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With that statement, Tyler shifted back to Marius, capturing a flash of surprise among the resentment. "It's incontestable for three months. After which time, Lady Regina may re-apply on your behalf. You may not approach her about that. It is wholly her decision if she wishes to work with you."
He'd startled Marius, no question. The man's regard bounced fully to the Mistress. Even Alex looked startled, and like he thought his boss might have lost his mind. Alex had a special fondness for Siren. He probably would have led the group to beat Marius into unconsciousness behind the building.
The only one who didn't look shocked was Regina. Tyler gave the Mistress credit for aplomb. Except for a slight twitch of her facial muscles, she didn't give anything away, even though he'd sprung that on her at the same time he had Marius. But he'd phrased it the way it was meant. She could pick up the gauntlet or not, but regardless, she was Marius's last chance here. If she was as interested as Tyler suspected she was, and if the membership meant anything to Marius, Tyler had given him a reason to respond to the Mistress's attention. If not, or Regina wasn't interested, or decided it wasn't worth it, then that was the end of that.
His angel's words counted for a great deal, but she was as much Mistress as he was Master. If you led a sub to water, held his head under to the point of near drowning, and he still wouldn't drink, well... Free will meant the right to throw your life away.
Case in point. Marius's eyes smoked over like a hot ash fire.
"Fuck all of you," he said.
He pivoted, shouldered roughly past Alex and left the office. Pursing her lips, Regina raised a silken brow. "Did that go as well as you'd hoped?" she asked Tyler.
"As expected," he said, with a sigh. He nodded to Alex. "Give him breathing room, but make sure he gets his locker cleaned out and reaches the parking lot without causing any more trouble. Or incurring any."
"Yes, sir." Alex's tone was stiff. Tyler sharpened his glance upon him.
"Something you want to say?"
"I wouldn't want any woman I care about near him," Alex said. "No disrespect, Mr. Winterman, but I don't think I'd have put that option out there."
"None taken. I'm questioning it myself, which is why I'd like Lady Regina to stay a few moments, so we can discuss some additional things. Thank you, Alex."
It was a firm dismissal. Alex acknowledged it with a troubled look and disappeared.
"I'm surprised he didn't charge into the room without Terry," Tyler observed. "It speaks to his professionalism, that he followed procedure despite his feelings for Siren."
"Alex is a good man." Regina studied him. "Did you just throw me to the wolves, Tyler Winterman?"
"No." He smiled at her patented don't-bullshit-me-boy look. Considering the circumstances, it injected him with an extra dose of reassurance. "I listened to my wife's advice, rather than my protective instincts, and gave you the key to his cage. It's up to you whether to unlock it or not." Pushing his chair back, he put an ankle on his knee. "I'll support your decision a hundred percent. At this point, his behavior doesn't require my advocacy or loyalty."
"Yet your sense of fairness, and how long you've known him, is providing a chance for fate to intervene."
Tyler cocked his head. "The intuition of a beautiful Domme is a scary thing."
"I'd say the same about a handsome one like yourself. You could have given that key to any Domme in this club. There are reasons you chose me."
"There are." He templed his fingers. "You've had him on your radar for some time. I'd like to hear your assessment."
Regina uncrossed her long legs and hooked them at the ankles, lacing her fingers over her flat st
omach. "You have a lot of spies in this club. It could make a paranoid person nervous."
"I have a lot of people watching out for the welfare of everyone here, including you," he corrected. "And we live up to the reputation, which is why so many sign the waiver accepting that we maintain cameras in all club areas. It ended up being a fortunate decision tonight."
"Yes, it did." She sobered. "My opinion is still forming. But my current take is he has a touch of meanness and rebellion under a mountain of pissed off. The whole package is coated in melt-your-panties bad boy charm, with a wicked sense of humor that can turn around and cut to the quick in a blink. It all comes with a huge shoulder chip on the side."
When offering her opinion, Regina didn't pull any punches, and her flair for words provided a picture clear as a photograph. Tyler sighed and ran a hand over his face. "Marguerite deduced much the same. My concern is the escalation of the meanness. He may be unstable."
"He is unstable." She confirmed it with quiet frankness, surprising him. "Before tonight, I wasn't certain enough of that to bring it to your attention. It could have been chance, him and Siren coming together. Most of the Mistresses have lost interest in him and maybe he was jonesing for a sub fix. But I think whatever is broken inside him sent him after her deliberately tonight, knowing she had the right chinks in her armor. We all know she's still new enough to this she gets wound a little tight in session. She was a Mistress who had the right weaknesses he could exploit to a dangerous level. Siren was his prey from the moment they stepped into that room."
His jaw tightened. "So that's that, then. He's out of here."
"In his current state? Oh yeah. He's nowhere near the proper headspace to be playing at The Zone. That was the right call."
"So that means you won't be pursuing his re-application."
"Not necessarily." At his sharp, surprised glance, she shrugged. "Jury's out on that. The problem is, there's something else inside him. Something real. It's the bait that's lured too many Dommes into his traps. Fortunately, most of them got out before they reached the point Siren did. They didn't feel he was worth the aggravation."
