‘Go home, Alex,’ I said. ‘I’m sorry.’
‘No, Sir.’ He stood up straight and stared ahead. ‘I’ll oversee proceedings, if you don’t mind.’
‘As you wish.’
It was the least I could do, after dealing him such a blow. It was just a wonder he wanted to stay. I remembered the last time we’d been at the club. Rick had been there that night, smug and self-satisfied, sure his plan was fool proof. He’d been an idiot, but he hadn’t deserved to die.
Or had he? I thought of Felicity, pale and unmoving in the hospital, lost somewhere in a coma of Rick’s creation, and wondered if he had. If anyone had conspired at their own destruction, it was Rick, and Alex had been left to suffer, along with Sandy and those little girls.
It was with a heavy heart that I went back to Grace. Of all the scenarios I’d envisaged for tonight, Alex hadn’t figured in any of them. I wondered what was going through his mind now, and why I hadn’t been able to read his expression.
Thirty
Her
We hadn’t been inside the club for longer than two minutes, when Nathaniel was called away to speak to a man. He was dressed similarly to Nat, in a tuxedo, but he had on a black shirt and he was older. I recognised him straight away – he’d been the guy in charge at the Castle that night – and I could tell he recognised me, too.
I felt my cheeks grow hot with embarrassment and pulled Nat’s coat in closer around me, pushing the collar up until it covered most of the bare lower half of my face. Was the mask pointless, then? I wondered. Would the growing number of clubbers recognise me, too?
There was a steady stream of them coming in now, clearly dressed to impress. The men wore everything from statement dinner suits, like Nathaniel’s, to army fatigues and gimp suits. The women were equally disparate, with some – clearly Dommes like Ronnie – in glamorous, fairly modest outfits, while others wore barely more than a few leather straps in strategic places.
None of them paid me the slightest notice and, gradually, I let my coat fall back down away from my face. It was okay – nobody had a clue who I was. I could relax.
It was just as I thought this, that I heard a voice behind me.
‘Hello, Grace.’
I froze. I knew the voice, even the humourless, unimpressed tone of it. I turned reluctantly around. Even as I willed it not to be, it was.
‘H…hi, Max.’ I pulled the coat up around me again. The thought of Max seeing even an inch of the costume was unbearable. What the hell was he even doing here?
‘I was going to say it was a surprise, seeing you here.’ He gestured around at the club. ‘But I had a feeling you wouldn’t do as you were told.’
‘As I was told?’ I shook my head. I didn’t understand. ‘Are you talking about the advice you gave me?’
He nodded. ‘If that’s how you want to brand it. I thought I’d made it quite clear I wanted you to stay away.’
‘I tried.’ I shrugged. ‘I couldn’t. What are you doing here, Max?’
‘I could ask you the same question.’ He came round behind me and put his hands to the shoulders of my coat. ‘Allow me.’
I clutched hard at the lapels, but he made an impatient sound that brooked no argument and, unwillingly, I let him slip my coat down across my arms until I was standing in front of him in nothing but the tiny white leather outfit.
He let his eyes drift up and down me, but his reaction to my semi-nude state was understated, to say the least. He merely nodded. ‘Far more appropriate than the coat,’ he said and, turning on his heel, walked over to the cloakrooms, my coat across his arm.
For a moment, I almost wanted him to come back. I was so self-conscious, standing there alone in nothing but a tight corset, a tiny thong and boots, my buttocks bare and my breasts half-exposed. Even Max would have been better company than being on my own. I hugged my arms across me and moved around as people passed me, trying to hide my naked ass cheeks.
Whatever business Nathaniel had had with the older guy was obviously concluded. He came back over to me, seemingly surprised to find me without my coat on. He looked rattled but, whether it was because of that, or something to do with the conversation he’d just had, I couldn’t tell. He didn’t question me, anyway, merely ran his hand briefly across my bare buttock before taking my hand.
‘So, what do you think?’ he said. ‘Is it as you expected?’
‘I didn’t expect to see Max,’ I said, pointedly. I was still smarting from his dismissive inspection.
‘Oh,’ he said. ‘Ah, well. To be honest, I didn’t expect Max to be here tonight. He has…family problems at the moment.’
I didn’t speak for a moment. Max was a dark horse. I was his assistant and even I’d had no idea his life was anything but perfect. I didn’t know whether it made me feel more sympathetic towards him, or more irritated. It didn’t change anything, anyway. Max was always a hard-nosed bastard, problems or no.
‘Well,’ I said, trying to keep my tone bright and cheerful. ‘He’s here all right…he just took my coat from me.’
‘He did, did he?’ Nathaniel snapped his mouth shut briefly. ‘Well,’ he added, after a moment. ‘He’s had the best education money can buy. Any gentleman would take a woman’s coat.’
He led me around the edge of the dance floor and towards the bar. Sofas and chaises-longues were scattered around and, on each one, people lounged. On some of them, it was hard to tell where one body ended and another began. More than one had a cluster of bodies on it, engaged in various permutations of ménage. I was keenly aware of eyes upon me, now, as we passed them. Everyone seemed to be looking, first at Nathaniel, then at me. They seemed to be looks of shock, more than anything, and I got the feeling they knew him, and were surprised to see him with a partner in tow.
I did my best to ignore the stares, trying to take in the vast array of sexuality concentrated down into such a small area. I was so conscious of my semi-nude state that it was difficult, especially as my thoughts kept returning to Max. Good grief…it was all right for Nathaniel. He was just a friend, of sorts, to him, but he was my boss, for Christ’s sake. The enormity of it made me burn hot all over.
‘But, Max…’ I said, gesturing down at myself as we reached the bar. ‘How am I supposed to face him at work tomorrow?’
Nat leaned on the bar and summoned a waiter before turning back to me, a look of amusement on his face. ‘He was here, too, remember,’ he said. ‘He’s always here.’
I could hardly credit it. Liv and I had speculated wildly over Max’s sex life, but neither of us had even come close. I wondered what she’d think if she knew, and if it would put her off him. Somehow, I doubted it.
Nathaniel passed me a glass of very clear champagne. He put his hand to my elbow. ‘Here,’ he said. ‘Let me show you the dungeons.’
Thirty One
Her
We walked back around the dance floor, where a small Japanese man was tying a girl up with thin, red rope. She was one of those in an outfit made of little more than a few leather straps. It left little to the imagination as she stood there, her hair pulled up behind her and knotted into the rope. In fact, the straps of her outfit could barely be seen, covered as they were with yards and yards of the rope. As I watched, she began to rise up into the air, her bound breasts sticking out in front of her and her feet rising behind her, to meet her hair, until she was suspended, almost like a human circle, above the clubbers on the dance floor.
I hadn’t realised I’d stopped, until Nat took my hand and pulled me away.
‘Shibari.’ He seemed to think that was a fitting explanation, and indicated towards the far side of the room.
‘Bless you.’ I followed him, looking back over my shoulder at the bound woman.
‘I’m sorry?’
‘I thought you sneezed,’ I said, immediately wishing I hadn’t tried to be funny. ‘You said shhhbari.’