Chapter 21
Chapter Twenty-One
Iris
Was this what it felt like when a friendship was ending?
Day of stomach twisting nausea every time she was home, doing her best to avoid Noelle in the common spaces, and cold silence accompanied by cold stares every time they did.
Although she wasn’t the one doing the cold silence and stares, she wasn’t trying to make it better, either.
She had nothing to apologize for.
I will not apologize, I will not apologize, I will not apologize.
She kept repeating it to herself in her head. Though she was finding it was making her angrier and more resentful, which made her wonder if she was helping things by digging in her heels.
Domi and Rae were all for it. They were pissed Noelle had picked a fight with her when she’d encouraged Iris to go out and were very clear Noelle hadn’t shown the slightest bit of hesitation or unhappiness that Iris was going out or in coming with her.
Avery was more inclined to try to understand where Noelle was coming from, but Avery also agreed that Noelle had behaved unreasonably, even if her feelings had been hurt.
Mostly, Iris talked to Law about it. He listened and didn’t offer much in the way of opinion, but the questions he asked her really clarified how she felt about all of it.
Which was both sad and angry.
She didn’t want to live like this, but she also didn’t want to apologize and smooth things over when she’d done nothing wrong. Besides, going by their past, if she held out long enough, Noelle would just pretend as if nothing had happened. Again.
Though she wasn’t sure she felt like that was okay, either because she thought Noelle owed her an apology for picking an undeserved fight, at this point, she would take any kind of truce, so their living situation wasn’t so damn unpleasant.
When Law asked her how often she did that, she was uncomfortably aware it was pretty much all the time.
When he asked her when the last time Noelle had apologized for something she’d done, Iris literally couldn’t remember.
Between her other friends and Law, it was a little easier to hold her ground, even if it didn’t make the living situation pleasant.
Friday night, she was in the bathroom getting ready to meet Law at Marquis while Noelle had taken over the main room.
She was reading on the couch, making very loud, pointed sniffing noises every few minutes.
Not as if she was sniffling or she had a stuffy nose.
She was huffing her breath out her nose as loudly as possible to show her displeasure.
It was incredibly distracting. It was also a stark contrast to the last time Iris had been getting ready to go to Marquis, and Noelle had jumped in to help with her hair and makeup.
This time, she didn’t offer that olive branch, trying to pretend like nothing had happened.
Which probably meant she expected Iris to apologize
When Hell freezes over.
Yup, that was Rae’s voice in her head, but Iris wholeheartedly agreed.
Last time, Noelle had offered the olive branch, pretending everything was fine—even though it hadn’t included an apology or fixed anything.
They’d gone right back to the norm of Noelle doing what she wanted while Iris tried to work around her.
It had taken other people pointing it out for her to really notice, but now that she had, she refused to do it again.
Her phone quacked.
Noelle sniffed.
Iris ignored her and checked the message. Andrew. She sighed as she opened the phone to her brother’s text.
I heard you’re going to Marquis with Law again tonight. You sure this is what you want?
Typical Andrew. No contact until he wanted to interfere in her life.
Would you prefer we came to Stronghold?
Iris smiled wickedly as she sent her text.
She already knew Andrew’s answer would be no, but if he was going to be an interfering butthead, she wouldn’t take the opportunity to taunt him.
She hadn’t heard from him all week and wondered if someone had told him about her and Law being at Stronghold last Saturday or if people were keeping it from him.
Whatever. He didn’t get a say about what she did or who she did, no matter how much he wished he did.
You would think by now, he’d have learned that lesson, but apparently not.
A moment later, her phone quacked again. Noelle sniffed again. Iris gritted her teeth. Between her roommate and her brother, her mood wasn’t where she wanted it to be before her date with Law. She checked her text from Andrew.
You know that’s not what I meant.
Even over text, she could feel his censure as if he was her dad or something. She rolled her eyes.
Ask stupid questions, get stupid answers. Try paying attention to your own life instead of mine.
This time when her phone quacked, she waited until she was done applying her eyeliner to look at it.
Her stomach was a tight knot. She didn’t like fighting with her brother, but sometimes he drove her nuts.
The only times he seemed to really care about what she was doing was when he didn’t like what she was doing.
She’d gone weeks without texts or calls from him, and even now, he wasn’t checking on her to see how she was doing but because he disapproved of something she was doing. Iris knew he loved her, but sometimes, she wanted to kick him.
Like when she checked the message.
I’m asking because I care.
No, you’re asking because you don’t like a choice I made. If you cared, you would have asked how I was doing and told me to go have fun, the way Kate did when she texted me earlier today.
And Send.
Iris pressed her lips together. If he texted back, she wasn’t sure she wanted to look at it. Of course, she did when her phone quacked again.
Have a good evening then. Stay safe.
She shook her head, but her stomach settled a little.
At least he was trying… unlike someone. Noelle sniffed again.
“Do you need a tissue?” Iris asked, keeping her voice sugary-sweet. If Noelle could end a fight, pretending like nothing was wrong, she could, too. A moment passed.
“No.”
“Okay.” Iris shrugged and went back to finishing her makeup. Noelle was waiting for her to say something more, but she’d be damned. Nope, she was going out tonight to have fun with Master Law and forget about everything else.
Law
“More roommate troubles?” Law asked when Iris appeared at the top of the stairs to the second floor of Marquis.
There was something about how she was holding herself stiffly that made him think she wasn’t happy, and considering the week she’d been having with her roommate, that seemed the most likely culprit.
She looked incredible, which was probably what he should have started with, but it was too late.
Her little red dress was skintight, and he was pretty sure she wasn’t wearing a bra or panties under it.
He would definitely have to make sure he expressed the proper appreciation before the evening was over.
“She’s still giving me the silent treatment,” Iris responded, reaching out to take the hand he offered her.
The moment their fingers touched, she seemed to relax, which was more than a little gratifying. He liked that being around him eased some of her burdens.
“Mostly. I feel as if she wants my attention and for me to apologize, but there’s no way I’m doing that. I don’t think she’ll apologize, so we’re at an impasse.”
She sighed and leaned into him, so Law let go of her hand and ran his fingers up her back to her neck, massaging the tense muscles. Sighing again, she nuzzled against him.
Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Freddy and Tori behind the desk, watching them and whispering.
The smiles on their faces made it clear they supported what was going on, but he was sure the gossip mill would be running rampant this weekend.
He shot them a stern look, which made Tori glance away, but Freddy just grinned back at him.
“Why don’t we go in and talk about it over dinner?” That way, they’d have the privacy of the booth. Not that Freddy and Tori could hear them from this distance, but they were watching closely, which made him antsy.
“Sounds good. I’m starving.” Iris smiled up at him. He wasn’t sure if she’d noticed their invested observers. At least Mistress Julie, standing at the side of the door to Marquis as the bouncer, wasn’t staring at them.
As Freddy led them past her, Law paused.
“Have you received any more odd flower deliveries?”
“No, why?” Julie laughed. “Do you know who they’re from?”
“No, just curious.” Curious. Worried. It amounted to the same thing as far as he was concerned.
“Let me know if someone says something to you.” Julie’s smile was devilish. “I would love to know who to thank.” Whether that was a threat or sincere was a little hard to tell.
Iris shot him a curious look but walked into the main dining area as Law used his hand on the small of her back to guide her forward.
Ahead of them, Freddy was also looking at them curiously.
For a moment, Law had the thought that Freddy might be Julie’s secret admirer…
but that wouldn’t make sense because Freddy knew when she was at Marquis.
He ran the front desk, but he also knew everyone else’s schedules when the classes were, and Olivia relied on him to help keep track of her meetings.
If he’d sent the initial batch of flowers, it would have been easy for him to send another set.
Besides, while he knew about a lot of the meetings, the flowers had been delivered during an impromptu meeting.
He couldn’t imagine Freddy being so shy as to send something as a secret admirer rather than a more hands-on show of interest. In the club, submissives were supposed to wait to be approached by a Dominant, but if they wanted a particular dominant to approach them, they knew how to make that clear.
But it was definitely a thought.
“What was that about with Mistress Julie?” Iris asked once they were settled at their table. Law glanced over to see if Freddy had heard her, but there was no sign he had as he walked away.
“A secret admirer sent her flowers to a meeting she had here with Olivia and me. I was just wondering if she’d gotten any more.”
“Aw, that’s really sweet.” Iris grinned, and it took him a moment to realize she was talking about the flowers and not about him checking in with Julie. “What kind of flowers?”
“Red roses.”
“Classic.” Iris’ eyes widened. “Wow. And she has no idea who they’re from?”
“Nope. It was odd because it was an impromptu meeting, so it wasn’t on the schedule.
” Law rubbed his hand along his jaw against his beard.
There was something about the whole thing that was really bothering him—he just couldn’t put his finger on what.
Julie could take care of herself, of course, but his instincts were trying to tell him something.
Iris seemed to sense it and tilted her head.
“You’re worried about it?”
“I don’t particularly like mysteries,” he admitted. “I also don’t like that she received flowers from a mystery admirer at a time when most people wouldn’t have known where she was.”
“Do you think the person who sent them might be dangerous?” Iris sounded more curious than worried, and he couldn’t blame her since it seemed unlikely so far.
“Since there hasn’t been follow-up or anything else weird going on with her, I would say no.” Law shrugged. Hopefully, he’d figure out why it bothered him. He smiled at Iris. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to derail the conversation.”
“That’s okay. What’s your favorite kind of flower?” She rested her hand on her chin as she watched his reaction.
Law was taken aback. He couldn’t remember the last time anyone had asked him what his favorite flower was—if anyone had ever asked him.
“Uh, well, I always liked gardenias.” A little smile curved the edges of his lips. “Though irises are nice, too.”
“I like irises, but I get a little tired of them. I’ve always loved lilies and orchids.” Iris smiled back at him.
The conversation was interrupted when the server appeared to greet them, but Law tucked the information away—lilies and orchids, not irises. She’d probably received a lot of irises over the years, thanks to her name. He’d much rather give her the flowers she wanted.