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“Then she invited me back to her place! I couldn’t believe it! I actually went home with Ms. Lister! Finally!”
Mitch sank back on one of the stools by the island counter. “I trust it was everything you dreamed of?”
“You have no idea. She’s the perfect Domme, Michelle. So firm yet gentle. I never…” At first, Mitch thought Thalia was crying. Then she realized that was a pent-up burst of excitement. “I’ve never been so satisfied in my life! I’m totally in love!”
Mitch refrained from saying the first thing to pester her heart.Nothing good can come from this.Whatever happiness Thalia had now would only be paid for in pain later.
But, for now, Mitch had to feign excitement. Even if it killed her inside.
Chapter 23
WithCandaceoutoftown and the club closed until the new year, Mitch and Vanessa attempted to live life as normally as possible. Yet when Vanessa suggested they hit a popular New Year’s Eve party, Mitch turned it down. She blamed her PMS at first, but Vanessa knew the truth – her partner was not interested in anything until this case was closed.
Vanessa couldn’t blame her, but it still stung to be turned down in bed three nights in a row. Because for Vanessa, sex was one of the ultimate escapes where she donned the mantle of a woman completely in control of everything.Not just what happens in the scene, but her whole life.She often didn’t realize how much she relied on her sex life to keep her sane until something happened. Like being sick. Or being apart for more than a couple of weeks.Or my partner wanting nothing to do with sex outside of some heavy petting under the covers on the couch.
Yet when Vanessa tried to go farther while they watched TV, Mitch politely rebuffed her, preferring to cuddle.
Their therapists were out of town. The friends they trusted most were busy at this time of year. Normally, they either also traveled for New Year’s or attended a party. Not this year. They had to be available in case the FBI needed them.
Not that Vanessa knew where they would go. Instead, they rang in the new year with take-out and a movie marathon, Mitch’s insistence.
Things slowly returned to normal after that, but new damage had been done.
Mitch asked if they could have brunch at Candace’s place in the Financial District. She wanted to hear the word on the street, so to speak, and Vanessa was hankering to get out of her big house on the edge of town, anyway. She was a bit surprised to see Mitch put on more makeup than was usual for a day out.
“In case Candace is there,” Mitch explained. “I have to keep up the illusion that Michelle is who I am whenever I’m with you.”
Vanessa didn’t ask questions. Why would she complain, either? Mitch was radiant with the artificial glow to her cheeks and the black mascara that called attention to the rest of her face. Her baggy red sweater also turned heads when they entered the top floor of the high-rise, where the hostess insisted on seating them by the window. She plucked a “reserved” sign off the table, which Vanessa noted with mild interest.
“We have privileges here,” she said.
Mitch kept her head on a swivel every time someone in a server’s uniform walked by. “I wonder if she’s back yet…”
“Who?”
Mitch lowered her voice. “Thalia.”
“Ah.” Vanessa had been given the short version of the saga between the Club Night hostess and Candace Lister.I have to admit, I was almost happy for them when I heard the news.Then Vanessa remembered that Candace probably didn’t have a romantic bone in her body. She was good at putting up the front of a sweet and attentive Domme who could make the wildest fantasies come true, but Vanessa wouldn’t trust her with Mitch, let alone anyone else’s safety. There was a reason Candace seemed so disinterested in a relationship for herself, and it couldn’t be because she viewed women as property to trade and sell.
Vanessa hadn’t quite figured out what it was about her yet. A part of her hoped she never discovered the truth.
“I don’t see her…” Mitch was so preoccupied with the lack of Thalia’s presence that she didn’t notice Vanessa’s offer to hold hands on the table.So much for that.“I hope she’s okay. They should have been back by now.”
When their assigned server arrived to take their drink orders, Vanessa didn’t have time to decide. Mitch went right for it.
“Is Thalia back yet?” she asked the woman unprepared to field questions.
“Huh? Oh… no. She took all of last week off. She hasn’t been back yet.” The server shrugged. “Right. You’re that new friend of hers. Ms. Lister cleared Thalia’s leave, so the manager has been scrambling to fill her spot. Which you didn’t hear from me, by the way.”
“Not at all.”
When the server left to grab an iced coffee and tea, Mitch went straight to texting.
“What’s wrong?” Vanessa asked. “Are you worried about her?”
Mitch reread her message before hitting send. She placed her phone screen upside down on the table. “A little,” she admitted. “You’ve met her, but you don’t know her like I do. Thalia is… she’s obsessed with Candace. Been pining after her for years, it sounds like, and now she’s finally getting attention. I don’t like it.”
“It seems out of character, yes,” Vanessa agreed. “The girl was obviously one of Candace’s character witnesses. The kind of person you have around for plausible deniability.”
