Total pages in book: 160
Estimated words: 149137 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 746(@200wpm)___ 597(@250wpm)___ 497(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 149137 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 746(@200wpm)___ 597(@250wpm)___ 497(@300wpm)
“How about you call me Angelo when we’re not on the dungeon floor and Sir when we are,” he offered. “If you ever actually play here. Jared and Josh are close friends of mine. Dumbasses, both of them, but they’re friends. Anyone they hire will be carefully vetted.”
“Of course. I would advise nothing less, though I suspect his bodyguards have already vetted me thoroughly. If the club would like some references from the other clubs I’ve held memberships in, I can certainly give you names and numbers.”
And Damon Knight and Ian Taggart would tell them what they wanted to hear.
Everything was carefully orchestrated to get her this job, to put her in this place. She had every advantage, and she intended to use them all.
“Kayla?” The door to the inner portions of the club came open and a familiar face stood there, clipboard in hand.
She nodded. In this case, she didn’t have to pretend. Her cover was that she’d worked for McKay-Taggart for years. She should know Shane Landon. “Hello, Shane.” She glanced back at the Doms. “Thank you for having me in your club.”
She walked through the doors and into the club proper. The concrete here was painted a shiny black, her heels clicking along the floor. Not that she would make a sound if she didn’t want to, but she didn’t need to sneak up on anyone. They knew she was coming. And she liked the sound. In the larger spaces, the concrete would make sounds echo, a moan or groan reverberating through the room and making a symphony of BDSM.
Shane nodded toward a small room off the main hall and across from what appeared to be the changing rooms. She followed him in, hoping they would have a chance to talk. Shane had been working for Joshua Hunt for a few weeks now. Anything he could tell her about his demeanor and habits would be helpful. Shane and Declan Burke would attempt to sway Josh in her favor.
But it really was up to her.
Shane closed the door behind her and she found herself in an office. Declan Burke leaned against the desk. Even when the man was relaxing, he looked lean and predatory, coiled and ready to strike. Shane was more of the all-American guy, with a ready smile that belied his dangerous nature.
She was comfortable with these men because she understood them.
“We can talk in here. No bugs,” Dec said. “But keep it down. Sound reverberates. If someone comes in, we’re doing your initial interview. We’ve done it with all the candidates.”
“She did great with the Doms,” Shane said, crossing his arms over his massive chest. “Way better than a couple of the others. It’s obvious several of the women have no training whatsoever. I would even say one of them is a top herself. She simply doesn’t have enough knowledge to understand her place.”
“Any real contenders?”
“Well, the problem is putting the two sides of what he needs together,” Dec mused. “He needs someone with extensive bodyguard skills who also happens to have training in the lifestyle and identifies as a bottom.”
“And you haven’t seen that perfect combo yet?” The trouble was she couldn’t force Josh to choose her. If he wasn’t into Asian-American chicks with wicked-dark senses of humor, she might be shit out of luck.
“Not that I could tell,” Shane replied. “I think if he doesn’t pick you, he’ll go with the former Israeli Army guard. She’s the closest to what he’s looking for.”
“And what do you think he’s looking for?”
Shane glanced over at Declan. “He’s kind of hard to read. You get anything off him?”
Dec pushed off the desk and started pacing. “I would say there’s a lot of shit going on under his calm demeanor. He’s very controlled, but he wasn’t always.”
“Yeah, I got that, too,” Shane agreed. “I would bet a lot that he hasn’t always been as clean as he is now. Probably drugs or alcohol since he is careful about what he drinks. One Scotch is all he’ll do, and I don’t know how much he enjoys it.”
“He’s pretty cold,” Dec continued. “I don’t mean that in a bad way. I guess I kind of admire it. Not a lot seems to get to the guy. But I don’t know how much of that is front, you know what I mean? He’s polite, but cool to everyone around him. We haven’t seen him with a sub. I don’t think he’s had a regular sub for a long time.”
“But one of his girlfriends was a member?” Sometimes knowing how another person had fucked up led to the way in.
Shane grimaced. “Yes, and let me tell you these guys don’t like it when you try to go public with their business. She was immediately kicked out of the club, and from what I can tell, she left LA because she couldn’t find a job. They blackballed her. Not all the members here work in entertainment, but they’ve got enough power to screw with a person’s career.”