Waiting on Tuesday

by Bella Settarra

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Tuesday mulled over the morning’s events as they drove to the club. One of the reasons she had been reluctant to stay with Dan was those dang nightmares! And she had been mad as hell when he told Paulette about them. The other reason she hadn’t wanted to stay there was that she was afraid she would like it too much—and she did. She looked over at him as he drove. He looked thoughtful and determined, and gorgeous. She knew something was worrying him about work, but he wouldn’t tell her what it was. Hopefully it would all be resolved today and maybe she could go back home tonight. Trouble was, she didn’t want to!

  “I need to find Master Nathan and then we’re going to see Mr. Dexter,” he told her. “Do you want to go and find the girls and let them know you’re still in the land of the living?”

  Tuesday didn’t need asking twice. “I’d love to.” She hadn’t realized how much she missed everyone. She’d only been gone a day and already it felt like forever. Usually she was at the club every day, or at least every night. Even when she wasn’t working, she would frequent the dungeon. It felt like home to her.

  Although the evening staff hadn’t yet arrived for their shift, there were still a few girls tidying the bar and restaurant.

  “When are you coming back?” Summer asked as she gave her friend a big hug.

  “Soon, I hope. I’m absolutely fine. I don’t know what all the fuss was about,” Tuesday told her with a grin.

  “It’s been boring here without you,” April confided. “We don’t have nearly as much fun when you’re not here.”

  Tuesday laughed. “You’d best be having a word with Master Dan, then, and tell him I’m to come back right away.”

  Dominic allowed the girls to take a break in the restaurant bar and they sat down and had a good catch-up. Tuesday felt like she was back where she belonged. It was good to know she had been missed, even if it was only for a day or two.

  When the girls finally went back to work, Tuesday went in search of Master Dan. She caught the elevator just as the doors were closing and was delighted to bump into Hope. She had bare feet and her usual uniform for working in the Bottom Bar.

  “Going down?” Hope giggled as they shared a hug.

  The innuendo wasn’t lost on either of them and Tuesday smirked. “Not tonight. At least, I don’t think so,” she replied with a wink.

  “How are you getting on with Master Dan?” Hope grinned.

  “Oh, he’s…”

  Just then the doors opened at the entrance to the dungeon. The familiar sign with the lady in the submissive pose with a collar and handcuffs faced them. Tuesday felt herself go hot and she suddenly felt sick. She automatically followed Hope out of the elevator and looked down the corridor. There were no clients in yet, although the heavy throb of Nine Inch Nails hummed through the air. She looked over toward the door she had been taken to the other night. The door to the tiny closet. To her hell.

  “Are you OK?” Hope’s big blue eyes were staring at her, although her voice sounded slightly muffled.

  Her friend’s soft, warm arms were around her in an instant, and she was vaguely aware that she was being spoken to as she rocked to and fro, clinging tightly to the blonde girl. She closed her eyes, blocking out the commotion which erupted around her.

  “Come on, little one.” Master Dan’s deep voice permeated her haze, and she felt herself being lifted into his arms. He was talking to someone as they took the elevator to the top floor, and soon the familiar scent of his office seeped into her consciousness.

  She clung to his neck as he sat on the small sofa which ran under the window of the HR Office, and she heard other people moving around the room, placing cups on the table and mumbling. As the mush in her head began to deplete, their voices became clearer, and she slowly looked around to see Master Nathan, Steve Ratner, and Mr. Dexter himself sitting around the small coffee table.

  “It’s not like he’s being kept in a cell or anything. At least we know he’s comfortable,” Master Steve was saying.

  Master Nathan chuckled. “Trust Brad. Only he could get taken hostage and still end up in the lap of luxury!”

  “That’s not exactly the point,” Mr. Dexter protested, a little irritably.

  Tuesday felt herself gaping at them as their words whirled in her mind.

  “Hey little one, you’re back with us, then?” Master Dan’s words were as warm as his arms as he helped her sit up on his knee.

  She nodded dumbly.

  “It seems Brad Dexter managed to get himself kidnapped, and the boss is trying to come up with the ransom,” he explained gently. “That’s where the membership fees were headed. Good job we found out in time.”

  “I didn’t know what else to do. Saunders said they’ll kill him if I inform the cops,” Mr. Dexter moaned.

  “Good thing he doesn’t know you’re friends with a sergeant. We know what hotel they have him holed up at, but it’s guarded day and night. Don’t worry though, Saunders is bound to mess up soon,” Steve assured him.

  “He reckons if I just give them the cash they’ll let him go. I’ve got no choice.”

  The Sergeant shook his head at the boss. “Come on, Dexter, you know as well as I do it’s never that simple. Once you’ve given them the money they’ll either want more or…”

  “Oh God! You think they’ll kill him anyway?” Dexter’s face turned white.

  “It’s possible, but I doubt it,” Steve replied.

  “Saunders? Harry Saunders? I knew I recognized that face! Fucking ‘John Smith’… Did he think I wouldn’t figure it out?” Master Dan’s deep voice resonated through his chest, humming next to Tuesday’s ear. He was seething.

  “No, his first name’s Tom.” Dexter frowned.

  “Is that what he told you?” Dan scorned.

  “Not quite. I heard someone on his cell call him Saunders. Are you saying you know this guy?”

  “I know Tom Saunders,” Steve interjected. “Young, skinny guy with a beard. He’s the new manager at ‘Ropes.’”

  Dexter shook his head. “No, this guy doesn’t have a beard, and he’s quite stocky as I recall.”

  “Guys, they’re brothers. The guy in your office the other day was Harry,” Dan told Dexter with a satisfied sneer. “He was the money behind the transaction, I’ll bet. I saw him at the Hummingbird Club downtown, just about the time of their takeover.”

  Tuesday’s pride that Master Dan had solved at least part of the puzzle was quickly overtaken by a feeling of nausea. “Jenner mentioned a Saunders,” she whispered quietly into Master Dan’s ear.

  The room fell silent, and she blushed as she felt all eyes on her.

  “What about Saunders?” Master Dan stared at her.

  She swallowed hard. “When he locked me in that room he said something about Saunders being on his back.” She kept her eyes fixed on Master Dan, not daring to look at the others.

  “Jenner came from Ropes,” Dan clarified.

  “Fuck!” Dexter thumped the coffee table, causing the cups to spill. “I believed that Saunders bastard when he told me he was a PI. Said he was investigating some gang that’d taken over a couple of clubs in town.”

  Steve shook his head. “And turns out the Saunders brothers were the so-called gang in question. Classic scam.”

  Dexter looked like he’d been socked in the gut. “He said they’d taken the managers hostage. Reckoned they might have killed one or two to get their hands on Ropes, but couldn’t prove anything. That’s why I was so scared about Bradley. I sent him right into a trap!”

  “We’d have known if anyone had been killed over there,” Ratner assured him. “You should have come to me sooner. There was some concern over the whereabouts of one of the managers at one time, but he turned up later. Seemed he’d just taken a vacation no one knew about. Some lack of communication, I believe.”

  “Seems to be a lot of that going around,” Nathan piped up.

  Tuesday watched the MD’s face turn red. He’d told everyone
that Brad was on vacation!

  “OK, so we know that the Saunders brothers have already taken over two clubs locally and chances are they wanted this one as well. That would probably have been the next step after securing the cash from you,” Steve warned Dexter. “So why move the members around? I’m guessing most, if not all, of those newbies you’ve got here have been moved from one or other of these clubs?”

  Nathan shook his head. “Quite a few are from clubs in Sweetwater. I thought it odd that so many were from the same places. I wonder if they’ve had some takeovers recently too.”

  Steve smirked. “That won’t be hard to check. I still don’t know why they wanna move the members around though.”

  “Do the members want to be moved, or are they being kicked out?” Dan mused.

  “Hmm, good point. Though if Jenner’s comment’s anything to go by, I’d say they’re being moved for a reason. Has he been asking any odd questions lately? Is he here to spy on us?”

  “There’s a hell of a lot of spies, if that’s the case,” Dexter reminded them. “There’s gotta be nearing a hundred applications I’ve been told to sanction.”

  “Or Brad gets it?” Steve clarified.

  Dexter nodded ruefully. “I don’t get it. Saunders, whichever one it was, demands a seven million dollar ransom, then forces me to collect the funds by taking in a bunch of members from the other clubs they’ve taken over. It doesn’t make any sense.”

  “Money laundering?” Dan’s eyes shot over to Nathan. “Think about it. They demand cash and then give us the means to pay it by sending all those new members our way.”

  The FD frowned. “Did they pay cash?”

  Dexter nodded, a grave look on his face. “Saunders insisted we offer a discount for it. Probably gave the new members a fresh stack to waddle in and pay their dues. God, there’s no telling where that money came from. If I’d deposited those bills like he wanted, the bank would have mixed it and I’d be left with nothing but a fistful of felonies for my trouble.”

  “But you haven’t banked it,” Nathan reminded the boss with a large grin. “So they’re gonna get their own money right back!”

  Master Dan’s chuckle rippled through his chest, comforting Tuesday. She felt honored to be included in their discussion.

  “Mind if I take a look at some of this cash?” Steve Ratner stood, a massive grin on his face.

  Dexter looked slightly relieved and led the sergeant out of the office, while Dan and Nathan high-fived with a laugh.

  “So what about Brad?” Tuesday asked when the hilarity died down. “Will they let him go if they get their dirty money back?”

  “Don’t you worry about that, little one. We’ll sort something out. We’re not out of the woods yet, you heard what Ratner said. He reckons they’ll be after the whole club once they’ve got their hands on some of that dough. We just need to figure out what the hell their game is. There’s just one thing I’m worried about.”

  “What’s that?”

  “The Saunders brothers are notorious sore losers.”

  * * *

  Dan noticed his little sub shiver and wrapped his arms tighter around her.

  “It’s getting late,” he remarked, “Time we got you home.”

  Her face fell, and he wondered if she was afraid he was about to take her back to her place—no way! He still hadn’t forgotten the state she’d been in when Nathan and he picked her up from the dungeon. What the fuck was she doing down there anyhow?

  “There’s a quiet little place I know near the river. We could stop by for some dinner on our way back, if you like?” he offered, lifting her down as they both stood.

  “Well, I’ll leave you to it, bro,” Nathan said with a grin.

  “Let me know if you think of anything,” Dan told him as he went, waving a hand in response.

  Dan picked up his things, slung an arm around his girl, and headed for the elevator.

  “Did you see your friends?” he asked her once he knew she couldn’t escape.

  She looked up at him with wide eyes. Gorgeous, pale green, wide eyes.

  “Yes. April and Summer were in the restaurant. Master Dominic let them take a break especially, so we had a drink in the bar. They said they missed me.”

  His heart lurched. It seemed she wasn’t used to being missed.

  “Of course they did, little one. They’re your friends,” he assured her with a hug. “What were you doing with Hope in the dungeon?”

  He watched her eyes drop and she stared at the door, probably willing it to open.

  “I bumped into her in here. I was on my way to find you, but she was going to the Bottom Bar so she’d already pressed the button to take us down. I didn’t think about it… we were chatting. Then we got out and…”

  Her face clouded over. The ping which told them they had arrived on the ground floor actually made her jump. Dan led her out of the foyer and into his car before resuming their conversation.

  “And what, little one?”

  The car was warm and the engine hummed as he pulled out of the parking lot.

  “I don’t know.” She shook her head, her mousey-brown hair shaking around her soft shoulders.

  “Did it bring back memories?”

  She nodded. “It was horrid.”

  “You shouldn’t have gone down there. I gave you permission to go the restaurant, nothing else.” He knew it sounded a little harsh, using his Dom-voice on her, but she needed to learn.

  “I’m sorry, Master Dan. I didn’t mean to.”

  He felt his gut wrench as he glanced over to see tears streaming down her face. He reached over and covered her hand with his.

  “I know, little one.”

  “I won’t go there again,” she assured him firmly.

  He saw determination in her face. “It’s all right, you can go there, just not yet. I’ll take you when I think you’re ready, OK?”

  She shook her head. “No, Master Dan. I’ll never be ready. I don’t ever want to go there again.”

  His heart sank, but he could see she certainly meant it.

  They drove on in silence while he mulled over the events of the afternoon. Nathan’s idea of calling Ratner in when they went to see Dexter had been a good one. Ratner had suspected something was off anyway, and they knew they could rely on him being discreet. Then he’d gone into his office to find some of his HR files had been moved. Someone must have a key to his office, because he was damn sure he’d left it locked. What the hell was going on?

  It helped that they caught the boss in the middle of a heated argument over the phone with Saunders, who reckoned the gang were demanding more money. He couldn’t forget how old the boss had looked as he argued for what he figured was his son’s life. When the three Doms turned up in front of his desk, Dexter had looked guilty as hell and quickly finished his conversation. He was visibly outraged that they had stormed into his office, but had little choice but to confess what was going on. He’d just filled them in when Dominic rushed in to tell him that Tuesday needed him. He and Nathan had rushed down right away, leaving Ratner to berate the boss for not speaking up sooner.

  He looked over at her now. She looked pale, wide-eyed and…scared. That bastard had certainly done a number on the poor little sub! He seethed. The dungeon had become her second home. Probably her first home, if truth be known—and now it looked as though that fuckwad had stripped her of it. No way could he let that happen. There had to be a way to convince her…

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  “I think it will do you good to speak to Paulette tomorrow,” he told Tuesday as they ate their meal. They were at a quiet little country restaurant down by the river, sitting by the window. She seemed to have done nothing but stare out that glass since they arrived. She turned to face him.

  “Do I need to go back to the hospital?”

  He frowned. “No, little one, not unless you feel you want to.” His heart lurched and he wondered just how badly she had been affected by her trip down to the
dungeon.

  “No, I mean to see Paulette. She won’t come to my place, will she?”

  He shook his head and put down his fork. “You’re staying with me, baby. She’ll come over tomorrow like she did today.”

  He studied her face and was relieved to see that she seemed to brighten up a little. Had she been worrying all this time about having to go home?

  She nodded and took a drink of her coke. He smiled at the way she never touched alcohol—probably because she was brought up in an Irish pub, he surmised.

  “You had a nice chat today, didn’t you?”

  She looked thoughtful for a minute. He had heard them chattering away once they’d got over their initial hurdle, and he was pleased.

  “Yes,” she admitted. “Paulette’s actually really nice.”

  Dan grinned. “You seemed a lot happier after you’d spoken to her.”

  Tuesday ate the last of her potatoes quietly.

  “Would you like to go back to Ireland?” he asked her slowly.

  Her eyes shot up at him. “Why in heaven would I want to do that?”

  He smiled at her shocked face. “To see your family. Maybe have a little vacation. You must be missing your mother and… how many brothers and sisters have you got?” He tried to recall if she had ever told him. He knew she was from a large family, but that was about all, and that was only because she had joked at one time about not being able to get a word in edgeways at home.

  She flushed and stared down at her empty plate.

  “That was grand, thank you,” she muttered to the waitress who came to tidy their dishes.

  The lady smiled. “Would you like to see the dessert menu?”

  Tuesday instinctively looked up at Dan, and he nodded.

  “Yes please,” she told the woman.

  “So, Ireland?” He wasn’t about to let the subject drop.

  “No, Master Dan, I don’t want to go back there. My home is here now.” Her voice was quiet but firm.