Gale, Avery - Jenna's Submission [The ShadowDance Club 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage and More) (25 page)

Petrov looked at Alex and snarled, “Are you the man watching the women urinate?” Good thing she was standing behind Petrov, she knew her shoulders were shaking with her silent laughter.

Alex raised his eyebrow and looked down at the Russian thug.
Jesus Christ, did he really just ask me that?
Alex was sure the men in the Crow’s Nest would be throwing that little ditty in his face for years. “I’m Alex Lamont, my brother and I own this Club, but we all take shifts monitoring the bathroom the submissives use. No Dom wants his sub coming in here and touching what belongs to him any more than is necessary. We don’t need them chatting each other up either, it’s no good when they start comparing notes, you know what I mean?” Petrov was nodding like his neck was made out of rubber, what an idiot. “You want me to watch your sub? You think she’s going to try to get herself off while she’s in here? Maybe ease the tension before you get a chance to play with her? I’ll keep an eye on her. Help yourself over there at the bar. Bartender’s name is Cort Douglas, tell him Alex said to set you up with some of the good stuff under the bar.” Alex hadn’t met a Russian criminal yet who didn’t love thinking they were getting the best vodka in the bar. And it didn’t look like this asshole was going to be any different.

“Yes, watch the slut for me. She is a slippery one, don’t let her out of your sight. You can have some of her if you like, I don’t care so much for her, but she has her uses, you know? Cort Douglas, you say? When she leaves watch her to make sure she returns to me, thank you.” Petrov shoved a twenty into Alex’s palm before he walked toward the bar.

Knowing the entire back of the bar was a mirror and Petrov would be watching closely, Alex grasped Mia by the upper arm and roughly dragged her out of sight. “Damn it, Alex, that fucking hurt!” Mia was rubbing her upper arm as soon as Alex had released her.

“Yeah, well, nice to see you, too, Melita, and that piss wad you brought into my Club was watching in the mirror over the bar, so I had to play my part. You owe Trace Bartell a beer, too, by the way.” At her puzzled look, he added, “The cowboy who got you in here, Christ the man thinks quick on his feet.” Smiling now, he reached over and pulled Melita into a rib-crunching hug. “Goddamn, Melita, in a million years Zach and I won’t be able to repay you for helping Katarina escape and return to us. I can’t wait to reunite you with her, but right now, you need to tell me everything you know about what’s going down here tonight.”

Mia quickly filled him in on everything she knew, she was sure he was wired so likely she’d just told their whole team.
You have to love rich boys with cool techy toys.

Chapter 31

While Mia explained what she knew and what she knew Petrov was looking for, Alex was fussing with her clothing and putting a plastic bracelet around her wrist.
What the hell, are there fucking carnival rides in here?
“Excuse me, Alex, are you listening to me?” She had stopped talking and was looking at him as if he’d completely lost his mind. “I’m trying to give you some really important information here and all you care about is straightening my dress, such as it is, and putting a damned ‘Ride Free All Day’ bracelet on my wrist?”

Alex’s eyes glinted with amusement, and she saw the first signs of the fun-loving man she’d known years earlier when he answered, “First of all, you have been updating the entire team while you have been speaking to me. Second, I think your dress is lovely, but it lacked the tracking device I have attached. Third, since I have no guarantee you’ll be keeping that lovely frock on all evening, I’m attaching a band that not only tells other members that you are a ‘newbie’ and they must check with a club dungeon monitor before engaging you in play, it also has a tracking device. We want to know where you are at all times, sweetheart. Make no mistake, Master Dylan is not planning to let you leave ShadowDance with anyone but him.” Smiling down indulgently at Mia, he wiped the single tear that was slowing sliding down her cheek. “Please don’t cry, Mia, we’ll keep you safe.”

Mia took a deep breath and seemed to recenter herself. “I’m not worried about my safety, it’s just…Well, it wasn’t ever supposed to be about a bunch of damned diamonds. I’ve been working on this case for two years, I’ve given up the only man I ever loved in my naive belief I could protect him and his friends from being associated with me, and then look what happens. I land right on your front steps bringing who knows how much danger.”

Dylan was listening, and it was taking every ounce of self-restraint he possessed to stay out of the women’s lounge. The only man she’d ever loved? To protect him? What the fuck had she been thinking? She’d broken his heart and nearly taken his soul down in the process. Hell, it had taken him over a year to even eat dinner with another woman, and he was just now attending The Club on a regular basis. As his dismay faded, his hope blossomed, and smiling for the first time in a long time, he promised himself a long-overdue vacation when this evening was over…and he sure wasn’t planning on spending it alone.

* * * *

By the time Alex returned Mia to Petrov at the bar, he was already on his second drink, and he was becoming more and more agitated as he listened to those around him speculating about all the extra security in The Club for tonight’s festivities. As Alex led Mia closer, Petrov turned, glaring at the two “What the fuck took so long? You decided to take her for a test drive, Mr. Lamont?”

Alex went completely still. Mia felt him tense but knew the other man wouldn’t be watching carefully enough to notice. One thing she’d learned, the more powerful the criminal, the less they cared about others, and that often translated into inattention on their part. Most were so accustomed to having someone else do their dirty work that they rarely saw far enough past their own agendas in social situations to notice subtle changes in the body language of others. “Not at all, I am happily married, and I do not cheat…Ever. I noticed that your sub did not have an identification band as is required of all nonmembers. We wouldn’t want her being approached by another Dom, now would we?” Alex heard snorts of laughter coming through his earbud and knew he’d better shelve his sarcasm.

“No, I don’t suppose we do. Now, if it’s all the same to you, I’d like to talk with the slut privately for a moment.” It hadn’t escaped Alex’s attention that the man hadn’t referred to Mia as his sub. Maybe he wasn’t completely stupid after all.
Nope, asshole, she isn’t yours, not even close.

* * * *

Standing in the shadows watching Petrov lead his woman into a secluded corner, Dylan watched as the man slid his hand down Mia’s back and gripped her ass cheek with enough force to cause her to wince, and he growled his rage before turning to see Zach standing next to him. Zach’s eyes held a compassion Dylan wasn’t used to seeing directed at him. “Don’t worry, we’ll keep her safe and we’ll get her back to you. Remember, Dylan, this is what we all do best.” Slapping Dylan’s shoulder, Zach moved through the room.

Petrov pushed Mia so hard into the corner that she felt her shoulder hit the wall hard enough she’d cried out at the pain. “Shut up and tell me if you see Katarina McKay in this room, you stupid bitch. I don’t know why Robertson didn’t kill you when you helped her escape, but your time is running out if you don’t tell me where she is now.”

Mia worked her shoulder trying to ease the pain and hoping the small action bought her a few more seconds to figure out how to tell the man in front of her Kat was not only not in the room at this time, but wouldn’t be for several more months, according to Alex. “I don’t see her, but I haven’t been anywhere but the bathroom and near the bar. Is there a dance floor? I know she always said she loved to dance, perhaps we should look there?” She’d tried to make her voice sound light and hopeful, but she could tell by his scowl he wasn’t buying her story.

“I hear from other members that she is pregnant and her husbands will not let her come to The Club until after the child is born. What kind of tramp has two husbands? American women must be insane.” Having been raised by a sadistic father who took great joy in regularly sending his wife to the local emergency room, Petrov couldn’t imagine any woman wanting to deal with two men. “My men tell me there is cause for concern, we may have been compromised. They have overheard comments about added security. It is time for us to leave.” He’d grabbed her upper arm, his hands were so large that his fingers more than circled her bicep and his hold was so tight her fingers were quickly starting to go numb.

“But what about the diamonds? How will he get them? Do you have men in place to search her car? I’ll bet it’s in the garage, maybe you and I should go look.” She knew she was babbling, but she was scared he would actually get her outside. He would have at least two alternate forms of escape, he’d bragged about how he always had at least two backup plans. At her words about searching the garage, he’d slowed his pace fractionally before moving to the side and speaking with the man who had acted as their driver for this evening.

Petrov’s words were too quiet for her to hear over the blaring music, and all of the sudden the other man was leading them toward a door at the back of the room. Mia prayed the men Alex had assured her were watching her every move had noticed their abrupt change of direction. As soon as she felt the cool air waft up under her dress, she became all too aware of the fact she was barefoot, outside, without anything to break the cold wind that was heralding the first storm of the coming winter. Shit, she remembered the times she and Dylan had visited Climax during the fall and knew the weather could and often did change from glorious to deadly in a matter of minutes. The rocks of the gravel drive were cutting the bottoms of her feet as Petrov drug her farther from the lighted path.

“Wait, I can’t keep up, the rocks are cutting my feet, please slow down.”

A second man stepped out from the shadows and grasped her other arm. She’d known Petrov would have people already in place in and around The Club, so she hadn’t been surprised when he’d approached them. “Do not complain, I am giving you the chance to help us, if you have no purpose, perhaps I should just let my friend here end your misery? Eh?” Petrov was moving along the shadows, unaware team members had already moved into position and were lining the path to the garage. Several had been forced to step back to avoid being bumped into by the two men dragging Mia through the darkness. Mia had seen one man move quickly out of their path and been relieved to know Petrov hadn’t managed to elude Alex’s men.

* * * *

“What the fuck do you mean she’s gone?” Colt Matthews’s voice was icy hot as his temper flared. He did not need this additional complication. Goddamn it to hell, he’d left her sated and sleeping in his suite, he’d left a note saying he had to return to work and she was to stay put until he returned, what about that was so fucking difficult for her to comprehend? “Find her—
now
!” Christ the woman was going to be the death of him yet. “Is her car still disabled?” He was having it “looked at,” which was team code for disabled until further notice. He had wanted to be sure she didn’t try to take off like she was so well known to do.

Grayson’s soft chuckle in his earbud was all the answer he needed, but the words were a welcome assurance. “Oh yeah, that little sports car has been keeping the mechanics entertained, they are itching to put it back together though, I’m sure the test runs are going to be worth buying tickets to watch.”

“It’s a given she’s headed to the damned garage, heads up everybody, it seems Jenna has decided on a late-night fucking stroll.” Colt was still muttering under his breath about disobedient damned subs and a thrashing she’d never forget when he saw movement out of the corner of his eye. “What the hell is James doing making his way to the garage? Team, we have another boogie, the son of a bitch is armed, too.”

* * * *

Jenna stayed off the main path, even though the majority of the gardens had been constructed while she was crisscrossing the globe for Lamont Oil, she had still spent hours exploring the paradise her brothers had created. It had amazed her that two ex–Special Forces soldiers could be such visionaries of created beauty. Just as she was about to round the last corner into the garage’s security lighting, she heard the scuff of a boot and stopped, frozen in place as the small hairs on the back of her neck stood straight up. And then she heard the voice she had heard in her nightmares for years. “Well, well, if it isn’t little Miss Jenna Lamont. Interesting name, Jenna, is it short for Genevieve?” For just a split second, Jenna was afraid she was going to faint when she saw little pinpoints of black cloud her vision and felt light-headed. She’d recognized his voice immediately, but it was his question that had sent all the air out of her lungs.

Jenna knew all about the body’s fight-or-flight response system. She’d studied self-defense and was an expert in several applications, but she was most proud of the street-fighting skills her brothers had taught her when she had insisted she would need to know how to defend herself when she moved to college. Once she had gotten them on board, they’d been tough taskmasters, and she still remembered Zach preaching to her that “All that fancy shit is great for the gym and competition, Jenna Beth, but if you want to save your ass, you need to fight dirty.” And he and Alex had taught her well, she’d sparred with both of them and any team member they’d brought home over the years. A small part of her brain was still a victim because she had never allowed herself the opportunity to process and heal, and that small part of her wanted to scream and run, but the larger part of her wanted to take out the bastard that had caused her years of heartache and loneliness.