Chapter 11

"I"m sure this will be a headliner," Marie said smugly as she started packing her notes away.

I glanced over my shoulder at the camera in the corner. Joaquin was most likely watching. He always had a stick up his ass when I met with anyone who stank even the slightest bit of media. It scared him shitless that I could make one wrong comment and blow our lives up.

Foolish man.

I never said anything by accident. Anything that blew up was intentional. And I only instigated scenes that would get him hard.

Harder for me, I should say.

"I hope so." I threaded my fingers together as I leaned back in our favorite VIP booth. It was actually a smart move to do our meetings here. Everything in this corer was recorded in case anyone tried to fuck us over, but it was also in a prime location where the patrons meeting here for lunch could get a good look at us.

It was good for business.

"I"ll let you know what Tommy says, but I don"t see any issues." She grinned and hugged her bag to her chest, one minute away from getting out of the booth.

She lingered, like most people did in our presence.

But today, I didn"t rush her away. The goodwill was necessary just in case word got out about Lake's and Joaquin"s arrests. So far, so good. Except for Joaquin griping about the pendulum swinging over our head.

The man was too stressed. I"d fuck it right out of him later.

"Sounds great." I pressed my stomach into the table top as I glanced around the room.

About half the room was full as a few servers bounced from table to table, dropping off plates and refilling drinks.

The dance floor sat empty. I"d have to talk to Kim about bringing some of the dancers out during the day. Nothing crazy, just something subtle to give a high-end vibe. Something to set our club apart from all the other restaurants in town.

Hell, maybe we could even close the room down to the public during the day and make it part of a membership. A good ninety percent of the people here wore business attire. They could afford it.

"Okay, well, I"ll be in touch." Marie fluttered her eyelashes as she slid out of the booth. She had an extra sashay in her step as she descended the stairs out of the VIP area.

I flipped off the camera and smirked just for Joaquin.

I didn"t waste any time heading back to the office. Pulling my phone out, I started to check the home surveillance to see what Beasty was doing, but there was a message in the group chat instead.

Kim:

Beasty and I are heading to the club for the staff meeting.

That was thirty minutes ago.

Slowing my steps, I accessed the club surveillance. The club rooms were all empty now, except for some of the dancers practicing their performances.

But the office...

Joaquin wasn"t watching me because he was watching Beasty"s ass as she looked through the meaningless knick knacks on Lake"s desk.

The thought of her leaving us was still too hot as it cut through my chest. Joaquin thought I was crazy?

I was strategic.

The one way to ensure Beasty would never run was to make sure she was just as obsessed and addicted to us as we were to her.

It was too one-sided. I didn"t give a fuck what Beasty said. It was what she did that I paid attention to. It was what I always did.

Watched.

Snorting, I picked up my pace down the long hallway.

Beasty was on point with one thing. I didn"t really know her. She"d never really spoken to anyone when I stalked her before.

And I said stalked because why pretty it up. I was her biggest stalker.

I knew every expression her face could make, her mannerisms, her habits. But without the conversation piece, her mind was just out of reach.

We"d have to change that.

The door behind me slammed and I twisted to see who was following me.

Lake stomped down the hallway with a thunderous expression darkening his face. Without any of the mood music, his footsteps bounced off the walls.

"We have to make some calls." He clipped my shoulder as he brushed by.

I reached out and grabbed his arm. "What are you talking about?" I didn"t have time for this. I wanted–needed to be where Beasty was. I ached to make her squirm.

"Parker"s pissed. He"s planning his trip out." He glanced up and down the hallway. We were alone, but it was second nature to scan our surroundings. "Gio heard from one of his contacts that the Pescis are going to hit the club. They're miffed we aren"t getting the bad press they expected us to."

"They could always leak it." That would be unfortunate for us, but it would get the end goal they wanted. Or at least move the needle in that direction.

Lake gave a gruff shake of his head, and turned toward the secured entrance to the offices, staring holes through the door that led to where Beasty was. He would have seen the text. He"d know that was where she"d most likely be, even if he didn't check the cameras.

"No, they wouldn"t. They already pushed the line of getting too much attention on themselves. Gio thinks one of the idiots in charge got the bright idea to hit us that way because of who we are. They have no idea we don"t give a fuck about the fame."

That was a conversation for another time. "What kind of calls do you need to make?"

"We"re calling in some favors. Gio doesn"t know when they plan to make a mess so we need to be prepared and have some people on staff or at least watching." His lips thinned. "For the unforeseeable future, Gio and his two friends are going to be staples in the club."

Lake would hate that. To him, Gio was only minutely more tolerable than Parker.

"Like you haven't seen Adrian slipping in and out the back entrance."

No way Lake wouldn't have noticed. Since he"d decided to be our bodyguard, he leaned in on every possible tool to know everything that happened around us. He had the security footage on his phone just like I did.

Except, I zeroed in on Beasty. Lake watched everyone else.

It worked, because between us, we had all avenues covered.

"Beasty is in the office, so unless you want to air our dirty laundry..."

He pulled away from my hold and headed straight to the doors.

"No, we"ll take Guy"s office. You can join me."

I cursed as I followed him. We paused long enough for him to scan his keycard access, then passed through to the holding room. He scanned his card again, then passed our closed office door and went to the next one.

"I need this room. Out." Lake rapped his knuckles on the wall just inside the door.

The man behind the desk was Lake"s head of security. We didn"t have friends, but this guy was as close as Lake had ever gotten.

He jumped up, knocking his chair back. "What code?"

"No code," Lake headed to the security cameras and started hitting buttons to change the angles and perspective. "I just have to make a phone call and I need privacy. There are too many people in my office."

Guy relaxed and snickered. "I told you the true head of security needed his own office."

Lake sighed, but it was packed full of frustration as he kept tapping buttons. "I don"t normally need privacy. My friends and I share everything. This is just a one-off that has to be handled delicately."

Guy hummed as he rounded the desk and sauntered out. What did he think this was, some kind of lover"s spat or something?

He was too amused for me.

Walking over, I slammed the door on his retreating back and twisted the lock.

Lake deflated and he slowed down on pushing the buttons so fast. "Okay, I don"t recognize any of the men here. Or women. Gio showed me a whole catalog of who to watch out for."

"Do you need me here?" I glanced at the door.

"Yes," he snapped, not looking at me as he pulled out his phone. "I need moral fucking support. I don"t like some of these assholes. If I step over a line, I need you to pull me back."

"Hell," I muttered as I walked closer to him. He leaned his ass on the edge of Guy's desk and hit call.

Crossing my arms, I tucked my chin. There were so many things I"d rather be doing right now.

"Yes?" A voice hesitated on the other end.

I knew that voice. And I hoped to never hear it again.

"Rich," Lake barked. "I need to call in a few favors." He made it sound like Rich had some power here. As if he had the ability to back out. But he didn"t. Especially since he'd handed over so many juicy details on Valencia.

"What are they?" Fear trilled in the high pitch of his tone.

"We need at least five models at the club in the VIP Room every night. We"ll comp their visit. Free drinks. Good press for them. But, if I need it, I need a scene. A messy one. Which is still good publicity for them."

I sneered. I hated that saying. All publicity was good publicity. What a crock of shit.

"I don"t know if I can do that. There aren"t any shows around DC for a few months. Most models are in New York or LA," Rich rambled.

"I don"t give a shit. You have access to Valencia"s database and funds. Make it happen." The implied threat was there. If he didn"t do what Lake wanted, with minimal benefit to him, Lake would destroy his career.

They hung up.

Then he made another call. This one to a few security companies he"d worked with in the past.

He arranged for extra plain clothes to be there.

It was the next call that really made my blood boil.

"Bryce," Lake said as the man answered his phone, his top lip curled in disgust. "This is Lake."

"Who?" As if he didn"t know who Lake was. He wouldn"t answer his phone if he didn"t know the number. No one in this industry did.

"The head of security for Atlas and Kim. I"m sure you remember. A few years ago, you attempted to help Lisbet out by trying to maneuver our best friend out of the way."

"We don"t fucking need him," I growled, grabbing Lake"s wrist and squeezing.

Lake hit mute and looked up at me. "If worse comes to worse, we need a fall guy." Then he unmuted the phone.

"What do you want?"

"Funny you should ask that. I have some...fascinating information about you regarding a beach house six years ago..."

The line went silent.

"Good. I"m glad to see I have your attention. Here"s what I"m going to need from you..." He outlined exactly what he wanted to happen, but I stopped listening.

All I saw was his skeezy ass leaning into Beasty. Whispering to her. Acting like he wanted her. Like she was nothing but a cunt to fill.

When Lake had pummeled him into the wall, a burst of excitement flared through me. Bryce had deserved it. He wasn"t worthy of her.

We hadn"t been either, not until she fucking left us.

"Are you okay?" Lake shook off my hold.

I hadn"t even realized I"d still been holding onto him. "What?"

"Are you okay?" He peered into my eyes before he took in the rest of my face.

My jaw clenched so tight my gums ached. I relaxed it and sucked in a deep breath.

"Fine." I rolled my head from side to side, the cracks from the movement giving a different kind of satisfaction. "I"m done here. I"m finding Beasty."

"I"m not done, you jackass! I haven"t even gotten to the ones I really hate!"

"Don"t care!" I called over my shoulder as I unlocked the door and threw it open. Guy was nowhere to be seen. I scanned my badge to get into our office, and stopped short.

Beasty wasn"t looking through Lake's knick knacks anymore. She was in the chair in front of Kim"s desk, angled toward Joaquin as he worked. Kim was behind her, massaging her scalp like he did this on the daily.

What the hell happened between the hallway and here for him to give her a scalp massage? What happened for her to want to let him?

My stomach still burned like acid, and seeing Kim touching her only added to it.

Beasty cracked her eyes when the door shut behind me, but she didn"t acknowledge me.

Fuck her.

Fuck her right and proper. If she was going to act like I didn"t matter to her, then she could start her punishments now.

I quickened my pace until I was right in front of her and dropped to my knees. Her eyes snapped open, but I didn"t say anything.

Unbuttoning her jeans, I shoved my fingers under the band of her jeans and underwear and yanked them down. She screeched and slapped my hands away, but I was too much of an expert at stripping jeans away. Joaquin put up a harder fight than she did.

"What are you doing?" she screamed.

Once the pants were around her knees, I gave a sharp slap to the side of her ass, ignoring the revulsion licking up the small of my back.

She yelped, but when she didn"t try to push me away anymore, I smoothed my hand down her thigh until I reached the top of her jeans. I slid my thumbs over her soft flesh and wedged my fingers under the band again.

"You said you"d take your punishments anywhere and anyway I wanted to give them to you. That you wanted to be here and you"d prove it." I didn"t raise my voice even though my brain was imploding from thoughts of her with other men.

I needed to erase every memory she"d ever had of anyone who wasn"t us.

Flicking my gaze at Kim, I measured his judgment. His eyes were dark and hooded as he gazed at where my hands met her thighs. I"d have no problems from him.

Joaquin huffed, but he could suck my dick. And he would later.

Beasty"s eyes blazed with hate and anger. Delicious emotions I wanted to see on anyone who wasn"t her. I didn"t want her hate. Or her anger.

I wanted her love.

Her obsession.

I wanted us to be her reason to breathe, and without us, she"d crumble from withdrawal.

Those were the kind of feelings I wanted from her, and right now, we were going to start her training. Her conditioning.

"Do you want me to stop?" I asked, my voice a warning.

She"d given her permission in the club and now she was taking it back.

As much as I wanted to take exactly what I wanted, I wouldn"t do that. Not to her or anyone.

If she pushed me away…This was done. I wouldn't fuck with her anymore. It would be the final nail in her coffin with us.

Beasty's nostrils flared and she turned to Joaquin, then twisted back to see Kim. It was all so fast, like she needed to see how they were reacting to my stripping her.

I couldn"t see Joaquin, but I could see Kim. And when she faced me again, her eyes were wide and her chest rose with each quick inhale. I smirked. She hadn"t expected to see that much desire on Kim's face.

"Well?" I mimicked moving her jeans down just a hair, then tugged most of my fingers out.

"No," she gritted out. "I don"t want you to stop."

Like she was moving through sludge, she curled her fingers around the sides of the chair. Once she was still, I pulled off her shoes, then removed her pants.

At first, she pressed her thighs together. I raised a brow. I didn"t want to be mean to Beasty, but I couldn"t stop it. I taunted her. Used the power of my expressions to call her a coward.

She huffed and relaxed her thighs.

Cupping her knees, I pushed them open. I held her gaze as I spread her wide. I wanted to see her pussy, but I wanted to watch the emotions rolling over her more.

As beautiful as I was sure her cunt was, they were all mostly the same. But there was only one Beasty. No one had her face. And that was what I wanted to devour.

She bit her lip and a blush stained her cheeks. It stretched down her neck and her chest. So red.

The office was cool, but here Beasty was, burning up.

Her legs trembled and when I finally dropped my gaze, I stopped breathing. Maybe they didn"t all look the same. She was so wet, a bit of her arousal trickled out.

I hooked my hands under the backside of her thighs and jerked her to the edge of her seat.

She yipped, her fingers turning white where she gripped the chair.

Kim reached out and held her shoulders back. Probably to comfort her, but also to hold her still.

God, she smelled delicious. I slid my hands up the inside of her thighs, and when I reached her apex, I used my thumbs to spread her lips apart.

Just a little bit of hair. She trimmed, kept herself neat, but didn"t wax.

Leaning forward, I blew across her clit and she whimpered.

"What should I do Kim?" I glanced up. Kim leaned over her shoulder so he could see exactly what I was doing.

"I want you to tease her." His voice was deep, deeper than I'd ever heard.

I chuckled as Beasty moaned.

She didn"t like that. "I want you to make me feel good. If you"re going to be there–"

Beasty didn"t get to finish her order. I slapped the inside of her thigh. Immediately a bright red handprint appeared.

I grinned. Where was Lake? He was going to be pissed he was missing all the fun.

"Nothing else from you. This is for us, remember? Your punishment. Call it hazing if you want. Whatever you need to tell yourself to sit through it quietly and be a good girl." I glared, daring her to argue.

If she did, I"d leave her right here. Alone and untouched.

That wasn"t what I wanted, but it would still be a different kind of edging.

"I won"t talk," she groused. It was so irritable, it was adorable.

"Good. Now, Kim, you said tease her." I rubbed circles with my thumbs, leaving her exposed but causing enough movement it would be a delicious sort of torture. "What did you have in mind?"

"Lick around her hood." His voice quivered as his eyes darkened. He was so eager. Of course he would be, Beasty was still his one and only.

Rolling my lips together, I dropped my gaze. I didn"t know who was more worked up, Beasty or Kim.

At least Joaquin wasn"t trying to place a stop to this, afraid that we"d hurt Kim"s feelings. But Kim was over the shock of us sharing. From the look on his face now, I"d think he craved this as much as Beasty did.

Slowly, drawing it out so painfully long, I lowered my head until my mouth was right there. I kissed her clit, amused at her soft intake of breath, then I used the tip of my tongue to circle the sensitive bud.

It pulsed and I pulled back.

"You"re not ready this quick, are you?" I grinned. "How embarrassing."

She scowled and tried to close her legs. I just squeezed in warning.

"That"s nothing to be embarrassed about," Joaquin barked from his seat.

I glanced over to find him reclined back, his cock so hard there was a massive tent under his slacks. He pushed forward, wincing, but still able to narrow his eyes on me.

"We will never shame Beasty for what she feels. If you do, we have a problem."

Most of the time, his chastisements were as much fun as his anger. But this one got to me. I was being nasty, but there were lines to my meanness and this crossed one of them.

I took a moment to collect myself, and turned back to Beasty. "There"s nothing to be embarrassed about. It's flattering that you"d be so aroused by my touch, you"re seconds from coming. I"m sorry."

She blinked, like she wasn"t sure what to do with that.

I knew what to do.

"Just sit back, I won"t let you come," I murmured as I dropped my head. She leaned back in the chair, unaware that I wouldn"t let her come at all today. Not until she needed us with the same desperation.

Licking around the bud, I pulled it between my lips and sucked gently on it. Her breath quickened, and I didn"t have a hope of staying soft. Already I strained against the seam of my pants.

I worked her with my mouth, splitting my time between her clit and slit. Every once in a while, I shoved my tongue inside her tight pussy.

She'd quake and I"d back off, go somewhere else. Except now she trembled so hard, I sat back on my heels. She stared at my chin, seemingly mesmerized, as I massaged the sides of her lips again, absently pulling her open and giving her just the tiniest amount of friction.

At some point she"d moved her hands to grip Kim"s wrists. Beasty"s mouth was slack as she dropped her head back against Kim"s stomach, rolling her hips like she needed more. I was sure she did.

I grinned at her tortured look.

When her legs stopped shaking, she started making noises of irritation. Then I started my ministrations all over again.

I kept her face in full view as much as I could. It was like a new religion watching this side of Beasty.

How her face showed pleasure was unlike anything I"d ever seen before. With me between her thighs, she was a new person. A sweeter one. Less prickly.

More mine.

I hummed and she jerked against my hold.

Yes, she was more mine this way.

"Tongue fuck her." Joaquin"s voice was guttural and closer than it should have been.

I glanced over my shoulder, and there was Joaquin. His chair was at the corner of his desk, only a few feet from us with his arms crossed and his hard cock still causing a scene.

Who was I to argue?

I didn"t when they had actual good ideas.

Kissing my way up the inside of her thigh, I worked her back up, massaging her clit with small motions as I fucked her with my tongue.

She was so wet, and tasted so goddamned good.

"She loves it," Kim whispered, his voice strangled. "Do you love it, Beasty? Is he fucking you so good with his fingers and tongue."

Beasty grunted, shifting her hips to try and ride my face. But I pulled back.

No way in hell was I going to let her ride her way to completion.

"What the hell, Atlas! This is enough. You"ve teased me enough," she wheezed as she pushed hair out of her face.

The door clicked and Lake walked in. It took a minute for him to see our positions. Then he skidded to a halt and shoved his phone in his pocket.

"This is why you left me?" Lake pursed his lips and his eyes flashed from me to Beasty.

I dropped my head and gave Beasty one more lick before resting my cheek on her inner thigh.

"I was helping Beasty with a few things." I couldn"t lose the grin as I let Beasty"s legs drop and started putting her panties back on.

"What are you doing?" She kicked me away.

"We"re done, Beasty. Now that Lake"s here, there"s something else that needs my attention."

Joaquin grunted, but I ignored him. There was desire rolling off her. She wanted me. And the physical evidence was the salve I needed.

Kim removed his hands and stepped back. He adjusted himself in his pants and rubbed a hand down his face.

I started to give her another bullshit answer when she jumped up out of the chair and hopped around to finish pulling her panties and jeans on.

"I can"t fucking believe I let you touch me. You fucking asshole. In here. In front of everyone." Her voice was strangled.

Fuck that. We weren"t going to act like I defiled her.

Pushing to my feet, I caught her in my arms and held her tight, even as she struggled.

"I told you, you"d be punished. After the way you"ve been acting, like we"re less than the dirt under your shoes, you deserved this." I pressed my lips together as I flicked my gaze between both her eyes.

Beasty stopped, tipping her head back. Shock slackened her face.

"Being with us, any of us, wherever we want, however we want, isn"t shameful. Not between us." I pressed her against my chest, drilling home with my gaze exactly how serious I was. "Is that clear?"

Her face screwed up like she wasn"t sure if she should be livid, confused, or maybe a mixture of both. She settled on somewhere in between.

"I don"t deserve a punishment."

"Then call this a courtship," I snarled, too angry to soften my words. Beasty, the girl I"d chased after my whole life was treating me like the bad guy. Like someone who would hurt her just because I could.

She needed to look in the mirror.

"You"re so fucked in the head, you don"t even realize it." She elbowed me in the ribs and broke my hold.

Then she raced to the bathroom and slammed the door.

"I told you this was a fucking mistake," Joaquin said, as he moved his chair back in place and grabbed his keycard. He stopped at the door, staring at the wood as his card hovered just outside the range of the keypad. "If she leaves, this is on you. Because of your fucked up ideas on how to make her yours."

"Like you"re any better." I scoffed. "Your idea of dealing with a problem is to spend money on the floor while drinking yourself into a stupor."

"Which I haven"t done since Beasty came back."

"You"ve drank since she came back," Lake said.

A sad smile ghosted over Joaquin"s face. "Okay, that was a lie. But I'm doing my best to change. I know it"s fucked. But I don"t want that side of me to touch her. And what you"re doing, Atlas, you"re fucking with her. Making her hate us and question us, when you should be wanting to build her trust."

"She wants the assholes," I argued, wiping my chin on my sleeve.

Joaquin barked out a laugh. "Beasty doesn"t want the assholes. She just wants us. But honestly, I"m doubting that. You guys continue to play your messed up games. I"m heading to the Gold Room."

"Just like you always do! You"re no better than I am!" I called after him, but the door already shut behind him, and it was sound proof. "Fuck!" I yelled and kicked the chair Beasty had been in.

He was wrong. She needed this. I needed this.

Otherwise, we"d never know she wanted to stay with us.

He was wrong.