Provoked

by Riley Murphy

  Don’t play games with me, little girl.

  She snorted. She hadn’t been sarcastic about the trunk comment. How was she supposed to know that Cat’s baby had a back loaded engine? She’d only ridden in the car once a year ago and since cars weren’t her thing, Cat wouldn’t have shown her what was under the hood. Was it still called a hood if it was in the back? She had no idea.

  She made the turn on Central Avenue and stopped focusing on what was behind her. Mr. Mechanic would have to take a backseat to what she had coming up in front of her. Maxie and her punishment time in the hole. Why Cat put up with this kind of juvenile stuff was beyond her. The concept of time out at their age? Crazy.

  After she pulled into the mall parking lot and found a spot, she cut the engine and then checked her cell. There were three texts. All from Cat.

  Okay, what did you do? Maxie just called and he’s pissed.

  Charlie had no idea why Cat’s boss was mad. She hadn’t even seen him yet. So she typed:

  IDK. What did he say?

  Then she checked the next text from her and frowned as she read:

  Wilde didn’t buy it. He knows you took the money, but he made a suggestion. A way for you to pay him back. I’m not going to lie. You’re very tempted to take him up on it.

  Charlie’s eyes widened and she furiously typed back:

  No! No I’m not. Don’t agree to anything!!!

  She said a little prayer Wilde wouldn’t notice the other things she’d taken until he’d forgotten about the money. Just how often did rich guys check their safes anyways? Once a week? A month? God, a year would be great, she decided as she clicked on the last message.

  I’m bored. Where do you keep the toys around here? I’ve been jonsing for an ‘O’ ever since Wilde left. Speaking of the devil, I think he’s at the door. Gotta go. Fingers crossed you get lucky.

  Charlie’s shoulders slumped as images of Cat and the tattooed giant rolling around on her beautifully dressed bed came to mind. It wasn’t until she got out of the car and was halfway to the sporting goods store that she realized the sizzling hot images had changed. It wasn’t Cat and Wilde on the bed, it was her and the mechanic.

  That thought stopped her cold. Bed. Guy. Her room. “Oh my God.”

  She stepped to the curb and furiously typed:

  Don’t go in the bedroom. Do not let him in the bedroom.

  It was the longest thirty seconds of her life as she stood, waiting for a reply. When it came she almost passed out in relief.

  You better get a move on. What the hell happened with the mechanic? The owner called Maxie who wants to talk with me—meaning you—about it tonight. Get to the club early and help out with reception until Maxie shows up. When I make the effort that always softens his mood.

  With no mention of Wilde, Charlie’s eyes narrowed. Her sister was quite the comedian scaring her like that. She typed back:

  I called the mechanic a Neanderthal. He was very condescending. He was mean to me so I was mean right back. Just like you would have been.

  I’m never mean to the guys who work on my baby. I play with them is all. Maybe he was mad because you didn’t give him a turn.

  Charlie thought about the mechanic’s snarky comment, and realized there was history there that she knew nothing about. She was going to say as much, but her sister sent another text.

  Doesn’t matter. I took care of it. I was mean just like you said I was.

  That made no sense. So she asked:

  To the mechanic?

  No I told on him to his boss. Cannon can’t employ people who are rude to his customers.

  Charlie was going to point out that the mechanic may have had a good reason to be rude, but Cat sent another text before she had the chance.

  Damn. Gotta go. Door again. For someone who lives in the burbs you’ve got an overactive doorbell. Maybe this time it will be Wilde.

  Whatever you do, don’t let him in the bedroom.

  Nothing.

  The pills are in the bottle on my bed. I forgot to put them away this morning after I changed purses.

  Again, nothing.

  The drugs are on the bed.

  More nothing.

  Ugh! Was it Wilde?

  Finally her cell vibrated.

  Stop texting! I’m deleting our conversation. Don’t sweat it. I’ve got this covered.

  Charlie stared at the words on the screen and then panicked. If Cat was deleting their words then that meant Wilde was back and he was looking around. Before she could stop herself she typed:

  Tell him they’re your sleeping pills. He won’t know those were the pills used to drug him.

  She pressed send before she could stop herself. Damn. When there was no return comment from her she decided to take this all in stride. One thing Cat was good at was being calm in the face of a shit storm. She also lied better than anyone Charlie knew. With that in mind, she decided to take her sister’s advice. She wasn’t going to sweat it. Cat would hold up her end and it was up to her to do the same. She’d buy the sleeping bag, grab something to eat, and then get to the club in plenty of time to help out with reception and land in Maxie’s good graces. It wouldn’t be hard. She’d been to the club once pretending to be her twin, but back then Cat was only a server. A lot had changed since then for both of them, hopefully not too much.

  *****

  Neil waited until Max sat down, before asking, “Is there anything else I should know about her?” Although Catherine’s risk profile was well fleshed-out, he wanted to be thorough and he figured this basic query would open the door.

  “Let me see.” Max took the file from him and scanned the pages. “No, I think this covers it. Is there a problem?”

  “Just one.” Neil eyed the man, ready to gauge his reaction. “You’ve allowed her to designate her status as submissive and yet, she isn’t one.”

  Max’s brows shot up and he sat back. “Oh? And you decided this because she…” he scanned the other list Neil had given him and said, “tied one of your mechanics to a stool, made one stand in the corner for a time out, and instructed another to take off his underwear and give it to her so she could tap his bum with a belt?” He tossed the page on the desk and shook his head. “I don’t think Cat can be blamed for your kink-curious technicians.”

  “She planted those kinky seeds and then she watered them to make them grow.”

  “The only things growing were their dicks when they caught sight of her. Tell me,” the club owner leaned forward and braced his hands on the desk, “did they know she was someone in the lifestyle?”

  Of course they knew, but Neil wasn’t going to mention it because it was irrelevant. “You seem to have missed my point. A true sub would never have the balls to do the things she’s done to grown men, vanilla or otherwise. So why does she do it? There’s only one logical reason. She gets off on it.” Neil leaned forward now and met her boss’s pointblank stare. “Have you ever considered she’s a switch?”

  Max blew out a breath and shook his head. “Not possible. Cat’s special. She does things—”

  Just then, the office door swept open and a guy Neil remembered as being the doorman came in. “Boss, sorry to interrupt—”

  “Not now, Aaron, Master Cannon and I haven’t finished our discussion.” The guy opened his mouth to say something more, but Max held up his hand and stood. “I’ll only be a few more minutes and then we can talk.”

  The doorman gave a quick check over his shoulder. When he turned back, he gave a reluctant nod and left.

  “Jesus, your sudden arrival has created quite the buzz.” Max sat back down and scowled. “Even after all this time you’re still relevant. Amazing.”

  Neil wasn’t going to talk about his last visit here. He just carried on with the previous topic as if they hadn’t been interrupted. “What does Catherine do? Go rogue with ex club members to take bubble baths?”

  Max grinned. “You heard about the photo shoot, did you?”

  Neil had and he wa
sn’t amused, so he only nodded.

  “She’s been doing a lot of strange things lately, but that’s our Cat.”

  “Strange things can translate to dangerous situations in the blink of an eye.”

  “Are you referring to her working with the photographer and his wife? Don’t be. The couple was kicked out of the club for suspicion of stealing, nothing more.”

  “Working? Is that what you call playing for pay? She should have been fired when you found out. Not a very wise choice keeping her on, in my opinion.”

  Max shrugged. “It was my call. Last time I checked, you weren’t even a member of my club. In fact,” Max picked up Cat’s file and said, “you haven’t been seen at the club you do belong to in over a year. It occurs to me that maybe you should be grateful I’m making unwise choices today, as me generously handing over privileged employee information to a Dom—no matter how well-respected he is—would certainly count as one.”

  “You owe me,” Neil reminded. He wasn’t ready to give up on this. The woman was crying out for guidance. She needed a strong hand, not a devoted enabler. Max was supplying the place, the means, and the opportunity for Catherine to do something she couldn’t recover from. “I want to bring her to my place.”

  “I know. You wrote it all down here.” Max dropped the file and picked up the one sheet of paper where Neil had bullet-pointed his thoughts, plans, and reasons about how to handle her. “Did you want my blessing? I can’t give you that. Your idea is no better than a Dom/sub version of scared straight. A plan to force her to face a situation in her life where she is powerless to make a difference and then have to face you. Why? Because she stuck it to your service guys? If she did, they deserved it. As for playing for pay? That was wrong, but something hasn’t been right with her for months. I think she’s strapped for cash.”

  “That doesn’t make it right.”

  Max stood. “No. No it doesn’t.” He came around the desk and leaned a hip against it when he sighed. “I’m sorry, Neil, but me assigning you the task of choosing the disciplinary measures taken with her for her wrong doing, no matter what it was, wouldn’t be right either.”

  “Ultimately she’d still have a choice.”

  “Sure, she would. Deal with you for breaking the rules, or be fired and barred from the club for good. Believe me, if I thought her quirky actions put her in danger, as you seem to think, I’d lay down the law and hand her over. I’ve heard about your training techniques, and although I think she’d benefit from them, I just don’t think it’s my call. Consider the ‘I owe you’ still pending.”

  Truthfully, Neil had been waiting for a sign. Something to tell him he was making a mistake going after this and getting involved. That’s why he’d been pushing, but now that he reached a dead end, he’d have to concede. He only hoped his gut feeling about her was wrong. He didn’t want to be proven right a second time by tragic circumstances.

  “You know I never would have tried to collect on that. The only reason I did this time was because I feel strongly about subs who are careless and flirt with danger the way Catherine does. If she keeps going the way she is, one day she’s going to find herself up against the wrong man with no one there to help her.”

  “You need to let the past go, man.”

  Neil stood at the same time Max came away from the desk to shake his hand. “She needs some reins.”

  “Don’t worry about Cat. She can take care of herself and then some. Are you going to stay for a bit? I’ve got to go see what Aaron wanted, but I’m sure the girls would love—”

  The door burst open and this time it wasn’t Aaron. It was a small brunette with a booming voice. “Maxie, you have to come quick!”

  “Jesus, Tory, calm down. Are you trying to give an old Dom a heart attack?”

  The woman babbled so fast it was hard for Neil to follow. “The photographer showed up and wanted to talk with you. After Aaron refused and told him he was barred the guy knocked Aaron out. He took the club keys. He’s going after Cat in the hole, you have to do something.”

  Hearing that, Maxie took off like a shot, and Neil was right behind him. They were out of the office and running down a wide hall at lightning speed. When they turned the corner he spotted a small crowd of girls banging and kicking on a closed door. The second they saw their boss they started yelling. “He’s in there with her! He locked the door!”

  Neil’s heart pounded as all kinds of possibilities came to him. “Do you have the key?”

  When Max ignored him and worked to move the crowd of anxious girls aside, Neil was stumped. “Max? I’m going to break it down if you don’t have the key.”

  Max turned as though he just noticed him. “Yeah, I think I have the key.”

  Why the hell was the guy being so blasé? A lot of terrible things could happen in a split second. He’d seen the proof.

  Max frowned and patted his pockets. “Don’t worry. I told you Cat can take care—”

  That’s the last thing Neil heard before he threw his weight against the door, forcing it open.

  Chapter Four

  Charlie was reeling from the slap. She would have fallen if the heavy set man hadn’t grabbed hold of her arm and jerked her into him. From what she’d already pieced together, this was the rubber ducky guy and if she was following his rant correctly Cat had stolen something from him.

  “Where the fuck is it, bitch? I want it back.”

  She opened her mouth in a wide yawn, checking to make sure her jaw hadn’t been broken. Was this what that girl Tory had been talking about when she’d gushed over how she was going to be in Cat’s debt for life for recovering her heirloom? When Charlie had gotten to the club earlier, she’d just smiled and let the woman hug her and ramble on about how the ring had been her grandmother’s and she didn’t know what she would have done if the “creepy photographer” got to keep it.

  “I’m warning you.”

  One minute Charlie was staring at the guy’s meaty fist balled up and ready to do some damage, and in the next the guy let go of her and dropped like a stone to his knees with a cry. Then, in an instant, she was yanked against the hardest chest imaginable. Hot concrete heaven.

  “Max.” Her savior’s voice rumbled like thunder under her ear before his huge arms wrapped around her. “I saw her flex her jaw so it’s not broken.”

  “He hit her in the face? Why the lowdown…”

  Charlie heard some thuds, a crunch, and a snap, which didn’t sound good, but then neither did the guy’s deeply guttural groans either. When that’s all that was left echoing around them, she heard Maxie’s voice.

  “Cat?” She felt the weight of his hand on the small of her back for just a second before the man who was holding her turned to the right and the pressure of Maxie’s hand disappeared. “Look, man, don’t be like that. I thought…well…”

  “That there wasn’t any danger and if there was she’d be able to handle it?”

  The vibrating thunder against her stinging cheek mesmerized her. Almost like a soothing bath after a long day. She blamed her desire to remain just as she was on coming down from an adrenaline rush, but that didn’t explain why she almost purred when she smelled the fresh and crisp scent of her hero. Nor did it tell her why she had the urge to snuggle up to him more closely.

  She closed her eyes and did just that until something started to bother her. Did she recognize his voice? Impossible. She would have remembered a guy who smelled like this.

  Oh no. Maybe she had a concussion.

  “Are you sure she’s okay? It’s not like her to be so quiet.”

  Cooler air hit her cheek, and then the rest of her as the warm wall of concrete separated from her. She didn’t want to open her eyes. If she did, she worried scented-dreamy-time would be over.

  “Let me have a look at that jaw.”

  Even though it hurt to smile she gave it a try. Her knight in shining armor deserved that much, didn’t he? She allowed him to tilt her chin as her eyes fluttered open. The fir
st thing she saw was the plaster ceiling lit by flickering shadows cast from the ceiling fan that turned off kilter. Then she felt strong fingers testing the area around her jaw before she heard him whisper, “Thankfully, it’s not broken. It’s just red. It might be bruised tomorrow, though.”

  He cupped her chin and adjusted it until their gazes locked. Blue eyes. A rich, deep purple-blue color that she’d seen once before.

  The mechanic!

  Without a blink, she pushed away from him and promptly stepped on something. Judging by the loud moan it was the photographer’s hand. She tried to side-step away from it, but wound up falling forward, right into the Neanderthal’s arms.

  “Perfect. Here comes Aaron. You two deal with the lowlife. I’ll take care of her.”

  “Where are you going?” Maxie called while she tried to squirm her way out of the mechanic’s arms. She didn’t want to go anywhere with him. Why was he even here?

  “To your office.” It was as if her struggles had no effect on him when he swung around to answer Cat’s boss. “I’m assuming you’ve rethought your position on the disciplinary action you’re going to take regarding Catherine’s situation?” She couldn’t see over the guy’s huge biceps, but Maxie must have nodded or something because the mechanic said, “Good. We’ll be there waiting for you.” To her he said, “You know who I am. Behave.”

  Did he mean she knew he was the mechanic or someone else? Someone important that her sister would know? Cat’s boss certainly knew him. Maxie obviously deferred to the guy. Worse, when they exited through the doorway, all the girls moved aside and dropped their gazes. Who the hell was this mechanic anyway? And why didn’t he identify himself as someone noteworthy earlier today? Had she unwittingly screwed up? The wood was burning at forest-fire speed until a plausible out came to her.