past the friend zone? How would she handle the fact that they actually had moved past it? That was the better question. It wasn’t like she’d hung around. There could be serious issues for them to work out.
But he wasn’t going to let that stand in his way. She was perfect for him. She complemented him.
And the truth of the matter was it was way past time for him to move on and settle down and start to build something. He could do that with her.
Was he being rash? Probably, but this decision didn’t make him antsy. It didn’t feel like something he should meditate on.
She made him feel alive.
“Where did Kori go, Vince?”
Jackie sighed. “Did the little coward run away?”
“I’m sure she’ll have a reasonable excuse.” And he would listen to it. “Mistress Jackie, could you please ask your submissive where my submissive went.”
Vince’s head came up off Jackie’s fuck-me-hard boots, his eyes lighting up. “I knew you two made a connection. It was so easy to see in the way you caned her. That was beautiful. She needed that so badly. And she ran away like a coward. She even forced Sarah and Mia to leave with her. I think they went home, but I stayed here with Mistress. Mostly because I love Mistress, but also because when those three complain about men I get scared.”
He was sure lots of things scared Vince when Jackie was around. She placed her well-manicured hand on his head and eased him back down. “You did well, pet. Perhaps later I’ll reward you with an old-fashioned pegging. I do enjoy going old-school. Spank that brat when you find her, Kai. She deserves it.”
It was said with an affectionate fondness. At least he knew Kori’s play partners had accepted her apology. Not that they would be playing with her again.
His cell phone buzzed and he looked down. A text came through from an unfamiliar number.
Where is your brother heading for the evening? He lost me at the light.
Ah, the feds were quietly hanging around. That text made his stomach turn. It reminded him that he wasn’t simply fulfilling a contract. He was spying on his brother. He was trying to figure out if a killer had gotten close to Jared. He would go through their files again, check their histories against his instincts. His brother’s entourage was one fucked-up group of people.
He could do that tomorrow. For tonight, he was done. Let the feds do their thing. He had his own fucked-up human to deal with.
Some club. I don’t know. Check his social media. I’m sure he’s announced it to the world.
He shut his phone off for the night. The doctor was out.
He had other things he needed to do.
CHAPTER SIX
“What do you think of Case Taggart?”
Kori turned to the woman who had asked the question. Mia was sitting on the couch, her legs curled under her and a glass of wine in her hand. Sarah sat next to her, a frown still on her face. She hadn’t wanted to leave the club, but there had been the small problem of Kori’s tires getting slashed. She’d explained to Sarah that she couldn’t drive home without tires and getting someone out to fix it would have to wait until the next day. That was what she got for parking outside of Sanctum. She’d forgotten her keycard to get into the parking lot, but there was a nice gate between the parking lot of the building Kai owned and Sanctum that only required a code, so she’d parked by her building and walked over.
And some asshole had taken a knife to her tires. All four had been slashed. She’d had to run back into Sanctum, trying to hide from Kai the whole time, and then convince Sarah to give her a ride home.
If anyone knew she’d gone out by herself, there would have been hell to pay. She’d snuck around the bouncer because she hadn’t wanted to wait for an escort out. Kai could have found her and then she would have been forced to talk about her feelings.
Apparently Mia was having feelings for a guy, too, though she seemed inclined to talk about them.
“He’s a nice man.” Kori answered Mia, who had come along for the ride. Her training Dom had gotten stuck at work and she’d gone home with Kori and Sarah. It looked like they would have a guest on the couch tonight. “He’s been through a lot.”
“I know he recently lost