by Cassy Roop
I screamed when a hand clamped on my wrist that was on the wall and let out another muffled scream as a hand clamped over my mouth.
“Quiet, Ashley.” Asher snapped. Drake approached us and Asher pulled on my arm to lead me around the corner of my building.
“Good job in there, doll. You even had me convinced that you hated them. Bravo on your performance,” he taunted as he clapped his hands together in mock appreciation. The sight of him made me feel sick; like literally sick to my stomach. I held a hand to my stomach, willing it under control so that I didn’t end up getting sick in front of the two bastards. I didn’t want to give them the satisfaction of knowing that they had this effect on me.
“What do you want, Asher?” I bit out in anger as I tried to swallow back the bile I felt rising in my throat.
“Not happy to see us, Ashley? I would have thought that by now we would have grown to be friends,” Asher said sarcastically. Drake snorted next to him and it made my blood boil. I was now more determined than ever to get into The Celtic Knot to get that tape on Asher.
I glared at both of them as Drake handed Asher a large manila folder. He slapped it in the palm of his hand with a satisfied look to his face.
“We have a job for you to do,” Asher said as he smiled at me. His perfectly straight neon glowing teeth made me feel nauseous all over again.
“Well just tell me what the fuck it is so I can go,” I said exasperatedly. My patience was wearing thin, yet I didn’t want them to think that something was going on so I needed to try and collect myself. Asher extended the hand that was holding the envelope towards me, forcing me to take it.
“What is this?” I asked.
“That is going to help convict Dominic and Knox,” Asher said. I cocked my head to the side not understanding what the fuck he was talking about.
“Evidence, doll. Evidence that proves that your boys accepted money for sexual favors.”
“But they didn’t, and you know it, Asher,” I growled.
“Exactly, so we had to create some evidence that says otherwise,” he replied nodding toward the envelope that was in my now trembling hands.
“You want me to plant evidence?” I asked in a high pitched voice not believing what they wanted me to do.
“You got it, doll, and Drake here is going to help you get into the club,” Asher said nodding his head toward his conspirator in crime. My jaw nearly hit the ground. I couldn’t believe they were asking me to plant evidence; then again, I could believe it. Even though I hated what they were making me do, in the end it would only help Dominic and Knox because Drake could get me into the club without me having to break in.
“Where were you headed to this late at night?” Drake asked me as he stood in front of me with his oversized muscled arms folded across his chest. I couldn’t tell them the truth, but I also didn’t want to piss Asher off either, but lying was the only way to keep them from being suspicious.
“I was on my way to Rownan’s house if it is any of your business.”
I could see Asher’s eyes grow dark even in the darkness of the alley-way. The man was pure evil, like watching a demon in the flesh right in front of me. He walked close to me backing me up against the cold brick of my apartment building. I tried to breathe through my mouth so that I didn’t have to smell the pungency of his horrid cologne. Every time I had to smell it, memories of the night he almost raped me became fresh in my mind. He braced his hands on either side of my head and leaned in close. Too close.
“If I thought you had bad taste in men with Dominic before, I was wrong. Rownan is nothing but a fucking rich douchebag. Remember, Ashley, it doesn’t matter who you are with right now because soon you will belong to me.”
“I will never belong to you,” I replied through gritted teeth as I looked directly at him.
“We’ll see about that.” Asher leaned in to try to kiss me and I turned my head at the last minute as he pressed his cold, dry lips to my cheek.
“You defiant little bitch. I cannot wait to teach you how to properly please a man,” he said before pushing against the brick wall and backing away from me.
“Drake, take her to the club, but let her go in alone. We cannot risk someone seeing you if she was to get caught,” Asher directed before turning to walk away.
Drake and I pulled up to The Celtic Knot about twenty minutes after Asher had left us. My attempts to try to talk Drake into stopping the idiot decisions he was making by teaming up with Asher weren’t fruitful. It ended up with Drake yelling at me to shut up and not talk to him for the remainder of the ride to the club.
He parked us a few block away from the club so that his car wouldn’t be noticed in the area. I was lead to the back entrance of the club where Drake swiped a card and entered a series of numbers into a keypad that granted us access inside.
“This file needs to be placed in the back of the green cabinet in Dominic’s office. The key is in the top left hand drawer of Nic’s desk.”
I nodded my head and entered the ghostly vacant space of The Celtic Knot. I was saddened at how quiet and tranquil the once thriving club was as I entered through a hallway that I knew would lead me to the Common Room. My shoes echoed off of the walls of the silent room with each tentative step I took, the smell of leather filtered through my nostrils and became stronger the deeper I made my way in. The stage, the bar, the entire room once was packed with a crowd of people who used this club as an escape, or a place where their needs and desires could be met. I used it as a place to grow closer to the man who had captivated me so completely, and now I was using it to push him farther away.
The envelope I held in my hands burned through my skin as I thought about the contents that it contained. Faked financial “records” according to Asher that would be found when the police were to come tomorrow with a search warrant issued by the prosecution. I was informed that officer Russell was the “lead investigator” for the case. How fitting. I couldn’t wait to bring his sorry ass down right along with Asher.
I pulled the pin-sized flashlight from my pocket so that I wasn’t surrounded in complete darkness. Even though there weren’t any walls that could let the outside world know that I was inside, I didn’t want to take any chances. I snuck my way through the Common Room to the stairway that I knew would lead me to Dominic’s office. Each foot I placed on the step punctured a deeper hole in my heart. I was ascending upward, but in reality, it felt like I was falling into a deep, dark place that only the love of one person could cure.
As I approached the door to Dominic’s office, I thought about turning around and telling Asher and Drake they could shove these papers straight up their asses. Placing a tentative hand upon the handle, I turned it only to be surprised by resistance.
Fuck. Locked.
I dug in my bag to find the tools that I prepared myself with in order to break into the club. I was only thankful for Drake bringing me for one reason, and one reason only-I wouldn’t have been able to get in without the keycard he swiped. I would have triggered the alarm and then it would be my ass in jail for breaking and entering. How would I be able to protect Dominic, Knox, and Kelly if I was in jail?
Sweat filled my brows and trickled down my back soaking into my shirt. I have never picked a lock before; hell, I’ve never broken into a place before. My nerves were starting to get the better of me the longer it took to get the door open. Finally, after about ten minutes, I heard a click and the door handle gave way.
Thank God.
I quickly entered the office. The smell of leather furniture and Dominic’s own unique scent hit my nose and I wasn’t prepared for the flood of memories that would overwhelm me from being in his personal space. I walked over to the desk and ran my palm along the smooth edge of the wood as I remembered the day I came to him asking if he was the one to get me fired from The Local and Clarke’s Diner. I remembered the desperate look in his eyes as he fought against the emotions of wanting me more that his head was telling him he should. The th
ing I didn’t tell him was that I needed him just as much.
I sat down in Dominic’s chair and lay my cheek upon the desk, allowing the coolness of the wood to soothe the flush of my face. I still felt lightheaded and queasy from my earlier encounter with Asher, and it didn’t help that I felt insanely horrible for what I was about to do. For a few moments, I allowed myself to go back to that day in his office. I could feel the rough pads of his fingers as they skimmed across my hip bones and over my breasts, or how it was one of the first times that we had been together, when he looked me in the eyes while we had sex. Even though he didn’t tell me everything he was feeling, I could see every emotion, every feeling flicker through his eyes and remembered how my body instantly responded to his touch.
I squeezed my eyes shut trying to keep the memories with me, to be able to have him with me even if it was only in my memories. And just like a memory does, it started to fade as a hot tear slipped from my eyes to land on the hard panes of the desk. I lifted my head and swiped at my eyes. I needed to get this accomplished so that I could look for the tape. I opened the top left drawer like Drake instructed me to produce a key. Rising from the chair, I rounded the desk to find the green filing cabinet that Drake had also told me about. Using the key to open the cabinet, I thumbed through the files until I reached the one that said “financials” and placed the manila folder in with the rest of the files already in there.
My fingers held onto the file in a last ditch effort by my subconscious telling me not to do it. In a quick move before I decided to change my mind, I let go of the file and proceeded to shut the door of the cabinet, only to stop when a certain file caught my eye.
Security Feed.
Hell yes. I thumbed through the disks that were in the file until I found the week that was the time that Asher trapped me in the Rapture Room. I chuckled as I thought about how Asher didn’t realize that he was giving me the key to getting my loved ones and myself out from underneath his blackmail. Quickly, I put the cd into my purse and shut the filing cabinet, making sure that I locked it back before I placed the key back into the drawer. I paid the same careful attention to the door to Dominic’s office before making my way back downstairs to the main part of the club.
At the bottom of the stairs, I paused. If I went left, it would lead me back to the common room. If I went right, it would take me to the Rapture Room. I knew that Dominic always kept the Rapture Room locked, but I never returned my key from when I was employed by the club after everything went down. I was extremely tempted to go visit the room, but decided against it, needing to get out of The Knot before someone saw me.
I took a left and ventured back into the common room. I could hear my stomach growl through the silence, reminding me that I hadn’t eaten anything, but the thought of food made me feel sick. Asher had done a real number on my nerves tonight and even though my stomach protested that it was hungry, I told myself that I just wasn’t.
I walked up to the stage where Dominic and I had our first encounter. Sitting down on the edge, I scooted back so that my back lay flat against the floor of the stage while my feet dangled off of the front. Closing my eyes, I brought myself back to the night I first looked into the chocolate brown eyes of the man I fell in love with. The way his muscles rippled through the grey t-shirt he wore and how his jeans hung from his hips had my belly clenching with need. I remember being completely scared to death up in front of the entire club on display as Dominic tied the ropes around my body with his skillful fingers. The sweat I felt from being under the audience’s scrutiny, but also from the unexpected arousal I felt had my dress clinging to me that night. It was the first and only time that I had clothing on as Dominic did the nightly lesson.
I smiled as I remembered how angry he was when he found out that I wasn’t a submissive. Bringing my hand up to my neck, I fingered my necklace like I always did when I wanted to feel near to him. It was like I had a piece of him to carry with me always. Small, whimpered sobs broke from me as I let the tears fall from my eyes. For some reason though, being here in The Celtic Knot surrounded by everything that was Dominic’s, and the necklace had me feeling closer to him than I had in weeks. Only a few brief moments of silence more, before I discovered just why it was that I was feeling close to him when a voice in the darkness startled me to death.
“Come for a lesson?”
My chest heaving, I shot to my feet and turned around to find Dominic standing behind me.
Sitting in the darkness of my apartment, I nursed a glass of Jack Daniels. It had become my nightly routine in the past week since I last saw Ashley at the courthouse with Rownan at our plea hearing. I paced the floors and tried to find things to keep me occupied so that I could try to keep my mind from wondering about Ashley, to not wonder where she was, what she was doing, or whom she was doing it with. The more I thought about her being with Rownan, the angrier I became. Even though what Ashley had done to me was unforgivable, I still couldn't beat back the connection I felt toward her, no matter how hard I tried.
I tossed back the amber liquid in my glass and I reached the bottle for a refill. Before my hand touched the smooth glass of alcohol that had become my best friend and numbing agent recently, my phone started chiming out an alert. Reaching into my pocket, I swiped the screen to reveal the security company texting me that someone had entered the club. I had it activated to my mobile when the club was shut down because I wasn’t spending as much time there and I wanted to make sure that no more vandals would mess it up again.
I knew Knox was with Kelly, and that no one else was at the club. Suspicious, I grabbed my wallet and left out of my apartment to go check it out for myself. I hailed a cab to take me to the club not wanting to risk getting behind the wheel of the Aston Martin having nearly polished off the whole fifth of Jack by myself. I had a pretty high tolerance for alcohol, but I had to admit that I had a decent buzz going on.
After giving the cabbie directions to the club, I shot out a quick text to Knox, letting him know that I was going to check out the suspicious activity going on at the club since Knox received the same notifications I did being he was the head of security for the club. I didn’t want him to leave Kelly knowing that they have been having issues lately. I know Kelly was caught between her best friend and the man I think she had fallen in love with, just like I was caught between my head and my heart.
The cab dropped me off in front of The Celtic Knot and I went around the back of the club to use the rear entrance seeing as how that was the point of entry. If one of the security guys on the team was breaking into the club, heads were going to fucking roll. I didn’t want a single thing in this club touched until the police did their search tomorrow, which would result in nothing. I was still hoping that Knox and I would get off on a technicality or hearsay.
I gingerly swiped my keycard and cracked open the door as silently as I could. I held one hand hovering over the revolver at my back in case I needed it for protection. The eerie silence I was met with when I walked into the Common Room was a sucker punch to the gut. It was only a few minutes after midnight, and no doubt, I would have been just wrapping up a lesson or mingling with all of the members. Better yet, I could have had Ashley tied up in the Rapture Room having my wicked way with her.
Fuck.
No matter what I did, my thoughts always went back to her. I felt like I was constantly chastising myself for allowing her to invade my thoughts. It was like a fucking figure eight knot. We were two loops formed by one continuous line that crossed one another, an interweaving pattern that chased each other around, never ending. The back and forth feeling I had for her kept me on a constant rollercoaster of emotions.
It was dark in the Common Room when I entered. I tried to listen to any sounds or see any motion as my eyes darted around every surface in the club, but I was only met with silence and stillness. When I didn’t find anyone in the Common Room I went through the Hall and into the Rapture Room. I was relieved to find it still locked. Producing my
key to open it, I placed a protective hand on my revolver once again. Just because the door was locked didn’t mean that someone wasn’t on the inside. Cracking open the door with quiet stealthiness, I peaked my head in to find it empty. I exhaled with relief. Maybe it was a false alarm and no one was actually in the club.
I stepped all the way into the Rapture Room and shut the door. Walking around the perimeter of the room, I felt nostalgic about what my club once used to be. At any given point in time, this room was always occupied. The bar, Common Room, and The Hall, always had members who came here to fulfil their fantasies, their needs, or to explore new things. My clubs have always kept me so busy, and I never cared that I didn’t have someone to spend my life with. I never wanted to spend my life with anyone, not until Ashley walked in anyways.
I walked over to the bed and sat down on the cool emerald satin sheets. Laying back, I placed my hands behind my head and closed my eyes, but when I did, green eyes that were just as potent as the emerald of the sheets filled my thoughts. I immediately snapped my eyes open and sat up on the bed. I needed to get out of here. I needed to leave before I allowed the thoughts of Ashley to start to seep back into my mind and I was pulled back into the dark abyss that I was desperately trying to keep from falling into.
Walking over to the door, I opened it carefully just in case someone was still in the club. When I was met with silence once more, I closed it behind me, making sure that I locked it back. Deciding to make one more look throughout the club before I left, I reached into my pocket to retrieve my cell phone to alert Knox that I thought that the alert was a false alarm when I heard a noise coming from the Common Room. I slowly slid my phone back into my pocket before reaching back to grasp the revolver behind my back. Slowly with trepidation, I crept toward the noise. I was thankful for the darkness of the club, so that the intruder couldn’t see me coming. I peaked around the corner with my gun poised and ready. A figure sat on the stage, but I couldn’t make out who it was in the darkness. Slowly, I took small, silent steps into the room to try to surprise the invader. Soft sobs and whimpers that sounded female met me as I slowly approached. At first, I thought it could have been Victoria, but as I got closer, I saw the shape of her. The curves of her body, the same curves that have haunted my thoughts for months now. I saw how her golden blonde hair looked darker in the blackness of the night as her ponytail peaked out of the ball cap she wore to cascade like a waterfall down her back. An instant image of that ponytail wrapped around my fingers and her head tipped back as I pounded into her flashed before my eyes. I shook my head to rid myself of the image of what my subconscious was trying to tell me I wanted more than anything. Her head was bowed and she sat perched on the stage, so she never saw me coming.
