Lexi allowed Lucas to draw her up. “All right then. No rehab for me. We’ll try the BDSM approach to fixing a fucked-up chick. Should be fun.” She turned to Aidan. “Not that you’ll have any fun. I know my safe word, and I intend to use it.”
She flounced away, walking to the door and standing there.
Lucas picked up the bag he’d packed for her. “She hasn’t joked like that in a very long time. Thank you, Aidan.”
Tears pricked at Aidan’s eyes. He might be the bad guy, but he felt pretty damn good in that moment.
* * * *
Lexi sighed as Aidan pulled his truck into The Club’s parking garage. They were heading to Aidan’s hometown in a few minutes, and there was absolutely nothing she could do about it. Lucas had set a course, and she would follow it. He needed this and that was why she was going along with the plan. It had nothing to do with the way her heart sped up when Aidan looked her way.
There was no question about it. Aidan O’Malley was infinitely more dangerous now. The pretty boy was gone, and in his place was a man who knew how to take control. He’d mastered Lucas. The spanking he’d delivered to Lucas had gotten her wet and twitchy in a way she’d never been before. Watching Lucas submit did something for her. They had sat together, waiting for Aidan’s judgment, their fingers tangling like flowers growing together in the sunshine. Plot twist—Aidan was the sun.
She had to stop thinking that way. He would walk out on them the minute the going got tough. Lucas was the one she could count on. It was just that he’d looked so fulfilled as he took that punishment. Lucas’s joy was what had her thinking about Aidan.
It wouldn’t come to anything. Lucas had spent his whole life without discipline. His parents had utterly ignored him. He hadn’t had anyone who cared until he’d met Jack. Lucas had a skewed view of life, and so did she. Everyone except her mother had died on her. It made a person think.
That was why they needed a Dom. It didn’t have to be Aidan.
“I can’t go,” she said suddenly, her mind catching on a problem. “I have to be at work tomorrow.”
It was Friday. They had an opening on Saturday. They would need her to do the grunt work that any monkey with half a brain could do. Someone needed to make a Starbucks run. Someone had to convince the gallery owner’s wife that her face didn’t look like a weird piece of plastic someone had applied blush to. That last part was the hardest part of her job because that woman had had way too much surgery. Still, it was her job, and she was paid very little money to do it.
“You’re fine, Lexi.” Lucas sat in the passenger’s side seat and sent her a smooth smile. “Everything’s been taken care of.”
“Really?” She had to ask because her boss was an asshole with a two-by-four shoved up his anus.
“Yes, I called and quit for you,” Aidan said flatly.
“See, no problem.” Lucas slid a hand around her shoulder.
“You did what?” She was well aware that her screech reverberated through the cab.
Aidan brought the truck to a stop in front of the valet station. Even at this time of the night, there was a well-dressed young man eager to help. “I quit for you.”
Lucas slipped out of the cab as the valet opened the door. He turned and held his hand out to assist her. “Don’t be upset. You were three months in. It was only another week or so before you quit or got yourself fired. Aidan merely upped the timeline.”
She allowed Lucas to guide her out of the truck. It was pretty judgmental of them. Sure, she’d had a bunch of jobs in the last two years. She hadn’t found the right place. It didn’t give Aidan the right to quit a job she loved. Except that she kind of hated it and had been thinking about quitting. The only reason she hadn’t was the way her stepfather had groaned when she told him she needed a reference.
She could write.
The idea teased at the back of her brain. Lately, the stories had started to return, but she didn’t deserve them.
“Oh, Lexi!” A curvy blonde rushed toward her, encasing her in a bear hug. “Are you okay?”
She hugged Dani Lodge-Taylor. Julian and Finn’s wife was one of her closest friends. “I’m fine. I take it Aidan called Julian.”
“Yes, he did and then I called in McKay-Taggart.” Julian stepped up with Finn by his side. He looked her over as though assessing what damage had been done and what he needed to do about it. Finn shook Lucas’s hand and asked how things had gone with the police.
There were three other men with him. She recognized Sean Taggart. Before the group had built their own club, they’d spent some time in Julian’s and she’d gotten to know the former Green Beret. When he’d hung around The Club, he’d spent as much time in the kitchens as he had the dungeon floor. If she remembered correctly, the man could cook.
The other two were strangers. Sean Taggart looked an awful lot like his older brother, but he smiled more. He was infinitely more approachable than Ian.
She briefly studied the other two. One was dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, the other in slacks and a button down. Both were built, their clothes not able to hide the fact that these were dudes who spent time at the gym. She finally allowed her gaze to find their faces. Twins. Superhot twins. Given the air of authority they gave off, Lexi couldn’t help but think of them as gorgeous Dom Ken dolls.
“Is this the pretty princess we’re supposed to protect?” the one in the T-shirt asked. He was a flirty one.
Lucas actually stepped in front of her, his chest puffing out. Lexi couldn’t help but grin a little. She thought he might do that gorilla-chest-thumping-thing. It was sweet.
Then she looked at Aidan and was pretty sure he was about to kill someone. When had he gotten so intimidating?
Julian’s hand was already out, waving off the tension. “Don’t you two start. Aidan, I called Ian. He’s unavailable tonight. His brother came out and offered me an alternative. You had to know I would call my security team.”
“I’m glad Big Tag is locked in Sanctum listening to hair metal,” the guy in the slacks said. “I would hate to have missed out on this. I love close cover work.”
Sean Taggart sighed. “We’re not supposed to talk about that. And we were always going to place you two with Mr. Lodge. We’ve been training the Dawson brothers specifically to handle things like this for Mr. Lodge.”
“McKay-Taggart is growing,” Julian explained. “It’s good for my investment, not good for my personal security needs. This isn’t close cover. She doesn’t need a bodyguard. I believe Aidan and Lucas can handle that. You’re here to investigate the threat. Are you sure these two are ready?”
“Ian is absolutely certain. Chase is genius-level smart and Ben has some incredible instincts,” Sean replied, nodding toward the guy in the T-shirt.
Ben winked. “I’ve got great abs, too. Are we sure she doesn’t need a bodyguard?”
Sean shook his head. “You’re going to need a body bag if you fuck this up, Ben.” He turned back to Julian. “Ian’s been working with them a lot lately because we’re taking on a case in Fort Worth. It’s a big one and requires most of the team.” He frowned. “I have to play the corporate role. I hate going undercover as a dude who works in sales, but I’m the only one who can do it. Ian’s too sarcastic. Liam is a walking sexual harassment suit. Alex is too morose, and Jake and Adam are going in with me. I’m pretty sure our target is straight. That leaves Eve out. I’m the man meat, as Ian would say. So you’re left with these guys. Don’t worry. We’ll be monitoring them for the next couple of weeks.”
Dani leaned in and whispered in Lexi’s ear. “That’s Ben and Chase Dawson. They’re private investigators and bodyguards. Ben used to be on Leo’s SEAL team, and Chase was on another team. Julian asked McKay-Taggart to train them specifically to be in his in-house security. He’s going to put them on retainer because so many of his friends end up with people trying to murder them that it made sense to get a group discount. Part of their deal is that they get access to The Club.”
/> “Thank you for the play-by-play, little one.” Julian gestured toward the doors to the elevator. “Could we take this upstairs? I’d like to talk to Aidan and Lucas and fill in Ben and Chase. Finn has already contacted the DA. I assure you they will take this seriously.”
Lexi held up her hand. “Uh, hello, victim here. Shouldn’t I be in on this conversation?”
Julian’s left eyebrow practically reached the ceiling. “Are you going to be reasonable?”
“Nope. I’ll be a bitch.” She decided it was a night for honesty.
“Then no,” Julian replied, utterly nonplussed. “Please go and retrieve Lucas’s bag from the suite you vacated without your Dom’s permission. Then perhaps you and Danielle can have a drink in the bar.”
She frowned. “Yeah, I don’t think I’m allowed to do that anymore.”
A brilliant smile crossed Julian’s face as the elevator dinged open. “Then my evil plan, as my wife so lovingly put it, has worked.”
Sean stopped in front of her. “Are you all right? I heard you got shot, but you look okay.”
She shrugged. “Physically, I’m cool. It was nothing but a scratch. I guess I’m good at ducking.”
“That is a good life skill to have.” His lips tugged up in a grin. “How’s your mom?”
Sean liked to flirt with her mom. Way more than he’d ever flirted with her. “Still married to two incredibly mean men.”
He sighed. “Well, if that ever changes, you tell her to give me a call.”
“I don’t think she needs more...” What had he called himself? Sometimes she wanted to sit in at the offices of McKay-Taggart and take notes. They were an interesting group. “Man meat.”
The man they called Little Tag winked her way. “Every lady needs some man meat, sweetheart. And I tease your mother because she’s quite lovely and safe to flirt with because of those men of hers. I like her. Oddly enough, the target of this new investigation reminds me a little of her. She’s a single mom, too. Smart. Pretty.”
“Sounds like you’re already interested.” She had to wonder what kind of single mom became the target of a McKay-Taggart investigation.
“She could be a terrorist. I probably shouldn’t be, but you know the nights can be long,” Sean said.
“Taggart, it’s late,” Julian said impatiently. “Could you stop flirting?”
“Why is he allowed to flirt and we’re not?” one of the gorgeous twins asked.
“Because I’m the boss tonight.” But Sean was already turning. “Until Big Brother comes out of his yearly weird funk that we’re not supposed to talk about, I’m responsible for you two. Let’s get this briefing over with. I’ve got a flight to Chicago in the morning.”
The men piled into the elevator, but she held back. Dani stayed at her side.
“We’ll catch the next one,” Dani said. “And I’ll make sure all of Master A’s things are packed and ready to go.”
“Thank you, Danielle,” Aidan replied with a gentle smile that turned to a slight scowl when he turned his attention to Lexi. “You behave.”
“I make no promises.” She turned to Dani after the doors closed. “You are too good. I was going to shove everything he owned into a trash bag and toss it in the back of the truck.”
Dani held her hand and rushed into the next elevator that opened. “Come on. We need to hurry before Julian figures out what’s going on. I thought you might like to meet the competition. Some woman showed up in the lobby asking for Aidan, claiming to be his fiancée. The concierge called Julian, but he was all freaked out because of the shooting thing, so he told me to handle it. Want to help me handle it?”
Aidan’s fiancée? Oh, yeah, she wanted to help handle that.
Dani turned to her. “I didn’t know. I’m sorry. If I had any idea of what Julian was planning, I would have called you.”
And then she would have gotten into serious trouble with her Dom. “Don’t worry about it. Lucas is happy. He wants to try the Dom thing for a while. I would rather it wasn’t with the man who ripped my heart out of my body, stomped on it, and set it on fire, but I owe Lucas. And I owe Jack. And, quite frankly, I owe Julian.”
It was true. She was drifting, and she knew it. She hadn’t done a very good job on her own. Maybe it was time to give something else a try. If this could get her out of the funk she’d been in the last several years, it would be worth it.
The doors opened to the lobby. The lobby of The Club was an elegant showcase. Part hotel lobby, part wealthy office space, it was streamlined and modern. As Lexi exited the elevator, she could hear the high-pitched whining coming from the front desk.
“I don’t care about what your job is. I want to talk to my fiancé. I know he’s here. I’m not going anywhere until I get escorted up to his room.” The blonde standing at the front desk actually stomped her foot.
She had big, platinum blonde hair. She wore white jeans and a tight top that showed off boobs that were far too large for her small frame.
“Mrs. Lodge.” The concierge was visibly relieved. “Thank you for coming down. I’m having a bit of a problem with this lady. She doesn’t seem to understand that we are a private club.”
The blonde’s scarlet red lips pursed. “And I explained that my fiancé, Aidan O’Malley, is a member here. He’s a rancher. He owns one of the largest spreads in Central Texas.”
“His dad died?” She hadn’t heard that information. She’d met the man a time or two. Aidan hadn’t been terribly close to his father. He’d lost his mom at an early age, and Conner O’Malley had been a bit distant, but it had to have hurt Aidan to lose his dad. What else had changed in Aidan’s life?
The blonde shifted her focus, and cool blue eyes narrowed. “Do you know Aidan?”
Dani stepped forward. “I would say she does. She was engaged to him once.”
Her nose turned up as though it had caught a whiff of something vile. “You’re that Lexi person?”
Oh, she was going to be trouble. First, Lexi didn’t honestly believe that this woman was engaged to Aidan. Aidan had been a rat bastard, but he’d never lied to her. He wouldn’t have come after her and Lucas if he had a fiancée tucked away somewhere. “Yep, that’s me.”
“What are you doing here?”
Dani stepped up. “Lexi is a member of this club. Her stepfather is the largest independent rancher in the state of Texas. And she’s here because Aidan brought her here. Aidan is upstairs with my husband. He should be down in a minute. I’m sure he’ll be thrilled to see you.”
That overly painted mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water. “Well, he doesn’t know I’m here. I thought I would surprise him.”
She tapped her foot, and it finally clicked. Karen Wilcox. Aidan’s high school girlfriend. Lexi hadn’t had the privilege of meeting her. She and Aidan had only gone to Deer Run a few times. From what she could remember, Karen had been married to someone significantly older than she was.
“I think he’ll be surprised,” Lexi allowed. She was pretty sure he’d be pissed. A kernel of evil joy lit inside her. She pulled out her cell phone. “Why don’t we give him a call?”
She dialed Lucas’s number. He answered immediately, his voice low, as though he didn’t want to disrupt what was going on. “Lexi? Are you all right?”
“I am more than fine, babe. I’m down in the lobby talking to Aidan’s fiancée.”
“What?” Lucas practically screamed over the phone. “We’ll be down there in a minute.”
She disconnected the call and felt a smile split her face. “He’ll be down in a minute.”
Dani turned back to the concierge, shaking her head. “Paul, I think we’re going to need someone from the staff to go grab Mr. O’Malley’s and Mr. Cameron’s bags. Please give them to the valet. I don’t think Lexi is going to want to miss this.”
“Not for anything.”
“He dumped you.” Karen’s perfectly manicured nails curled around her purse. “He called off your wedding.”
“Yep,” Lexi agreed. “Which begs the question of why he’s dragging my ass back home to Deer Run when he has such a lovely fiancée waiting for him?”
Dani leaned over. “Does she come with a superhot, somewhat submissive, bi guy?”
“What is that? Is that some city talk?” Karen huffed a bit as though that was the worst thing she could think of. “It doesn’t matter. I want to know what you’re doing with my fiancé.”
She went over the mental list before explaining her night to Karen. “Well, let’s see, he’s spanked me, forced me to undress in front of an audience, shoved a plug up my ass, followed me home, and now he’s kidnapping me.”
“Drama queen,” Dani said with a grin.
Karen actually took a step back. “Aidan would never do that. He’s a former soldier. He served his country.”
“And soldiers don’t like to spank girls?” She wondered how sheltered Karen’s life had been. She turned to Dani. “And I had to take that plug out myself. I hope he doesn’t expect to see that one again.”
The doors to the elevator slid open, and the former soldier they were talking about stalked out, a fierce frown on his face. “What are you doing here, Karen? How did you even find out where I was?”
The blonde’s whole demeanor changed. One minute she was the queen bee bitch of the world, and the next, she’d softened and even her voice went little-girl high. “Well, I wanted to be with you. It’s been a week since you came and saw me.”
Aidan’s face bunched up in confusion. “I came out to your place because I was dropping off a check for the charity dinner. I wasn’t seeing you.”
Karen moved closer to Aidan. Her voice was all breathy and pouty. It made Lexi want to gag. “Well, we can fix that. Dwight let it slip where you were, and I tracked you down. What kind of place is this? Are you okay here? This woman is making all sorts of accusations about you.”
His head shook, and Lexi could have sworn he smiled a bit. “Yes, I’m sure she did. Lucas, will you escort Lexi down to the truck? We’re done here. Ben and Chase can come out to the ranch if they need anything else. I’ll deal with this one.”
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