Page 27 of No Going Back

CHAPTER NINE

“Thanks, Emma. Tell them to come up, and then you can be on your way. And thanks again for coming in early.”

Guy put down the phone. Any second now, he’d hear footsteps on the stairs up to the club management suite, and any second now, his entire life could explode in his face. Personal, professional, even family—the whole lot could go up in smoke, and he could lose almost everything that gave him a purpose. Compartmentalising his life could bite him on the arse with a vengeance.

There they were—the footsteps of four people, accompanied by muffled voices. Should he have told them earlier? Probably, but without a time machine, it was too late to do anything about that now. He rose from his seat and went to open the door.

In the hubbub that greeted his appearance, one voice quieted them all. The stunned tone belonged to his niece.

“Guy? What’s going on?”

He stood back and gestured for them to enter. “You’d better come in. I think I have some explaining to do.”

One by one, they filed past him—Ros first, her face pale, followed by Alex Lombard, Cam Fraser and Ryan Quinn, all looking intrigued but thankfully not hostile. Already, their reactions were much as he’d anticipated. Without doubt, Ros was going to be the hardest nut to crack. Hopefully he could do it with a combination of kid gloves and some industrial-strength grovelling.

“Thank you all for attending this meeting. Make yourselves comfortable, and I’ll get you all a drink.”

As he poured two glasses of Scotch, an Irish whiskey and a cognac, Guy assessed the body language around him. The men were relaxed enough, but Ros, who’d taken one of the armchairs, was rigid with tension. He could understand why—finding out what he’d done would be far worse for her than any of the others. For that, he owed her an even bigger apology.

“Thanks. Now I understand why you specifically called us in. You’re the new owner.” Alex took a sip of his whisky.

“Not so new now, but guilty as charged, and I apologise for making you all wait so long to find out.”

“Any particular reason why?” Ryan swirled his glass, even though there was no ice in it.

“There was a certain… mismatch between owning a BDSM club and my previous position with the security services.” Now there was an understatement. “At the time when I had to declare it as an outside business interest, the news didn’t go down too well.”

The men shared low-key, commiserating laughter, but the best Ros could manage was an awkward ghost of a smile.

“Are you planning some sort of announcement?” Cam asked.

“A coming-out party? Not as such, but I’m staying over tonight so I can make it official this evening. Word will reach the remaining members soon enough after that.”

“What amazes me,” Alex commented, “is how we’ve never even seen you around the club all this time.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Guy saw Ros stiffen even more, something he wouldn’t have thought possible. “I kept it low-profile because of the day job. Not having a regular play partner made it easier.”

“Does this change mean you have someone now?” A speculative half-smile turned up one corner of Ryan’s mouth.

Did he? Guy didn’t know. Although Maddie showed many signs of having a submissive nature, he still hadn’t broached the subject with her. “No. This has more to do with my gut feeling that my new employers are more… sympathetic to the lifestyle.”

Everyone laughed except Ros. Guy could have kicked himself. If anything, she looked even more uncomfortable.

“All I can say is, it’s one hell of a mid-life crisis, old man.” Alex raised his glass of whisky in salute and took a drink. “Congratulations.”

Ryan and Cam followed suit, then Guy turned to Ros. She was still shut down. She looked as if she’d rather be anywhere else but here. His concern was blatant enough for the other men to make a move to leave.

“Thanks for coming in, all of you. I know there are still things we need to discuss, but…” He turned back to his niece. “Ros, can we talk?”

She’d barely touched the cognac he’d put in front of her. Throughout the conversation, her contribution had been minimal, no more than the odd word here and there, but once the others had left, she found her voice.

“I don’t even know where to begin.” Ros was bewildered. She ran an agitated hand through her hair.

“Would you let me? Because I owe you the greatest apology of all. I’m sorry.”

“It’s the fact that you’ve known… How long have you known about me? And Simon?”

“I’ve only known for certain since I bought the club and had access to the membership records, but I suspected for a while before that. About both of you. You were always going to be genetically predisposed to being a dominant personality. Do you remember all those times I told you how much you take after your mother?”