Total pages in book: 71
Estimated words: 67211 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 336(@200wpm)___ 269(@250wpm)___ 224(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 67211 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 336(@200wpm)___ 269(@250wpm)___ 224(@300wpm)
“How many are you allowed tonight?” he asks, politely but with the hint of his natural domly-ness.
I lift the drink and take a long, deep pull from it before I answer him. “As many as I want.” It doesn’t feel good saying that, though, and the curious look he gives me doesn’t appease my conscience.
I need to talk to Axle. Frowning, I pick up my phone. I send him a one-word text.
Mad.
I feel sick.
I take another sip of my drink to quell my rising nerves and soothe the ache in my heart. I waited for years for him. For years. I told myself that everything I did was to create a new me, to leave behind the shattered past and create a new present. When I found him, I felt as if the stars aligned and my hopes and dreams would finally come to fruition. No one loves me the way he does, with the tender, loving care that only years of history can bring, as we’ve forged our way through heartache and misery. We’ve earned our happiness, and it feels so wrong that it’s been ripped away from us so soon. How could he?
My phone beeps with a text. When I read it, my skin prickles with nerves and anger.
Axle: Meet me in the dungeon. By the loveseat. Kneel and wait for me.
Did he ignore my safeword?
Glaring at my phone, I text again. Mad.
Axle: Dungeon. Loveseat. Kneeling.
Maybe he wants to talk. The last “talk” we had was with his paddle on my ass, so apparently, he wants to talk on his terms.
My heart twists in my chest and I swallow down the lump the size of a brick. God. I don’t want to believe he betrayed me. Fine. I’ll do what he says, but I’ll have plenty to say to him.
Chapter Fifteen
Axle
I leave the dungeon and come back to the private room, but to my shock, when I push open the door, she’s gone.
Gone.
“Chandra?” I’m half angry, half concerned. I gave her a specific instruction and it’s unlike her to disobey me. Especially, after a spanking. Where has she gone?
The bed’s unmade, but otherwise the room looks exactly the way it did before I left it. I reach into my pocket to pull out my phone to shoot her a text but find that my pocket’s empty. What the hell?
My gut clenches. Something’s wrong.
I head to the dungeon at a trot and practically crash into Marla. “Hey,” she says, her brows furrowed. “Have you seen Chandra?”
“I was just about to ask you that,” I tell her.
She shakes her head. “It’s the weirdest thing. I was at the store and one of Viktor’s friends said they had plans to go out with us. There must’ve been some confusion because when I talked to him, he had no clue.” She frowns and looks a little sad. “When he found out, he was upset. He told me never to make plans without consulting him first. I mean, I get it…” Her voice trails off and she worries her lip. If my suspicion is correct, I know exactly why he was furious. He’s undercover, and the Bratva he’s tracking went behind his back and made plans with his girl. Not good.
“What did he tell you?” I ask her.
“He said he was on his way to me. He knew I was coming here.” She frowns. “It was so weird. He said go straight to Zack and don’t talk to anyone else.”
I cross my arms on my chest. Dammit, why doesn’t anyone listen? “And yet you’re standing here talking to me.”
“Well, I’m trying to find Chandra,” she said. “Axle, what the hell is going on?”
“Your dom gave you an instruction,” I tell her. “Let’s find Zack. And I have no idea where Chandra is.”
Marla flushes, abashed, and swallows. “Yeah,” she says. “I’ll find Zack. Why did Chandra text me earlier? She asked me to come here and said there was something she needed to talk to me about.”
What? I shake my head. “I have no idea.” I run a hand through my hair. I know I left her after a scene with no aftercare, but I came out because Tobias had some concerns he wanted to go over with me. The men Zack suspect are here, tonight, and we don’t know exactly how many of them there are. He wants me and Zack to track them down and keep an eye on them to make sure they don’t make any moves.
“Marla. Zack,” I order.
We need to get control of this. Things are beginning to spiral out of control, and I don’t like this, not at all.
She leaves and heads to Zack. I want to talk to him myself, but for now I need to find Chandra and when I do, I’ll punish her for disobeying me. God. I thought I’d made my point loud and clear earlier. Apparently not.