Corruption - Leigh Lennon Page 0,4
I mean, you moan and shout to someone you call precious…very, very loud.”
Well, hell, he’ll bust my chops for this, but he doesn’t know who she is. Not yet.
Chadwick drones on and on about the bottom line. He’s preaching to the choir because all of us, including our lawyer, attended business school. With Chadwick’s unconventional hunger for control, he’d shared his business plan with us early on, him being the backing because none of us came from money like he had. His relentless howling grates on my last nerve, and I’m about to rationalize this with a fuck you asshole when Jared stands from an almost lounging position, jumping up like a jack-in-the-box.
“Chad, man, you realize you’re talking to us like we’re little kids?”
Jared can call Chadwick out on things none of us, except maybe Greer, would dream of saying to him.
“Maybe if you little boys would act like men, then I wouldn’t have to treat you like babies.”
Greer, our lawyer, the clown, and a man who can put our best friend in his place with a smirk, stands next to Jared. “So, the bottom line, sales are up amongst all club bars by thirty percent. Membership is up by twenty percent, and we have a waiting list from three to nine months. I think what Chad wants to say is good job, guys. Now, maybe we should let him go find his gal, and she can work wonders with this cantankerous son of a bitch. Lord knows he's a grumpy Gus when she’s not attached to him.”
It’s true. Since Chadwick's engagement to Eve, he’s an entirely different person the instant she walks into the room. He never travels without her, and she’s never far from him.
“You sons of bitches are right.” He lets out a playful chuckle as all seven of us move, thinking lightning will strike. Will he admit he’s wrong? “Not about you being boys, because you jackasses are little boys, but about me finding my kitten. Let’s break, find your girls, have some fun, and let’s meet back at the club for a nice dinner.”
The asshole digs the knife deeper when it comes to Anton, Greer, and me. Anton is amid some complications he won’t talk to me about. Greer is not into women, nor does he do commitment.
Then there’s me, who never gets out of sorts over not having a girl of my own. I can find what I need relatively painlessly, someone for the night to rule, control. His words would typically not bother me, but both heads on my body have been transfixed on the precious gem I can’t have.
Anton leans down because we drove here together. He’s gripping his cell tightly, and I think he’ll break it in two. “Hey, I have to run. I have something I need to take care of. I’ll meet you back at the club.”
I’m about to ask logistics to figure out what he’ll do for a car when he dashes away from me, and my cell phone rings. It’s the familiar tone of my dungeon master.
“Hey, man,” I say to Jay, one of the three dungeon masters who runs the club on various nights. He’s the lead, my number two, and my point of contact for all issues. He never calls to simply shoot the shit with me.
“Good afternoon, Maddox. I know you’re in the middle of your business meeting with Mr. Westbrook. However, I needed to chat with you about a new Dom who would like to enter into a contract with one of our subs.”
I've never been involved in this. It’s never my concern unless the sub is mistreated. If that’s the case, the Dom better get ready to be blackballed from not only our club, but also every other club I have a good standing with.
It’s a unique situation for all Dungeon Elite clubs. We have an area for new subs who are unable to find a Dom, so they can be matched up with someone. Sometimes they come to the club and hope Doms will choose them for the night, and everything runs through the dungeon master.
“Is there a problem? I never get involved in this part of the business, not unless…” I’m about to lose my shit because nothing gnaws away at me more than a sub being mistreated.
“No, Sir, it’s just the submissive is…” He trails off as if he’s scared to tell me.
“What is it, Jay?” I ask, curious by this whole exchange.
“It’s Jewel Atkins. I thought you’d want