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She smiles brightly and reaches into her desk drawer and pulls out a tube of lipstick.
“Get out of here, Master Luke. I’m sure you have things to do to get ready for tonight.”
I back out of the room and make my way to my office where I pull up Zara’s room on the tablet and tap the button so I can speak to her. “If you want to join us for the party, I’ll escort you out.”
“Fuck you,” she says bitterly.
I guess that’s that.
An hour later, the club is open, and the first handful of guests are trickling in. There is nothing spectacular planned tonight, it’s just an open play night, which means most people will stay in the main play space. I stay in my office for most of the first hour we’re open, but it’s my duty to at least make an appearance, so I stand and straighten my tie and move through the spades play space and join everyone in the dungeon.
My legs become frozen when I catch sight of who is behind the bar.
Zara is standing there pouring a drink and making conversation with one of the guests. Her makeup is flawless, but I can see the exhaustion in her eyes. How the hell did she get out here? Then I catch the twinkle of red on her black dress and I stalk toward the bar. It’s a heart.
Fucking Matteo.
I scan the room, searching for him, but he’s not in here, so I head back for the smaller play spaces to see if he’s in his. When I reach the common area that separates the four rooms, Skylar approaches.
“Please don’t be upset, Master Luke. We came by to check on her this morning while you were at work. Matteo thought it would be better to let her out with his pin instead of yours.”
“Matteo thinks too damn much.”
She twists a lock of hair around her finger and looks at the floor. “What is it?” I demand.
“He said to remind you that the pins are in place for a reason, and you need to respect the one she’s wearing tonight. We have some guests who would not appreciate catching any whiff of infighting amongst the owners.”
I close my eyes. That means someone from another crime family is here. They trust us to keep things neutral here and if we’re too busy with our own drama we can’t guarantee this remains a safe space. “Fine,” I say as I exhale and try to calm my rage.
“I’m sorry, Luke,” she whispers. “I thought it was a stupid idea, but when Matteo offered, she jumped at the idea.”
“It’s because she knew it would piss me off. I’ll deal. Don’t worry about me, lovely girl. If it will make you relax those shoulders, I won’t even go talk to him about it.”
She smiles. “Thank you, Sir. I should get back to him.”
I make my way back to the bar and sit at the end where Zara is working. The bar is divided into four quadrants, and each one is assigned to a different bartender—usually a submissive.
She flashes me a friendly smile, but I see the ice in her eyes. If I didn’t know for a fact that she didn’t have the means, I might be worried about her slipping poison in my drink.
Still, I order a bottled beer to be on the safe side.
“You’re looking quite lovely, Flower,” I say when she hands me the drink.
Another Dom is sitting two seats down watching us, so she drops her gaze and murmurs. “Thank you, Mr. Bowden.”
I keep my eyes trained on her for the next hour as I nurse my beer. She avoids eye contact unless I force her to look at me by paying her a compliment. Matteo must have given her the same speech Skylar gave me, because she endures my torture with grace. That or she’s so disinterested in me at this point that I’m genuinely not bothering her.
Things are going fine until the man still sitting two seats over from me asks her if she’s allowed to pursue scenes with anyone other than Matteo, since she’s wearing his pin.
It takes all of my willpower not to grab him by the collar and throw him out. He pays for one of our most expensive membership packages.
Then Zara leans on the bar and smiles at him. “Some other night. I’m unfortunately stuck behind the bar all night.”
He puts a hand on her arm and smiles. “That’s too bad. You seem like a fun girl.”
“Zara,” I bark. “You’ve got other guests to see to.”
Her frown is almost imperceptible, but she stands up straight and nods at me. “Yes, Mr. Bowden. Do you need another drink?”
