“Home,” I said.
“All right. We’re ready if you are.” She gave me an encouraging pat on the shoulder, while I took a deep breath.
Dom’s going to kill me if he knew I’m doing this, but I’m doing it for him. For us.
I stepped out the van and peered at the street. It was dark outside, but I could still spot the multiple obscure cars surrounding us. I knew they were only here to protect me, but it still freaked me out. Lots of cops waiting to storm in and bust the place. I didn’t care if Dominic would lose the ability to go to this place; I just wanted him to be safe.
Shivering, I closed my coat and started walking toward the building. It was a shabby old warehouse that looked much like it was abandoned, but I knew better. Inside, deep down in the basement, a kinky party was going on between lovers of BDSM.
Before I stepped inside the building, I heard a screech through my earplugs. I squinted and pressed my fingers against my ears.
What the fuck, I’m going deaf, shitty noise.
“Testing,” Sharon whispered.
“You’re scrambling my hearing.”
“Sorry. At least we know you can hear me.”
“Yeah, but I’m going inside now, and I need to concentrate. I won’t be talking unless there’s danger.”
“Gotya.”
It was silent again, and I stepped inside the building. The musty smell still lingered, and I looked around to find the door that led into the basement. When I found it, I quickly went through it and ran downstairs. Just before opening the doors to the play party room, I took another deep breath.
You can do this, Julie.
I chanted a couple of encouraging words to myself, just to pump myself up. In order to fool the people inside that I was here just for the party, I needed to persuade myself as well. I needed to believe my own act.
I zoned in on the fake idea that brought me here. Dominic, my master, had told me to go here alone and find a partner. He wanted me to enjoy the night with a stranger, and sent me here to look for one.
Of course, that was all a charade. I was actually only looking for Daisy. I wanted to expose her for who she really was. A criminal who’d kidnapped me in order to snatch away Dominic’s money. All because his father made some kind of shady deal with her gang.
I opened the doors and went inside. The music was loud and it was busy. A lot of people were dancing or looking at the acts. Some doms and subs were engaging in sex, others had a flogging session or watched others. Without Dom to back me up, I felt awkwardly out of place here.
Act normal. Act normal.
I looked around, trying to see if I could find her face. With careful steps I treaded through the crowd, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible. If no one noticed I was here, surely I’d get away with this.
Her blonde hair stood out like a homing beacon to me. I spotted her, standing next to a tall, dark man. He was bald, but muscular, and looked like he could bench press two people easily. He wore thick rimmed sunglasses, at this time of day, in a club. One thing was more striking though. The fact that he squeezed Daisy’s butt.
My eyes narrowed.
That must be her dom. No one would be allowed to touch her ass but her dom. It has to be him. Is he part of all this?
I swallowed away the lump in my throat and thought about what I was going to do. I needed to have them talk about the act. They needed to confess at least a part of the drug deal, or the kidnapping, or the money. Something so I could nail them. But how? They had to be alone for this to work, because there was no way in hell they’d talk about it in the club. It had to be private. I just didn’t know how to get them away from here.
Then I thought of something. What if I convinced them to include me in a private party? Go somewhere else and use the plan I made up for dom to have me find a partner here? Seducing wasn’t one of my biggest fortes, but being behind this mask gave me a feeling of invincibility. Like I could do and be anything, and no one would find out it was me. This was the only thing that might actually work.
I snorted and put my best foot forward. When I approached them, they were still oblivious to my intrusion. I cleared my throat, and suddenly they turned around to face me as if I was this giant mosquito annoying them. Daisy’s eyes scanned me from top to bottom, and I got this sudden urge to hurl, looking at her. Those eyes of her were exactly the same as the one who’d talked to me in the cell, when I was kidnapped. Now it only strengthened my resolve.
“Hi,” I said, trying to sound different than before. I didn’t want her to recognize me.
She squinted and watched me, and then her eyes flicked back and forth between me and the guy next to her.
“Hello,” he said first.
She didn’t say anything. She wasn’t allowed to speak to a sub, unless her dom gave her permission. She’d bent the rules once, but wasn’t about to do it standing right next to her own dom. So now I knew for sure.