by Cynthia Dane
That set Monroe off again. Alice was too speechless to respond.
“None of you have any room to judge or talk. Maybe if you ever looked beyond yourselves and saw what was going...” No more words. Sarah curled around her brother and hid her incessant tears in his T-shirt.
He took her hand whilst pushing himself up. “I did it,” Nigel admitted. “I pushed Mrs. Monroe.” Was that a look of fear or guilt? “I’m sorry. I didn’t want to hurt you or your baby.”
“Then why?” both Sarah and Monroe asked at the same time.
“I had to.” Nigel shook his head. “Mr. Monroe… that is to say, the senior Monroe forced me into his service and made me do it. I didn’t want to!”
Alice was the first to approach him after that.
“What do you mean he forced you into his service?” She knew that the Clayborns did work for Russell too… and was not surprised to find out they did dirty work too. Why wouldn’t they? He probably paid better than his son when it came down to it.
“Yes,” Monroe said. “Explain yourself. Now.”
Nigel scoffed. Was he as disgusted with his boss as Sarah was?
“Come on, Nigel! Why would you do something like that? You should’ve told him the moment you were told to do something so deplorable.” She pointed to Monroe as if her brother didn’t know the boss was in the room.
“First of all, why the fuck would he believe me?”
“Trust me. I’m well aware of my father’s bullshit. Why do you think my wife has a bodyguard?”
“I didn’t have a choice!” Nigel shrugged his sister off him. “He was going to hurt you again, Sarah!”
Ms. Clayborn’s breath left her body. “What are you talking about?” she whispered.
Nigel cried. They were not tears of emasculation. The way he wrapped his arms around his sister, the way they cradled each other… Alice would never know what it was like to be a twin. At first I thought it was weird they lived together as adults. Let alone twenty-somethings who would surely want their separate private lives. Now I understand. They protect each other. Monroe truly did not know what he had working for him.
“I couldn’t let it happen,” Nigel said. Everyone else in the room was too frozen in disbelief to say anything. “He told me if I didn’t hurt Mrs. Monroe, he would hurt you instead.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Sarah asked, incredulous.
“How the hell could I tell you that! It was bad enough he did those things to you before.”
Sarah shuddered. “I didn’t do anything unwillingly.”
Monroe took a step forward. “Someone explain something right now.”
Ms. Clayborn was the one to stand, wiping away her tears and shooting her boss a look that spoke of her underlying independence. “God, you really are oblivious,” she muttered. “You didn’t even know I was fucking your father.”
Monroe was too shocked to speak.
“I knew he was using me. I knew it wouldn’t lead to anything, but I went along with it. I work so much I never get any personal time to date other people. I admit I was fucking stupid. Why would a man like that treat me well? Pft.”
“Sarah, stop…”
“No, no. Why not tell the whole truth? I had an affair with that man for weeks. Sometimes even when I didn’t want to, but after a while, how could I stop? What Russell Monroe wants, he gets, right?”
“Oh my God,” Monroe said.
Sarah glanced at Alice. “This all happened long before you came into the picture. It stopped after I…” She choked.
Oh, no. Alice thought of Ms. Clayborn in her bedroom a few days ago, offering her condolences. “You had a miscarriage.”
The woman sputtered through a tearful nod. The men in the room sagged their shoulders, Monroe grabbing the edge of a table. “Fuck,” he muttered. Alice went to him. He was quick to bring her into his arms. “That month you took off from work. That was after that happened, huh?”
“Yes,” Sarah squeaked. “After it happened, I went home for a while. It was hard, okay? I was still trying to decide what I wanted to do. I had barely told Russell when it happened.”
“Wait. You told him?”
Sarah glared at Alice. “Of course I did. He was the father. As soon as I had confirmation, I went and showed him the test results. He told me he would take care of it.”
“Let me guess,” Alice said with a sigh, “you thought that meant he would pay for whatever you decided.”
“I didn’t expect him to legitimize our child, but yes, I thought that he would at least financially take care of us if I decided to keep it. But one week after I said I was thinking of keeping it, I woke up with…” Sarah began to cry again, her brother drawing her down into his arms. Nobody asked her to finish her gory description.
“He was going to hurt you again, Sarah.” Nigel rocked his sister. “I couldn’t let him. I would do anything to protect you from that again.”
“What are you talking about? He didn’t hurt me. He was an asshole, but...”
“He said he would rape you! He said he would force you and kill your baby if you got pregnant again… like last time.”
“What?” Sarah sat back. “What the hell are you talking about? I had a miscarriage.”
“Yeah, and what did the doctor tell you?”
“That it looked like I had trauma… but I never even scraped my knee, let alone something like…”
“Falling down a flight of stairs?” Alice offered.
Both Clayborns ignored her. “There was that night you say you don’t remember and you woke up with that stomachache.”
“Yeah, but…”
“He told me, Sarah. He said that he drugged you and had his bodyguard beat you!”
Sarah clasped her hand over her mouth. “He said we were toasting to our baby.”
“You see?” Nigel desperately asked, while his sister began to cry again. “I couldn’t let him put you through that again. Let alone force you.”
“Jesus.” Monroe held his wife closer to him. “I had no idea.”
Alice pushed herself out of his embrace. “I think it’s safe to say we all want my father-in-law out of the picture, if not paying for his moral crimes.” She turned to her husband. “You’ve hurt him enough, Damon. Yes, he pushed me down those stairs, and he should be made to feel guilty for his actions, but do not hold it against him.”
“But…”
“No, Damon. Your father has spent his whole life terrorizing people. Don’t be like him.”
That was as good as a slap to his face.
“They’re still fired. Both of them.”
I figured as much. “I’m so sorry that happened to you,” Alice offered Ms. Clayborn. “You have my word he won’t do that to anyone ever again. As of today? You both work for me. You can have Alisha, Damon. She’s competent enough to deal with your shit.”
“For fuck’s sake, Alice.”
“Everything will change after tomorrow, anyway.”
He looked at her as if she were crazy. “You really believe that, don’t you?”
Alice smiled. Someone in that room had to smile. “You know us Monroes. We get good feelings about things.”
“I’m glad someone around us has a good feeling,” Dee grumbled. “Because this shit is almost making me quit.”
***
The BMW parked in a private garage Alice had never seen before. I forgot I was going to see the new place tonight. That had been the plan since the night before. Here Alice had thought she and Monroe would go straight home after what happened at the Clayborns.
They were both still a bit shell-shocked. Alice from the violence and depression, and her husband from the harder truths he learned about his father. Alice did not revel in being right. No man wanted to find out these things about his father. As they sat in the car, staring at the dashboard, she reached over and patted Monroe’s arm.
“Show me the new place,” she softly bade.
An elevator operator cheerily greeted them
. The new owners of apartment 36C were not forthcoming with their own words. All Alice could muster was holding Monroe’s hand and resting her forehead against his shoulder.
Their hideaway apartment was cozy and held a fantastic view of the central city park they walked through that day. Unlike the sleek penthouse a few blocks away, this one had all the comforts of the kind of home Alice grew up in. Big, plush chairs, warm walls, round furniture, and a mild scent of potpourri that made Alice think of her grandmother’s house.
“This is for us, huh?” It was her first genuine smile in hours.
His, too. “Absolutely. No kids or servants allowed.”
Alice held her stomach. “Stowaways not included.”
Monroe put his hand over hers. “Can’t help that. Here, let me show you the bedroom.”
The bedroom was as cozy as the living room. The walls were a soft dark red and lined with chestnut brown. A large wooden headboard framed a king sized bed covered in black and gold blankets. Instead of the hardwoods of their penthouse apartment, carpeting of a subdued color lined the floors. Alice was ready to curl up in front of the electric fireplace right away.
“You’ve thought of almost everything,” she said. “I’m gonna guess the bathroom is pretty nice.”
“Only the nicest for you, precious. Clawfoot bathtub and all the fixings in the shower. I took the liberty of stocking your side of the sink with all your usual products.” Monroe opened the main closet and showed a small selection of comfortable robes and cotton dresses. “To start you off with, of course.” He quickly shut the closet again. “Close your eyes. The last room is a surprise.”
Alice knew what was in the second bedroom. Our supposed playroom. Of course, now that she was pregnant, all she could think was that their options were severely limited. Maybe. She thought. Possibly.
Monroe wrapped his hands around her eyes and led her out of the bedroom. “To the right,” he directed. “Now left. A little bit ahead. Hang on.” A door opened. “All right. Go forward.”
His hands lowered.
“Open your eyes.”
Alice should have been prepared. Yeah, right. How could she be prepared for a renovated sex dungeon?
“Sorry if it’s the last thing you want to look at after what happened earlier.”
Alice touched a selection of floggers on the wall. “I’m happily not thinking about that. We’re in our sanctuary, right? We don’t have to think about that.” She turned back to him. “We don’t have to think about anything but us.”
“That’s right.” He cupped his hand around her cheek. “I’ll let you take a look around. Be right back, my love.”
Monroe left Alice in the large playroom. Strangely enough, it felt as cozy as the rest of the apartment. Soft, warm lights. Reds and blacks. Neatly organized implements. It was the only room with hardwood floors, but how could Alice care about that when there was sex furniture to check out?
Baby furniture had been that: child’s play. This room was packed with beds, couches, and yes, a swing. Furniture all carefully constructed with only sex in mind. There were a few pieces that served their original functions, like dressers stuffed with sex toys and clothing, but for the most part Alice would never be able to look at a couch the same way again.
Her phone buzzed in her pocket. It was Monroe.
“I left a special outfit for you in the closet. Put it on. I want you ready for me in ten minutes.”
Didn’t give a girl much time to take in the scenery. Alice caught sight of two hooks hanging from the ceiling in the center of the room and had yet another gut feeling. She was going to become acquainted with those hooks very soon.
Chapter 22
She found her husband in the living room enjoying a drink in one of the large chairs.
“There you are,” he said into his glass. “Was starting to wonder if I would have to go in there and check on you.”
Alice draped herself against the playroom doorway. Her naked breasts were so damn tender that she did her best to avoid brushing her nipples against anything. It didn’t work. She spent so much time quivering from the intense sensations swarming her nerves that Monroe must have thought she was losing her mind. “I wanted to make sure I looked my best for you… sir.”
She knew what was going on. She knew what this night was about. They had planned to explore their new den of debauchery and perhaps indulge in a scene. Now after all the stress they endured in the Clayborns’ apartment? Alice was not shocked that Monroe was chomping at the bit to make her submit to him.
The outfit he chose for her was both sexy and practical – for their purposes, anyway. Even though the closet was stuffed with beautiful corsets in a wide variety of colors, Alice knew she wouldn’t get to wear them until she wasn’t pregnant anymore. Instead, she plucked a faux-corset from a rack and shimmied into it, grateful that the worst her weight gain had gotten so far was bad bloating.
The black corset was nothing more than a large cummerbund for her waist. Her breasts easily spilled over the top, hanging lower than ever before, but admittedly divine on top of the black fabric. My nipples are huge. Holy shit. No wonder her husband’s eyes went to them immediately.
There was no crotch. Garters pulled against the outfit and met a pair of black knee-high tights. Alice had fastened her hair into a loose bun before stepping out of the playroom.
“You’re absolutely tantalizing, my pet.” Monroe put his drink down on the coffee table. “Come to me. I want to spoil you with attention.”
Any number of ways to go to him existed. Alice could have sauntered across the room and draped herself across his lap. She could have taken her time, exploring one corner of the apartment, then the other, before eventually settling next to him.
She remembered their first night together in Chicago. Seems so long ago now. It was her first official night of training, and what did he do to her?
Make her know her place by having her crawl to him.
Alice knelt on the carpet, hands splayed before her, ass in the air, and eyes never leaving Monroe’s. He watched with a studious gaze as she crawled toward him.
“You really are my pet right now, aren’t you?” Monroe leaned forward, elbows on knees. His hand was there to meet her forehead for a tender touch. “If this is what you want, then I’m happy to give it to you.”
Was it what Alice wanted? Certainly, she was in the mood for some pampering. The poor dear was stressed out. Even before the blowup that evening, Alice was ready for some play with her husband. It had been too long. The man inducted her into the world of kink and kept holding out as of late. How was that fair? Too tired. Too stressed. Just want to have sex. Oh, Monroe had found plenty of ways to assert his dominance in the bedroom as of late. Whether he was smothering her with his body, hips crashing against hers, or directing her while she rode him, Damon Monroe never hesitated to take control.
This was a different kind of control, though. Alice craved a tender touch and words of assurance. Not only were external factors at play, but internal ones, too. Alice wanted to know that the man who was providing for her and her children loved her unconditionally.
“Are you pleased with my outfit?” she asked softly. However, she was not meek. Not in the least. Alice was so comfortable around her husband by this point that she couldn’t bring herself to even act meek. She could sound subservient and soft, though. That was easy. He practically brought that out of her every time they were alone like this.
Monroe tipped her chin up and purred. “That’s like asking me if I’m pleased with your existence.”
Alice lowered her head, resting it against her husband’s leg. The crisp linen fabric beneath her skin felt lovely. “Are you?”
“There is no one in this world who pleases me more than you do.” He continued to stroke her cheek with his fingertips. “I love you, precious. I should be the one asking you every day if I please you.”
“Of course you do.” How could he say that? While Alice was still getting used t
o some of his quirks and shortcomings, to say she wasn’t overall pleased with him was almost insulting. Did he still fear that she was only interested in his money? If that was true, she would have cashed out after the first threat against her life. It was that bullshit love business that kept her coming back. “No one makes me feel as safe and comfortable as you do.”
“I’m glad to hear that. Truly.” Monroe went from petting her cheek to massaging the back of her neck. Someone’s getting hard already. Alice smiled against his leg as her own frisky fingers slipped between his thighs. Uh huh. “Now what are you doing? Do I have to teach you some self-control again?”
“If I may say, sir, you’re quite the master of self-control right now.”
“How’s that?”
Alice lifted her head and gazed into those beautiful ambers. “I know you well enough now to know how much restraint you’re practicing. You want nothing more than to throw yourself on me until you come.”
His hand tightened on her shoulder. “As delightful as that would be in the short-term, we have better things to serve us over the long-term. Why would I waste my energy on something so selfish when I could be sharing something greater with you?”
Alice melted against his touch. “You always have a plan, don’t you?”
“I can’t help it. It’s how my brain functions. Always formulating plans.”
We’ll see if they come to fruition. “What’s your plan tonight, sir?”
“First, I want to know what you want, Alice. Don’t hold back your requests.”
She was content to have his palm against her skin. “Let’s stay like this a little while longer. It’s nice.”
No staff. No bodyguards (although one was on call out in the main hallway.) No phones. No outside world to tell Alice and her husband that they couldn’t indulge in one of life’s greatest pleasures – regardless of what he had planned for them that night.
***
“Is that uncomfortable?”
Alice tugged against her binds. “No, sir.”
