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Determined to clear her mind, Addie used the ladies’ room and slipped out the back door, happy to have to walk a little farther than necessary back to her car. Thankfully, the rain had let up and was once again just a light drizzle. Addie stared at her phone. Maybe she should call Patrick and ask him to dinner. She needed to tell him she was going back to work, and knowing it wasn’t going to go over very well, she figured it might as well happen in a public place.
As she reached to dial her phone, it rang, startling her. “Uh. Hello.”
The deep voice that responded threw her off. “You’re looking incredibly beautiful today, Mrs. Greyer. That shade of blue when damp . . . Wow. It really compliments your eyes”
Addison inhaled sharply, noting her surroundings. She didn’t even have to ask who it was. This was one voice she’d never forget. Stay on the phone, until you get to safety. It’s your best bet.
“What? Cat got your tongue? Such a silly girl, losing your security detail like that. Don’t you know I’m always watching?”
Addie picked up her pace until she was practically sprinting. Run towards the crowd. “You’re under a restraining order, Scott. Why are you calling me?”
“Ha. Ha. Oh just a little hello for old times’ sake. You get brownie points, you know, for staying away from that loser, Hartman. Such a good girl. But you fucked up, Mrs. Greyer. You know it, and I know it.”
Click.
Sondra left the baby with the nanny and suited up. True to form William Hartman showed up at Sondra’s place exactly to the minute, wearing faded jeans and a black T-shirt. It wasn’t like William to dress so sloppily for a session. Sondra knew he needed to be worked hard. This was William’s way of being asked for punishment. She knew her client well, and she understood that with everything going on he felt more out of control than ever. That was the thing about men with his persona, especially men who had been abused as children. They required control but they also needed an outlet in which to let it all go.
Sondra intended to give William exactly what he needed. The problem with William, though, was that every time he walked throu
gh the door, he took her breath away. He was one of the most beautiful men Sondra had ever seen. He was the teacher’s-pet type; that was for sure. But it was William’s charm that drew you in and held your attention. He had a gentleness you could see underneath his tough masculine exterior that made you want to be tougher on him and coddle him at the same time.
William entered Sondra’s personal dungeon and closed the door behind him. He didn’t make eye contact, but his mere presence made Sondra a little uneasy. William Hartman had always been one of her favorite and most difficult clients. William sat in the chair in the middle of the room, eyes glued to the floor. Sondra brought him the iPod and instructed him to press play. Handing him the bottle, Sondra lowered her voice. “Make me a drink the way I like it.” William poured the drink with extreme care as though his life depended on it. He lifted the glass towards Sondra without meeting her gaze. Taking a sip, she choked. “This tastes like you look. LIKE FUCKING SHIT.” Sondra slammed the glass onto the floor, startling William. “You never can get it right. Can you? No. That’s just what happens with fuckups.”
Sondra leaned over, her lips grazing William’s ear as he continued to stare at the floor as though his life depended on it. “Get on your knees and pick up this goddamned mess you’ve made.” Pulling his hair and shoving him to the floor, Sondra pressed her heel into glass, smashing it further. Meticulously picking up every single tiny piece, William quickly found his large hands full of glass shards. He held it up towards Sondra like an offering, but she raised her nine-inch heel and drop kicked his hands, causing glass to go flying. William stayed put, eyes glued to the floor.
Sondra grabbed him by his left ear, dragging him towards the chair. “Guess you can’t fucking hear either, huh? Such a worthless piece of shit, you are. A fucking waste of space.”
Placing a few glass shards on the seat of the chair, she ordered William to sit and placed a rope around his chest, tying it as tightly as she could. Once William was secured and bound so tightly it made it difficult to breathe, she placed the blindfold. For this, Sondra left out the gag on purpose. William Hartman needed to be able to speak. Getting this out was imperative to his recovery; it was time to cut to the core.
“Today we’re going to play a little game otherwise known as a Q&A session, okay? Can your inferior stupid little mind grasp this concept, William?”
Head hung, William nodded.
“Good. Now what would put the idea in that small little mind of yours to have me blackmail that silly girl to come back to the company? Do you really think she wants you, William? Do you think you’re capable of being loved?”
When William didn’t respond, Sondra struck him across the chest with the whip. “Let’s try this again. Shall we?”
It took five more lashings for William to respond. He drew in a deep breath and whispered, “Because I love her, and deep down, I know she loves me too.”
Sondra hit him again. “She left you, can’t you see that? You are unlovable, aren’t you? That’s why she doesn’t want to be with you. Isn’t it?”
No response. Whack. Sondra put all of her force into it this time. William flinched as she moved closer, tangling her fingers in his jet-black hair and pulling. Sondra drew her hand back. “Answer me, William. You’ve got one, two—”
“Okay. OKAY! No. I mean, yes. She called it off, but she does love me. I know she does.”
Sondra pulled harder. “And how do you know this, Mr. Hartman. Do you think you’re capable of being loved?”
“I don’t know. But with her, I believe there’s the possibility.”
She released his hair. “So you believe this girl loves you? That you are capable of loving and being loved?”
“Yes.”
Sondra slowly untied him and removed the blindfold.
“My work here is done for today.”
William smiled. “That’s it?”
