by Cara Adams
He didn’t really think a member of staff would riffle through his spreadsheets to see if they were being paid the same as other staff members, but there was no need to offer any temptation to them either. Although the security camera in the corner of the room, pointing at their doorway should have excellent footage of anyone who entered their office anyway. The security cameras were innovations by Simon. As well as the expected, obvious CCTVs, there were a number of other, smaller, much less obvious ones, designed to catch anyone where they ought not be.
Whereas everyone was welcome in the Stage Lounge. This was the large room with a full menu on offer to patrons, as well as a beverages bar, a barista for coffee, two BDSM stage shows each night, and a live band each evening. Tamara was sitting with another woman who looked to be about the same age as her, in her late twenties.
It was less than a week since the co-owners of The Dom’s Dungeon had returned from a wedding, with Tamara. They’d wasted no time introducing her to all the staff, and then Simon had followed that up by taking her to meet all the werewolves separately, introducing her to them as his and Leif’s mate.
Although Simon was their employer, not their Alpha, and, in fact a few of the wolves still owed allegiance to the Alpha of their original pack somewhere else, the lesson could not have been made more clear. As they owed respect to Simon and Leif as their employers, so, too, Tamara was to be protected.
Even though it was Niel, who was the wolf, not him, Kon understood that perfectly, and appreciated that his mate, if he ever had one, would be under the protection of the wolves here as well as respected by the humans.
But right now he wasn’t interested in looking at the managers’ mate. He wanted to get to know her friend. Her friend who worked in admin and figures, believed in werewolves, and was interested in BDSM.
Her shoulder-length black hair formed a neat frame for her face, and her pink lips were tilted in a happy smile as she spoke to Tamara. From this distance he couldn’t be sure, but he thought her eyes were gray. Her body was curvy and she sat quite still, not fidgeting with the condiments on the table, or tapping her fingers or toes. He liked that. It was restful. He hated people who constantly rapped their fingers on the desk or endlessly clicked their pen on and off again.
Mentally he ran though the conversation he’d had with Leif but couldn’t recall being told her name. Well, now he knew the first question he needed to ask. But instead it was Niel who interrupted the women, sliding onto a spare chair as if he’d been invited to join them, which he most definitely hadn’t.
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Niel smiled at the woman, mentally giving her a thumbs-up. She passed the attractive test easily. His dick was already trying to say hi to her. “My name’s Othniel, but everyone calls me Niel. Tamara, why don’t you introduce me to your friend?”
Kon was right beside him, pulling up another chair to the small table. “Have you eaten? Why don’t we join two tables together and then there’ll be enough space for us to all have dinner together.”
“Good idea.” Without giving the women time to object he jumped up and helped Kon reposition the next-door table so it was joined with theirs and then they were able to sit comfortably beside Tamara and her friend. He managed to grab the spot opposite the new woman so he could look into her eyes and watch her expressions as they talked with her. Kon might prefer to sit beside her, but he’d rather see her face and get to know her better.
“Trinidad, these two gate crashers to our little party are Niel and Kon. They’re the club’s accountants and are the ones who want an assistant. If you don’t wish them to join us now, tell me and I’ll get security to throw them out.”
Niel tried not to let his surprise show on his face. She wouldn’t really throw him out, would she? He turned and stared at her, noting the firm line of her jaw and her set lips. Hell yes, she would. Well, fancy that. Leif and Simon might just have gotten themselves a woman with as much determination as they had themselves. She was a good match for those two men indeed.
But what about Trinidad? Was she going to be a match for Kon and him?
“Maybe they could tell me about the work they want done. The hours they’d expect to be worked and the tasks to be completed?” Trinidad asked quietly.
Niel liked her voice. She spoke softly but clearly. He had no trouble hearing every word she said, but her voice didn’t ring though the room or grate on him. That was a point in her favor immediately.
“I’m the purchasing officer for the club. Everything we use comes through me. Each of the heads of the various departments works out what they need and sends me their shopping lists. Sometimes they favor specific suppliers, especially with the food and beverages. Other times they don’t mind and I can often buy the same items in bulk and split them between several different departments for economies of scale. A lot of the paperwork will be done by the new assistant. It’s not necessarily a good thing to have the same person making the order as the one who checks the order.”
He watched Trinidad as he explained the work to her. Her eyes were bright and alive with intelligence which made him think she understood what he was talking about. He was also hopeful that the job would appeal to her. She nodded and her body language was positive.
Tammy stood up and spoke to one of the wait staff but Niel ignored her. He wanted to concentrate on Trinidad. She was mentioning some of the computer programs she’d used and he was surprised how much experience she’d had. She should certainly be able to cope with their systems easily.
Kon asked her about his quarterly reports to the Supreme—not that he used the term Supreme—and it seemed to Niel she knew what she was talking about when it came to presentations as well. She really was going to be extremely well qualified for their job. Perhaps too well qualified? Maybe she wouldn’t want to stay with them at a pay rate they could afford? The Supreme always paid fair salaries. He believed that people who were remunerated well remained loyal to the company.
“If you accept the position you might be able to reframe some of the work requirements to highlight your skills. Kon and I’ve been thinking about what tasks we want to offload onto an assistant. But there might be other tasks which you can see that you could do them better than we do, and that you need to suggest to us you take them over,” he said. He hoped that didn’t sound rude or muddled, but he was trying to leave it as open-ended as possible without putting anyone down.
She smiled. “I don’t expect so, but I’ll keep it in mind.”
Just then several waiters crowded around their tables, placing platters of hot food down, carafes of iced tea and beer, and serving them each a plate, knife and fork, and glass.
When the one of the staff handed the account to Tamara she smiled and handed it to Kon. Oh yes. The more he saw of Tammy, the more he knew Simon and Leif had gotten themselves a woman who was an absolute match for them, and a hell of a lot faster thinking than he was. Not that he was complaining about paying for the meal. They’d have been happy to do that anyway for the opportunity of meeting Trinidad.
Once they started eating, the conversation became much more general, not really task focused anymore.
“Do you live far from here, Trinidad?” he asked.
“My apartment is in the heart of the city so it’s an ideal commute to just about anywhere.”
Niel thought that would loosely describe his and Kon’s apartment as well. On the west side of town, but still close to the center of the city so not too far to travel when he needed to visit suppliers, especially the markets which opened at an insanely early hour of the morning. At least non-food stores opened on a more civilized schedule.
As the barista brought their coffee orders across to the table, Niel pulled the position description out of his pocket and laid it on the table. He ran his finger down the dot points and noticed there was one they hadn’t covered. For a moment he thought of asking Trinidad a question and then realized he was being silly. It didn
’t matter whether she knew how to do it or not. It wouldn’t change his decision. She was an ideal admin assistant and she seemed like a nice person as well. Certainly she was attractive to look at and had a soothing, restful personality that would be a good foil for him and Kon. She would be able to calm them down when they grew grumpy.
But as they’d said earlier, even if she was married with six kids—which he seriously doubted as she wore neither rings nor a collar and didn’t look old enough to have more than one or two kids—they needed an admin assistant and he was certain she could do the work.
He looked at Kon catching his eye. He lifted an eyebrow and got a definite little nod. Excellent, it was all settled.
“Trinidad?”
She looked up at him, but it was Kon who spoke. “Othniel and I would like to offer you a job here at the club as our assistant. You’d be working inside the accounting department mostly on orders and accounts, but with some reporting and general administrative tasks.”
“What about salary, hours, and vacation time?”
“They’ll be the same as mine, won’t they?” said Tamara.
Niel had no idea what Tammy’s were but he knew what to say. “Of course.”
If Leif and Simon had signed off on Tamara’s appointment, they were hardly going to complain about Trinidad’s on the same conditions. They were both admin assistants.
“I haven’t shown you the room we’re making into my office. This is really cool. We’ll be able to set it up for both of us now as our joint office,” said Tammy.
Niel watched the way the two women reacted around each other. Their happy smiles and positive body language clearly showed him Trinidad thought that was a good idea.
“Have we finished here? Shall we go and look now?” he suggested.
He let the women make the pace, happy to watch Trinidad’s intelligent gaze flicking over the various rooms as they passed them. He wasn’t aware of what office was to be Tammy’s. There were quite a few rooms used for storage. It could be any of them.
It was about halfway along the hallway so in a reasonable position. No one wanted to be beside the staff bathrooms for example. Also, on this level, none of the rooms had windows opening outside. This was ground level and there were only windows on the upper floors, so natural light wasn’t possible, but the lighting throughout the club was more than adequate.
Tammy opened the door and stood back. Whoever had been getting the room ready had done a reasonable job. Whatever had been stored here previously was gone. A computer desk, bookshelf, and office chair were positioned against one wall and a box of stationery and supplies was sitting on the desk.
“There’s plenty of room for your desk opposite mine,” said Tammy.
While the women chattered together Niel looked around. Yes. This room had clearly been designed as an office and the women wouldn’t be crowded. Even with another desk and all the computer gear still to be installed they’d be fine. There should be some spare computers around somewhere, too. Likely Leif and Simon already had that under control but he might check tomorrow just to be sure.
“When can you start work, Trinidad?” asked Kon.
“You’re serious? You’re giving me the job just like that?”
“Absolutely. It’s the way things are done these days. Jobs are filled online before the page has time to refresh.”
“I’m really excited about this. I promise to do my very best for you both. I never imagined anything could happen today. Monday. I can start on Monday. That should give me time to wrap up everything at my current job.”
Niel stepped forward to shake her hand. “Thank you, Trinidad. I look forward to you beginning work with us then.”
Kon copied him and said, “Can we walk you downstairs to your car?”
“I don’t have a car, and the bus stop is not even a block away. I’ll be fine, thank you.”
Niel just stared at her. “It’ll be dark out there now.”
She looked puzzled. “What about it? In winter it’s dark a lot of the time.”
“I don’t think you should catch a bus in the dark. Kon and I’ll drive you home.”
“That’s really sweet of you, thank you, but I—”
“It’s settled then. Let’s go.” Niel wasn’t taking no for an answer. No woman of his was walking around town alone in the dark.
Chapter Three
It was lucky Trini had been talking to Tammy, because this was all happening way faster than she’d expected. She knew that these days some companies expected job applicants to drop everything and come in for an interview really fast. Maybe even that very same day. The husband of one of the women at her current job hadn’t gotten a job even though he was the lead applicant for it, because he was going to be in meetings all afternoon and couldn’t interview with them until the next day. By then the job was taken.
But it still seemed to have happened really fast. At least they were okay about her not starting work for them until Monday. Trini had done the math in her head on the spot, but she hadn’t taken last year’s vacation time yet, and would be owed pro rata some of this year’s leave time, so waiting a couple of days shouldn’t mean she’d forfeit any money. She was supposed to give two weeks’ notice, but she could cover most of it with her accrued leave and still get a few extra days’ pay in her next paycheck. And not having the actual time off work itself didn’t matter. It wasn’t as if she desperately wanted to go to Disney World or something.
Her vacations were usually spent in art galleries or libraries and enjoying the luxury of not having to get up early every morning. But hell, she’d come here hoping to peek at a dungeon, looking forward to talking to her friend, and with the hope that maybe she could apply for a job. She was going home having been given the job, having seen the dungeon, and having met two really nice-looking men who were going to be her bosses. She’d suddenly moved into the fast lane and life was looking good.
The men walked with Tammy and her into the lobby of the club and then when Trinidad went to leave via the main entrance, two hands touched her arms. She stopped and looked from her right to her left. One man framed her on each side of her body. Beside Niel stood Tammy, a grin all over her face.
“Our car is in the basement parking lot. We’ll take you home,” said Kon.
“That’s really kind of you but I’ll be fine on the bus.”
“We’d rather escort you. You’re our responsibility and we want to ensure you’re safe.”
Trinidad opened her mouth to argue, but Tammy shook her head. “You might as well give up and do what they want. Men like these two don’t see ‘no’ as a viable reply. They’ll treat you right, won’t you, Niel and Kon?”
“Of course we will. You don’t even need to ask.”
Men like these two. Did that mean they were Doms? But she hadn’t agreed to be their sub. And how did Tammy know all about them already? She’d only been here a few days herself. It seemed as though the BDSM club was like a small town where everyone knew everything about everyone else. Oh well, she could work with that situation. It wasn’t as though she had any secrets to hide. Her life was an open book, plain and ordinary, through and through.
She let them guide her to the sole elevator, as distinct from the group of three elevators which seemed to go serve the upper floors of the building, and watched as Niel pressed the button for the lowest floor, B3. The parking lot was brightly lit. Far better illuminated than many of the parking lots at malls.
Kon stopped and faced her as soon as they’d exited from the elevator. “If you wait here with Niel, I’ll fetch the car.”
“Isn’t it here, in the parking lot?”
“Yes, but it’s way over on the back row. Staff is encouraged to leave the closest parking spaces for paying customers.”
“The back wall isn’t far. Why don’t I walk over there with you?”
“If you’re sure? I don’t mind going and fetching it for you.”
“I like walking. I sit down at work all d
ay and enjoy walking when I have the opportunity to do it.”
“So where do you walk? Apart from to the bus stop,” asked Kon.
She smiled. “Indoors mostly. Around the local mall. Most of the art galleries and museums have regular open days and I go to them.”
“What is your favorite kind of art?”
They’d reached a white SUV and Niel held open the passenger door for her. “Thank you.” She waited while Kon and Niel climbed into the car and thought about art. “I don’t have a favorite style or even favorite artists. I just enjoy looking at everything and picking out the ones that appeal to me. I specifically like a painting that I can stare at and find more hidden details in it the longer I look at it.”
“More details like what? I’m guessing you aren’t talking about pictures like Where’s Waldo?” asked Niel.
Trini laughed. “No, I mean things like rock faces with streaks of different colors in them. Tree bark as well. On real trees bark isn’t just brown. When I look at it closely, there are flecks of all sorts of colors, and I love artists who do that, blending all the colors in until a quick glance shows the tree as brown but the more I look at it the more I can see all the other colors as well.”
“Okay. That makes sense. I think I like artwork like that as well,” said Niel.
Kon was driving and they’d reached the exit. The security guard waved at them as he made the boom gate open for them.
“Which way should I go?” asked Kon.
“Left,” she said quickly. She’d relaxed into the conversation, forgetting that not only didn’t she know these men at all, they didn’t know where she lived. It was a timely reminder that they weren’t her friends. They were going to be her superiors at her new job. She needed to remain distant and professional, not relaxed and having fun.
