On Her Master's Secret Service (8 page)

“I think Ian is the problem, McKay. He didn’t say exactly what was happening, but he said Ian’s in trouble. With traffic we’re at least forty minutes away.”

Alex held the phone back to his ear. “I have to go, Warren. Just e-mail me the files if you can. Thanks for everything.”

He hung up and they took off for the parking lot. No matter what was going on in his world, he would drop it all for Ian.

“What do you think this is about?” Liam asked, pulling his SUV into the parking lot at Sanctum.

Eve shook her head. She’d gotten a phone call from Ryan almost thirty minutes before. He’d been a bit cryptic, asking her if she wouldn’t mind coming down to the club and dealing with an issue they had.

Alex was stuck in traffic. Ian was nowhere to be found, and Jake and Adam were apparently somewhere in the West End eating chicken wings. That left Liam driving her to the industrial-style building where Sanctum was housed. She’d argued that she could drive herself. She was perfectly capable, but Liam had professed a sudden and deep desire to visit the club he loved during daylight hours.

Yeah, like she couldn’t figure out what that was about. The men of McKay-Taggart were all alpha-male, protect-the-women types. When Grace went out for a coffee run, one of the men inevitably decided that he needed to go, too, and she either found herself with an escort or an errand boy. It was just the way they were. These men had seen all the crap that could happen to a woman on her own and had made a conscious decision that it damn straight wouldn’t happen to one of theirs.

“Did Ryan say anything?” Liam asked, peering out the front window at the unobtrusive exterior of the club. Eve knew exactly why he was asking. He was debating just how much ammo to take. She wasn’t foolish enough to think he was questioning whether or not he should take a piece with him. Oh, no. He always had a gun on him. He just needed to know if he should carry an extra clip or two.

“Well, sweetie, he called me so I don’t think the club’s under siege. I think we can safely bet this is a purely therapeutic visit.” Sometimes Ryan called her in to interview potential members. No one got into Sanctum without a thorough screening. It was the same for new employees.

But he’d been awfully evasive about this visit. And she never did emergency interviews.

“Just stay close to me,” Liam said. He never bothered to hide that thick Irish brogue anymore unless he was undercover. Liam was finally comfortable being Liam.

Could she be Eve again?

She slid out of the SUV, her heels hitting the pavement. She loved the black and gold
Givenchys
, but maybe the first thing the new Eve should do is buy a pair of flip-flops. She was pretty sure the new Eve wanted some comfy shoes. Not anything horrible. She could find designer flip-flops, surely. And maybe the new Eve could ease up on the diet a bit. Once a week. Twice. Maybe a little chocolate every now and then.

Maybe she would let Alex order for her. He always knew what she liked and when he’d really been her Dom, she could relax and enjoy it. She had…issues. She’d had them all her life, but those years when she’d been married to Alex, they had been under control because he’d been in control.

Wouldn’t it be nice to have permission to enjoy her life again? Some of her peers would say it wasn’t healthy to seek another’s permission, but Eve had learned long ago that it didn’t necessarily matter how a person found happiness so long as they did. And it was beyond healthy to acknowledge one’s weaknesses and to seek a remedy to them.

“Earth to Eve?”

She couldn’t concentrate today. “Sorry. I was thinking about something.”

He gave her a grin. “You were thinking about that bugger again, weren’t
ya
?”

“I’ve been thinking about a lot of things.” She looped her arm through his because while the parking lot was well taken care of, it was still a minefield when it came to five-inch heels.

“Do you have any idea how far you’ve come in the last couple of months?” Liam modified his walk for her, giving her balance against the slight uphill grade. “When I first came on, you wouldn’t touch anyone, not for any reason.”

“Hey, I’ve learned to trust you guys.” She wasn’t sure when it had really started, but she thought it might have begun with watching Sean fall in love. And then Adam and Jake, and now Li. She grinned up at him. “I figure if you idiots can get your shit together, I should probably get mine.”

Liam laughed. “See. There you go.
Ya
never used to joke. It looks good on
ya
,
darlin
’. We love you,
Evie
. There’s nothing we want more than for you to get your shit together.”

She gave his arm a squeeze. Having these men around had been a wonderful thing, but she really thought it was their women who were bringing her out of her shell. They’d all been through hell, and they were still standing. Eve was still here, still kicking. They found their strength. She was going to find hers, too.

It was time. Alex had changed. She had changed. The question was could they still be together?

The door to Sanctum opened and Ryan Church stepped out. Eve could hear loud music blasting from inside just for a moment before the door closed again.

“Are you having a party?” Eve asked. Sanctum didn’t open until eight or nine o’clock at night, depending on the day. It was just a little past two in the afternoon. No one except staff should be here, and from what she understood, Ryan ran a tight ship. He was a former CEO who had run into hard times. He’d taken the job of Dom in Residence and manager of Sanctum after his business had gone under.

Ryan had a grim handsomeness to his face. She pegged his age at somewhere around forty. He’d been in the lifestyle most of his adult years, and she’d heard a rumor that he’d even kept a permanent submissive at one point, but she’d left when his fortunes had turned. “Yeah, I guess you could call it a party. A party of one. I’m sorry to call you, but we don’t know how to deal with him. I’ve tried talking to him, but he just ignores me. I tried sending him a couple of subs, thinking maybe they could change his mood, but he just scared the fuck out of them. I now have three crying subs and my bar manager just quit on me because he says he can’t handle Guns N’ Roses. Does he do this often?”

Eve looked at Liam, who shrugged. Obviously he didn’t know what the hell was happening. “Does who do what often?”

“Ian. He was here when I got to work an hour ago. None of us were supposed to be here until six this evening, but I wanted to go over the scenes for the weekend. There’s a really complex one Jake wants to do and with Serena pregnant, I wanted to make damn sure every piece of equipment is in full repair. I brought the subs in so we could test everything, but there was already a scene playing out on the stage. Ian has got that Scotch bottle in complete submission, I tell you.”

“Ian Taggart is here, and he’s drunk at two o’clock in the afternoon?” Ian was always in control. She’d never once seen him out of it.

“As far as I can tell. He’s not exactly talking much. He growls a lot. Cusses. That man has a mouth on him. And it’s a good thing he’s the boss because he’s worked his way through a bottle of
Macallan
thirty-year-old Scotch. Do you have any idea how much that costs?”

A whole lot. What the hell? She looked to Liam. “Do you know of anything that could have set him off?”

Liam shook his head. “No idea, but he won’t want me to see him like this. He might be able to handle it with you.”

Because she was a sub and his longtime friend, but Li was right. He would be horrified at anyone but her and Alex seeing him in less than perfect control. He might still lash out at her, but she could handle it.

“Should I call Sean?” Li asked, looking a little helpless. None of them wanted a world where Ian Taggart wasn’t Superman or at least a growling, foul-mouthed equivalent.

That would be the worst thing he could do. Sean and Ian had a complex relationship. Over the last year, their relationship had been strained because of an operation where Ian chose to save his brother’s life over Grace’s. Grace had survived, but Ian wouldn’t make the same mistake again. Sean, however, was slow to forgive. “Don’t you dare. Just try to get Alex here as fast as possible. I’m going to go and just reassure myself that he’s all right.”

“I don’t think he’s okay,” Ryan said, opening the door again.

“Sweet Child O’ Mine” blasted through the club. The guitar riffs reached a crescendo and then went silent. Eve breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank god. That’s way too loud.”

“Oh, wait for it,” Ryan said.

The song started again. “Does he have it on
autoplay
?”

“Yep, and he’s threatened to shoot me if I turn it off. I haven’t seen a gun, but I don’t doubt he has one hidden somewhere.” Ryan sighed. “I’ll be honest, I have no idea what to do. I would leave him be, but the rest of my staff is going to be here in a couple of hours to start setting up. Should I cancel the scenes for tonight?”

And be forced to explain why? “No. Let me talk to him. Can you turn it down a little? Just a smidge. He might not notice.”

They walked through the lobby, and she caught sight of Ian. Well, the back of him. He’d taken a chair and placed it in the center of the stage. He was directly facing the St. Andrew’s Cross, his back to the rest of the club. He’d taken off his jacket, and she could see that he’d rolled up his sleeves. A glass with a couple of fingers of amber-colored liquid was in his right fist, the bottle on the floor beside him.

And the energy coming off him was righteously bad.

Yeah, he wasn’t okay.

Ian had been Alex’s best friend most of their lives. He wasn’t a big talker. She’d never had a therapy session with him. Ian’s version of therapy was very different. He wouldn’t talk about what was wrong. He would drink and apparently listen to metal ballads.

But in the end, she couldn’t treat him like a patient. She had to treat him like a friend, or better, a Master. Those other subs had probably tried to offer him sex. He didn’t need that. Half the time she wondered if there was an actual submissive bone in their bodies.

Sometimes a Dom needed a sub for way more than sex. Maybe it was time to start getting that part of her life back, too.

She kicked off her shoes and shrugged out of her jacket, folding it and putting it on a table. She pulled out the pins in her hair as she stared at Ian.

Ryan was watching her with his arms crossed. “The other subs tried.”

“The other subs don’t love him. That man has basically been my big brother for most of my adult life. I’m not going to offer him my body, Ryan. He would vomit. But I can offer him something else. Now get them out of here. You should leave, too.”

Ryan frowned. “I don’t know about that. He might be the boss, but I’m the Dom in Residence and I’m responsible for the safety of every sub here.”

And sometimes she just couldn’t be submissive. “And I own a piece of the club. It might not be the biggest chunk, but I’m still a founding member.” She softened a little. “Ryan, I appreciate it, but Ian Taggart, for all his bluster, wouldn’t hurt a sub. Never. And he definitely won’t hurt me. Please. You called me here for a reason. Let me do my job.”

He gestured to the three women huddled together, and they moved toward him like a small herd of baby chicks. God, they were young. When the hell did everyone get so young?

One of the girls was crying, her mascara in streaks down her face. “I’m sorry, Sir. I tried.”

Ryan shrugged. “I guess he wasn’t in the mood for a lap dance.”

“But the music really lends itself to dancing,” the blonde said. “I just wish every Dom was as nice as Master Alex. He would never call a woman a skank.”

“Well, in Master Ian’s defense, he had asked you to stop and then you took off your top,” Ryan argued.

“I was just trying to help.” She turned her eyes to Eve. “I don’t know what the Ice Queen is going to do that I can’t.”

“Amanda!” Ryan shouted over the music.

Amanda, who might look like a baby chick, but who obviously had kitty claws, pouted. “Well, everyone knows how she uses Master Alex when he’s the best Dom in the world. One day he’ll wake up and he’ll see he needs a real sub.”

Eve took a long breath. She should be patient. The girl was young and obviously handicapped by her innate
skankiness
. Ian had nailed it. It was just part of her personality. “It’s all right, Ryan. Just take her out of here, please.”

Amanda walked past, a sullen look on her pretty face.

Did Alex look at the young subs and wonder what he could have if he wasn’t saddled with her? He was known as the
huggy
Dom. He was the Dom all the whiney subs went to when they needed a cuddle. And he gave it to them because she wasn’t willing to take comfort from him. Alex needed to give comfort. It was his primary purpose as a Dom, and she hadn’t accepted a hug from him in years, much less allowed him to kiss her. Sometimes she wondered if guilt and need was all that was left between them.

No. She wasn’t going to think that way. They were moving past that. Years separated them from the time after her kidnapping. Alex was a different person. He’d stood by her through everything. He wasn’t looking for some twenty-something playing at submission.

Axl Rose started wailing again, and she prayed Ryan managed to get the subs out and turn the volume down.
 

She stepped up the three elegantly placed stairs that led her to the stage. The music volume went down by roughly twenty-five percent.

“Hey, turn my fucking music back up!” Ian shouted.

“Axl Rose called. He wants his record back, babe.” Ian was one of very few men she felt perfectly comfortable calling by pet names. Ian had been at her wedding. Ian had done his damnedest to save her. Tears blurred her eyes briefly because she realized just how much she loved him. He was a friend. No. He was her family.

“Go away, Eve. I’m in the mood to tear someone up, and I don’t want it to be you. I’ve made enough subs cry today.”