by Daisy March
“Our most popular.”
She’d been trying to flirt with him for several minutes. At first he didn’t seem interested but as time went on, he warmed to her.
All she had to do was keep sticking her chest out.
How long had Slater been gone? She couldn’t help but think he was going to burst back out of the door any minute, tell her to run for it before the whole place went up.
The woman who’d been talking to Slater emerged from the red door, looking worried. She crossed to the bar and ordered a drink.
“What made you want to join this place, my dear?” Montague asked, sipping at his own drink.
“It was Sl-…my Daddy’s idea that we join.”
“Oh, was it? Not your cup of tea?”
“I wasn’t sure I’d be brave enough to do this in public but now I’m worried about something else.”
“And what’s that?”
“That we’ll be found out.” The words had just come out. She frowned. She needed to watch herself. The alcohol in the drink was clearly playing tricks on her.
“Found out about what?”
“Found out that I’m starting to like someone else here.”
“And who might that be?”
She managed a warm smile, internally grimacing as she leaned across and put a hand on his shoulder. “I think you know,” she said in her most sultry voice.
“I’d like to show you something,” Montague said. “Would you accompany me to the playroom for a moment?”
“The playroom? What’s that?”
“Where the Littles go to play of course.”
“Of course, sorry I thought you meant the play area over there.”
“That is the public play area. I am talking about the private playroom. That is where most of the Littles are right now. I’d love for you to meet some of them.”
“Oh, all right. Where is it?”
“Just this way.”
He drained his glass, turning and walking through the crowd of people, weaving between the tables, nodding this way and that.
She followed him, wishing Slater would hurry up. What would he do if he came back out and couldn’t see her? They hadn’t planned for this.
She thought about the danger she was in, following Montague away from the crowd and into a private area.
What if it was to kill her? Was that possible? He seemed so friendly but then what did that mean? Perhaps he was acting same as her. She wished Slater would come back and take her away from all this.
If she was about to die, at least Leanne would be all right. She thought of the letter she’d left her, only to be opened if she didn’t come back by tomorrow morning.
It contained detailed instructions on where to find the money her father kept hidden in the apartment. He hadn’t thought she’d known about it but she had. The loose brick in the wall behind the painting in his bedroom.
She’d seen him on several occasions depositing cash back there. Once when he was out, she took the terrifying step of having a look. The amount of cash scared her. Why did they live somewhere in such poor condition when he had that much hidden away?
“You will be fine,” Montague said, glancing back over his shoulder. “Do not worry.”
Her worries seemed to ebb away as she reached the door. The alcohol in the drink was clearly having a stronger effect than she thought. She was starting to see double.
“Walk this way,” Montague said, knocking on the door twice, then pausing, then knocking twice more.
The red door swung open and she walked in after him, weaving slightly as they made their way through another door into the strangest playroom she’d ever seen.
In the far corner was a table with straps and a woman was tied down on it, a gag in her mouth, a blindfold over her face.
“This is Sally,” Montague said, walking over and running a hand down the woman’s spine. The woman jerked at his touch, crying out under her gag, the words too muffled to make out. “She’s been very naughty so she’s going to have to be punished tonight.”
“Like me last night?” Beth asked. “I liked that.” Why did she say that? She needed to keep control of what she was saying.
“Do you notice the other table next to hers?” Montague asked, walking over to it.
“Yes,” she said, blinking to bring the table back into focus. The woman fought at her bonds, trying to free herself but to no avail. She was held tight in place.
A thought occurred to Beth as Montague beckoned her over. How could Sally say the safe word with a gag in her mouth?
“Bend over the table,” Montague said.
Beth did as she was told without hesitating. Why was she agreeing to this? The question hovered in her mind but then seemed to melt away.
Montague bound her wrists in place before doing the same to her wrists. “You like this,” he said.
“I like this,” she replied, shaking her head vehemently. “No, I don’t. Untie me.”
“You like this,” he said again.
“I like this.”
“Better.”
He pulled back a curtain to reveal a TV screen set into the wall. “Observe,” he said, hitting a button on a remote control.
The screen came to life. It showed the main room of the club. He hit the button again and the view began to scroll through different hidden cameras.
They were everywhere. The corridor on the way in, the toilet cubicles, the bar, even the street outside the entrance. He stopped the camera in the main room. “This was not so long ago,” he said, zooming in. “Recognize that face?”
It was Slater, his mask raised just enough to plant a soft kiss on her lips. “My Daddy,” she said.
“Exactly. Slater Greene, president of the Devil’s Warriors, and also your Daddy. What’s he doing here? Tell me the truth now.”
“He’s come to-“ She bit down on her lip before the sentence could come out. “What was in that drink?” she asked.
“Oh, you noticed you’re feeling a little different, did you? I might have crumbled a piece of Cake into your milk. Makes it all the more tasty for lying Littles and their duplicitous Daddies. Tell me, why are you here?”
“To destroy-“ She again bit her lip, tasting blood.
“To destroy what? The club? As if one man could bring down all of this.” He moved closer, leaning down, his smile turning into a sneer.
“Do you think I got where I am today by letting any idiotic chancers take advantage of me? I was onto you from the start. I gave them the memory card, Beth. I gave it to her.”
He motioned toward the other woman. “She gave it to Billy and he gave it to you. People are like puppets, Beth. They do what you tell them to. All Cake does is make that process a little easier. It makes them happy too. Is that such a crime?”
Beth kept her mouth clamped shut, afraid she might give away what Slater was up to. She’d taken the antidote Mouser had given the two of them but it clearly wasn’t working the way it was intended.
In many ways it was working the same way as her mind. Two versions of her were fighting for supremacy and she had no idea which would win. She wanted to tell the truth, she wanted to protect Slater.
She had to keep her mouth shut to avoid ruining his chances. She wanted to be Slater’s Little, she wanted to let him go, run off somewhere new, start again, put all of this behind her.
“What do you want from me?” she ground out, tugging at the bonds holding her in place.
Montague continued as if she hadn’t spoken. “You come to my club, you make my Littles cry. Your man goes wandering where he shouldn’t. Tell me you don’t deserve punishing for that.”
“Let me go.”
“No, I don’t think I will.” He walked along the wall, picking up a paddle as he went. “How about you and I have a conversation about pain. Would you like that?”
“Let me go, please.”
“Where would be the fun in that?” He hit a button on the remote control and the camera shifted, sho
wing Slater palming the Cake, swapping it for the mint from his pocket.
“Do you think I don’t pay attention to what goes on in my club?” he shook his head, tutting sadly. “I like you though, Beth. You’ve got something the other girls here haven’t got. You’ve got innocence. They’re playing the game but they know the rules.
“They know they can walk away and get back to fucking like all women do. But you, you wouldn’t know how to fuck if your life depended on it. I can teach you though, show you what to do.”
“Never,” Beth spat.
“You say that but I gave you a chance to walk away. I didn’t have to but I did. That was because I like you. I let you leave last night. You didn’t have to come back but here you are. That’s because you want this life. You want to submit to me. You want to be my Little, you just don’t know it yet.”
“Fuck you.”
“Language,” he said, yanking down her panties, bringing the paddle down on her ass a second later. The pain was so much sharper than the spanking. “Eleanor,” she said, yanking at the bonds holding her wrists in place. “Eleanor!”
Montague frowned and then laughed. “Oh, dear. Is that your safe word, my dear? I’m afraid that won’t do you much good with me. That’s not the kind of relationship I want. I want you to submit whether you want to or not. Does that appeal to you?”
She shook her head as best she could. “I want my Daddy,” she said, not caring how whiny she sounded. Where was Slater?
Montague hit the remote control again, the screen shifting to show Slater with his back against a wall, wrists wrapped in rope. Two men were facing him, guns drawn.
“There’s your Daddy,” he said. “I’m afraid he’s a bit tied up at the moment.” He began laughing at his own joke. “Same as you.”
“Let him go,” she shouted.
“I don’t think you’re in the right place to make demands of me. You came into my club to cause trouble. Guess what? Trouble found you.”
He moved closer, stroking her cheek with the tip of a cane. “I’m a reasonable man, Beth, not a monster. I will make you an offer. You become my Little and remain here in the club with me and I’ll let him go. How does that sound?”
“And if I say no?”
“Slater still gets to leave, just inside a wooden box filled with cement. He’ll take a little boat trip to the bottom of the sea. Wouldn’t be the first. I’ve had to deal with a few rivals in my time but you don’t get to the top without having to take firm steps.
“What’s it to be? Accept who you are and be my Little or watch your precious Daddy die? I’ll even give you a bonus. I’ll let Sammy go too.”
That’s when Beth knew he was lying. There was no chance he’d let the journalist go, not with what she knew. Even if she agreed to be his Little, he’d kill them both, maybe her too once he got bored of her.
But if she said yes, that would buy her some time. She might be able to get to Slater before it was too late.
“I need an answer,” Montague said.
She said nothing.
“Gone silent?” he asked, pulling the curtain closed before walking behind her. “I bet I can think of a way to get you talking again. Don’t think there isn’t a camera in here too. I’ve footage of everything in here. How would you like the world to see me doing this to you?”
The sound of the cane whipping down through the air filled her ears and then her ass stung with a white hot pain like nothing she’d ever known.
“What’s it to be?” he asked. “I’m getting tired of waiting.”
He caned her again, the pain making her sob silently.
“Answer me!”
“All right,” she whispered. “I’ll give you an answer.”
16
Slater
Slater looked down at the rope binding his wrists in place. Amateurs, he thought, not letting his reaction show on his face.
The knot they’d tied was loose, the thickness of the rope too much to allow anything tighter. Why not use zip ties like most people?
The two men were busy goading him, talking over each other.
“Your little slut will be the boss’s by now,” the one on the left was saying.
His fatter companion was talking louder in a high pitched voice. “Getting fucked I bet.”
What were they hoping to achieve? Make him cry? He wasn’t worried. If they were going to kill him, they would have done it already.
They were clearly waiting for orders from someone higher up and until those orders came through there was nothing to do but taunt him while he worked the ropes loose right in front of their eyes.
He dislocated his thumb, an old trick, working the gap looser between the rope and his hand, clicking his thumb back into its socket.
He glanced down at the mask on the floor. They’d torn it from his face when they first caught him. Another mistake. With the mask on, there was a chance it would slip when he attacked, blind him at a crucial moment. Now it was gone.
He looked up at the camera in the wall above him. Who was watching? Montague? The mayor? A paying audience?
He had made a few mistakes himself, he realized. He should have assumed there were cameras everywhere. Someone had seen him when he let his mask slip.
Maybe they’d seen him looking for the bakery too. What about palming the Cake he was supposed to give Beth? Probably that too.
The two men facing him were Backwoods Boys. Low rank too. They were just excited to have guns and a chance to use them. He glanced down the barrels. The one of the left still had the safety on, another thing in his favor.
The only decision left to make was picking his moment. Time it wrong and he was still in trouble. The gun on the right would get one shot and it was close to his chest.
He should be able to snatch it in time but only if the ropes were gone from his wrists. Otherwise he risked a chest shot and leaving Beth to her fate.
“I’m going to ask you a question,” he said as the last of the knot slipped loose in his hand. “Tell me the truth and I’ll let you both live.”
The two men glanced at each other, bursting into laughter a second later. “You’ll let us live?” the one on the left said. “That’s mighty kind of you.”
“What’s your name, son?”
“Fucked your momma, that’s what.”
“Come on. You’re killing me in a minute. Indulge me one last request. Let me know the name of the men killing me.”
They looked at each other. “Jinx,” said the taller one. “He’s Gutter.”
“Jinx, I know that name.”
“Zeke was my brother.”
“I remember.”
“You killed him, Slater. You killed my brother.”
“He killed my old lady. What did you expect me to do? We have rules.”
“So do we. We avenge our brothers.” Jinx’s walkie-talkie burst into life. He lifted it to his mouth. “Say again, boss.”
“Do it,” the voice on the other end said. The line went dead.
“On your knees,” Jinx said, waving his gun at Slater who went downward. As he did, he stumbled forward like he was falling. Jinx went to grab him, not realizing the ropes were gone from Slater’s wrists as he fell.
Slater twisted onto his side, bringing the gun out of Jinx’s hand, tossing it away. Still falling, he lashed out a hand, grabbing Jinx by the ankle, unbalancing him.
Jinx fell on him but Slater was ready, bringing a gut shot upward, his fist slamming straight into Jinx as he fell.
The attacker opened his mouth but nothing came out. He gasped like a fish on land, his hands going to his stomach, rolling onto his side and curling up into a ball.
Slater lashed out with a foot, giving him a boot to the crotch to keep him out of the picture.
He leaped to his feet as Jinx scrambled for one of the guns. Was it the one with the safety on?
Slater lunged for him. Jinx fired.
Click.
Nothing happened.
Jinx
cursed, fumbling with the gun, firing again. Still nothing. Then Slater was on him.
The punch was hard enough to throw him back against the wall. Jinx’s eyes rolled into the back of his head, blood trickling down the wall where he’d slammed into it. Slater kneeled beside Jinx. “Where is she?”
“Fuck you,” Jinx replied in a hoarse whisper.
Slater slapped him. “Where is she?”
“In my ass.”
Slater picked up the nearest gun, pressing it to Jinx’s temple. “I won’t ask again.”
“The playroom. She’s in the playroom!”
Slater lifted the gun and brought the butt down on Jinx’s head, watching as he slumped to the ground. He’d live but with one hell of a headache.
He could have killed them both but the clock was ticking. He needed to get to Beth before it was too late. He had no idea what they were doing to her but if they’d hurt her, he’d kill them all.
He scooped up his mask, placing it back over his face as he ran back to the main room of the club, skidding to a halt as he stepped out, trying to act normal, walking calmly to the red door. He knocked twice, waited, then knocked again.
As the door opened, he shoved it hard, listening as it connected with the man behind it. He glanced down to check the man was out and then closed the door behind him, running down the corridor.
He shoved open the door to the playroom and took it all in. Beth on her front, bent over a table, bound in place, her ass looking sore from what was that? A cane?
Another woman blindfolded with gag in mouth. Montague with cane in hand, looking at him in shock. He didn’t pause.
He crossed the space between them in seconds. In the time it took Montague to say, “How-“ he was there, grabbing the cane from it and whipping Montague across the face.
The man howled, yelling for help. Slater picked him up and tossed him backward into the mirror on the far wall. He expected Montague to bounce off it but instead he smashed through into another room.
Two way mirror, Slater thought. On the far side was an office and then another window looking directly down into the bakery.
So that was how it worked. Montague sat in his office watching over the Littles in the playroom and keeping an eye on the workers in the bakery at the same time.
