Chapter 8
Victor
I catch Grace staring at the roses, and I step between her and the wet bar, blocking her line of sight. “Don’t think about it, Butterfly. We’re going to figure it out. Tonight, just focus on your duties.”
“Grace told me about the flower deliveries. What was today’s letter?”
“R. But we don’t have a clue what any of it means yet.”
Lili hums. “A puzzle indeed.”
“A puzzle for another time,” I admonish, not wanting to give Grace any more time to dwell on her stalker.
“You’re right. Are you ready to join the festivities?”
I look to Grace who gives me a small nod, and I motion to the door. “Let’s go, ladies. There are still a few things to handle before we officially open.”
In the club, most of our staff are in place for the evening, prepping behind the bar, making sure the play stations are freshly stocked with cleaning supplies and condoms, and the dozens of other tasks required to run a club that caters to pleasure.
Grace finds Bellamy for a VIP tablet so she can read up on the two guests she’s been assigned to assist, and Lili settles into a chair near mine.
“Harper, get one of the other subs and have them help you move that loveseat to the front of the room where my seat is. Move my seat behind the loveseat for now.”
Harper looks at me and then to Lili, but she knows better than to argue, so she ducks her head in a respectful nod and leaves the room to find Tyson.
“You don’t have to move your furniture around for me,” Lili says as I walk past her to inspect the play station Griffin Price requested be reserved.
“I want you at my side. This is the easiest way to accomplish that. If you choose to stick around when all of this is over, we’ll come up with a seating arrangement you like.”
She stands and joins me at the St. Andrew’s Cross and puts a hand on my shoulder. “Do you think I don’t want to stay?”
I close my eyes, realizing I let my lack of trust that she’ll stick around show in my tone.
“I want to believe that you do. But I can also see a lot of valid reasons you might not want to,” I say, turning to face her.
She nods thoughtfully. “You’re right. There are some things that might be easier if I disappeared. I’m worried about putting you and Grace in danger if we don’t rid the world of Finn and his mother, but I desperately want to be here.”
I cup her cheek and press a kiss to her forehead. “If you want to be here, be here. You’ll be well protected, and so will Grace.”
“Who protects you?”
I wave my hand around the room. “This place. My partners in ownership. We protect each other.”
Before she can say anything else, Harper returns with a male sub in tow. Lili excuses herself to find Grace or Zara, and I return to the inspection of my space.
I give Harper a list of small tasks to keep her busy until the guests arrive and go in search of Owen.
His office door is shut, and I hear Bellamy’s whimpered apology for something followed by the unmistakable sound of his hand landing on her ass.
I don’t want to interrupt, so I back away from the door and nearly run into Tobias.
“Everything all right?” I ask, nodding to the closed office door.
Tobias smirks. “All good. Someone just needed a reminder of her place, and I’m not the one to deliver such a reminder. Did you need to speak to Owen?”
I glance at my watch. “It would be helpful, yes.”
He taps the door four times and waits for a beat before delivering four more quick taps of his knuckles.
Owen opens the door and frowns. “What is it?”
“Victor needs to speak to you. Are you almost done?”
Owen looks behind him. “I don’t know, love. Are we almost done?”
“Yes, Sir. I swear I didn’t mean anything by it.”
Owen smirks at Tobias and me and crooks a finger for both of us to step into the office. “Back in position, love,” he murmurs quietly.
Bellamy is kneeling on an ottoman with her ass on display and her hands on her head. A hairbrush and a belt sit next to her, and the marks on her skin make it clear she received both.
“What do you need?” Owen asks.
“Have you found anything on Grace’s phone yet?”
He moves to his desk and picks up the device.
“The link she clicked to fill out scholarship paperwork definitely had malware in it that allowed whoever sent it to monitor Grace’s phone.
Or parts of it, anyway. Her email accounts, social media, and a messenger app were all impacted, but her text messages and phone logs were not visible. ”
“Did she use regular text or the messenger app to ask Sabrina to bring her clothes?”
He scrolls the device and taps a key on his computer keyboard.
“Looks like they do most of their communicating on the messenger app.”
“Is it safe for her to have the phone?”
Owen nods. “I’ve put some more safety measures in place, and I also planted my own code that will hopefully help me capture a location for this bastard.”
Bellamy shifts on the ottoman, and Owen holds up a hand for me to wait.
“Bellamy, love. You can stay like that until Victor leaves, or you can take your last dose of the belt in front of him, and I’ll release you as soon as it’s done.”
“How long is Master Victor staying?” she asks quietly.
I let out a small laugh. “Not too long, but I do have more to discuss with Master Owen.”
“Of course, Sir.”
She looks at Owen with a heady combination of lust and contrition, and I’m wishing I were back in my office with Grace’s red ass on display.
“I’ll take the last set now so you can take care of your business without having to worry about me.”
Owen moves to the ottoman and picks up the thick leather belt. He motions for Tobias to stand in front of her.
“Toby is going to hold your arms in place, so you don’t get in trouble and earn extra for moving.”
“That is kind of you, Master,” she murmurs.
“Don’t tell anyone,” he mutters as he steps to the side and aims the belt for the lower curve of her butt.
She cries out as the leather sinks into her skin, and I turn away to give her some amount of privacy.
Before she married Owen and Tobias, Bellamy was collared to the club because her relationship with Owen threatened a lot of people, so they kept it quiet. But we all feel a sense of duty to Bellamy to protect her because of the five years she spent as the club submissive.
Owen delivers a dozen strokes of the belt in all before he drops it and pulls her into a hug. Tobias takes over after a minute and scoops her up to carry her out of the room.
“I could have waited until you were done. I’m sorry Tobias interrupted you,” I say when we are alone.
Owen waves a hand. “It’s nothing. You inadvertently fulfilled a little fantasy of Bellamy’s.”
I quirk an eyebrow up. “Oh?”
Owen chuckles. “Having a punishment interrupted and being made to finish it with an audience. You’ve participated in her punishments before, so I figured it was safe to handle it the way I did.”
I laugh. “Always happy to help fulfill a fantasy. Now, what else can you tell me about the malware or Grace’s stalker?”
“It’s complex, so I’m reaching out to a friend in Chicago who can help me with the code,” he says.
“But if I had to guess, the person who sent the email is local. And they have some kind of tech access at UNLV. The spoofed emails in the account would require back-end access to their mail servers, and that’s not a straightforward thing to get to lately.
Ransomware attacks have universities and other targets tightening their data security more than ever. ”
He hands me the phone, and I slip it in my suit jacket. “Is it possible that her stalker is connected to Draven? Are they trying to use her to get to me? Or is this a separate issue?”
Owen shakes his head. “Right now, your guess is as good as mine. But give me twelve hours or so and I’ll have better answers.”
That’s all I can ask for, so I say goodbye and head back out into the club. Tobias and Bellamy are snuggled together on a sofa, while Bellamy wipes tears from her eyes.
“I’m sorry if my being in the room was awkward for you, Bellamy,” I say as I reach them.
She beams at me. “Not awkward at all, Master Victor. Knowing Owen, I’m sure he told you it was a fantasy of mine.”
“Is that why you felt comfortable interrupting?” I ask Tobias.
He just grins and lifts a shoulder. “I guess it could be.”
I say goodbye, and head for my own space where Grace is scrolling through Memphis and Rylee’s membership profiles.
They’ve been members of the club almost since we opened, but they rarely attend parties because of their schedules.
“Here.” I pass her the phone, and she smiles up at me.
“Hold on to it for me? It doesn’t fit in this pocket right.”
I tuck it away again and squeeze her shoulder. “It’s almost time to open the doors, and Harper had a list of tasks I need to check on. You can get my attention anytime you need me tonight.”
“Thank you, Sir. I appreciate that. And thank you for trusting me with Memphis and Rylee. They seem like fun people.”
I kiss her cheek and bury my nose in her neck. “I can still smell your cunt,” I whisper.
Her face turns bright red, and she drops her gaze to the floor. “I’m feeling very needy again,” she admits.
“We’ll address that need after the club opens and our VIP guests are happy.”
“Yes, Sir. Thank you for everything today. It’s been as perfect as can be expected under the circumstances.”
I kiss her one more time and then turn to scan the space. Harper near the front glaring at me, but her neutral mask slips back into place when she catches my gaze.
“All done with my list, Master Victor,” she says in a sickeningly sweet voice.
“Good. I’m busy for the next forty-five minutes. Report to Grace and have her inspect your work. If she finds anything lacking, you’ll find yourself in my office for a conversation with the paddle. Understood?”
Her glare slips through for a split second, but she nods. “Yes, Master Victor. I understand.”
“Good.”
I turn on my heel and leave to talk to Luke and Matteo.
“We brought Grace her car,” Luke says when we meet in Matteo’s office a few minutes later.
“She’ll be pleased even if she won’t be able to take it anywhere for a while yet.”