. He’d left without getting his dinner, unable to stay in the restaurant and around his dad or Domi for one minute more. Food, a drink, and some time and space to think.
To hurt. Fuck. He’d broken up with Domi.
Mitch rubbed his chest, then started moving, getting out of the car, and going into the restaurant. He figured even if his dad came here with Master Patrick and the others, it wouldn’t be until later, and hopefully, they’d come in the back door.
Huh. He wondered if Patrick got the idea for Marquis from the Outlands. Mitch had never known Outlands was anything other than a regular restaurant during the day and a dance club at night. The idea seemed horribly possible.
Waving off the hostess, he headed straight for the bar, where there were thankfully still several open seats.
Sliding onto one, he waited for the bartender, Shane, to notice him.
He was an older gentleman who bartended because he liked it.
He’d once told Mitch he enjoyed talking with all the different kinds of people who came by, though he wasn’t a fan of Mitch’s puns and bad jokes.
Bald with a salt and pepper goatee, broad shoulders, and a permanent half-smile on his face, he had the kind of aura that made people feel immediately comfortable around him.
Seeing Mitch sitting down, Shane took one look at his expression and raised one eloquent eyebrow.
He didn’t even ask what Mitch wanted, just turned around and started mixing.
Staring at the rows of liquor bottles above Shane’s head, Mitch wondered when his life had gotten so out of control.
Had it been when he couldn’t let Domi go the first time she’d tried to end things between them?
Had it been halfway through their bondage buddies’ arrangement when he hadn’t realized he was falling for her?
Or was it from the very beginning, when he’d asked her to be his bondage buddy?
A multi-colored drink slid in front of him. Mitch stared at it.
“What is it?”
“Does it matter?” The half-smile on Shane’s face lifted slightly, turning a little fuller. “It’s a whiskey sour with a little something extra.”
Sour was exactly how Mitch felt. He hadn’t had one before, but he trusted Shane. The man was a master at mixology, and the few times he’d ignored Mitch’s usual preference for beer, he hadn’t been wrong.
Lifting the straw to his lips, Mitch took a sip, and flavor burst over his tongue. Sweet, sour, and a bit of a kick that spread warmth through his chest, loosening some of the tension there.
“Damn.” Mitch blinked. Shane’s smile widened. Lifting the glass in acknowledgment, Mitch took another long drink that emptied half the glass in one go. Shane’s smile slipped.
“I’ll be right back.” Shane stepped away, heading down the bar to someone else who needed his services.
That was fine. Mitch wasn’t sure he’d wanted the company, anyway. He was probably better off alone. That was why he’d broken up with Domi tonight, right? Alone. Party of one. The Playboy Dom.
So, why did it hurt so much?
Another long sip of drink. Sure, it had no answers, but it tasted good. All it needed was a little umbrella and a maraschino cherry, and it would be perfect.
A hand landed on his shoulder, making Mitch jump. Turning his head, he met the cool, grey eyes of Mistress Olivia—manager of Marquis, Domme extraordinaire, instructor of all introduction classes, protector of submissives, and ball buster of Doms. Fuck.
He glanced back over to where Shane was standing, pretending to clean glasses behind the bar. Apparently, he’d decided he needed reinforcements.
Sliding onto the barstool next to him, the intimidating redhead gave Mitch a once-over with a scrutinizing eye.
Even in a pantsuit rather than her leathers, she was kinda scary.
She sent a little finger wave to Shane, who, despite supposedly being completely focused on the glass he was cleaning, stopped what he was doing and went to the fridge to get her a beer.
The second he came over with it, Mitch gave him a dirty look.
“I can’t believe you tattled on me to Mommy.” Not that Olivia was into that kink, but she kind of was the mom of the clubs.
Shane shrugged. “You looked like you needed more focused help than I can give tonight.” A point proven when another patron down the bar clearly needed Shane’s attention, and the man had to turn away.
“So...” Olivia took a sip of her beer. “What’s up, buttercup? Tell Mommy all about it.”
Mitch’s lips twitched. He almost smiled—almost—and then did exactly what she’d ordered and told her everything.