CHAPTER 7
EDGE
It was my own fault. I knew it the instant I turned down the hallway.
I had mistakenly believed that Zeke was not in the office, and that was the only reason I was heading to my own. I had avoided the place all week, working remotely or at the club, but I had a few things I had to get done today, namely a quick meeting with Justin. Hence, I’d come in.
I honestly thought I was in the clear, right up until I heard:
“Edge!”
Busted! That’s what you get.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” I muttered to that stupid voice.
Although I would’ve preferred to run the other way, pretend Zeke wasn’t staring at me while calling my name, I knew I couldn’t. So, I turned my feet in the opposite direction and headed toward him.
“Come in,” Zeke insisted. “Let’s chat.”
The way he said it told me he would be doing most of the talking.
I peered over at him briefly, then cast a quick look down the hall. Of course I didn’t have a meeting right this minute. But I could probably lie, come up with something, except Zeke would know I was avoiding him, and I’d look like a pussy.
Can’t have that … pussy.
With an internal sigh, I glanced back at Zeke and figured what the hell. I might as well suck it up and get it over with. After all, I couldn’t move forward until I did. My stupid conscience wouldn’t let me.
Zeke moved into his office, and I followed close behind him.
“Sit.”
The barked order had me smiling. “I’m not one of your submissives, Zeke.”
“Nope. You’re not. However, you are the Dom who introduced my sister to kink.”
Ah, hell. Honestly, I had hoped he was going to talk to me about Cav’s interview that had taken place earlier in the week. Perhaps thank me for making the recommendation, because I’d already heard that Cav was offered and accepted.
Yeah, right. The big, bad Sadist wants to thank you.
A familiar chuckle sounded in my head, and I knew my conscience was laughing at me. I was starting to think I might need professional help.
Don’t bottle it all up. Maybe I’ll go away then.
Doubtful.
Without grace or finesse of any kind, I dropped down into the chair across from Zeke’s desk. “Is this where you give me shit about it? Keep in mind that was your idea.”
“Technically, it was Ransom’s.”
“But you went along with it.”
Zeke stared at me, an intimidation tactic he had long ago perfected. I’d learned a long time ago to shrug it off. The man didn’t scare me. Not the way most people assumed. However, he was my friend, and the last thing I wanted to do was cross any lines with him.
A few lines had been crossed already. Although I hadn’t gone out with Jamie yet, Cav had. Twice. The fucker had texted me last night—after the fact—to let me know he was tired of waiting around for me. Based on the outline of his text, there would definitely be another in their future.
While I’d been trying to talk myself out of seeing her outside of the club—because I was an idiot—he had been courting her.
Now that I’d accepted that I couldn’t simply let this go without seeing it through, I fully intended to get some alone time with Jamie before Cav landed a third date. It was a wonder I’d lasted this long.
“So, how’d it go?” Zeke asked, lifting his hand quickly. “But spare me the details. I mean overall.”
“It…” I thrust a hand through my hair and stared at my friend. “Fuck, Zeke. Why’d you have to go and do this?”
Okay, so I hadn’t meant to sound quite so out of control.
I had fully intended to keep it professional, tell him how I’d walked her through the club, allowed her to get a feel for it.
I’d thought about what I would say all week, but in just a few seconds, I managed to derail everything.
It was because I’d spent the entire fucking week thinking about Jamie, but I hadn’t called her or texted her.
Not because I didn’t want to, but out of respect for Zeke.
I had promised myself I wouldn’t do anything until I talked to him.
That was one of the problems with having a conscience that ragged on you endlessly.
“What happened, Edge?”
Yeah. What happened, Edge? Tell the Sadist how you went and fell for his sister without even being around her.
I dropped my head in my hands and tried to figure out how to explain. To tell one of my closest friends that I had a real interest in his sister.
Zeke leaned back in his chair, causing it to creak beneath him.
I took a deep breath, let it out, but my control was shot. I couldn’t do this, couldn’t risk Zeke telling me to stay far, far away from his sister. If he did, I feared I would defy him because I couldn’t stop thinking about her.
“Talk to me, Edge.”
It’s now or never. Spit it out.
“What do you want me to say?” I snapped, not sure if I was talking to Zeke or that stupid voice.
The crease in Zeke’s forehead appeared. “I don’t know. Tell me how it went.”
“I assume you’ve already talked to Jamie?”
“Not in depth, no.”
That was surprising. I figured for sure he would’ve grilled his sister about it. “Fine. You want to know?”
Zeke tilted his chin as a confirmation.
“It was great. Your sister’s a beautiful submissive, and I enjoyed her company far more than I thought I would. She was eager, attentive.” I lifted my hand to cut him off. “And no, there was nothing sexual about the encounter. I answered her questions, listened when she wanted to talk, and…”
And you want to see her again.
Plus, you want to dominate her, to prove to yourself and to her that she just might be submissive.
Don’t forget how you want to have Cav there, so you can dominate them both at the same fucking time.
Those were things I certainly couldn’t tell Zeke, but they were true. Every last fucking one of them.
“You know how old she is, right?” Zeke asked, his tone curt.
That’s the least of his worries. Does the man know his sister’s a virgin?
“I do,” I bit out. “She’s thirteen years younger than me. Yeah. I get it. I’m too old for her.”
“Twelve,” Zeke corrected. “She’s twenty-four.”
“Fine. She’s twelve years younger than me.” Not that it mattered.
“She mentioned she’s going back?” Zeke stated.
“She asked. I told her I’d call her.” Which was true. Before I’d been called away to help with an issue, Jamie had asked if she could come back to the club sometime. I told her we would see how the next week went.
Week’s almost over. Nice call.
“And you haven’t called.”
“Fuck.” I launched to my feet, unable to sit still. “What the fuck do you want me to do, Zeke?”
“What do you want to do?”
I cut my gaze to his. “I want to call her. I want to invite her back to the club or out to dinner. Fuck. It’s all I can think about, and I know you want to punch me right now.
Sadly, I can’t blame you. I want to punch me, too.
But don’t worry. I know what you wanted from me, and I did it. My obligation’s over.”
Pussy.
That last part damn near killed me as it came out. I didn’t want Zeke to agree, to thank me for my help, and send me on my way. I needed his fucking approval because I wanted to spend time with Jamie.
You don’t need it. Just another excuse in an endless line of them.
“Call her.” Zeke instantly shook his head. “Wait. No. I didn’t just say that.”
Nope. No way. He can’t take it back.
I stared at the man, my eyes wide as hope bloomed inside me. “Zeke.”
“No, I know.” He sat up, his eyes locked on the hard surface of his desk. “It’s not my place. Jamie’s told me that a million times. And she’s right. She’s an adult. She can make her own decisions.”
I tried to keep my jaw from hitting the floor, but it wasn’t easy.
Zeke laughed, but it sounded strangled, as though he couldn’t believe we were having this conversation. He wasn’t the only one.
“Zeke? I need you to open your mouth and tell me what’s on your mind,” I pleaded.
Zeke’s dark eyes lifted to mine. “You like her?”
“More than I should,” I admitted. “And not in a one-night kink-club-encounter sort of way, either.”
Zeke pushed to his feet, and I forced myself not to move. If he decided to punch me, then so be it. I would take it like a man.
“Fine,” he said, stepping around his desk.
“Call her. Take her out. Wine her, dine her. Do whatever the fuck you feel you need to do.” He came right up to me, got in my face.
“But you hurt her, Edge, and I will break every fucking bone in your body. Then, I’ll wait for you to get out of traction, and I’ll do it again. ”
Damn. He really is ruthless.
Yeah, he was.
While I could envision Zeke doing exactly that, I managed to remain serious. After all, we were talking about Jamie here. “The last thing I want is to hurt her, Zeke. I swear to you. That’s the last thing I want.”
“Just promise me one thing,” he said on a sigh.
And here it came. Some sort of threat that he hoped would send me running for the hills. “What’s that?”
“That you’ll warn me when she’s coming to the club. Because … no. If you forget, and I show up to find my sister… I mean it. If I walk into Dichotomy and see her, I swear to God, I will kill you, then resuscitate you and do it again and again.”
Someone should really talk to him about all that aggression.
Okay, yeah. That one made me smile. “You’ve got my word.”
And as I was walking out of Zeke’s office, I wondered if it was wrong of me to leave out the part about Cav.
Nah.
Once Cav figured out what he wanted, he could have this little chat with Zeke himself. Because hell, the man deserved it.
Not to mention, you now have to figure out how to tell Zeke his sister’s about to join the submissive training class.
Yeah. That.
Jamie
I was walking to my car when my cell phone chimed, signaling a text.
At first, I considered ignoring it. After my conversation with Brax and Case that morning, I was feeling a tad bit disappointed.
While I had admitted to my brother that Edge hadn’t called me since the night at the club, I’d hoped Zeke would give me some reason as to why not.
Instead, my brother had pretty much ignored everything I said.