by Jenna Jacob
“You’re welcome to stay with us, as long as you’d like,” Julianna offered as she stood and moved in alongside Trevor.
“Thank you, but I’ll be just fine,” I replied as she bumped a hip against Trevor, jostling him out of the way before swooping in for a tight hug.
“Hey!” Trevor complained in mock anger, unable to hide his grin. “That baby belly of yours could be considered a lethal weap—”
“Trevor!” Drake interrupted with a roar. “Watch yourself, boy. Pregnant women have been known to kill for comments less sympathetic than yours. You might wind up gutted by a Prada stiletto.”
“She would never,” Trevor gasped.
“You’re awfully sure of yourself, boy,” Drake admonished with a raised brow.
“Yes, I am, because she’d have to find another babysitter if she did bodily harm to me.”
“That’s right,” Julianna giggled. Her smile faded as she stared into my eyes. “Are you doing okay, honey? You look…like a hot mess, and rightfully so.”
Oh, I’m a hot mess alright, but not like you think. I just need to find a quiet place where I can curl up and die. “I’m doing okay,” I lied with a sharp nod.
“Sure you are. If you find yourself climbing the walls, you call me. I’ll be there to help get you back down. You got it?”
No problem. You wouldn’t happen to have a spare cell phone tucked in your Louis Vuitton bag, would you? Smiling through my anger, I nodded. “Of course. You know I will.”
Mika stepped in, smoothing his hand up my arm before wrapping me in a reassuring hug. “If you need a place to stay, we’d love to have you. Understood?”
“Thank you, Sir. But all I really need is my car, so I can start getting my life back on track.”
“It’s right outside, pet. Julianna and I stopped by the house after the luncheon, and I drove it over here for you.” Mika explained as he dug the key I’d given him out of his pocket. It was hard to believe it had been only four days since I’d given him my spare key. It had been kind for Reed to handle all the funeral arrangements so quickly. Still, it felt like four years since George had died.
“Thank you both, very much.”
“No thanks needed, pet,” Mika assured as he and Julianna moved aside.
“Sammie sends her love, Leagh.” Drake pouted as he all but swallowed me beneath his beefy arms. “We’re here, too if you need us.”
“Thank you, Sir. Where is Mistress Sammie?”
“She went home to take a nap. She’s going to open up the club for Mika tonight,” he explained. “It’s still your home. Don’t forget that, okay?”
“Yes, Sir. I know.” I nodded to Drake as I tucked my car key into the pocket of Tony’s sweat pants.
I’d no longer have to impose on any our friends—especially Tony. For the first time in days, a sense of peace settled over me. After receiving hugs and offers to move in from all the friends assembled, I forced myself to take a seat next to Mika. These people were among some of George’s most valued friends. Their love was testament to how deeply he had touched their lives. Losing him had left a void in others hearts as well. I owed it to him to sit and visit with the group. It would be rude for me to dash out the door like I wanted to. I had to bide my time, then I’d make a quick escape.
As if reading my mind, Tony flashed me a wry smile that washed me full of guilt, again. I quickly glanced away.
“So how did the luncheon go?” I asked, needing to focus on something other than Tony’s shrewd gaze pinning me from across the room.
“Oh dear god,” Trevor declared with an exaggerated flip of his hand. “It was like having a root canal while passing a ten pound kidney stone out the end of your dick!”
“Boy,” Drake chastised in a gruff bark that easily drowned out everyone’s laughter.
Leave it to Trevor to bring a smile to my face. God, I loved that man. Not that I cared less for the others gathered, but I felt more of a kindred spirit with Trevor. He’d been born and raised in the south, like me… and he’d been dirt poor, like me. But he outshined me in strength and perseverance. Growing up outwardly gay, he’d been forced to take a lot of shit from narrowminded rednecks. Yet he’d survived it all and come out on the other side with a gentle, loving soul intact. Trevor was a strong princess, far more resilient than he probably even realized.
“Well it was, Daddy, and we all know it,” he sighed.
“What happened?” I asked as I glanced around the room. I couldn’t miss the way Savannah rolled her eyes or the collective expressions of disdain on the others’ faces like something sour lay on their tongues. It led me to believe that the luncheon had been ripe with drama.
“Sloane and Hayden were in rare form. Mostly Sloane,” Trevor began. “We were standing in the food line behind the gruesome twosome and their hoity-toity prune faced friends. I heard one of the old cows ask Hayden, ‘Who are all these strange people, dear?’.” Trevor’s voice raised a couple of octaves, and he pinched his lips and scrunched up his nose as he mimicked the woman.
“And without missing a beat, that snag-nasty slug Hayden replied, “They’re petty thieves that my father exonerated. He had such a warm heart. He gave these riff-raffs a second chance.” Trevor tossed his nose in the air as he impersonated Hayden’s voice, which sounded more like a snooty drag queen. I couldn’t help but giggle. “I was so pissed I wanted to knock her off her Manolo Blahniks and right onto her sorry ass. But why ruin a good pair of designer shoes, right?”
“She actually said that?” I gasped.
“Yes and oh, if I didn’t want to bitch slap her into the next millennium. So I did the next best thing.” Trevor’s eyes danced in delight, and a mischievous grin lit up his adorable face. “As soon as Hayden started talking to someone else, I dusted off my thickest Alabama accent.”
As he was doing at that moment.
“And I leaned up close to the nosy woman’s ear and whispered, ‘All except us. Me and Daddy here, we shared a cell in Leavenworth Federal Prison. It was a scary place for a delicate queen like me. But that very first night I was incarcerated, they locked me in a cell with this big ol’ bear. He made me his butt-bitch within thirty seconds. Why, it got to where I loved taking it up the ass for him so much, I just couldn’t let him go when they finally released us on good behavior. And oh, sugar, that big ol’ love muffin was better than good, he was fabulous.”
Howling laughter filled the room. Poor Trevor couldn’t even continue his story; we were all laughing so loud.
“So that’s what made all the blood drain from that woman’s face,” Savannah chortled. “I saw you talking to her, Trevor. Next thing I knew she looked like she was going to faint.”
“Oh I wish she would have. That would have been priceless.” Trevor laughed. “No, she just looked at me and flashed a fake smile so tight I was afraid her facelift scars were going to split wide open. Of course, the devil in me could not resist rattling her cage just a tiny bit more. So I turned around and slid my tongue straight into Daddy’s mouth. I thought the old bag’s chin was going to drop right into the potato salad.”
“Trevor, you’re awful. But oh my god, I love you so much!” I laughed.
“Oh, that’s not even the best part, sister.”
“You mean you tortured that poor woman more?” I blinked.
Drake chuckled. “Oh yes, my little hellion was in rare form today.”
Trevor blew Drake a kiss before inhaling a deep breath. “So we’re still in the food line, and she’s trying to scoot as far away from me as she can get.”
“Hell, I can’t imagine why,” Nick interjected with a laugh.
“Me neither,” Trevor gasped in feigned innocence. “So I wiggled up close behind her, as she was checking out the desserts, and told her that my lesbian friends made the brownies. She flashed that plastic smile and said “That’s nice” in her snotty, condescending voice. So I decided to warn her that she should be careful ‘cuz a lesbian bug may have accidently landed in the ba
tter. She looked at me like I was on crack. It was hard, but I kept a straight face. Finally, she asked me what a lesbian bug was, and I told her…”
Trevor lost it to a fit of giggles. He was laughing so hard we couldn’t do anything but join in with him. A long time passed before he gained control, wiped his eyes, and continued.
“I told her a lesbian bug was an organism that worms its way out of the belly and into the walls of her cooch. It would turn her from a straight shootin’ heterosexual woman to a drooling, wanton lesbian. And once it worked its way into her brain, she’d spend the rest of her natural born days begging to munch on Sloane’s muff.”
“Trevor! You did not!” I gasped as howls of laughter erupted in the room.
“Oh yes, he did.” Drake shook his head in displeasure, but I could see the pride dancing in the burly Dom’s eyes. “And that’s when I grabbed a handful of my mouthy boy’s hair and shoved him in line, behind me.”
“I didn’t mean to embarrass you, Daddy, but rude, ignorant people just piss me off.” Trevor pouted.
“You didn’t embarrass me, boy. I found it very… entertaining,” Drake chuckled as he threaded his thick fingers through Trevor’s blonde hair. A prick of jealousy stung as Trevor’s eyes glazed in contentment and he leaned into his Master’s touch. I desperately missed that feeling of absolute security.
“I liked the way Sloane nearly choked when you gave her your evil Daddy-eye,” Trevor preened, gazing up at Drake.
“She’s a waste of good air,” the big Dom replied dryly.
“Drake, Sir?” I murmured timidly. “Can I ask what you said to Sloane outside the church when I arrived?”
Drake flashed me a roguish grin. “You mean when she was acting like the raging bitch she is?”
My face warmed remembering how utterly humiliated I’d felt. “Yes, Sir.”
“I told her that Mika had hundreds of hours of video tape depicting George in assorted and extremely compromising positions with you. And if she didn’t shut her ugly cakehole and pretend like you weren’t there, I’d make sure every television affiliate got copies of the films.”
“Are you serious?” My mouth fell open as I turned and looked at Mika in shock.
“Of course,” Drake chuckled.
“Well, I wouldn’t say hundreds of hours, but I’ve got a few tapes that would grab plenty of unwanted media attention.” Mika winked.
“It shut her up, that’s for sure,” Drake chuckled. “She might be totally fucked in the head, but she knows better than to play hard ball with us. We’d slam her right out of the park.”
I couldn’t help but smile. George’s friends would go to any lengths to protect not only his memory but what he’d left behind as well…me.
“I’m almost afraid to ask, but did anything else happen?” I arched my brows staring pointedly at Trevor.
“I didn’t get to have any more fun.” He stuck out a mock pout as he peered up at Drake. “I would have liked to, but Daddy put the kibosh on all my plans. Did anyone else get a dig in?”
From across the room, Dylan cleared his throat. A sheepish grin adorned his handsome face and the dimple on the side of his cheek indented deeply. “I, ahh, ran into Judge Bernard in the men’s room.”
“Oh shit; this ought to be good.” Tony beamed.
I had no idea who Judge Bernard was or why he was important to the shit stirring Dylan had done. So I sat quietly and listened hoping to find out.
“Yeah, it was pretty funny. Of course he had no idea who the hell I was which made it all the riper. You know how Sloane was crying buckets of tears at the gravesite and again at the luncheon?” Nearly everyone’s heads bobbed affirmatively. “Well, I ended up washing hands next to the honorable judge.”
“Honorable? That’s a lie,” Mika scoffed.
“No shit,” Nick replied, wearing a cynical frown.
“Anyway, I happened to mention that poor Sloane wasn’t taking George’s death very well. He agreed and flashed me a ridiculous look of sympathy. What a tool. So I just had to add that it was such a shame to see Sloane so distraught and that she still must have been head over heels in love with him.”
“Damn, Dylan,” Mika laughed. “You’re almost as bad as Trevor.”
“Thank you Mika, Sir,” Trevor piped up, flashing a lopsided grin.
“What the hell did he say to that?” Tony asked. His dark, hypnotic eyes had grown wide.
“Not a damn thing. He turned a little pale and gave a sharp nod before he ran out of the bathroom. It was a damn good thing I’d already emptied my bladder or I’d have pissed myself laughing.”
I couldn’t stand being left in the dark another minute.
“Who is Judge Bernard?” I asked Mika.
“You don’t know who Bernard is, Leagh?” The dungeon owner quickly sobered.
“I don’t know who he is either,” Savannah interjected. Grateful for her act of valor, I gave her a soft smile as the awkward attention was drawn off me and onto her for a brief moment.
“What did George tell you about his divorce, angel?” Tony looked at me and I could tell the smile he wore was a mask meant to put me at ease. Unfortunately, it had the opposite effect.
“Umm, just that Sloane wanted out of the marriage and that he was happy to oblige. He said he’d grown tired of living with a shrew.”
Mika stared at me for a long moment as if trying to decide what to say next. “Sloane is a shrew, of biblical proportions, but she’s also calculating, manipulative, and probably one of the vilest women on the planet. Money was her husband. George was simply the machine that dispensed it. Years ago, one of the most newsworthy murder cases ended up on his docket. He worked the case for months, putting in twelve to sixteen hour days. Then, out of the clear blue the suspect plea bargained, and George headed home.”
I looked around the room as Mika told the story. Savannah and I were the only ones clinging to his words. The rest were staring off into space or gazing at the ground, their faces lined with something more than sadness. Anger maybe?
“Sloane hadn’t expected George home for hours. And when he walked into the bedroom, he found his wife and Judge Bernard fucking like bunnies. Evidently they’d been having an affair for years, and George never suspected a thing.”
Mika’s words slammed into me like a plow. George had never told me the details of his divorce. I had no inkling that Sloane had been unfaithful to him. I lowered my head and rubbed a finger and thumb over my forehead. For all the time I’d known him, George had kept the humiliating secret to himself. I felt slighted that his friends assembled in Tony’s living room knew more about my Master than I did. He’d kept me in the dark, while almost everyone around me was privy to his secret. It stung like a slap to the face.
Anger quickly rushed in. I’d revealed every horrific detail of my life in Atlanta to him, but he’d never reciprocated his darkest secrets to me. Why? Why had he shut me out? Was he afraid I’d think him weak or, god forbid, love him less? I wanted to scream and throw things. I felt betrayed that our vow of honesty meant nothing to him. Fighting back my tears, I knew this wasn’t the time or the place to come unhinged. I inhaled a deep breath and wiped my eyes before raising my head.
“He didn’t want you to know, Leagh,” Mika replied softly.
“Evidently not.” I forced a weak smile.
“He’d confided in a few of us, years ago. He didn’t want his past to influence any part of his relationship with you. He was a prideful man,” Drake explained.
“That’s what kept him from telling you, Leagh,” Nick leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees as he pinned me with a serious stare. “He made a deal with Sloane that if she kept the affair with Bernard quiet, he’d grant her a divorce. All the other judges were good friends of George’s. If they’d found out what Bernard had done, George knew it would cause a lot of bad blood amongst them all. He didn’t want their sympathy, but most of all, he didn’t want to taint the courts with backbiting or animosity.”
>
“He was honorable; Leagh, but you already knew that,” Dylan added with a reassuring nod.
“Yes,” I agreed. George was honorable, but he wasn’t honest, at least not with me. The revelation hurt. Suspicions, like spots of tarnish on silver, plagued me. What other secrets had George kept from me? What other skeletons lingered in his closet that he didn’t want me to see? I felt cheated, but there was nothing I could do with my anger. Sucking in a shaky breath, I turned to look at Mika. “So what did Sloane do?”
“She raped him financially, of course,” he replied in a bleak tone. “But she kept her mouth shut, for once.”
“What about Reed? Does he know?” I asked casting a glance at all the Doms.
“No clue,” Drake replied with a frown.
“Reed was like a brother to him,” I murmured.
“He’s a judge, pet. I’m not sure if George told him or not,” Mika added.
Maybe I wasn’t the only one George had kept in the dark. It still hurt.
“Don’t go there, Leagh,” Tony scolded from across the room. “He did it to protect himself.”
“I get that,” I replied, trying hard not to sound sarcastic.
The earlier lighthearted mood had shifted to an awkward silence.
“I think it’s time we headed out,” Mika announced as he turning to kiss my cheek. “If you need anything, I expect you to call. I mean anything. From a tooth pick to a Rolls Royce, you got it?”
As Mika rose from the couch, so did my stubborn pride.
His offer was generous, but I had no intention of asking Mika or anyone else for anything. I’d find my way, alone. I’d done it before, and I could damn well do it again.
“Yes, Sir, I will.” I lied, convincingly. “Thank you, both for everything. You’ve kept me sane through these horrible days.”
Minutes lagged before everyone had said their good-byes and driven away. Tony and I were alone again. Anxiety sprouted like a spring flower in the pit of my belly. It was time for me to leave as well. Get far away from the temptation of him. My self-control around him was shaky at best.
Dashing up the stairs, I retrieved my wet clothes. When I returned, Tony was standing in the foyer. He didn’t say a word, just stared at me.
