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“What? He glared at her.
“Do you honestly think I’m going to say the name out loud?” Her eyes moved to the CCTV camera against the wall. “It might not record what we’re saying but it’ll be easy-to-read lips. I’m not saying shit. I’ll write the name down, and get this, Brinkman. There will be no discussion about it. You wanted a name, and that’s all you’ll get from me.”
Brinkman didn’t push the issue, knowing it wouldn’t serve a purpose.
Placing the exoneration document and envelope on the desk, he slammed a black and gold Waterman pen on top. “Get it over with,” he snapped, clearly annoyed that she dared play the fiddle and decide the rules.
His eyes widened as she handed him the envelope with the name written on it. She took the legal document and got up. Saluting him with the papers, she headed toward the door.
“Nice doing business with you, Senator.”
“Wait! This can’t be right,” he called out, twisting in his chair as he struggled to get to his feet. “There’s no fucking way he’s involved with the Golden Wizards.”
Jessica looked at him over her shoulder. “No? Guess I’m mistaken then. Believe me or don’t. I don’t give a shit one way or the other. You just make sure I’m outta this shithole before the end of the week.”
Her dry laugh at his disbelieving expression chased after her as she walked away. For the first time in months, she felt like she might have a chance at living a normal life again.
Chapter Seventeen
Club Rouge, Baton Rouge, Louisiana…
“Why are you making me stay?” Sera asked through tight lips. Being at Club Rogue with a Daddy who made no secret of his animosity toward her was the last place she wanted to be. In here, she was too vulnerable, and in the current state of mind she was in, a scene with him spelled disaster for her equilibrium and more so… her heart.
“You’ve completely excluded me from all information about Sanchigo or how the search for him is going.” She dug in her heels, and he was forced to stop walking, although his gaze continued its search over the sea of faces already in the entertainment chamber. For all intents and purposes, he was giving her the cold shoulder.
Sera looked beautiful, courtesy of Sage dressing her in a long, white sheath dress with side slits all the way to her waist. The material molded to every curve of her body. Underneath, a gold thong peeked out when she moved. Her dainty feet were adorned in gold stilettos, a perfect foil to the blonde hair cascading in loose curls down her back. With a gold lace mask, she looked like a seductive mythical creature… except she felt like a fraud, an imposter.
“I’m floundering about in the dark, so to speak, which means I serve no purpose anymore,” she continued to plead with him. “Not to the DEA since even if you find him, you’re not going to tell me, and most definitely not to you since I have yet to act as your bodyguard.”
“I never needed a bodyguard. I accommodated you purely to find what the DEA’s game plan was.” He smirked. “Believe me, it was no surprise to find out it was to use me as bait.”
“Let’s be honest, Tanner. Ever since you found out about… about…” Sera’s throat closed up, and she couldn’t force the words out.
“Having a daughter that you never told me about… notwithstanding the fact that you had fifteen years and nine months to do so,” he provided acerbically. Still, he refused to look at her.
“Yes.” The sigh whispering from her lips sounded desolate. “You hate me now. It’ll be better for both of us if I just leave.”
“To hate you means I have feelings for you, cherish and love you. Truth be known, I was heading that way. Now…” Finally, he looked at her. Sera gasped at the dark, blackness that seemed to glow in his eyes. “Now, I have only one aim in life. To find my daughter, and since you’re the only one with information and contacts, you will stay until I say otherwise.”
“You’re being unreasonable. Can’t we just—”
“Enough. From this moment on, you will only speak when I ask you a question.” He caught her chin between his fingers, his grip hard and punishing. “Do not forget that I’m Master Thor to you, sub. I expect you to do as you’re told. Is that clear?”
The morph into full Daddy Dom mode happened so fast, Sera struggled not to completely unravel and break down in front of the entire club. Her emotions were all over the place. The past few days had been harrowing since Tanner flatly ignored her. It was as though she had become a shadow in the house. He knew she was there but didn’t care enough to acknowledge it. She couldn’t continue like this, especially not since she had finally acknowledged the reason she could never forget that first night she had with him. He was her soulmate. The man she gave her heart to, even though she barely knew him. Fate took them in different directions. When she was tasked to save him from the drug syndicate’s clutches, she believed destiny had shifted, that finally she would have her happy ever after.
It seemed that fate and destiny were fucked up insofar as she was concerned. All she gained was to invite his loathing.
“I asked you a question,” he snapped, his voice darkening perceptively.
“Yes, Master Thor, I understand.” With her heart thundering, she couldn’t decide which emotion had the strongest hold on her—hate for those who had brought her to this moment, regret, sorrow, or just the desire for this beautiful man who was now treating her like his most hated enemy.
He gripped her hips and turned her toward him. His hold was hard, but gentle when they pulled her tight into his muscular body. An arm snaked around her waist in a display of dominance, a clear sign that he was in charge.
“In here, you are my submissive. I will decide your fate. Tonight, you are going to experience sensations and emotions that will drown you with their intensity. I am going to break through that barrier you erected to keep everyone at a distance.”
“Tanner, please, I—”
She gasped as one hand curled around her throat and tightened, squeezing so hard, she had to go up on her toes. Clawing at his hand, she struggled to draw a proper breath. For the first time, she wondered if he was partly sadist or if this was a display of exactly how much he abhorred her now.
