“Go have fun, Chantal. I’ll talk to you sometime in the week.”
Waving her hand as she walked out the door, she wondered why he said that about Dom. She was starting to think the same thing as Bryan, though. Why was Dom holding himself back from her? Was there something specific that he wanted from her? Was there something he needed to tell her? God, she hoped it wasn’t bad.
––––––––
D
om sat in a corner booth in Joey’s bar waiting for Maria to come back from the bathroom. Raising his hand, he ordered another beer for himself, as he went over in his head what he needed to tell Maria. There were certain things that they did at the firm, but some of those things he didn’t want to show. She knew half of it already, according to what Lee Anne had told him, which was good, but when you worked with a new partner things were always different. You had to make sure both parties were comfortable in the circumstances.
When the main door opened, he glanced that way and gasped. In walked Chantal and Joey. She was laughing at something Joey had said. Running his eyes over her body, he frowned as his gaze landed on their joined hands.
He had to hold back the growl he wanted to let out. He had done this all to himself. He wanted her bad, really bad. His cock was hard in an instant at just seeing her. The thought of having her again, having her under him, made him moan.
Wiping his hand over his face, he noticed Joey looking his way and nodding his head towards him, and relayed the same. Chantal looked at that moment, and his eyes meet hers.
He noticed straight away that her breathing picked up.
Well, she still wanted him.
Dom smiled at her, and she started to do the same until she saw something behind him, and froze. Spinning around, Dom saw that Maria was standing there looking at both Joey and Chantal.
Fuck!
He glanced back at Chantal, but her whole body language had changed towards him.
She had gone as stiff as a board. Joey whispered something in her ear and she smiled up at him.
Damn it
. He wanted that look on her face to be for him, not Joey. When they walked up to his table, not once did she look his way. Joey stopped and greeted, “Hey, Dom. How you been, man?”
Glancing over at Chantal, he noticed that she was looking everywhere but him. “I’m good, Joey. Have some business to do. What are about you to?” he asked.
Joey pulled Chantal closer into him. “Me and my girl are here having lunch. Then after that it’s up to her.”
Dom growled. He couldn’t help it. Chantal’s head shot around and faced him.
Maria slid her hand onto his shoulder. “Dominic, who are your friends.”
Removing her hand from him, he introduced them. “Maria, this is Joey and Chantal. Guys, this is Maria.”
Maria moved forward, stuck out her hand and shook Joey’s. “Nice to meet you, Maria.” Joey grinned.
“Nice to meet you too, Joey. Hey, are you the owner of this bar?”
He laughed. “Yes, I am. What do you think of the place?”
Maria glanced around the place, and smiled back at him. “I Love it, you did a really great job of it.”
Turning towards Chantal, she offered her hand. “I’m Maria.”
Chantal glanced at her hand and back up. “I heard.” Looking up at Joey, she stated, “I’m going to grab us a table.” Then, she turned and left them.
Sitting down beside Dom, Maria laughed. “Well, she was nice.”
“She is, you just need to get to know her,” Dom growled. He was shocked as to how she treated Maria. He watched as she made her way over to the farthest corner of the bar and sat in a booth. She had never acted like that to anyone; well, not that he had really noticed when he was around her. Chantal had always taken his attention away from everything, no matter what it was.
“Maria, go up and order us something to eat,” he said, without looking at her.
She gasped. “Excuse me?”
Dom turned back towards her. “Do I have to repeat myself?”
Shaking her head, she looked down into her lap.
Good girl.
Maria wasn’t his sub, but after what had just transpired, he felt he had to set her straight. He had no problem doing that in front of anyone, but he really did not like doing it when Chantal was there.
“Maria?”
She stood up, not looking into his eyes, “What would you like, sir?”
“Glen knows what I like. Same for Joey.” Nodding, she walked off.
“What’s the deal with her, man?”
“Maria works with me at Elite Inc.”
“Not that, Dom. The way she acted around you.” Joey frowned.
Dom rubbed his hand over his face. “Maria is a natural submissive. Although I’m not her actual Dom, she will obey certain commands from one.”
“Oh, ok.”
“While I have you here, there’s a party at the Inquisition on Tuesday night that you might be interested in.” He glanced over at Chantal’s table, noticing she was on her phone. Taking a closer look, he noticed that she looked pale, and whomever she was talking was saying something she didn’t like. He wanted to go to her and see what had her like that, but if he went to her, she would only push him way.
“What kind of party is it?”
“You’ll find out when you get there. I’ll drop off two tickets here tomorrow, for you and a mate.”
He couldn’t help but look back at her, frowning. “Joey, I think you need to go over to Chantal. She doesn’t look too good.”
Both Joey and himself glanced her way. “I better go check on her, thanks, Dom.” Joey stood and strolled to their table. What had her looking like that? He would find out from her, whether he had to force her to tell him or not.
******
C
hantal sat at her booth, waiting on Joey to return.
Who was that girl?
When they had walked in, she had noticed Dom right away, out of the corner of her eye. When he smiled at her, her heartbeat sped up. The butterflies in her belly were going a hundred miles an hour just at the site of him.
He wore dark denim jeans, a black shirt stretched tight over his well-defined chest, an un-zipped leather jacket over the top, and those damn boots. He was a wet dream, sitting there. Most of the women in the bar were drooling over him, but he wasn’t looking at any of them—only her. Just as she started to smile at him, she watched as a gorgeous redhead moved and stood behind him.
The smile dropped from her face. He wasn’t there alone.
Why would he ever be alone, look at him!
As Dom nodded towards them, Joey walked them over to his table. She was not in the mood to deal with him right then, or ever, really. It was clear to her at this point that he had had enough of her. If the redhead was with him, what chance did she ever have with him, again?
When Dom introduced ‘Maria’ to them, the way she looked at Joey pissed Chantal off. She was eating him up with her eyes.
Hello, am I bloody invisible?
She knew she was rude when she didn’t shake her hand; she was brought up better than that, but this woman ticked her off, badly.
Even worse was when Maria laid her hand on Dom. Jealousy run through her like a tilt train, hitting her head on. She needed to get away from Maria and Dom. Moving as far away as possible so she wouldn’t make a fool of herself, she pulled out her mail.
Flicking through it all, she saw that several bills needed to be paid. One notice she had received told her that her shipment was on its way and would arrive by Friday. The last letter was a red envelope. She flipped it over, checking for a return address, but saw nothing. It was addressed to her shop. Ripping the edge off, she pulled out the letter inside. When she opened it and started to read it. She paled.
––––––––
C
hantal,
Obviously, I didn’t make myself clear to you in the last letter. U R MINE! Not his or anyone else’s. He will taint your body and mind with what he is. You deserve so much better than him.
I will prove my love to you! He will never do that for you!
Who were they talking about? Joey? He was the only one she had been with. Whoever it was, they were losing it.
Pushing the letter into her bag, she pulled out her phone. Maybe she needed to tell someone about the letters. But who? She want to worry someone over something that was so stupid. It could possibly just be someone playing a prank on her.
Her phone started to vibrate in her hand. “Jesus,” she hissed, as she nearly jumped out of her own skin. Breathing in and out several times, she answered the call.
“Hello.”
“Chantilly, darling. I was just ringing you to find out what time you will be here for the charity party.”
Groaning, Chantal realised she had forgotten all about the stupid party. “Hi, mum. I will be there around noon, is that ok?”
“That is fine dear. Are you still bringing that young man with you?”
“Yes mum, I will—”
“Hang on dear, your father wants to talk to you.”
Great. She didn’t want to talk to him. After the letter she received, she could not hide anything from her parents. All of her emotions came through her voice, and her father would pick up on them and demand to know what was wrong. As he came on the line, she struggled to get her breathing under control. “Chantilly, I have a young man coming to the party, that I would like you to accompany. He is the son of a really important client,” Malcolm said.
“Daddy, I already have a date for the night. How will it look if I abandon him after we arrive?”
“I have no clue as to who you are bringing, but you will do this, young lady. This is for the company,” he told her in a stern voice.
“Yes, daddy. I will arrive early so I know what I have to do,” she whispered. There was no way she was taking Cody to the party. If her father hadn’t met her date beforehand there was no way he would be allowed into the party, even if he were her date for the night.
“Good girl. Now, I need you to come in around 4p.m. There are a couple of files that I need you to go over. That new secretary has no clue as to how we do things around here; I have no idea why I hired her,” he growled.
If you couldn’t make her father pleased in the first week or so in the firm, you were gone and replaced by someone else.
“I’ll be there,” she replied before hanging up. She had never ended a called from her father before he did, but this time that she had. She couldn’t deal with his temper right then. Sending a quick text off to Cody, she let him know that her father had found her a date for the charity ball, but since she still had his ticket, that he could come along and keep her company. He knew exactly what her parents were like. Laying her phone on the table after switching it off, she glanced up and noticed Joey walking her way.
She plastered a smile on her face the best she could. “Hey.”
“Hey, yourself.” Sliding in beside her, he asked, “Are you alright?”
“Yeah, of course. Why wouldn’t I be?” She snuggled into the side of his body.
“You look a little pale.”
Had he seen her read the letter? No, he was too far away to notice that. She didn’t like keeping secrets from anyone, but this was necessary. She would be embarrassed if she told someone.
“My father just called. His conversations are never the best.” She attempted to laugh.
“Well, that would explain it then.”
Joey pulled her into him more, so that she was nearly on his lap. “So, do you still want to eat here, or just grab take out?” he whispered against her ear.
“Take out sounds so much better to me,” she replied.
“I’ll shoot out back and grab some meals then. Won’t be long.”
Nodding, she reached over and had a sip of her drink, as he walked towards the kitchen. She glanced over in Dom’s direction, and hated seeing the girl sitting so close to him. She could not get enough of him. Maybe she would see how he liked it when someone played with his hormones as much as he did with hers. Smiling to herself, she decided there was going to be a surprise visit to his house soon. Her plan was to seduce him, and see how he liked it when someone slept with him and walked away. No emotions...nothing. She could do it, just the way he did.
––––––––
S
kylar sat in the office of Doctor Louise Clark, nervously. Her hand covering her belly, she sat there contemplating whether the visit was a good idea. It took everything she had to ring up and make an appointment the see the therapist. Looking around, she realised the room was starting to give her the chills. It was too plain, and she swore the plant in the corner was staring at her. She moved uncomfortably in the chair, before standing and walking over to the check the documentation on the wall. She had never seen so many in one office. The whole wall was covered in them. As she was standing closest to the desk eyeing the one from a university in Texas, she had not heard the door open, or someone walk in.
“You must be Skylar Montague.”
Skylar screamed and turned around holding her hand over her mouth as she hit the wall.
Raising her hands, the doctor apologized. “I’m so sorry, Skylar. I thought you heard me come in.”
Her breathing was coming in shorts bursts, she tried to take deeper breaths but it did not happen. The doctor moved closer, standing in front of her. “Breathe, Skylar. Deep breaths, in and out. Count backwards from ten. Slow.”
She did what she was told, closing her eyes as she counted to ten, breathing in and out as slow as she could. When she had finished, she opened her eyes and looked at the doctor.
“Better?”
“Yes, thank you.” She smiled weakly.
The doctor walked over and sat down on the closest seat, facing her. Raising her hand, she gestured to the seat opposite of her. Straightening her shoulders Skylar moved over and sat down, fiddling with her fingers in her lap.
Opening her folder that was in her lap, she said, “My name is Dr. Clark, but you can call me Louise. What can I do for you today, Skylar?” She smiled towards her.
“Umm, well. I don’t know if I should be here, actually.” She laughed. How stupid was that? She shook her head at the words that came out of her mouth.
“We all come for a reason, Skylar. How about we start off with anything that you want to talk about, maybe something about your family?”