“It’s a great piece of work,” MaeBe said, studying the tat.
“Thanks. I’m going to add to it as I start the healing process,” Jane explained. “I thought I would add the initials of the people who help me get closure. I’m going to put them right on the dagger. So I don’t forget.”
MaeBe gave her a bright smile. “That’s an amazing way to remember the people who help you.”
“Yes, I think I’ll keep those people with me for the rest of my life,” Jane vowed before turning to the entryway. “What are the rules for this scene?”
Maddie was ready for the night to be over. She wanted to see Deke and talk about how they could mesh their lives together. She wasn’t sure what would happen after Saturday, but she knew she would have to leave Byrne Corp. She couldn’t stay. It would be far too uncomfortable.
Austin wasn’t that far from Dallas. Lawless had told her to call him if she ever needed a job.
“No talking inside the room,” MaeBe explained. “The sub is tied up and blindfolded. He enjoys the sense of anticipation that comes with not knowing who’s touching him or whether that touch will be gentle or sharp. There’s a table of impact toys. Any of them can be used. He has a safe word and he’ll use it. The woman in the back is his Domme. She’s simply there to watch over him.”
“He does this often?” Jane asked.
“At least once a month. He’s been doing it for years,” MaeBe replied. “He’s in a high-stress job, and this is how he relaxes. He plays every week, but the third Friday of the month is his touch night. Do you want to go in?”
“Sure. I’ll give him a little surprise,” Jane said before she walked in.
MaeBe glanced over. “She seems nice.”
They watched as Jane moved into the room, the blue light coating her skin as she approached the sub. The sub’s mistress stood back, watching but not talking at all.
“I don’t know.” She was trying not to be naïve. “She’s involved with Nolan, so I have to wonder how much she knows about his business. And that tattoo thing sounds more like a threat. Like she’s collecting the names of the people who wronged her.”
MaeBe frowned. “It is kind of weird to put their names on a dagger. I would not want to be K. I think she’s got what my boss would call crazy eyes. Sometimes, though, he says I have crazy eyes, so maybe I shouldn’t judge. What do you think she’s going to do? Soft or hard?”
Jane was looking over the impact toys, her hands brushing over the falls of a flogger.
“I’m not sure.”
Jane straightened up, her hands going to the bottom of her corset as though pulling it down, and then she turned, leaving the toys behind and approaching the sub.
Jane touched the sub gently, her palms smoothing out over his back, and a shudder went through the older man.
Then she stepped back and turned, and for a moment, the mask slipped and Maddie caught a glimpse of her face. It was over in a second and Jane adjusted her mask.
But it was enough.
Maddie knew why she recognized Jane.
Jane was the woman who met with Nolan. Jane worked for The Consortium.
She was about to whisper the revelation to MaeBe when Jane joined them, an oddly triumphant smile on her face. “I think we should find the men.”
Maddie nodded. “Yes, we should do that.”
A loud moan burst from the sub in the touch room. The Domme moved in. He howled and fought against his bonds. Maddie watched in horror as white foam rolled from his mouth.
“We need medical,” MaeBe yelled.
Jane sighed and reached behind her, pulling a small gun from the back of her corset. “Well, that worked too fast. MaeBe, darling, shut your mouth before I kill you. I don’t want to kill you. Yet. We have things to talk about. So let’s you and I and Maddie walk out that back door right there.”
Maddie glanced over but the mistress was trying desperately to save her sub. There was no help from that corner.
“Maddie, run,” MaeBe began.
There was no sound, but suddenly MaeBe’s left arm bloomed with blood and Jane had a hand on the back of her neck. “I wasn’t joking. Madeline, run if you want your friend to die. Or you go over there and open that door for me.”
She glanced over and sure enough, there was an emergency door.
“MaeBe, if you try that falling shit on me, I’ll put a bullet in your head and your boyfriend will find you laying right here,” Jane was saying. “And then I’ll kill him, too.”
MaeBe grimaced but remained standing.
Maddie took a deep breath and went to open the door. She prayed Deke would get to them in time.