Chapter Seventeen
Several more weeks passed, and the more time Mina lived with the men, the happier she seemed.
The only thing that really bothered her was being kept inside the building, but only in certain areas. She’d asked several times to go with them into the Sanctuary when people were there, but they always said no.
As much as she fought it, a thought that they were embarrassed by her kept creeping in when she least expected it.
She’d met with some of their good friends who were Doms and/or club owners in the office or their apartment, and they rarely let her stay more than a few minutes before sending her to bed or down to the kitchen.
The fact that they had never taken her out in public also made her suspicious and insecure. They wouldn’t let her go by herself when she’d asked a few times, only to be told they would grab what she needed when they were out or have an employee do it.
Mina walked into the guys’ office to drop off an envelope Cece had given her. Something caught her attention as she turned. The men had left some of the monitors on. She walked over, scanned them, and watched the people having fun and enjoying themselves.
Her lack of self-confidence, which had started to fester inside her, grew. The only reason she thought they didn’t want her down there was that they were embarrassed by her. She couldn’t think of anything else it could be.
Her gaze froze on Koa and Jon as they came into view on one of the monitors, and pain like no other ravaged her and took her breath.
They stood with a beautiful, mostly naked woman between them.
Both had a hand on her. Jon was on her shoulder, and Koa on her arm.
They laughed at something she said. She sucked in a pain-filled breath when Koa bent and kissed the woman on top of her head.
She watched them until they walked out of view.
She was tempted to turn on the other monitors to see if she could find them but didn’t think she could take any more pain at that moment.
Not only were they embarrassed by her, but if she were down there, they wouldn’t be able to be with other women.
The thought of another woman had never crossed her mind, and she felt like an idiot.
It made perfect sense now. The last few weeks, the men had talked less and less about their feelings, and she realized they had never talked about a future together.
She told them she loved them every chance she got, but she couldn’t remember the last time they had said it to her.
A ball of misery grew in her chest until it hurt to breathe.
She walked in a daze to their bedroom, grabbed a bag out of the closet, and started packing a few of the things she’d come with, leaving the things they had given her there.
She grabbed her purse and rummaged for a piece of paper and a pen.
I’m sorry I didn’t stay to say goodbye. I thought it was best to make a clean break. I will have someone come for my things in a few weeks.
Thank you for everything. I really appreciate the care you’ve given me, but now I want you to be able to do what you want and not worry about me anymore.
I only wish you had come to me and told me you were tired of me and that you wanted other women.
It would have hurt, but I knew it would happen eventually, and I would not have made a scene.
I lov ... care about you too much to do that to you. I wish you all the happiness. Mina.
She took one more look around the room and walked out.
She went down the back stairs, out into the night, and stood, undecided on what to do.
She looked through her purse for her phone and whimpered when she saw it was dead, so she couldn’t call a taxi to come for her.
She thought about going back inside to call but was afraid she’d run into someone.
She started walking down the driveway. She knew it was far, but if she paced herself, she thought she could make the outskirts of the city by dawn.
****
Later that night, Koa and Jon got off the elevator and walked toward their room.
“I’m tired,” Koa said and rubbed a hand down his face. “All I want to do is crawl into bed with Mina and sleep.”
“I wish I had the energy to make love to her.”
Koa grinned. “There’s always tomorrow morning.”
The men froze as they stood in the doorway to their bedroom. The first thing they noticed was that Mina wasn’t in bed like she usually was, and the fact that it was still made showed them she hadn’t been.
Jon walked to the bathroom and threw the door open.
“Where the fuck is she?”
Koa growled as he paced over to the phone to call the kitchen. His eyes caught sight of the note she’d left. Koa read through it quickly and then again, not understanding what was happening.
Jon came beside him. “What is that?”
“It’s a note from Mina.”
“What’s it say?” Jon asked.
“She left.”
Jon’s head jerked back, and his eyes opened in shock. “What the fuck are you talking about?”
Koa handed Jon the letter. “Here, read it.”
Jon skimmed over it. “Why the hell does she think we don’t want her anymore or that we want another woman?”
Koa sat on the side of the bed and lay his face in his hands. “I don’t know. What did we do?”
Jon grunted. “We have to find her,” he snapped and headed for the door.
“Wait, let’s see if she called a taxi.”
A few minutes later, Koa hung up the phone and shook his head.
“Stacy hasn’t called for a taxi at all, and she hadn’t seen her.”
Jon raced for the bathroom again. His stomach twisted when he discovered she’d taken her things. He hurried to the closet. She still had clothes hanging up, but the more he looked, the more he found she’d taken all the clothes she came with.
“She’s taken everything she came with. Nothing we have given her.”
Koa raised his head. “I don’t understand,” he whispered.
“I don’t either, but we’ll find her and figure it out.”
They both rushed out of the room and searched everywhere with no sign of her.
Jon called Macy to see if he knew anything.
Macy’s growl came over the phone. “When was the last time you saw her?” he asked.
“Before we went down to the club tonight.”
“What, she didn’t want to go with you?”
Jon paused. “We’ve never taken her down with us.”
Macy stayed silent a long moment. “Mind telling me why?”
“We’re just protecting her, we don’t have the time to be with her, and we’re afraid.”
Macy grunted. “I see. What does she do when you guys are at the Sanctuary?”
“She’s with Cece for a while, and then she spends time watching TV and reading before going to bed.”
Macy growled again. “Are you listening to yourself, Jon?” he snapped. “You leave her alone for hours and then go down where there are naked women, sex, and people having a good time.”
“We’re working, not partying, for God’s sakes.”
“I can see why the poor girl gave up. Had she ever asked to go to the club with you?”
Jon shared a look with Koa. “Yes.”
“And what do you tell her?”
Jon cleared his throat. “We tell her we wouldn’t be able to be with her all the time, and it’s safer if she’s upstairs.”
“Jesus Christ. What the fuck are you two thinking?” Macy grabbed the keys to his truck. “I’m going toward town. You guys keep calling people. She probably got a ride from someone.”
“We need to find her, Macy. We can’t lose her.”
“Well, it might be too late,” Macy growled and hung up.
Jon turned to Koa and saw the same misery he knew was on his own face. “We fucked up.”
Koa pinched the bridge of his nose. “I hate the thought of her thinking we don’t want her. That we’ve hurt her enough to leave us.”
Jon started dialing a number. “We’ll get her back. Get your phone out and start calling people you saw here tonight.”
Koa nodded and pulled out his phone. “I say we take a look outside while we’re making the calls. I can’t just sit back and wait for her.”
Jon nodded and then held up a finger. “Hey, Kevin. Did you happen to give a young lady a ride into town tonight?”
Koa listened with half an ear as he dialed his own phone and made his way toward the garden.