AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I’m fine, really,” Mitch said. It didn’t stop Candace from ordering another drink after the one she had gulped when they first arrived. For Mitch, she requested mineral water.
“So, we cross paths again.”
Mitch was taken aback by that female voice behind her. When she gave two women sitting on a couch her undivided attention, she vaguely recognized Irene from Club Night.The one who got her husband a very suspect birthday present.Was the girl wrapped around Irene and playing with her hair another such victim? Or was she here under the hubris of consent?
“Ms. Irene, is it?”
“Just Irene, darling. I daresay, you’re not much younger than me.” Irene took a puff of her cigarette before tapping ashes into a marble tray on the coffee table. Her half-finished bourbon created a picturesque scene if they had been in a mountain cabin, not so much a mega yacht out at sea. “Are you with Candace now? I shouldn’t be surprised. She has a way with women. Especially the submissive types.”
Mitch realized that Candace was still speaking with Christopher. “Suppose you could say I’m on loan from my Mistress. I’m here representing Club Night. You know, work.”
“Some women are always working, aren’t they?” Irene continued to leer at Mitch while taking a long drag of her cigarette. “Good thing my old Princeton boyfriend Christopher knows a thing or two about working women.”
“You two used to date, huh?”
Irene blew a ring from her lips before hoisting herself up with a generous smile. “Come sit with us. Candace is busy reminiscing with her godson.”
“So, you know?” Mitch tentatively sat on the edge of the couch. She matched glimpses with the young woman draped across Irene like a second skin.Her hair reminds me of Vanessa’s.Dark, wild, and curly. Yet that was where the physical similarities ended. This girl, who couldn’t be more than twenty, was leaner and more athletic-looking than Vanessa had ever been. Her sharp features held a touch of misguided malice that never compared to Vanessa’s soft but dominant countenance.This is femininity with a razor’s edge.“Is that how you met Ms. Lister? Through Christopher?”
“Candace and I have known each other since I was at Princeton, yes, but that’s because it’s also her alma mater and she spends much of her time on the east coast making donations and speaking with the privileged few who get to call her company. Sweetheart…” Irene gently shook the woman on her awake. “Say hello to Michelle, one of the living legends of the submissive kink scene. You’ve probably seen her having sex before.”
Mitch didn’t flinch, since it could very well be true. Although, with how young this girl looked, Mitch hoped it was a video that ended up on the wrong kid’s phone.Once again, nobody’s carding the people coming in here.
“Hello,” came a gravelly voice that surprised Mitch more than unnerved her. “Yeah, I’ve seen your stuff. You’ve performed at Hellfire, right?”
“A few times,” Mitch confirmed. It was the closest upscale BDSM club that Vanessa liked to frequent, even though it was down in Los Angeles.Some great parties there.“How about you? Get out much?”
Candace noticed the three of them talking but turned back to Christopher and the other two men sitting with him. Maybe she was making deals. Maybe she liked the attention.
“Helena’s my girlfriend,” Irene explained. “She often travels with me around the country. Shelovesparties where we get to show off. Wouldn’t it be a dream to turn her into a mini-you? Lord knows she has some of your natural talent for it.”
“Forgive me, but I thought you had a husband.”
Irene finished her cigarette with laughter. “She’s his girlfriend, too. We have fun.”
“I’m everyone’s girlfriend,” Helena said. “Like you.”
Few people got under Mitch’s skin with so few words, yet Helena had achieved what so many could not. “I only belong to one woman,” Mitch said through pleasantly gritted teeth. “She may not be physically present here, but she’s still here in my heart. Trust me.”
“How delightfully romantic.” Irene stroked Helena’s sea of curls with the inattention of a lion tamer about to have her arm chewed off. “You almost make yourself sound monogamous.”
Mitch didn’t deign that with an answer.
“Irene!” Candace took up a small chair that had yet to be occupied. “How lovely seeing you here as well. Your presence makes me wonder if Violet is around. Her brother tells me she’s indisposed. Is he telling me the truth?”
The man in question had overheard that, and all attention was now on Irene, whose fingers stopped combing the tangle in Helena’s hair. “Violet’s one of my best friends, but I’m not her keeper. Last I saw her, she was with Josh, doing God knows what.”
Her husband.It had to be. The twinkle in Irene’s eye suggested she loved the idea of her husband cavorting with her ex-boyfriend’s sister. Mitch didn’t have to be in the world of the wealthy for more than a few weeks before she accepted this was the norm for some of them.When regular drama doesn’t ruin your relationship, you embrace it.Mitch and Vanessa had no room to talk.
“Security told me that my sister went to her room to be alone,” Christopher said. “I have no idea where Joshua is. That’s your business, Irene.”
“Listen to him!” Irene whispered loudly enough for everyone around her to hear. “Acting like he doesn’t go golfing and cavorting or whatever it is men do together all the time.”
“My sister comes before your husband.”
“Ain’t that the truth,” Irene muttered.
If she was expecting laughter to erupt, it didn’t. Even Candace made a face, which Mitch thought quite interesting since this was the woman who peddled unwilling flesh right beneath the FBI’s nose.She doesn’t like it flaunted, though.That was one thing Mitch had learned about Candace Lister since meeting her. She wanted, she coveted, and she desired, but she didnotflaunt. Her closet may be teeming with skeletons, but she kept the door locked and barred.
