Subfrenzy (the Subfrenzied Series) (22 page)

“
So, Quinn, how's-”

“
Speaking of wine,-- I'm sorry,” I had spoken at the same time he had. I looked at Tony the same way I had before. “I interrupted you. You were saying?”

“
We spoke at the same time,” he grudgingly replied. “What were you saying about wine?”

“
I've never had the chance, but I've always wanted to take one of the tours in... Spain.” I kept the question out of my voice.
Had Ben gone to Spain or Greece
, I couldn't remember.
Had it been for wine, or cheese-?

“
You should absolutely go on the Grand Tour! Tony and I've been three times-”

“
Only two times.” Pride trumped ambition. “We went to the Caribbean, instead, last year. Remember?”

“
We should go back to the Islands in spring. Shouldn't we? There was so much we didn't do, especially on-”

“
Hey,” Quinn leaned over as they reminisced together. “Thank you. Twice.”

“
Mmm... please and thank you for later, Sir?” I whispered back.

“
Fuck yes, my sexy-”

“
Quinn?” I glanced at the waiter who had helped Tony and Cleo, standing on his other side. “You ordered white wine?”

“
No...”

“
Excuse me, sir. Compliments from the gentleman over there.” The waiter subtly gestured to three well-dressed men sitting across the room.

“
Thank you,” Quinn replied.

Four,
narrow, elegant wine glasses were carefully set in front of us, already filled. He left the bottle. Quinn toasted the party of three, then looked from me to Cleo and Tony. I nodded imperceptibly, answering the unasked question.

“
I've worked for them before,” he explained. “I'll be back in two minutes.”

“
Thank them for me, too, if you want?”

He
nodded in reply, letting his hand trail over my shoulders as he left.

“
This is the first time Quinn's invited someone out to dinner.” Chloe smiled once he was out of hearing distance.

“
I can't believe that,” I said, matching her light tone. “He's too good a conversationalist.”

Tony
laughed. Cleo leaned closer. “I'm dying of curiosity. How did the two of you meet?”

“
Very randomly. We had a cigarette together and, well...” I smiled, watching him shake hands and laugh with his clients. “How did you two meet?”

“
The way he smokes,” she rolled her eyes and made a
tsk tsk
sound. “Tony used to smoke, but I convinced him to quit. Right, hon?”

“
It was a habit I needed to kick, anyway, y'know.”

“
See? How long
have
you known one another? Quinn didn't say.” 

“
With so much talk about us,” I smiled vacuously, “I feel I'm neglecting both of you.”

“
He's filled you in on us already, hasn't he? All those boring stories we've told over and over again...”

“
The beauty of having a social life?”

“
So I know I'm not mistaking anything, you're his..?”

Collared
submissive
was not the proper answer. A simple
yes
probably wouldn't be appropriate, either? “We haven't known one another that long. I'm not comfortable with, er, generalities.”

“
What does that mean?”

“
What it sounds like...” I saw Quinn heading back over and tried not to look guilty. 

Tony and Cleo's conversation washed over me like white noise.
Had I evaded, or given everything away? He looked wary, sitting down, but there wasn't much time to say anything. Our food arrived as he did. I commented on Chloe's ring over soup and salad, which came with a story. There was another story about her earrings. I drew Tony in whenever he seemed distracted. Quinn managed to look courteously absorbed in our conversations, listening and prompting Cleo to share more. Her enthusiasm kept Tony quiet, something I found intriguing.

I
panicked a little, running out of things to talk about. But then her purse caught my attention. It was pink and black, not hard to inject into conversation. The details she proceeded to give about other evening bags made my head spin. My body ached for pain as I phased in and out our conversation, the only thing that kept my eyes alive with amusement. Even Quinn's glazed over as she went on and on, exuding orgasmic happiness that I managed to keep matching.

“
Did you say a
Lane
handbag?” I knew what she'd be getting for her birthday, only four months away.

“
Yes! A wonderful bag, leather so smooth... Most of mine have cute names. It's inexpensive compared to some of the other evening bags in that line, only about a grand.”

“
A thousand dollars,” I repeated. Lanie could wait until Christmas for that present.

“
Unless you're looking for something simple. Plain bags aren't nearly so much.”

“
What's the difference between them?”

She
stared at me. “It's a
Lane
bag. There's the 'L' on the side, with silver stitching instead of white. There's a mirror on the inside, a separate lipstick holder.”

“
Oh, well of course. For the mirror, how could I not?”

“
A little out of your price range?” She pretended to smile sympathetically.

“
That exceeds my estimation, is all. Now I can get new shoes, upgrade my wardrobe some more. Quinn, you're going to be so excited.”

“
Happy early birthday.” He smiled at me, then wider when he saw Cleo's eyes narrow enviously.

“
It
is
this month,” I lied. It wasn't until June. “How convenient.”

“
Isn't it.”

“
When's yours again?”

“
April 6
th
.”

“
I won't forget this time, promise.”

Lane
would have told me he was an Aries. It suited him, helping me remember. Things were winding down nicely. The waiters cleared our plates and I started counting minutes.

Quinn
looked at me, the same way he had when we first met.' “Are you feeling okay, baby?”

“
I'm a little light-headed. We had a lot of wine with dinner.”

“
Oh, you can't leave yet,” Cleo reached for my arm. “I like you. You make me laugh.”

I
grit my teeth, politely evading her grasp. “So glad to be amusing. You're both such, uh-”

“
Stay for one more drink,” Tony said. “What's one more when we're taking cabs home, anyway?”

Quinn
ordered whiskey while I stuck with water, the non-carbonated kind.

“
So, how's business going?” Anthony asked rather quickly, relaxing back in his chair.

“
Some days are good, some days better.” Quinn shrugged and looked disinterested. “The bad ones, I don't think about.”

“
More good than bad?”

“
Who can tell anymore? It'll be a new quarter soon enough.”

“
Your clients seem to appreciate what you do. That was a clear, rounded glass of wine.”

“
Yes, what a wine list,” I added, smiling at Quinn. “The food was just as incredible.”

“
I'm glad you were free. I thought you'd like it.”

“
You were right.” I saw Anthony's entire expression change.
Huh. That had touched a nerve.

And Quinn had noticed. He hid his smile. “
Unfortunately, I
am
driving. We should really be going before I can't.”

“
I'm in no condition,” I stood with him. “I'd hate to take a cab and leave your car here.”

Cleo
gave me the socialite's version of a hug. “We should definitely meet up and do this again.”

“
Soon as there's time,” I nodded. “Have your husband talk to Quinn. I'm sure they can set something up.”

* * *

“
T
hat was the least painful dinner I've gone to with them,” Quinn said. His hand was on my thigh and I liked that it was.

“
I'm glad, Sir.” I smiled, watching him smoke with his left hand.

“
I can even say it was fun, aside from Tony offending you every time he spoke. I'm sorry from him, by the way. Alcohol makes him worse, not better.”

“
They almost finished the bottle. Plus, they had two glasses of white. That was pretty impressive, actually.
”

“
You don't like it at all, do you?”

“
Not really,” I admitted, “but I don't
hate
it. Tony snubbed you with the red. That was a real jerk thing to do.”

“
The men that sent the wine are clients of mine. It was really... nice of you to drink it, to look like you liked it.”

“
It was nice of them to send it.”

“
They know Tony from way back. All of them think he's a prick.”

“
That's not a bad evaluation. It's not the only reason they sent it over...
”

“
They appreciate what I've done for them.”

“
So, I was wondering-” I immediately regretted asking as pride clawed long furrows throughout my chest. “Never mind. I drank too much.”

“
What are you thinking about?”

“
Nothing that's-” I made the mistake of looking at him. “How long have you and Cleo known one another?”

“
We've never done anything together.” He looked vaguely disgusted. “She and Tony have an open relationship, but I've never taken advantage of that.”

“
That explains a lot. Between her and Tony, I mean.”

“
Cleo can't help herself. She likes businessmen with nice suits and ties to her husband. He benefits from that, I think. I don't have enough evidence to be sure. He's good with cover-ups.”

“
Not good enough, apparently.”

“
What did they do while I was gone? You looked strange when I got back.”

“
Cleo should be a reporter, the way she digs for answers. She wanted to know about how long I've known you, how we met, what I'm doing with you. Evading took some effort. I'm sure it showed, Sir.”

“
I'm sorry about that. Tony's desperate for something to use Monday. I knew you could handle Tony or Cleo. I forget that, together, the two of them are a lot to, er, excuse.”

“
Thank goodness for etiquette classes. I went on auto-pilot for most of tonight.”

“
Etiquette--? Are you joking or being serious?”

“
Both?” I sobered up a little more, realizing what I'd admitted.

“
You took actual lessons?”

“
For a little while, yes.”

He
laughed quietly, surprised. “I've never known anyone whose taken etiquette lessons before.”

“
Wine makes me chatty.” I fought the blush and won. “I only went to a few of them. If I knew they'd be so useful, I would have re-enrolled when I got back.”

“
When?”

“
I'd just turned fourteen. The classes were a present from a relative. It's a long story...”

“
We've got the time.”

I held back my sigh. “My aunt was friends with two of the women who taught the classes. I went, mostly because it would have been rude not to. We learned about poise and posture, other things, but those are the classes I remember. They were almost fun.”

“You do have really good posture.” He grinned. “Most of the time.”             

“
Thank you, Sir.”

“
Especially when you're- Is that strange? Relating s/m to-?”

“
It's not strange. A lot of what I learned goes into my submissive behavior. Maybe that's why I liked taking them so much.”

“
You didn't finish them?” Quinn asked. Then he understood. “Because you moved...”

“
I could have re-enrolled when I got back. I chose not to. I, um, pursued other interests.”