10 Commandments

by Dark Angel

  Beyond Scarlet there is the Ash, Draven, Lars problem. I don’t know when those three will pop up again. I’m sure that they’ll be back—they won’t have taken getting their asses kicked by Gideon and Jake lightly. They’ll be back and they will hurt someone.

  I don’t know what I’m going to do when it happens, but I need to figure that out. Another thing I can’t do while messing around with my employees.

  I get dressed, I have to face the day. If Scarlet is going to be my priority, I need to get into the office and start working. I text my driver to pick me up in 20 minutes, asking him to meet me at the door and walk me down. I am afraid the three might be hanging out.

  While I dress in a cream-colored suit, with a flared skirt and a scarlet blouse, I think about my plans for the future. It’s time I take the bull by the horns and move forward with my business and my life.

  I make it to the car with no incident. I fill my driver, Sam, in on the situation with my former employees and ask him to keep an eye out. He agrees to walk me to and from the car whenever he drives me anywhere. Sam is a good guy, he has been looking out for me for a long time.

  On the drive, I open a note taking app on my phone. I know I need to distance myself from the men of Scarlet. We need rules. I need rules. I make the following list:

  1. I am the boss

  2. You will be dedicated to me and this workplace

  3. You will keep the place clean and professional

  4. You will keep the name of it in good standing to the best of your ability

  5. Remember your schedule and appointments, live every day by them

  6. Operate in honor of the founders

  7. You will not fuck the clients

  8. You will not work for a call service

  9. You will not fuck the clients

  10. You will not fuck the boss

  Sam double parks in front of Scarlet as I finish typing number 9. He walks me to the door, looking around the whole time. I feel safer knowing that Sam has my back.

  “Morning, Eve.” Gideon’s bright face greets me when I walk in the door. He’s dressed for a first client meeting. All black, leather pants and a sheer silk button-down shirt. He looks professional and dangerous. His eyes are fiery, full of passion.

  “Evelynn.” I snap at him. I’ve made up my mind. I am the boss, I can’t be entangled with them. “Miss Travers in front of clients please, Gideon. I think it would be best if we kept things formal here.” Gideon looks confused.

  “In fact.” I continue, powering through. If I don’t set these boundaries now I won’t be able to. “Would you call the others into the big room. I want to talk to everyone before your first appointments. Say, 15 minutes from now.” Gideon nods and walks off.

  I go to my office and make a cup of French press. While I wait for the coffee to brew, I print eleven copies of the list. I take a big sip of the strong coffee, the heat and the bitterness flow through me. I strengthen my resolve and head to the big room in the center of the building.

  The big room is set up for clients who like to watch and be watched. It’s painted a deep golden color, and all the furniture and accoutrements in the room are either dark wood, black metal, or our signature Scarlet red. There’s a wheel on either side of the room, multiple benches and stools around the room.

  Racks of floggers and paddles are tucked neatly along the walls. A series of pulleys and hooks decorate the ceiling for suspending clients or just stretching their arms over their heads. There are a couple of tables with locking wheels so the doms can prepare their favorite tools and bring them to the clients.

  The guys are all there when I walk in. Gideon and Jake lean on the wheels on either side of the room, bookends to the scattered men sitting, standing or leaning around the room designed to undo clients and allow them the freedom of submission.

  I take a deep breath. I should have picked a different room, but the big room is the only room here in the building that is, well, big enough to talk to all of them at once. I don’t trust that I can say this more than once.

  “Gentlemen. I want to thank you for your help last night. I really appreciate you stepping in and accompanying me to the gala. I had a message this morning that it was a great success. I’m glad I could attend and that you were all willing to be my escorts.” They all smile. Except Gideon. He looks at me sadly, like he knows what I am about to say next.

  “That said, I won’t be asking you do to anything like that again.” The smiles fade. I take another deep breath. “This is a professional environment and we maintain our working relationship. Going forward, you will all address me as Miss Travers in front of clients. In staff only meetings like this, you may call me Evelynn. This will help clients remember who’s truly in charge here, and maintain our professional relationships. There have been…incidents recently. I am telling you now that there won’t be anymore.”

  None of them are smiling now. Gideon won’t even look at me.

  “I have a list of rules here that you will abide to going forward.” I pass the stack printed copies of the notes I made in the car to Drex, our fingers brush and a shock of electricity runs down my spine. I take a deep breath and continue. “Failure to comply will result in immediate termination. Do you understand?”

  “Eve,” starts Brandon.

  “Evelynn,” I say, not as sharply as I wanted to.

  “We understand, Evelynn.” Drex interrupts his brother who was about to start talking again. “Is there anything else?”

  “No.” I say.

  I’m trembling, but I walk out of the room. I post the last copy of the list to the outside of my office door. I know this is the right thing to do. I just wasn’t expecting it to hurt.

  Chapter 14

  Evelynn

  Everything between the boys and me is different now. I want to see them, feel them, and even touch them, but I can’t.

  Why do my morals have to prevent me from having what I want? I need this place to succeed, but if I become involved with the men, it might cloud my judgment.

  They’ve all been more professional than I expected, much to my surprise. I expected some pushback—maybe even hoped for some. I think some part of me wanted to be convinced otherwise, seduced.

  But I want them, and I can’t let myself want them…so this is for the best. It’s for the business, and that has to always come first.

  I sit in my office, the security cameras on, but the room is dark. I feel like one of those perverts on the late night TV shows. The ones that play around 3 a.m. and keep you awake for hours.

  Sighing softly, I watch as Brandon walks in a room with his client. She’s helped into a sex swing, her clothing now gone. For a moment, there’s a pang of jealousy there.

  I wish that were me. I would love to be lifted into the device and my ass pelted with welts. He’s using the flogger on her flesh as she cries out in what I would describe as painful pleasure.

  I’m more envious than jealous. Hitting the keyboard to switch views, the room that Finn is using comes on the screen. He has a client bent over and is using a paddle on her ass. The heart-shaped design that’s engraved on the wood leaves marks on her flesh.

  I shiver in desire before flipping the screen off and sitting in the dark for a few moments. I need to make my rounds in the club, but the worry of being stopped by one of the ten is there.

  “Stop it, Evelynn. Just stop it!”

  I’m talking to myself, but I know better. I must face the demons head-on and do my job. I crossed the line, and I will make sure not to do that again.

  I straighten my skirt before exiting the office for a walk through the club.

  One glance in the mirror, and I feel off.

  I’m not sure what’s going on with me lately, but there’s always the feeling that someone is lurking. The same feeling you get when someone is staring at you, but you don’t realize it right away. Hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. I can’t shake the creepy feeling.

  Taking
a deep breath, walking to the bar area, I stop to make small talk with a few clients when I hear footsteps stop behind me. A glance over my left shoulder and—it’s exactly what I fear. It’s Theo, and he isn’t leaving.

  “Miss Evelynn, do you need anything tonight?” Theo asks.

  He knows I don’t. I smile politely, shake my head no, and continue the conversation with the ladies at the bar. It’s bothering me to be this way, but it’s for the best. We have a working relationship—I’m their boss.

  I hear the sigh when he walks away, but I don’t react to it. I can’t show my weakness to them right now. My head must remain in the game.

  I reach behind the bar for a drink when a sudden chill consumes me. What the hell is going on? Why do I feel like around every corner a stranger is lurking—or worse, like I might see Ash, Draven, or Lars? Goddammit. Those three have me fearing the shadows now.

  I excuse myself.

  Heading back to my office, I bump into Brandon in the hall. Small talk between us is a simple hello, I’m busy, and goodbye. I know this is hurting them—and if they knew me well, they’d know it was hurting me as well.

  I go back to work.

  Dinner is brought to my office sometime later. I ordered it from a little Italian place around the corner.

  I didn’t expect Max to deliver it to me, though.

  “Boss, dinner’s here. I paid for it, but no worries. Have a good dinner.”

  He’s gone before I can insist on paying.

  “Dammit.” Mumbling to myself, I shut the door so no one else can bother me. Of course, if I were being honest with myself, they aren’t really bothers.

  But they’re distractions. Seeing those men, even for a moment, gives me flutters of butterflies in my stomach.

  I switch off the lights again, the security monitors now illuminating the room as I eat my dinner.

  I want to be these clients. I need to feel them touch me again. Why is this happening to me? I need them more than I have ever needed anything before.

  I rest my chin in the palm of my hand as I watch the club. First the rooms, then the halls, and a few glances at the parking lot.

  When the shadows of people walk in and out, the door catches my eye. I get that familiar tremble in my body.

  I can’t keep going on like this. I know I’m safe here, but I guess I won’t feel entirely comfortable until I know those three losers will never show their faces here again.

  “Come on, Eve, stop already. You have security all around you in the form of ten Adonis males. Stop it.”

  I can’t stop talking to myself. Thankfully, no one is listening to me sound like a raving lunatic. I’m becoming one of those paranoid women who shouldn’t be left alone.

  I concentrate on watching the security cameras while I finish my food, lost yet again in fantasies of what I wish I could do with these men.

  Chapter 15

  Theo

  “See you all at Mulligans, right?”

  I ask, even though I know it’s the routine. We all meet after work at the bar around the corner for a few beers. It’s been the norm since starting at Scarlet.

  After the kind of nights we have, a couple of beers is required sustenance. Most of these women are great, but some of them are high maintenance.

  This job was supposed to be my golden ticket. The one that would make me all the money I needed to open my own business and live comfortably for the rest of my life.

  Since that night with Evelynn, I haven’t been able to stay on track. Something clicked when we all played with the Boss. She is so much more to me now, but the feelings don’t seem to be mutual.

  Evelynn keeps her distance these days—sending others to talk to us, ghosting since the first time we were together.

  I’m the first to arrive at the bar. I take our usual table in the corner of the bar, as it is the only one that will hold a group as large as ours.

  The bar is scattered with the late-night crowd. Most of them working in the food industry and just getting off after restaurants close.

  “A couple pitchers of beer, Charlie,” I call out to the bartender. He knows the usual routine—we drink three to four rounds, leave a hefty tip, and leave. Tonight will be no different—except we all need to have a little chat about how we’re going to fix this fucked up mess.

  Brandon and Robin are the first to arrive after I do. The rest of them come in one at a time, all looking as troubled as I do.

  Once we’re all settled down, I announce, “We need to fix this.”

  Conversations die down.

  “I have a plan.”

  Setting down their drinks, they all look interested in what I have to say. This is what we’re here for tonight, and everybody knows it.

  “This is fucking stupid. First, Evelynn is all into us cumming all over our fingers and into us coming on her. Now she’s freaked out and playing like she never wanted anything.”

  I stop for a minute, swallowing the last of my beer before pouring another glass.

  “So, starting tomorrow, we engage her in talking. Hit up her office every chance we get. Walk in there almost naked and flirt with her. Even if she doesn’t do it back, she won’t resist for long. You know we’re impossible to turn down.”

  I mean business. No woman can resist the charm of ten men—and with twins involved, they drop their panties twice as fast.

  And this isn’t just about getting her body. Any one of us could get any girl we wanted. No. This is about her distancing herself from us, both as employees and as something more.

  She’s more than just a boss to us, and I know we’re all more than just workers to her, too. Seeing her hold herself back like this just isn’t healthy for any of us, and it could hurt her a lot in the long run.

  Max holds up his glass, smirking. “To getting her to open up to us, mentally and physically.” He shakes his head, pretending to sigh. “Damn, she tasted good.”

  We all laugh at that. No one is bashing Evelynn here, but she is one of the hottest women on the planet. If she only realized she could have ten different men anytime she wanted.

  The next day, with our plan all set, I walk into Evelynn’s office in my smallest pair of boxers. My body is oiled, and I made sure to spend an hour in the gym before work. I can tell the moment I stand in the doorway—she’s immediately frustrated.

  “Miss Travers, I brought in my contracts. Did you get them?” I ask, even though I already know she did. I can see them on her desk in front of her.

  I can’t help but smirk when she looks up at me with her jaw dropped. Evelynn struggles for her words when she sees me.

  I can’t say I’m not turned on by it all. I like when a woman wants my dick, but I do wish she’d come up and grab me by the cock and tell me she does.

  “I have them. Thank you. I need to get back to this,” Evelynn says, but her eyes are still on my body.

  I thank her and leave, nodding to Gustav as he takes a turn trying to break the boss.

  For a few days, this goes on, with all ten of us involved and trying our fucking hardest to charm her back into our arms.

  Evelynn has become a little more open and smiling more, but as for it working as plan—it fails. She has broken down a bit, but something is off. I can’t wrap my head around the problem, other than she feels threatened.

  But we’re all here to help her. Not one of us would ever hurt Evelynn. We have all grown fond of her.

  I’ve been watching all this go down for days. In and out of Evelynn’s office, we walk—sometimes dressed, most of the time naked. She looks confused each time…and a little uncomfortable.

  All she’s doing is trying to run a business, after all. The same thing I came here for: the money to start my own company.

  Later that day, I call the guys back to the bar, telling them beer is on me. I’m going to suggest we all back off from the boss and let her do her thing. If she comes to us, then good, but if not—we tried.

  After a few games of pool a
nd five beers, I lay it all out for the rest of the men.

  “Look, we’ve been trying for days with Evelynn. She isn’t fucking around with us. I think we should just let this shit go. When she needs us, she’ll come to us. It’s too much of a fucking headache to try and help someone who doesn’t want it.”

  They all agree with me about letting Evelynn have some peace. We’re all certain she will come to us soon enough.

  She should be fine—and yet something in the back of my mind says there’s something bad happening behind the scenes.

  Either way, we all agree to the plan after ordering another pitcher of beer.

  “So, it’s agreed?” I ask.

  Most everyone nods their heads. A few raise their beer glasses in salute.

  “Good. Now fuck this somber shit. Let’s get drunk!”

  Chapter 16

  Evelynn

  It’s been a week and a half since the gala. Ten days, to be exact, since I told the guys to call me Miss Travers, since I made a plan to keep myself and my business safe.

  Ten days.

  My routine is so set now. I really feel in control of Scarlet, finally.

  I look at my clock. I feel like I’m waiting for something.

  It’s 2 p.m. I’ve been here for hours, gotten so much done. I check my phone to see if I have an appointment scheduled that I’ve forgotten. Nothing.

  I have a meeting with a guest tonight who wants to talk about upgrading their membership, but that isn’t for hours. I have nothing to anticipate.

  It dawns on me. No one has come into my office the whole time I’ve been here. For the past ten days, it’s been a parade of nearly naked bodies through my office and almost brushing up against me in the halls.

  Today I haven’t seen even one of my tempting doms.

  I check the feeds. Everyone is here. They’re working out, preparing rooms, chatting with each other, flirting with the bar staff, and Max has a very early client.

  I watch for a few minutes. Max has a morning anchor woman bound with intricate silk ropes, and he is running a crop across her bound tits. He slaps one hardened nipple, and the woman’s head rocks back.