Chapter Twelve

An hour after getting her text, Mason found himself on his way to Sublime. When he woke up this morning he had the mindset that he wasn’t going to step foot inside that place for a few days. Stella still held onto her anger with him when he dropped her off at the club two days ago. He felt it might be for the best if he gave her a few more days to cool down. He had been planning on returning this weekend for their normal routine. Now that she asked to talk to him she probably wanted to revoke his membership.

He coded into the back parking lot, a little surprised his access card still worked. Walking into the building, his nerves bunched into a knot. He had no idea where path this talk of theirs was going to go. Heading straight to her office, he stopped for a moment to knock on the door before pushing inside the room.

Stella sat behind her wooden desk looking as casual as could be with her beautiful red hair pulled into a high pony tail in the back of her head. She wore glasses with her head bowed down no doubt, hard at work going through papers. She continued to write without bothering to glance his way.

“You didn’t have to come all the way out here. You could have called me.” She glanced up from her work that over took the top of her desk.

“I would much rather talk in person. I’m here now. Let’s talk.” He hadn’t meant to sound as cold as he came across.

“I wanted to talk with you because I received this in the mail today.” She handed him a large envelope. Opening the flap, he pulled the contents out seeing right away there were pictures stuffed inside.

“What is this?” Mason shuffled through pictures of him and Stella. At the bottom of the pile were pictures of the two of them on the beach having sex. His eyes blurred as rage begin to boil inside him. He wanted to smash something. Smoldering heat crept up his face as anger washed through him.

“Who the hell took these?” he asked keeping his voice low but study with a demanding calm. What kind of game was she trying to play with him? She knew how much he wanted his identity kept private.

His gaze shot to hers and caught her shaking her head. “I don’t know.”

He found that convenient. He wasn’t going to play games with her. He wasn’t about to roll over and pretend to be helpless. She had this club under good surveillance. “Are you trying to blackmail me? Is that what this is all about? What are you after? Money?”

He watched as her eyes grew wide. She did a great job pretending to be surprised. Or surprised he caught on to her little games.

“Are you serious? You think I set this up? You think I planned this?”

“Who else would want to take pictures of us? You know how much I need my privacy. You know how much it means to me and knowing you could hang this over my head just tickles your ass, doesn’t it?” He heard himself damn near shouting at her now. Her own anger grew stronger and her eyes went cold and narrowed as she pinned him with her gaze.

“You think I had someone follow us to your beach house? And what? Wait around in the dark for the slim chance we might get busy within camera range so this person you thought I hired, could take pictures of us. All of this so I could use them to blackmail you?”

It sounded crazy, but what else was he supposed to think? “Something like that.”

She stood from her chair placing both her hands on her hips. The shocked smile that curled around her lips was full of disbelief. “You’re something else. You know that?”

He crossed his arms over his chest. He wasn’t going to back down from this. He was the victim here. She’d been the one who went against his trust. He had trusted her to keep his identity safe and out of the public eye and she promised him she would.

“Look at the angles of those pictures of us in the parking lot. They look like they came from your security cameras. As an owner, you’re going to tell me you don’t have access to those? Just tell me, Stella, what did you expect to gain from all this? Is this because you’re pissed off at me about the weekend? Did you think I would pay you off to keep my name out of the public eye? Because let me tell you what, I won’t give you another dime from what I already have.”

The look of hurt spreading over her face almost made him second guess his choice of words toward her. Almost.

“Whether you want to believe it or not, these didn’t come from me. I called you to tell you that someone sent these to me. Out of respect for you and your precious privacy, I wanted you to know. But it doesn’t matter, does it? You have it all figured out. It’s all been one elaborate lie to get money from you. You caught me.” She sank back down into her chair, dropping her gaze away from his.

“Forget I showed you anything. I’ll take care of it.” She paused before adding. “That leaves us with nothing else to say to each other. Leave.”

“What about our contract?”

She didn’t bother looking up at him, or maybe she couldn’t look at him when she answered. “It’s void. I’ll have your contract cancelled and your fees returned to you. Being as how you’re so concerned about me taking your money. I wouldn’t dream of keeping any.”

The remark pissed him off. “That’s not what I said at all.”

She shrugged her shoulders as if she didn’t have a care in the world either way. “Are you going to leave, or do I need to call security?”

If she could dismiss him so easily, she didn’t have to tell him twice. He was out of there. How dare she try to turn this around on him? He was the one getting played. She was the one trying to overpower him. His blood had reached boiling by the time he made it back to his car. He wasn’t as upset about the pictures as he was with the fact Stella, of all people, thought so little about him that she would do this to him.

He slammed the palm of his hands against the steering wheel. He pounded again and again wanting to release some of the built-up anger, but nothing faded. He should have realized she would turn out to be just like everyone else in his life. Ever since he was little, he had been either used or abused. What made Stella any different? Besides the fact he wanted her to be different. He thought she had cared at least a little for him. If nothing else, he expected her to uphold their contract.

Sitting back in his seat, Mason stared out through his windshield.

He was just about to put his car in gear when a loud knock on the passenger side window startled his attention bringing him out of his thoughts. The rain poured down making it hard to see the person’s face but he knew who stood on the other side. Hitting the unlock on the door panel, the passenger side door jerked open then closed as his visitor filled the seat.

“Don’t get me wrong, we need the rain, but this is a bit ridiculous,” Angel ran her wet hands over the thighs of her jeans. Her soaked hair hung in locks around her head. She must had been searching for his car for a few minutes to get that wet.

“What do you want?”

“Just thought I’d come out here and offer you my two cents.”

“I don’t want it.”

“Well, you’re getting them.” Before she could add anything else, the passenger back door yanked open and another body filled the other side of the back seat.

“What the hell is this? An intervention?” He turned to look behind him at a soaking wet Cara. The Mistress offered him a real genuine smile and shrugged her shoulders. “Thought I could help, and since I saw Angel get in your car, I figured the two of us were on the same page.”

He turned back around in his seat until he faced the windshield again. “I’m going to guess that even if I ask nicely, you two aren’t getting out of my car, are you?”

Angel turned her head to look at Cara who crossed her arms. “Nope”

Mason shook his head and peered out the window. He needed to get the hell out of here. He needed to go somewhere where he felt wanted. Where he felt needed. Taking matters into his own hands, he pulled out of the parking lot and found himself heading in the direction of his office. There was nothing like burying himself in work to help clear his mind.

“Taking us hostage now, are you?”

“You’re the ones who got into my car. Feel free to do whatever you want once we get there, but I’m going back to work. I’ve been distracted long enough. It’s time I got my damn head out of the clouds.”

“Working with Stella is good for you. You know she’s concerned about you and your stress levels.”

“I don’t give a shit anymore what she thinks. She broke one of the rules. All I asked her for was to keep my privacy and to stay out of the public eye. She couldn’t keep up her end of the bargain.”

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Angel reach back and grab her seatbelt. She belted herself in, obviously not affected by the threat of going to work with him. Thankfully, both women were dressed in regular street clothes. It would have proven to be a challenge to explain why he had two ladies tagging along into the office in leather corsets and collars.

“How is this her fault? Did she not tell you she got the pictures in the mail? Wasn’t that the whole reason she called you in the first place?”

He nodded. “She did. Regardless of whether she knew the pictures were being taken or not, she should have better security in place. As an owner, this falls in her lap.”

Cara laughed. “Why? Because it’s her fault some sicko hacked our cameras? Or are you saying she should have hired a security detail to trail you to the beach?”

“Better yet, that’s your beach, so…maybe it’s your fault they got pictures of you there. Maybe you should have better security.”

He saw what they were doing. They were trying to point out that Stella had no more control over the pictures than he did over someone following them to the beach. Even if the beach was closed off to the public. They wanted him to believe she’s a victim in this too.

“It doesn’t matter anymore. I’m done with the club and submitting. It was a mistake for me to try. I’ll never be the sub she wants me to be. I like holding the power too.”

Cara scooted up toward the opening between the front seats and poked her head through. “That’s good. Stella’s a switch. She needs someone like you. You two are exactly what each other needs.”

He stopped at a red light and stared at the blurring color through the rain-soaked windshield. Maybe it was the sudden turn in bad weather that had him in a funk but he was sure whatever he and Stella did have was long gone now.

“We tried. It’s not going to work. She told me she can’t have a submissive and a Dom be the same person. And I don’t want to invite other people into our sex life. It’s better this way.” He suddenly flipped on his blinker and got over to the turn lane.

“She broke all her rules for you.” Angel’s voice was low as she spoke from the front seat.

“What rules?” He pulled his car over to the side of the road in front of Sublime. Even though he had the thought to take them with him back to the office, he circled back around to where they had started. He could’ve made them find their own way back but he didn’t need them hanging around his office drawing attention to themselves or to him.

“When you enter this world, you’re toying with the ideas of following structure and opening yourself up to criticism from others in ways that make you want to question yourself. It will make you want to ask yourself if you’re strong enough for this person to have control over you.

“But the question is also true for the dominant. Without their submissive giving their control to them, they’re nothing. They are no one without their subs. They have no one to take care of. No one to bring pleasure to. Stella knows how to give everything she has for her submissives. I also think that what she doesn’t know is how to ask for the same treatment in return.”

Angel got out of the car first. Closing the door behind her she waited for Cara to join her on the sidewalk. As she opened the door he had one last question to ask before he left them on the side of the road. “What rules did she break for me?”

Cara tilted her head slightly to the side as if she were debating whether to tell him the truth. Leaning down to peer through the open door of the car she smiled smugly. “You’ll have to ask her.”

****

A week went by and Mason did what he set out to do. He buried himself deeper than he ever had in his work. His nights and days seemed to never end and were a constant run of hours. He would go to his office to change out of his suit and into a fresh one without realizing if he were going on days or hours in the same suit. He felt more lost now than he’d ever felt in his life. He hated the feeling but it also gave him the best clarity when it came to focusing on the work in front of him.

Everyone at the office tried at least once to get him to leave, but there wasn’t anything for him anywhere else except for here. It was the one place where people needed him. The one place he knew could help him forget what the last few weeks felt like.

He walked past his desk that overflowed with stacks of papers and the opened envelope he never wanted to look at again. His eyes skimmed the paper as he walked past once again. He received the letter today telling him his contract with Sublime had been voided and his refund laid next to it. Both of which were of no interest to him. He didn’t care about getting his money back. However, he did care that she had ripped their contract up.

Had it been that easy for her to walk away while he struggled to get the thoughts of her out of his mind? He tore himself up thinking about all the reasons why it bothered him so much.

The most confusing of all the emotions were the strange feelings of betrayal and what felt like mourning. Suffering useless sentiment is what people did when they went through a divorce.

His emotions were all over the place and he had to stop himself many times over the last few days from picking up his phone and calling her. There was nothing left to say to each other. Everything between them sat right there in a pile on his desk he avoided at all costs.

“Hey, man, I’m sending Becca down for some lunch. Do you want anything?” Bradly poked his head through the office door.

“No. I’m fine.”

Bradly’s palm slapped the side of the wall before he fully entered the room closing the door behind him.

“Too bad. I ordered you a turkey club. Man, what’s going on with you. Did somebody I don’t know about die or something? I mean look at you. You’re not eating, you’re not leaving the office, and God only knows when you slept last.”

“It’s a damn good thing it’s not your job to babysit me then, huh? As if you don’t already know, I don’t have anyone in my fucking life, so it would be hard for someone in it to die.”

“Screw you, man. I’m not trying to be your babysitter. I actually care about you like a brother, you know that. So don’t tell me you don’t have anyone in your life? I’m someone in your life,” He paused for a minute and Mason felt bad for making his friend feel shitty. Bradly had been right, he was one person who had been a constant in his life since coming to work for the company.

“What about everyone here at the office? There are more people on this floor willing to stand with you and next to you than any other person who works with this company. People love to like you.”

Mason ran fingers through his hair, tugging on the ends in a saddened attempted to cause himself the pain he wished he could inflict on himself.

“I’m not talking about that. I know this company needs me. I make more money than any other financial adviser. I’m talking about someone in my life who isn’t part of this office. I’m talking about…never mind. Fuck it.”

He turned away from Bradly feeling embarrassed for even bringing the whole subject up. He was a grown strong man, not the little frightened boy he once was years ago.

Bradly moved farther into the room taking a seat on a plush couch. Crossing one of his ankles on the top of his knee. Sitting back, he unbuttoned his jacket and stretched out an arm along the back of the cushions as he waited.

“What are you doing?”

“Waiting for you to pull your head out of your ass. Don’t worry about me, I’m comfortable. I’ll wait right here as you take your time. Unless it’s going to take another week of sulking around?”

He wasn’t sulking. “Fuck you.” He could feel the familiar rush of anger seeping under his skin.

“There he is. There’s a sign of the Mason I know. You need to get the fire back in your gut. You need to get the passion and drive back because right now all you’re doing is going through the motions.”

“All I need is to get my head in the game. Work is what’s important, and I can’t seem to focus on anything. I’ve been thinking about heading out of town for a while. Maybe taking some time to go visit our offices and clients out of state. Maybe the change of scenery will do me some good.”

Placing both feet on the ground, Bradly leaned forward resting his forearms on his knees. “What the hell is going on with you, man? I mean, you’ve never been the one who wants to duck out and run.”

“I’m not running. I’m…clearing my head. I let a lot of shit get to me the last few weeks and I need to ground myself and get back to the way it was before I stepped foot inside that damn club.” He walked over to the two chairs facing the couch and braced his hands along the tops of each. He was growing tired of always having to defend himself.

“I would like you to take over my clients while I’m gone. I have two more wrapping up in the next few days then they are all yours, if you’ll take them. Keep all the commission from them. It will be yours anyways.”

“Are you sure you’re all right man? I’ve never heard you giving up on work or on money.” Bradly paused for a moment as he looked away. “Does this new sense of freedom have anything to do with your fallout with Sublime or with Mistress Stella? Because I heard that…”

Mason cut him off with a shake of his head and hand. He didn’t care what any of them said. “This has nothing to do with her. Things between us just didn’t work out. She went her way, I’m going mine. That’s all there is.”

His friend and colleague held both hands in the air as if he were defending himself. “In that case, I’ll take the client load and your money. I’m going to need all the cases I can get, now that I’ve found a new, expensive hobby.”

Thankful the conversation changed from the topic of his life. Mason decided to let some of his frustration go and for the first time in a week. He joined in a conversation.

“Oh yeah? What hobby did you pick up?”

He watched his friend clap his hands loudly before rubbing them together in an attempt of showing off the excitement he felt about his newest endeavors. “As you know, I’ve been seeing Mistress Angel at Sublime, right? Well, we both have agreed that our relationship isn’t what we both would like it to be. Don’t get me wrong, there’s an attraction between us, it’s just not strong enough for either one of us to really want to hold onto the other and pursue it. But, she helped me find another awakening in me I never thought I could have and she has agreed to help me learn all about it. You’re looking at the newest Dominant in training at Sublime. Awesome, right?”

He was obviously very proud of himself, so if Mason couldn’t be proud for him, then he was the dick. “That’s cool, man. I didn’t know they did that.”

“They normally don’t. But since they have an opening now, they had a meeting last night and decided they would try an in-training position.”

“An opening? Is someone leaving?” He hated himself for asking. It wasn’t any of his damn business anymore. He no longer was a member and he shouldn’t care about what happened at that place.

Bradly’s face turned to a frown and his gaze dropped to the floor. “Yeah, uh, I think so. I’m not really sure.” He got to his feet as his nervous hand found its way to the back of his neck as he rubbed the skin there. Mason watched him, reading all the signs of his friend’s nervous ticks. Bradly was hiding something from him.

“You’re doing that thing again. You always play with the back of your neck when you’re lying. Why are you lying to me?”

“I’m going to go see if Becca is back with our lunch. I’m starving.” He tried to leave the room but he wasn’t getting out that easy.

“Spit it out. What are you not telling me?”

Bradly turned at the door thrusting his hands on his hips. “Man, this is stupid. You don’t want to be involved anymore and it’s cool. Let’s just drop it and go have some lunch.”

Now his curiosity got the better of him. He had to know. “Just fucking spit it out. What’s going on at Sublime you don’t want to tell me?”

“Fuck.” Bradly smacked the wall with the bottom of his rolled up fist. “I want you to know first, telling you wasn’t why I came here. Everyone has made their peace and that’s all I want for you. But the truth is, there’s an opening because Mistress Stella is leaving the club. I don’t know the ins and outs, and I sure as hell didn’t ask for details. I don’t want to get involved because I love you like a brother and whatever decisions you make, I’m standing beside you.”

Stella was leaving the club? He hoped like hell that decision had nothing to do with him? He already felt like a dick for the way things ended between them. He didn’t want or need this hanging over his head too.

“Did anyone say when she was leaving?” Even though the answer shouldn’t matter to him one way or another.

“I have no clue. I shouldn’t have even told you that much.” He paused for a second. “I’m going to go grab our lunch.” He turned out the door but stopped and looked back over his shoulder. His eyes didn’t come away from the floor with his parting words. “You know. Even though it doesn’t matter anymore, if I had to guess, I would say she’s leaving pretty damn soon.”

He left their conversation at that as he left the office. Things were beginning to get out of hand. If she was so pissed off at him that she needed to quit her job, why didn’t she call him? Because he wouldn’t have answered her anyway, and they both knew it. He knew just how stubborn he could be when he wanted to. One of the traits he’d honed when he was living with his mother.

In order to have discipline, you had to have a little bit of stubbornness flowing through your veins. If Stella bothered to call him, he would have made her wait weeks before he called her back as his way of punishment. Or maybe she didn’t want to call him. Maybe she was over their relationship just as much as he claimed to be.

His harsh words had been spoken out of anger that day she called him and he knew now they had been uncalled for. All she wanted to do was to show him that someone had invaded their privacy by taking pictures of them. She had been trying to warn him.

Did this mean he believed her now? An idea struck him as he made his way over to his desk. Did he believe she didn’t have any part in the development of those pictures? If that were true and she wasn’t behind the blackmail, then he deserved the title of the biggest asshole in the world, and he owed her an apology. He would owe her more than an apology, but he would have to find her first and get the truth out of her once and for all.