Prologue

GABBY

The Playground.

Gabby read the sign repeatedly as she sat in her car, fidgeting and trying to talk herself into going inside. She knew she already had the job as the cleaning person for the club, but it would all just be a lot easier if she didn't have to speak with the owner in person and fill out her employment paperwork. Then again, to do her job, she guessed that she'd have to go inside at some point.

Her hands trembled as she grabbed her purse and got out of her piece of crap car. She really shouldn't call it a piece of crap. It had gotten her from Reno to Seattle without breaking down, so she should have been grateful for that. When she had started her trip, she wasn't so sure it would get her there, but now that she was where she needed to be, she wouldn't need to drive very much.

The building before her was large and built with brick, and it looked to be three stories high. Seemingly large for an adult club, at least it was compared to the one she'd come from. Remembering the instructions in the email that she'd read from the club owner, she pressed the button next to the entrance and waited.

Her anxiety was through the roof, and she had to remind herself that she needed to breathe and that she was safe. She didn't do well around strangers. Or men. And definitely, not strange men. But her previous boss, Raff, had assured her that the club owner at The Playground was trustworthy and kind.

It only took a moment for the door to open, and a tall, muscular man stood in front of her. She winced at his height. At only four-foot-eleven, it felt like the entire world was taller than she was, but he seemed even taller than most, making her feel uneasy. Wanting to shrink away, she lowered her eyes from his and started to take a step back.

"You must be Gabby?"

She startled at his deep voice and nodded, unable to make eye contact with him.

"Come in. I'm Zane. We talked through email."

Gabby followed him inside and looked around as she trailed behind him through the club. Zane opened the door to what looked like his office and ushered her in.

"Would you like something to drink?"

She quickly shook her head. She didn't like taking drinks from strangers. Gabby could feel his eyes on her, and it took every ounce of courage to look up into his gaze. He was handsome, and even though he was tall, he didn't look scary or mean. He didn't really look like a man who would own a dungeon, but she also knew that looks could be deceiving.

He gave her a soft smile, "Please, have a seat. I have some paperwork that I'll need you to fill out, and then I can give you a tour of the club. When Raff reached out to me to see if I had an opening, he had a lot of wonderful things to say about you."

That made her feel warm inside. Raff had been the only person in her life that she could remember being nice to her. For some reason, the older man had taken her under his wing and given her a safe place to sleep and some money in exchange for work.

"Raff was always kind to me," she said in a small voice.

Gabby hated that she never sounded confident or grown-up. The man was probably regretting hiring her already.

Zane nodded, "Well, I can assure you that any staff you meet here will be kind to you as well. Since you will be here during the day when the club is closed, you will mostly only see me or my business partner, Jace, but occasionally we have a staff member come in to set up for a theme night or to do private training sessions."

"Okay."

When she didn't say anything more, he slid a stack of papers across the desk, eyeing her curiously.

"I've already done your background check with the information you sent to me. These papers are for tax purposes as well as a confidentiality agreement that says you won't share anything that occurs in the club with the outside public."

She nodded and took the pen that he held out for her. Gabby had no clue what any of the paperwork said or meant, so she signed everything after pretending to read through it. Stuff like that was overwhelming, and she didn't understand a lot of the wording. After finishing all her sloppy signatures and initials, she gave him the stack of papers and waited.

"Let me give you a tour of the place. Feel free to ask any questions that come up. Jace or I will almost always be here when you're working, but I'll give you a key anyway so you can get into the building if for some reason we have something going on that takes us away from the club."

Gabby nodded and followed him out of the office. The first large area they came to was the dungeon. It was similar to Raff's club but was bigger and had more equipment. The dungeon wasn't a room that interested Gabby, but she could recognize the beauty of all the furniture and handmade crosses used to secure people.

"All the equipment in this room will need to be cleaned and sanitized daily. The floor should be mopped daily as well."

Nodding her head, Gabby stored that information in her mind and followed him down a hall. He opened the doors to several rooms along the corridor.

"These are all medical playrooms. Everything needs to be cleaned and sanitized daily in these rooms as well. Toys and instruments that members use are cleaned, sanitized, and put back where they belong by staff who work while the club is open, so you won't need to do that."

Thank goodness for that. She'd seen some of the toys used in Raff's club, and some of them were more than a little scary. She was never one to judge what someone else might like, but that didn't mean that it didn't terrify her. Not that it took much to scare her anyway. She was basically afraid of her own shadow.

Zane showed her several more areas. She was impressed by the size of the bed in the Harem room and listened intently as he explained what kind of cleaning was required in that area. It wasn't very different than what she had done at the club in Reno.

I wonder how comfortable that bed would be. I could kick and roll over all night long and never reach the other side.

"The last part of the tour is the Littles' area," he said as he opened a door.

Gabby couldn't help but smile at that. She had loved the Littles' room at the other club and had hoped The Playground had one as well. When she walked into the large area, she gasped. It was at least three times the size of the one in Reno. There were toy boxes everywhere and bookshelves next to a pile of pillows in one corner, several oversized rocking chairs throughout the room, a play kitchen that was sized for big Littles, a Lego table, an art station, and so much more that she couldn't even take it all in.

"Pretty impressive, huh?" Zane asked proudly.

She nodded, her wide eyes scanning over the room again.

"We have a large community of Littles, so it's a very popular area. This door goes into the nursery."

She followed him through the door to another large room that had two oversized changing tables, four adult-sized cribs, and a twin-sized princess bed as well as a twin-sized race car bed. There were also several rocking chairs in that room, a sink, refrigerator, and microwave.

"This room is used for Littles who need more of a quiet space or if they need to be put down for a nap or have their diaper changed. All the surfaces will need to be cleaned and sanitized each day, and the carpet will need to be vacuumed in both rooms.

"Since there are a lot of Littles who have sticky fingers, the toys need to be wiped down once a week or so. There are a lot of toys so I don't expect that you'll be able to clean them all, so just do what you can. Usually, you'll be able to tell what toys are played with the most since they are at the top of the toy boxes."

Gabby nodded and tried to stay focused on what the man said, but it wasn't easy. All she wanted to do was sit down in front of the toy box full of dolls and play.

This is a job, Gabby. You're not here to play. You need the money, so don't do anything to get yourself fired.

"Do you have any questions?"

Bringing her attention back to the tall man who was staring down at her, she shook her head.

"No, Sir."

He smiled, "No formalities with me, Gabby. You may call me Zane. Come on. I'll get you a key. When can you start?"

"Right away, if that's okay?" she asked, feeling a bit unsure.

She didn't want to sound needy, but she needed to make some money. Raff had shoved a few hundred dollars in her purse before she left Reno, even though she tried to tell him that she couldn't accept it. That had earned her his stern Dom look, and she had caved.

She appreciated that the man seemed to truly care about her well-being. He had been unhappy when she told him that she was moving to Seattle and insisted on getting her a job with a club where he knew the owner. He told her that Zane was one of the best guys he knew, so he had made the call, and here she was.

Raff had asked her why she wanted to move to Seattle and she'd refused to tell him. He had grumbled about that non-stop for weeks, but at the same time, he knew Gabby was a closed-off person, so he hadn't pressed it. If it hadn't been for Raff, she had no idea where she would be, so she would always be grateful for his kind heart. She hoped that one day she would be able to thank him properly.

Zane nodded, "Of course. How about tomorrow? It doesn't matter to me what hours you work as long as you don't come or go when it's dark out."

She nodded, "How about if I come at eight tomorrow morning?"

"Works for me. Here's a key, and here's my card. If you need anything at all, you can call or text me day or night."

"Thank you. I promise to do a good job."

Zane nodded and smiled. Gabby took the card and key and nodded, giving a small smile before she walked out of the entrance. It wasn't until she slammed the door to her car and was safely inside that the looming panic attack that had been threatening her the entire time that she had been in the club finally broke loose, and she let out a sob.

She was no stranger to panic attacks. They had plagued her for years and had become so debilitating that she could hardly function in day-to-day life. She couldn't hold down a job because of her anxiety, so she had been living on the streets with no job or money when Raff had found her. When he offered her a job at his club, she'd been terrified and told him she couldn't function at a job or be around people. He had assured her she would be working alone at her own pace and wouldn't have anyone hovering over her.

The older man had even set her up with a private room in the club for several months until she'd found a room for rent that she could afford with the wages he was paying her. Gabby never understood why he'd chosen to look after her, but she was thankful that he had.

Once her panic attack ceased, and she could finally breathe again, Gabby pulled her car out of the parking lot and drove about a mile down the road to a grocery store parking lot. It would do for the time being. Eventually, she would find a room to rent in Seattle, but until then, the back seat of her car was the only bedroom she could afford.

Gabby was exhausted and could barely move by the time she was parked and had put up shades in all of her windows. It was a blessing that she had been able to stay awake long enough after her attack to be able to drive her car away from the parking lot of her new job. She didn't think the owner would appreciate her living in her car on his property. Lying back in the driver's seat, she faded to sleep within seconds of closing her eyes.