Chapter Five #3
and a whole bunch who don’t usually attend. I know Chloe brought some friends
with her last night. They usually play at The Club. It could be one of them.”
Carys was suddenly very interested in her phone. “Yeah, it
really could be anyone. She could have been wearing a wig and going by a fake
name. A lot of the subs do.”
He didn’t think Dee had been lying to him, and there was
zero way all that silk hadn’t been her real hair. “She was in all white. She
looked like a fucking angel. And her mask had feathers around the eyes. She was
in these super-high heels, and her corset had all these rhinestones on them.”
“Sounds like Kenz,” Aidan said with a chuckle. “Now that
would be funny. It’s not. I’m talking about Kenzie Taggart. She’s somewhere
classified. I’m sure she was pissed to miss the party. Chaos is Kenzie’s idea
of a good time. Also Kenz has pink hair, though she does have a lot of wigs. I
always wonder how she gets all her hair under there. You okay, baby?”
Carys had a hand to her mouth. She’d gone a bright pink.
“Yep. Yes. Went down the wrong pipe. I need some water.”
Carys stood and strode back to the kitchen.
All of Nate’s instincts kicked in. She hadn’t taken a drink
or eaten anything, so there was nothing to get stuck in any of her pipes, and
was that the way a doctor should refer to pieces of human anatomy she’d been
regularly tested on?
Carys knew something, and she didn’t want to tell him.
“I’m intrigued,” Aidan was saying. “I can’t think of a
single sub I would say is super hot. Now I did grow up with most of them, and
I’m the weirdo who hasn’t taken his eyes off one woman for years, but I can
appreciate other women on a purely aesthetic level.” He snapped his fingers as
though remembering something. “Daphne O’Malley. She’s got dark hair. Green
eyes. Pretty girl. She might have come in with Chloe. Hey, Car, do you think it
could be Daphne?”
A bright smile was on Carys’s face as she returned. “That
would fit. Yes, it could definitely be Daphne. She doesn’t come into town
often, but when she does, she usually spends a night at one of the clubs. I’m
almost sure I saw her in the locker room last night.”
And he was almost sure she was lying. Nate stared at Carys.
The redhead sat down but seemed to feel his gaze on her.
“Nate and Daphne O’Malley.” Aidan didn’t seem to feel the
tension in the room. “I like it. She’s actually a good match for you, man. Like
I said, you got lucky. Her parents own this organic cattle ranch a couple of
hours south of here. You have ranching in common. Now, I will tell you she’s
the product of one of those crazy threesomes. You might think about that.”
Nate never blinked, simply stared at Carys, who tried to
look pretty much anywhere but at him.
“I’m joking,” Aidan continued. “Not about the threesome
part. Her mom is married to two men. Only one of them is a cattle rancher.
Lucas is a lawyer. So when you think about it, it resembles your mom and dad.
You’ve got hard physical labor mixed with super smarts. I mean, if you shoved a
successful romance writer in there.” Aidan stopped, seeming to understand he
was missing something. “Uh, dude you look a little crazy right now.”
“What do you know, Carys?” He asked the question in the same
tone he would use if he was interrogating someone during an investigation.
Aidan sat up straight. “Hey, let’s back down. She doesn’t
know anything.”
Carys’s jaw tightened.
“Yeah, she does. She knows exactly who I’m talking about.
She knew the minute I described what she was wearing.” Nate felt it in his
bones. “She saw Dee in the locker room, I would bet. You know who I spent last
night with. You saw her.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Carys wasn’t a
good liar. She had many tells, including the fact she couldn’t quite meet his
eyes. “Besides, what happens in the locker room stays in the locker room.”
Aidan was now staring his fiancée’s way. “Since when? I was
joking about the whole masquerade thing. You know we’ll be talking about last
night until the next time. The club runs on gossip. Gabe texted me in the
middle of a session to ask me if getting beer in his eyes could make Seth
blind, and he was not texting for my medical advice.”
“Who was she?” Nate didn’t care about what had happened last
night in any room other than the one where he’d made love to the most gorgeous
submissive he’d ever seen.
“There’s a reason we wear masks.” Carys’s pretty face went
stubborn. “She has a right to privacy. If she’d wanted you to know who she was,
she would have hung around.”
“Or she’s a scared little sub since something’s happening to
her at the club,” he replied. He’d thought a lot about this.
“What do you mean?” Aidan asked, all of his focus on Nate
again.
“I watched her when she walked out. I didn’t like the way
some of the Doms treated her.” He’d been up early this morning, the problem
grinding through his brain. He’d arrived at some conclusions. None of them made
him feel better. She’d been happy when they were playing. It had been the
minute they were done with the initial sex that she’d gotten anxious. Like
she’d needed it so badly, needed the affection and pleasure he’d lavished on
her, but when it was done the real world had rushed back in.
“How they treated her?” Aidan looked concerned all of the
sudden. “I’m going to need some names. If we’ve got assholes mistreating the
subs, I will handle it. I’m having a hard time believing one of our tops would
abuse a sub. They’re all well trained, and we have some very specific rules
about how to behave in the club.”
“She told me she’s looking for a new club because she
doesn’t feel welcome at this one,” Nate pointed out.
He’d come to the conclusion she might have been shamed for
her sexuality. It was an awful thing to think about since the club was exactly
the place where she should feel free to explore. He would bet it was about
jealousy. She’d likely had some kind of relationship with one or more of the
Doms, and they didn’t like the fact she didn’t want them now. He’d seen it
before, and he didn’t intend to let it happen to Dee.
He didn’t give a bloody hell how many blokes she’d been
with. As long as he was the last.
Aidan pulled his cell out of his pocket. “I don’t want
anyone to feel run out of The Hideout. That’s not happening on my watch. I’ll
call Gabe. We’re in charge while Cooper, Tash, and the twins are out of pocket.
And Dare. I can call him in. We’ll get to the bottom of this.”
“I think Gabe is one of the problems.” He hated causing
trouble when it wasn’t necessary. Drama tended to be a thing he avoided, but
this was wrong. He’d seen how hurt Dee had been. “He was one of two tops I saw
make her uncomfortable.”
Aidan stopped as though the thought didn’t quite make sense.
“You’re telling me you saw Gabriel Lodge abuse a sub?”
He was stepping in it now, but he had to speak up. “Well, he
wasn’t physical with her. I’m not saying he hit her or wouldn’t honor her safe
word. They were on the dungeon floor. I was watching from the lounge, but I
know whatever he said hurt her feelings. And when we went up to the privacy
rooms, there was some weird interaction with the monitor. Like he wasn’t going
to let her go back or something. I couldn’t hear everything she said to him,
but it felt like she had to force him to let us go back. Again, I feel like
whatever he was doing hurt her.”
Carys put a hand to her forehead like she had a headache.
“Or maybe it was a misunderstanding.”
“What kind of misunderstanding could there be?” Aidan was
scrolling through his contacts. “I assure you Gabe knows how to communicate,
and I know who was working the desk last night. Hunter is about to get a hearty
fucking lecture.”
“Please don’t call him,” Carys said, the tight set of her
jaw proving she wished she wasn’t having this conversation.
A suspicious brow rose over Aidan’s eyes. “Why wouldn’t I,
baby?” His voice had gone Dom deep. “Are you trying to tell me my friend is
lying?”
Damn. When Aidan wanted to top a girl, he knew how to do it.
Nate felt a little bad for Carys. “I’m not lying.”
Carys took a long breath and turned Nate’s way. “No, but you
also don’t understand what’s going on. I do know the sub, and she’s got a
reputation.” She shook her head. “Not one she’s earned.”
“She was being slut shamed?” It was enough to make him see
red, but he was going to hold it together because he was so close to finding
out her name.
He would go to Dee and ask her why she’d left. He would ask
if he could hold her. He would prove to her he wasn’t like those other blokes,
and they wouldn’t step foot in The Hideout again. Even if it cut him off from
his only friend.
“No,” Carys said quickly. “It’s not like that. Look, I can’t
say who it is. I can only tell you from what I understand every Dom there tries
to watch out for her.”
“Watch out for who?” a sweet voice said from the kitchen.
“Did someone already make toast?”
Aidan sat straight up at the sound. He leaned over, his
voice going low. “That’s my sister. We’ll talk about this later. I promise I’ll
get Carys to tell me what’s happening, but not around Daisy. If Daisy finds out
some sub is in trouble, she’ll decide to intervene and then the club will burn
down.”
“I’ll help you, Daisy.” Carys stood very quickly.
“She means well, but… She can be a lot,” Aidan whispered.
Then Daisy O’Donnell was standing there looking adorably
sexy in a pencil skirt and flouncy top. She was not the awkward girl he’d known
years before. She’d bloomed.
And she was also Dee.
“It’s okay. I think I’ll get breakfast at the office. Aunt
Charlotte always has something in the break room,” she said, and then seemed to
realize he was there. Her eyes flared with recognition, and he watched as her
breath hitched and for a mere moment there was longing in her eyes. Then her
expression cleared, and she obviously chose her path. “Hello. You must be
Nathan. It’s nice to see you again.”
It was odd. There was anger simmering below his surface, but
there was also something else. Excitement. An edge of danger.
Damn. He kind of felt alive. He wanted to see how far the
little liar was going to take it. “You, too, Dais. Although I will admit, it
feels like yesterday.”
“Oh, shit,” Carys said under her breath.
“Really? It feels like forever to me,” Daisy said with a
smile. “So you’re working at MT now?”
Aidan seemed happy he wasn’t pushing it. “He is, but he’s
going to be on a different floor. Hey, since you’re going to the same place, do
you mind driving her in? It would save Carys and I twenty minutes.”
Daisy’s eyes went super wide. Like he’d only seen those eyes
on Pokémon before. “Oh, I wouldn’t want to bother him.”
“Of course.” He would love to get her alone. “We’re going to
the same place.”
She just didn’t know the place they were going was right
back to bed. Or a desktop. Or a broom closet. He was flexible.
Did she seriously think he wouldn’t recognize her? The mask
had barely concealed some of her face. It hadn’t covered her plump lips or the
stubborn chin she lifted right before she said something bratty and sassy. It
hadn’t done a damn thing to cover all that fucking hair he wanted laid out on a
bed again.
“I don’t…” Carys began.
But Nate was already on his feet. “It would be a pleasure.
I’m sure you two need to get to work, and it’s been an age since I got to talk
to Aidan’s sister. The last time I saw you I think you were pretending to be
someone you weren’t.”
“Uh, I did a lot of pretending. I was a kid.”
“I do believe you and Elodie were pretending to be pop
stars.” The memory pierced through him. His sister was much younger, and Daisy
had been sweet to play with her. Daisy had been the kid who took care of the
other kids, who organized adventures for the little kids at The Garden so the
older kids could play video games.
Obvious relief flooded through her, and she proved she did
not have any instinct for when a predator was stalking her, planning on eating
her alive. “Oh, yes. That. We had fun. I would love to hear how she’s doing,
but I don’t want to be a bother. I can grab an Uber.”
That wasn’t happening. He knew why she was going in.
Daisy O’Donnell needed a bodyguard.
He happened to be a bodyguard.
The math was simple. One plus one was going to equal that
little brat in his bed. “Oh, I’m sure your father would have a problem with you
being alone. Come along. We should get in so you can meet your new bodyguard.”
“I don’t…” Carys began.
“No, you don’t”—Nate moved into Daisy’s space—“have to do a
thing. I’m a trained guard. I’m going to the same place as a young lady who
needs protection. I’ll deliver her straight to her dad.”
“You will?” Daisy asked, looking around like someone would
save her.
“Daisy…” Carys kept trying, but it looked like she wasn’t
completely sure what she thought was going on was actually going on.
“Baby, are you all right?” Aidan asked. “She’s fine with
Nate. I’ve known Nate Carter since I was a kid. She’s perfectly safe with him.
I assure you my father would let Nate watch over her. His parents are my
parents’ closest friends.”
Yeah, he should give his dad a call to let him know he was
about to blow their friendship all to hell.
Because she wasn’t getting away from him.
“Yeah, I can’t think of a reason to not go,” Daisy said with
a nervous smile. “Like not a single one because we’re all friends. So, we
should head out.”
Trouble. Everyone said Daisy O’Donnell was trouble.
It looked like he was up for a bit of chaos.