Eve took a shuddering breath and pulled her hand out of his to cover her eyes. She rested her elbows on the table and took several deep breaths before she whispered. “I want to know how much you made for dominating people. This is fucked-up shit. I need to know what you got paid to do it.”
“Two thousand dollars an hour,” he said with a bitter smile she couldn’t see as she placed both hands over her face to hide from him. “Plus expenses.”
“Are you joking?” Eve whispered in amazement.
“No,” he said simply as he took another long drag off his cigarette and tapped it against the ashtray. “Why would that be a joke? Time, sweat, money, they’re all easy to give up. That’s why people like Paul Guy work for free whenever someone comes crying to them that they can’t pay a lawyer. Try sacrificing your humanity for something, that’s much more difficult. Hiring a devil will always be expensive, it’s supposed to be.”
“Did you sleep with them?” Eve asked, her body tense as she continued to speak into her hands over her face. “Did you fuck people who were paying you?”
“That’s what bothers you? Not that I was mentally and physically abusing people, the fucking is the issue?”
“I just want to know,” Eve whispered in anguish.
“If a slave appealed to me I might consider fucking them. Most didn’t appeal to me and never got the chance to work for the privilege of sucking my cock, let alone getting
off on it. I very rarely fucked a client. I had Paul Guy at home. He’s fucking gorgeous. He’ll do anything I tell him and do it better than any of those other slaves could ever hope to. He’s completely obedient unless he’s playing a game with Evie on his team. Do you think they could compete with him?”
“Did they enjoy being dominated and abused by you?”
“You offered to sell me your soul last night to cater to your fetish,” Danny said with a smug smile. “In comparison, two thousand dollars an hour is a steal. I could have charged ten thousand dollars and still had clients knocking down my door. Paying me an outrageous amount was part of the high. I was making them suffer just by handing them a bill and they loved it.”
“Oh my God, that makes sense,” Eve whispered softly as she lowered her hands and stared at him in shock. “This twisted shit makes sense to me. What have you done to me?”
“I’ve corrupted you,” he said with a bitter laugh as he put out his cigarette. “It’s what I do.”
“You didn’t make regular people pay you that much, did you?” Eve asked pleadingly, making it obvious she was searching for some scrap of decency in him. “Please tell me people weren’t mortgaging their houses to see you in leather pants. You’re not that evil.”
“No, I’m not that evil,” he admitted reluctantly because he almost preferred her seeing him as evil. Sometimes he battled with the strange urge to protect Eve from everything dangerous, even him. “My clients could all easily afford what I charged. I catered to the very wealthy. Good male Dominants are hard to find, especially ones who swing both ways and are handsome enough to appear worthy to serve. Circe really is the best Domme in this country. Anyone who swings in upper scale circles knows her. Being trained by Circe and then being Paul’s Master when everyone knows Paul Guy because he’s not just beautiful, he’s got this insane pain tolerance any other slave would die for made me a valuable commodity. I had to start taking clients because they wouldn’t leave me alone. I wanted to abuse them just to get them to shut up. I still get emails. None of them seem to understand the meaning of retired.”
“Did you retire because of me?”
“I should say yes.” Danny studied Eve, seeing signs of hope in her eyes and knowing it would be easy to prey on it, but he loved her and couldn’t be anything less than honest. “But no, I retired almost a year ago. I knew Paul was going to get married and I didn’t want to miss one moment of being with him. It didn’t work out well. I was trying to be with him while I still could and Paul was trying to break the addiction. I was miserable and I didn’t even have clients to take it out on. Then out of the blue you came back and not only did I get to fall in love all over again, but I got Paul Guy’s attention. He’s been all over me since the first night you showed up. I still can’t believe my luck. This will probably end up being God’s cruelest joke. That’s the only possible explanation.”
“I won’t let it be a joke,” Eve whispered as tears rolled down her cheeks. “I can’t promise you I can talk Paul Guy into breaking up with Trisha, but I will promise you I won’t leave you lonely. Thanks to my mother, I know the Bible. I knew when you told me to bite the apple it was a make-or-break deal. You won’t leave Eden alone—it’s impossible. Like it or not, you’re stuck with me forever.”
He nodded as he finally lost his own battle against tears. “Okay,” he whispered and then wrapped his arms around Eve when she suddenly leaned into him, her tears warm against the curve of his neck as she buried her face there. He leaned down, inhaling the scent of flowery shampoo as he tried to find peace with the fact that holding on to half of his soul was better than losing all of it. “So we’ll give Paul Guy the time of his life and then we’ll be miserable together if it ends up being over. That’s much more than I expected.”
Danny sat there with Eve at the kitchen table, holding on to her and feeling some of the tension drain out of him when he realized she still loved him despite what he told her. It was little wonder Paul was in such a good mood. It was a freeing feeling to come out of a very dark closet without retribution. He understood it now after getting his own secrets off his chest without fury or hatred from Eve. They had both exposed themselves to her and she had accepted them unconditionally. Combined with the fact that Paul had made it blatantly obvious he did love Danny had him wondering if there was really hope for fallen angels.
“What happened to your accent? How come you’re so refined when you’re the only one out of us who never went to college?” Eve asked, making it obvious the conversation got too intense and she was searching for a change of topic. “I will never understand that, I go away for ten years and suddenly you’re this classy guy that likes wine and Beethoven. High school Danny Boy would die at the idea of listening to classical music and now your iPod is full of it. Don’t think I haven’t noticed. I saw opera on there too.”
“I’ve been servicing rich, spoiled fetish whores for years,” Danny said in annoyance as he wiped at the tears on his cheeks hastily and took a deep breath to clear his head. “You think they’re going to pay some fool with a hick accent to dominate them? When in Rome, Evie, and I’ll have you know there is nothing wrong with opera. My life is a fucking opera. The agony of it speaks to me.”
Eve suddenly laughed, her whole body shaking against him. “I think I just figured out what’s different about you.”
He surprised himself by laughing with her despite the riot of emotions he was still dealing with. He wrapped his arms more tightly around Eve, clinging to her because she always exuded happiness and comfort that would never stop being addicting. “That makes you brilliant.”
“Shut up, don’t make fun of me,” she said, still laughing against him. “You’ll make me angry.”
“Be angry,” he said, laughing harder. “I don’t give a shit. Angry puppies are still cute puppies. Growl at me all day if you feel like it, but don’t start crying when I make you suffer for it.”
“Am I messing with the wrong angel?”
“Yes,” he said warningly. “For this particular angel, making you angry is the goal, not the punishment. Don’t get too angry, I’ll start charging.”
“Then forget it, you’re forgiven,” Eve said, pulling back to stare at him with dancing eyes still shimmering with tears. “’Cause I don’t have two thousand dollars.”
“Yeah, you do,” he said with a warm smile as he studied Eve’s beautiful face. “What’s mine is yours, Evie Girl. You’re loaded. It still makes my mind reel that a beer-drinking redneck like my father was able to make as much as he did in real estate. That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you, people are such suckers.”
“You really have a hard time believing your father was able to manipulate people and make a fortune in real estate?” Eve asked, staring at him in disbelief. “You don’t see yourself in him at all?”
Danny bristled, gaping at her in horror for one long moment to see if she was being serious. Seeing Eve was being completely honest, he looked down at his bare chest, admiring his smooth, tan skin from his Cuban mother as a reminder that he would never be his father. “Are you calling me a redneck?”
“I’m calling you half a redneck,” Eve said with another laugh. “There’s beer in the fridge and fishing poles on the porch to prove it and no amount of opera on your iPod will let you deny it.”
Danny had to give her that as he considered both the beer and the fishing pole. “Actually, it’s Saturday and the dishes are done. Both of those sound really appealing.”
“If you want to fish and drink beer before noon, I won’t tell anyone,” Eve said with a mischievous smile. “I’ll even go redneck with you. I believe there are three poles on that porch, one of which has my name on it.”
“There
are
three poles on the porch,” he said decisively, knowing Paul would be back soon from the doctor. “Paul Guy’s fishing with us today when he gets home. It’s been ages since he’s fished and he’s the real redneck. He loves beer and fishing more than we ever could. We’re going to get trashed and fish until it gets dark and he’ll love it.”
“That sounds like a plan,” Eve said, her voice becoming soft and nostalgic. “It’s been way too long since the three of us have fished together. I think we’d all enjoy it.”
“You’re absolutely right.” Danny smiled as he also became nostalgic, remembering a time when happiness was as simple as having two best friends to fish with on a Saturday afternoon. “We would enjoy it.”
“Are you sure you can’t make dinner? Daddy wanted to discuss wedding details.”
Paul winced, thankful Trisha couldn’t see him as he held his cell phone closer to his ear. “I want to,” he started, feeling his face flush because lying this blatantly never got easier. “I’ve just got so much work. Can you discuss the details without me? I like what you like. Whatever you decide will be perfect.”
“You’re sweet,” Trisha said softly, disappointment lingering in her voice. “I worry about you working so much. It’s been really insane these last few months for you. I don’t know how you do it.”
“Yeah,” he said, looking around as he stopped at a stop sign. “I feel terrible for letting you down again. Maybe you should marry someone else.”
Trisha laughed. “You’re being too hard on yourself.”
“No, I don’t think I am,” he admitted, closing his eyes in misery for one long moment.
“Your work is important,” she said firmly. “Don’t worry about dinner. We can just go over everything at lunch tomorrow. Are we still on for that?”
“Absolutely,” he said quickly, shifting gears as he balanced his cell phone between his ear and shoulder with practiced ease. “Let’s go somewhere nice. Can you get an extra half an hour off?”
“Sure,” she said, a smile in her voice. “Lunch is the only time we see each other anymore. Where’d you want to go?”
“You pick it and I’ll pay for it.”
She laughed again. “Could be expensive.”
“I think I can handle it,” Paul said, still completely unable to shake the guilt overwhelming him. “Maybe we can do something Sunday. Would you like that?”
“I thought Sundays were Danny days,” Trisha said in irritation. “He’s so childish, Paul. Does he really think us getting married is going to ruin your friendship? Why is he clinging to you like this?”
“He has separation issues,” Paul explained evenly. “His mother dying fucked him up. He’s always waiting for the world to end.”
“I don’t think he likes me.”
“As a general rule, Danny doesn’t like anyone,” Paul said with a grimace. “He’s sort of an asshole.”
“Sort of?”
“Fine, he’s a full-fledged asshole,” Paul admitted reluctantly. “But he has his good points.”
“He hasn’t gone to be fitted for his tux,” Trisha said in irritation. “I don’t know why he’s procrastinating. He’s your best man. He can’t show up to our wedding in jeans.”
“The wedding is two months away. He has plenty of time. He’ll do it.” “You know how I feel about leaving things to the last minute.”
“It’ll all be fine,” Paul said soothingly as he turned down the long road that led to his house. “Listen, I’m almost home. I’m going to eat dinner and start on all this work. Call me when you get home from your parents, okay?”
Paul parked his car and hung up after one final goodbye. He stared at the house surrounded by a setting sun that had turned everything fiery red. As usual the trees were still. Breezes very rarely blew this far inland and there was eeriness in the crisp November air. Paul used to love autumn in Florida, when the air got cooler and the bugs were less of an annoyance, but this autumn an air of impending doom hung over him. He found himself missing the hot, muggy heat of summer that had swept Eve back into their lives. Every day that ticked by brought him closer to a lifetime devoid of the two people he could profess love to without having to pretend. Planning his wedding felt like making funeral arrangements and it was that more than anything that had him avoiding it.
Paul looked from Danny’s shiny black Shelby Cobra, to Eve’s beat-up blue Escort she continued to cling to despite both Paul and Danny begging her to scrap it. It was always in the driveway when he got home, because somewhere along the way Eve had managed to move in. It wasn’t anything they had discussed, it had just happened. After that first game the three of them had played together, Eve had never really gone home. Slowly but surely all her belongings had been moved over to the house as she packed one overnight bag after the other and never bothered to bring the things back to her parents’ place.
Paul had been trying to find a way to break it to Trisha that he had a new roommate, but nothing he had come up with sounded convincing. No matter that everyone knew Danny and Eve were a couple, it was still strange Eve was living with Paul when the two of them had a history. Danny would seem like the biggest idiot in the world to bring his girlfriend into a house with her ex-boyfriend. Trisha had a lot of negative opinions about Danny, but being an idiot wasn’t one of them.