Ricochet (63 page)

perfect dom for you?"

Rick stood in the corner of the room, nursing

a drink, watching as Matt made the rounds with his

dom.

Matt looked stunning. Rule had clearly taken

him to his tailor because he looked like a

Sebastian Rule mini-me in shiny grey suit pants

and a vest in the same fabric, with a dark purple

shirt underneath. It was a stunning ensemble -

youthful but classy at the same time, and the colors

suited Matt's pale complexion. His blond hair was

gelled so it less unruly than usual, sticking up in

neat little points. Rule was wearing suit pants in

the same fabric, but instead of the vest he was

wearing a jacket, and his shirt was white. His tie

and the handkerchief sticking out of his breast

pocket were in the exact same shade of dark purple

as Matt's shirt, proclaiming to the world that they

were a couple. They looked immaculate and totally

in sync, like they belonged together.

Matt was counting - Rick could see that by his

slightly distracted air and the way his eyes were

flickering. Rick wondered what he was counting;

probably the various shades of grey in Rule's hair,

or the number of canapés on the tray of each

passing waiter.

Rule glanced across the room at him and saw

him watching, and his tongue darted out and

moistened his lips, snake-like. He took a canapé

off the nearest tray, turned to Matt, and, with one

eye still on Rick, he pressed the canapé against

Matt's lips.

"Here, darling, taste these - they're exquisite,"

he said.

Matt opened up his mouth obligingly, and

Rick felt the gesture like a knife, twisting in his

gut; it was like they were sharing a plate already.

The room felt suddenly too hot and

claustrophobic, and Rick slammed down his drink

and pushed his way through the crowd to get out

into the fresh air.

The restaurant had a balcony looking out onto

a peaceful ornamental garden below, and Rick was

glad to get away from all the noise and heat and

breathe in some cooler air. He leaned his arms on

the balustrade, trying to wrestle his demons into

submission, when he suddenly became aware of

the crisp scent of expensive cologne.

"Mr. O'Shea," a voice behind him said, and

Rick turned to find himself face to face with

Sebastian Rule. "I wanted to talk to you."

"I really don't think we have anything to talk

about," Rick said brusquely. He instinctively didn't

like Rule, but he wasn't sure if that was because he

was a bad dom or because he was a good dom

who Matt was head over heels in love with.

"That's where you're wrong," Rule said

urbanely, looking completely unfazed by Rick's

manner. "You see, Matt's been fretting about a

rather delicate matter that involves you, so I said

I'd deal with it. It's about our collaring party; Matt

wants to invite his friends, but he doesn't want you

to be there, for obvious reasons."

Rick nodded slowly. "And he sent you to tell

me that?"

"No, I told him I'd take care of it. I always

take care of my beautiful sub."

"Right." Rick nodded again. "And is it taking

care of him to drag him away from his home to

collar him in some fuck-awful ceremony that he'll

hate?"

Rule raised an eyebrow. "Is that what he

said?"

"He didn't have to; I know him."

"So do I. He's my sub, not yours. He made his

choice and it wasn't you. Let him go, O'Shea - don't

be a sore loser."

Rick couldn't stop himself; he grabbed Rule

by the lapels of his grey suit jacket and hauled him

forwards.

"Ah, now we see the true nature of the man,"

Rule murmured, looking unruffled by his display of

temper. "That's always your answer for everything,

isn't it? You're a crook, O'Shea. You always were,

you always will be, and, thanks to an enterprising

journalist, the whole world knows it now."

"You don't know a fucking thing about me."

"Yes, I do. I read that article - I know you've

stolen, lied, and cheated all your life. I know about

that poor little barista whose life savings you stole

when you ran out on her." Rick flinched and took a

step backwards, his fists still curled in Rule's

lapels. "Listen to me." Rule leaned in and spoke in

his ear in a cool, businesslike voice. "Matt's too

good for you, and you know it. What do you have

to offer him anyway? You're a liar, a thief, and a

cheat. You're an ex-con. You've whored yourself

around this town to the point where you're nothing

more than a sleazy joke. Matt's better off without

you in his life." Rule gave him a disgusted look,

and Rick found himself loosening his grip on the

other man's lapels and letting him go.

"You're an embarrassment - the kind of dom

who takes public discipline both at work and

down at the Justice Hall. What sub would ever

want you?" Rule asked silkily. "Look at him." Rule

pulled Rick's shoulder around, so he was looking

back into the restaurant where Matt was in earnest

conversation with the twins. "Do you really want

to screw up that beautiful young sub's life by

saddling him with a loser like you?"

Rick pulled himself out of Rule's grasp. "He's

going to bend his head and take your collar so why

are you so fucking concerned about me?"

"Oh, I'm not." Rule gave a little chuckle. "But

I thought a friendly warning wouldn't go amiss.

Stay away from him, O'Shea. I'm going to fly him

away from here tomorrow and put my collar on

him. Then he and I are going to spend the next two

months alone at my ranch. I'm warning you not to

try and phone him, or speak to him, or contact him

in any way; he's mine now."

"If you hurt him, I swear I'll -"

"I'm not the one who hurt him," Rule

interrupted. "You're the one who did that. I don't

know what you did to him, but you broke him in

some way, O'Shea, and I'm the one who's putting

him back together."

He straightened his lapels, smoothed his hand

through his hair, and then walked back into the

party, brushing past Karl who was on his way out.

"Did I miss something?" Karl said, glancing

at Rick and then back in the direction Rule had

gone.

"No," Rick replied shortly. "Our lord and

Rule-r was just reminding me of all the reasons

why Matt would be better off without me."

"Was he now?" Karl raised an eyebrow.

"And what did you say?"

"Nothing." Rick put his arms back on the

balustrade and took a deep breath of cool air.

"What could I say? He's right."

"Hmm." Karl stood next to him, resting his

arms on the balustrade beside Rick's. "I don't like

that dom, Rick. I get a really bad vibe off him, and

he's about to steal Matt away from us and keep him

chained up in his remote castle."

"Castle?"

"Well - ranch." Karl gave a little grin. "But

you've got to admit that Rule is a bit like one of

those evil doms from the fairy stories who capture

subs and lock them away until Dom Charming

shows up to rescue them."

Rick grunted. "Really? I thought Rule was

Dom Charming."

"I'm sure that's how he views himself too."

Karl made a face. "Did Matt tell you all that stuff

about the collaring ceremony?"

"Yes." Rick felt his gut clench tightly.

"Does that sound like something Matt would

enjoy?" Karl asked. "I mean, this is Matt we're

talking about! Matt, who was so freaked out about

being naked on set that you had to get everyone

else to take off their clothes too!"

"He'll hate it," Rick said, looking down on the

garden below.

"Yes, he will, but Rule doesn't seem to care

about that, does he? And another thing…" Karl

leaned in. "What do you think the chances are that

Matt won't come back after the hiatus?"

"What?" Rick looked up again, startled.

"Rule will have him for two months - and I

bet none of Matt's friends will see him during that

time, apart from at that fuck-awful collaring

ceremony Rule has planned. I wouldn't be

surprised if Matt's cell phone will mysteriously not

work out there in the middle of nowhere, either. So

Rule will have a couple of months to work on him,

in private, with none of Matt's friends around for

him to talk to."

"Matty's not a pushover!" Rick protested. "He

loves his job; he won't quit! Besides, he has a

contract."

"A man like Rule could easily get Matt out of

his contract." Karl waved his hand in the air. "And

I agree, Matt's no pushover, but he does always

want to be perfect and get things right, doesn't he? I

could see Rule twisting that in Matt's head so that

he'd think leaving the show was the right thing to

do."

Rick looked down at his hands, which were

clenched into tight fists in front of him.

"I asked around…" Karl leaned in close,

speaking in an undertone. "And I heard that Rule

had that cuff made for Matt using his exact wrist

measurements before they even met. Don't you

think that's kind of creepy?"

"Some people might think it was romantic."

"No, it's creepy," Karl said firmly. "The guy's

a stalker. I don't know this for sure, but I bet he

only took out the product placement contract with

the show in the first place as a way of getting close

to Matt. I think he targeted him for his next sub

long before he met him."

"That's insane." Rick stared at him. "You

don't really believe that?"

Karl shrugged. "Matt's a rising star in the TV

world. He's beautiful, he's smart, and he's on the

cover of a lot of magazines. Doms everywhere are

crazy about him - you've seen the amount of fan

mail he gets. He'd make a fine trophy sub for the

dom who has everything, don't you think?"

"I can't believe Rule would be that…"

"Organized? Meticulous?" Karl raised an

eyebrow. "Aren't those the very virtues Matt has

been extolling to us for the past few weeks?"

"I don't know." Rick shook his head. "It seems

like such a weird thing to do."

"And yet… forgive me, Rick, but I read that

article, and I think you know a little about how to

get into a sub's head before you've even met them."

Rick thought of the research his father had

done before getting to know the subs he'd targeted.

"Yeah, but this is different."

"Because Rule isn't after Matt for his money?

Maybe - but that's the only difference. Look, about

that article - I think I should say that I understand

you a lot better now, and I'm sorry," Karl said

unexpectedly.

"Sorry for what?"

"Sorry because I misjudged you. I took you at

face value - but then I think that's what you want

people to do, isn't it?"

Rick tensed. "I'm not trying to deceive anyone

on purpose," he muttered defensively.

"Oh, I know that." Karl smiled. "You think

you're protecting people. Look, I know you think

you did something unforgiveable, but it was a long

time ago, and you've paid for it, Rick. I think

you've paid for it every day since, in a way."

"Maybe, but it's nothing I don't deserve," Rick

told him firmly.

Karl sighed. "I get that you think you don't

deserve Matt, and that you'd be no good for him,

but all this punishing yourself doesn't achieve

anything. You need to trust that you're not that

person anymore and move on. I don't think you

ever really were that person."

"You just said Rule could get into Matt's head

and twist things for him," Rick said. "Well, that's

something I learned how to do as a kid. We're the

same, Rule and me." Rick shrugged.

"Bullshit!" Karl said forcefully, and Rick

jerked his head up in surprise. "I don't think you're

the same at all," Karl insisted. "If anything, you're

the anti-Rule."

"The anti-Rule?" Rick snorted.

"Yeah - he's getting into Matty's head for his

own ends, to make Matty what he wants him to be,

and to fashion him into the perfect sub. He can see