Chapter 24
Chapter Twenty-Four
Nick
Scrubbing down the expo station until the steel surfaces gleamed and his arm ached didn’t make Nick feel any better.
He was torn between feeling guilty he hadn’t told Avery about Miles and Gareth, angry she’d walked out on the shift, and pure fury at Chad. Where the hell did that guy get off?
“Hey, Nick.” Luke sauntered into the kitchen, though now he was wearing leather pants with his shirt, indicating he’d been upstairs at Marquis—where he likely hadn’t been wearing a shirt at all.
He kept his voice low, not that the others were listening.
Sandra was busy cleaning her station, Darnell was already done and gone, and Alice and Ravi had their heads bent together, whispering.
Probably Alice updating him on everything that had gone down tonight.
“When you’re done, Olivia wants to see you upstairs.”
Nick bit back a retort that he didn’t need Olivia interfering in his relationship, but she had a right, at least when it came to Avery’s employment. She was also a meddling busybody when it came to the submissives. He’d heard it enough times to have that fact drummed into his head.
“I’ll be up in a minute,” he said shortly.
Rather than respond, Luke patted his back and walked away, probably realizing Nick wasn’t in the mood to talk.
Running the cloth he’d been using to clean an area already spotless, Nick scowled. He could have gone straight upstairs, but he wasn’t in the mood to jump because someone else told him to. Not the headspace when going into a meeting. He needed to get a better semblance of control over himself.
Finally giving up on cleaning an already clean surface, Nick straightened up.
“I’m headed upstairs. Anyone need anything before I go?”
Sandra glanced up, shook her head, and immediately dropped her gaze again.
Out of all the rest of the staff, she seemed the most disturbed by tonight’s revelations.
She said nothing, but that was how he knew.
Normally, she was pretty chatty with whoever was working next to her, and she and Ravi got along well. She hadn’t talked all night.
“We’re good. One sec, though, Chef,” Alice said, moving away from Ravi to the other side of the line, so only the expo window was between them.
Unlike Luke, she didn’t bother to lower her voice.
“Don’t be too hard on Avery, okay? She was in a rough spot and didn’t know what to do.
Chad was always a dick about a woman being in charge of him, and nothing anyone could say was gonna make that better. ”
“Oh?” Nick raised his eyebrow at her. “Would you have run?” Considering Alice was one of the few on the line who had the guts to yell back at him, he seriously doubted it. Then again, Avery did, too, and she still ran.
Alice snorted.
“Nah, but I’m old. When I was younger, I might’ve.
” Alice shook her head. “You’re a white dude, hon.
You have no idea what it’s like for women, much less a black woman like me, to be faced with a big angry man, spewing hateful shit.
Especially when it comes to something like sex, where women are judged all the time.
Now, I think what you two get up to is between you, but Chad, and guys like him, are gonna judge Avery for what she’s getting up to. ”
“But not me?”
The look Alice gave him was scornful, and he got the impression if she could reach the back of his head, she would have slapped it, boss or not.
“No, not you. When was the last time you were judged for having sex?” Now it was Alice’s turn to raise an eyebrow, and Nick flushed. The answer, of course, was never. And he knew that wasn’t true for women. “Mmm-hmm. Now, like I said, don’t be too hard on our girl. Got it?”
“Yes, Ma’am.” Nick nodded. He wasn’t sure he could keep that promise, but he wasn’t quite as upset with Avery as he was before Alice talked to him. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Sandra watching them and realized she had been listening. Probably not a bad thing.
Gathering the remaining shreds of his dignity, Nick headed up to Olivia’s office, waving at Freddy behind the desk, and knocked on her door. He only had to wait a moment before she called him in. Clearly, she’d been waiting for him, which wasn’t at all unnerving.
“Hey,” he said, walking in. Luke was sitting in the other chair.
As Nick had thought, now that he was on the second floor, big brother wasn’t wearing a shirt.
Behind the desk, Olivia had on a shiny black outfit that fit her like a second skin.
Her red hair fell around her shoulders in long waves.
She was a gorgeous woman with incredible curves, but she was far too intimidating for him to be attracted to.
His brother, on the other hand, was gazing at her as if she was the most amazing thing he’d ever seen. Luke liked to live even more dangerously than Nick did.
“So, Luke gave me a bit of an update, but I’m assuming you’ve talked to Avery by now?
” Olivia asked, elbows on her desk and hands clasped in front of her, waiting for Nick’s brief nod before continuing.
“Chad will need to be replaced, but I also wanted to talk to you about Avery, both as her boss and as her Dom.”
Nick barely withheld his groan. That was exactly what he’d been afraid of.
“No offense, Olivia, but I don’t want outside interference in my romantic relationship.
That part should be between Avery and me.
Though you should know, I have no intention of firing her, though I understand it will probably be necessary to write up a report on what happened tonight.
” That would mean a black mark in her employment file, but Nick hoped these were extenuating never-to-be-repeated circumstances.
Olivia, being Olivia, focused on the first thing he said.
“Normally, I would never interfere with someone’s relationship,” she said.
Luke coughed. Olivia glared at him, a look that promised retribution and made Nick’s balls shrivel, though Luke smiled serenely in response.
“At least, not without being asked for my opinion, but in this case, your relationship is also part of your training program as a Dom, and the paperwork you signed means I need to be involved.”
He opened his mouth. Closed it. Shit. There had been some language about the instructors acting as mediators, when necessary, hadn’t there?
“Can’t Master Law or Mistress Julia do it?” he asked plaintively. “Nothing against you, but it’s a little weird having my brother’s girlfriend involved in coaching me with sex stuff.”
“Thankfully for you, BDSM isn’t entirely about sex, and what I need to talk to you about has nothing to do with the sex part.
” Olivia’s gray eyes were hard, her gaze unrelenting.
Her fingers steepled in front of her and pointed at him.
“Imagine if you were in Luke’s position and was a submissive, not a Dom, and someone at work found out and announced that fact to everyone. How would that make you feel?”
Again, he opened his mouth, then closed it. Right on the heels of what Alice had said to him, Olivia’s question held extra weight.
He’d never had to deal with anyone judging him for having sex, much less for the sex he’d been having.
Nick remembered his own reaction when Luke had told him he was submissive, and he wasn’t particularly proud of it.
The class had opened up his eyes to how strong submissives were and had swept away a lot of his judgment, but he’d had them, especially when he hadn’t understood.
How hard had it been for Luke to explain his desires?
How much harder would it be for a woman, especially one who was in a management position, for those under her to know she was sexually submissive?
It shouldn’t matter, shouldn’t change people’s perceptions, but it did.
Nick pressed his lips together.
When he’d thought about Chad confronting Avery tonight, he imagined himself in her shoes and thought about how angry the situation made him. How enraged. He’d felt nothing but righteous fury. He’d put himself, as he was, in her shoes, not actually imagining what it had been like for her.
Olivia’s question brought that home. What would it be like for his coworkers…
no, because they weren’t coworkers for him or for Avery - what would it be like knowing that the people he was in charge of at work knew he was sexually submissive?
Especially the men, as Alice had pointed out.
Would there be anger on his part? Yes. There would also be humiliation, shame, fear, and worry he wouldn’t be respected anymore.
Knowing they all knew he was having freaky sex as a Dom was very different from them knowing Avery was having freaky submissive sex. Something he hadn’t really appreciated until this moment.
“Ah, there it is.” Olivia smiled with satisfaction, her hands dropping to the desk, looking very pleased with herself.
“That’s what I was worried about. Sometimes, it’s hard for us Dominants to remember what it’s like for submissives when their preferences are exposed.
Especially for women, who feel as though they can’t give up any of their control or power without betraying the sisterhood, or who are in a position of power outside of the bedroom.
It shouldn’t change how people think of them, but it does. ”
Nick’s anger had already deflated, and now, he rubbed his forehead where it felt like a headache was growing.
What had seemed so cut and dry an hour ago was much less so now. Even an hour ago, it hadn’t been completely cut and dry since Avery was his girlfriend as well as technically his employee.
“Well, fuck.” That summed it up. “What do you think I should do?”
Sitting up straight, Olivia beamed at him, and Luke chuckled under his breath. Crap. Nick hadn’t meant to say that. Yet… considering how Olivia cut to the heart of the situation, it would be foolish not to take advantage of her insights. There was a reason his instinct had been to ask her.
“I have a few suggestions.”
Avery
When her phone buzzed, the bit of happiness Avery had started to feel curdled in her stomach, her heartbeat picking up and pattering non-stop.
“Is it him?” Domi asked, perking up where she was snuggled with Mitch. He’d been invited in to join them when the night had begun to wear on. Avery had felt bad about keeping him from Domi’s side on one of their nights together.
“Yeah.” She summoned the bravery to open the message, given a slight courage boost by her friends.
She wasn’t sure what he was going to say but hoped it wasn’t too terrible.
After reading the message, she frowned and went over it again.
“He says he wants to meet me at Marquis on the second floor tomorrow afternoon.”
“Uh oh,” Rae murmured, making a spanking motion with her hand.
Avery frowned at her.
“He wouldn’t. He can’t, right? This was work and had nothing to do with our relationship.” Her gaze skittered over her friends’ faces before landing on Mitch. The big blond looked thoughtful, rubbing his chin. Normally a goofball, it was odd seeing him so serious.
“I don’t know. If Domi did something detrimental to herself, whether or not I have any say, we’d still be having a…
discussion.” The smile that pulled at his lips was more sadistic than mischievous, unlike his usual smile.
“I would say running out on him pre-shift qualifies. He may have taken care of it both personally and professionally.”
Iris scowled. “That’s not fair.”
“Who says a Dom has to be fair?” Mitch asked, his expression lightening. He winked at Iris as he palmed Domi’s ass. She elbowed him, and he made a grunting noise.
“You can always tell him no,” Iris said, turning her nose up at Mitch and focusing on Avery. “You don’t have to go.”
No, she didn’t.
She didn’t really want to.
She didn’t want to lose Nick, though, and Mitch was right. Theirs was both a professional and personal relationship. Nick was the Dom. If he wanted to talk about the personal part first, that was his prerogative.
“Look at her expression. She’s going.” Rae shook her head. “We’ll pray for your ass, and I mean that literally.”
That Avery could still laugh, despite everything, made her feel maybe everything would be okay. Taking a deep breath, she sent Nick back a text, telling him she could be there at two.
That should give her plenty of time to freak out beforehand.