Page 3

M egan Reed is no sorority-rushing college student.

The woman standing before me now, beneath my grip, glaring icy-blue eyes up at me, holds no resemblance to some wide-eyed freshman.

She’s nervous, though. Witnessing Igor’s punishment for his failure has affected her. The pulse in her neck is racing.

Part of me wants to run my tongue over that vein. To inhale her fear.

She’s right to be afraid. Men who have trespassed here haven’t been treated as well as she has been so far. I wonder how long she’d hold up against the terrible things I could do to her.

The horrific things I want to do to her. How pretty is she when she cries?

Fuck, I’m a monster. I want to hear all the different little whimpers she can give me.

“Just let me go.” Her words sneak past her lips. There are no tears yet.

Pity.

“If this is just a prank, tell me who sent you, and how did they know how to get to this office?” I keep slight pressure on her throat while I continue my questioning.

She had looked so damn proud of herself when she’d exited the antechamber. While this part of the building is kept hidden from the prying eyes of the outside world, everything that happens in here can be watched on the CCTV system we have set up.

I noticed her right away in the antechamber. Our staff is required to have a severely polished look that blends into the background. Megan stood out immediately with those white stripes in her hair. If she were truly a member of our serving crew, she’d have been made to dye her hair.

But it was the tinge of fear in her eyes that completely gave her away. She tried to hide out in the open, and when that didn’t work, she wove herself through the room, trying to stay behind anyone who might block her presence.

But this is my club, and nothing happens here that I don’t know about.

Her pulse beats against my fingers as I tighten my grip when her silence continues.

“Don’t.” She tugs on my wrist.

“Then talk.” I run my nose against her cheek. “Unless you want me to throw you over that desk?”

“I don’t know. I mean, it wasn’t hard to find. It’s just an office.”

“It wasn’t hard to find?” I chuckle.

She had to pass through the central foyer, giving her several options to turn down. One would have led her straight down to the lower level. Another would have led her to the private suites. But she chose, with little hesitation, the hallway leading straight to my door.

“Lying gets you more trouble, Megan. Try again.”

“They showed me a picture,” she manages, squeezing her eyes shut when I push harder against her throat. I won’t cut off her air, but she doesn’t know that. It’s better she keeps guessing how far I’m capable of going.

There’s a reason this place is kept out of the prying eyes of the outside world. Men go to great lengths to keep our secrets ours. If there’s a crack in the foundation, I need to know about it now.

The secrecy of this place makes this part of my business sought after. Men like to think they’re part of something bigger, something more elite than those they feel are beneath them.

“What picture?” I lessen my grip.

Her throat works beneath my hand.

“Get off me!” She thrusts both hands at my chest and drives up her knee at my groin. Silly girl, everything she does plays out in those clear eyes first.

I easily evade her knee, and her shove does nothing but irritate me further.

“Fine,” I grind out. “You want to play this your way; we’ll do it your way.” Releasing her throat, I move my grip to her hair, fisting the dark and white locks at the roots.

She cries out as I drag her across the room.

I shove her over the edge of the desk, pushing her farther up until her toes barely touch the floor.

“Stop!” she screams, writhing on the desk, trying to scramble away, but I still have her hair. She’s going nowhere.

With my free hand, I grab the elastic band of her slacks and yank them down with such force, they tear a little at the hip.

“No!” She wiggles faster, kicking her legs out.

Dragging her more toward the edge, her ass is exactly where I want it.

“You had your chance.” I bring my hand down across her pale skin, giving no mercy.

“No!” She tries to twist, but again, I have her hair. She’s going to have to give it over soon.

Another swat and another, again and again I spank her generous ass until red blotches cover her skin. It’s a beautiful sight, and I take a moment to appreciate it.

“Okay! Okay!” Her legs still. “I’ll tell you!”

“I know you will.” I acknowledge, spreading more smacks across her ass, lowering my aim until I’m nearing her thighs. “When I’m done, you’ll tell me everything.”

“Stop. Please.” Her voice softens, but I’m not done yet.

“I gave you a chance to do this easy. You wanted this.” I slap her ass harder. The dim lighting of the room is just enough for me to make out the redness darkening.

She’s slack over the desk. Her toes scrape across the Moroccan rug my brother brought back from one of his more adventurous excursions.

Slowly, I run my hand over her heated skin. Not soothing her, but to memorize the feel of her.

“Tell me,” I say, loosening my grip in her hair.

“Let me up,” she demands softly. Even with her ass freshly spanked, she still has steel in her voice.

I grin down at her. There’s no harm, she can’t see me.

“Better you stay in position, just in case we need to revisit.” I pat her ass just enough to enjoy the bounce of her cheek.

Fuck, this is getting uncomfortable. My cock lengthens, pressing against the zipper of my slacks.

“So talk.” I lean my hip against the desk.

“Fine. I wasn’t given any information. Only told to get inside and bring back some token. That’s all. I found your office by mistake.” She sniffles.

I press my hand against her bare ass. “Lucky you. How’d you know there was an event tonight?”

We don’t employ waitstaff every night, only during special events.

“Lucky guess.” It’s more of a question than an answer.

If someone gave her the layout of the club, I need to know who it is. Even more so if they were aware of the auction tonight.

“Who gave you the information?” I ask.

“I swear. No one. I… I saw someone go in the service entrance and I figured I’d try that way. Really. Just a lucky guess.” There’s a hesitation in her voice.

She’s obviously covering up for whoever actually sent her here. No one has that much luck to show up on an auction night, get past security and find an unused uniform, then magically locate my office and just happen to find the vault behind the books. But whoever she’s protecting must frighten her more than me, or she’s extremely good at playing the naive girl.

“You can get up.” I step away from her, watching as she slides off the desk. Her hair falls over her face as she works her pants and panties back up over her hips.

“You’re an asshole.” She turns her fiery eyes on me.

Watching a grown man get his finger broken must not have affected her the way I thought it would. She seems to have forgotten all about it already.

“You’re stubborn. You could have told me that at the start and avoided this.” I fold my arms over my chest. “Unless there’s more to it?”

I narrow my gaze, watching her expression. Liars have tells. I just need to find hers.

“No.” She shakes her hair out of her face, wiping away a strand that gets stuck in a tear track. Again, I wonder how sweet her tears must taste.

“Then why not just come clean?”

Her gaze slides to the book on the desk, just out of her reach.

“I need something to take back.”

Brave, stubborn girl.

“No.” I pick up the book. “You can go back empty-handed.”

I’m still not buying the sorority bullshit, but if she wants to keep up the pretense, fine. She didn’t get anything, and the auction downstairs is going to be starting soon.

“I can’t.” Her jaw tightens.

I glance at the box she had in her hands when she was caught. Why that box?

“How do you know Dexter Thompson? Do you work for him?”

“I don’t know him. Like I said, I just needed something, anything.”

“So, you found the cabinet hidden behind the books… You could have just taken something from the desk,” I point out.

“I… I was pulling a book out when the thing opened. I was just being curious when I grabbed the box.”

I arch an eyebrow.

“You know what happened to the kitten who got too curious.”

She pales. “It was just a prank.”

“Prank’s over, then,” I say firmly. “If I ever see you here again, though, Megan Reed, understand things will be much worse for you than just a little hand spanking.”

She raises her chin.

“Not even a stapler?”

She maintains her glare, even with her eyes still shimmering from the tears spilling from the spanking I gave her. There’s still fear in her eyes, but she’s pushing through it. Determined to get what she came for.

Impressive.

“Show them my handprints on your ass.” I pull my phone out from my inside pocket of my suit jacket, tapping out an order for a car to be brought to the back entrance of the wing.

I grab her elbow and half drag her to the door. Just touching her makes me want to throw her over the desk again. Not to spank her this time, but to find out if her pussy is as wet as my dick is hard.

She tries to tug out of my grasp as I pull her down the corridor, but she’s no match for my strength.

Harold waits for me in the foyer when we exit the corridor through a proper door.

“Is the car ready?” I ask.

“Yes.” His gaze quickly flickers to her but returns to me immediately.

A thunderous bout of clapping comes from down the staircase, and she turns to look.

“What’s going on down there?” she questions, keeping up with me but barely. “The other guy said there was an auction. What is that?”

I grit my teeth.

“Nothing you need to concern yourself with. You’re going home.” I throw open the back door and get her down the stairs to the waiting car without letting her fall on her face.

The driver has the back door open when we approach.

“Get in.”

“I have my own car.” She tries to get loose again.

“It will be dropped off. Get in.” I jerk my chin to the car. “Unless you need more convincing that doing what I say the first time I say is the best course of action? Maybe Igor can clarify things for you?”

She purses her lips together.

“Get in.” I put three fingers up in the air. “You have three seconds, and then Dominic here is going to have some entertainment.”

Her cheeks flush.

“Fuck you.” She climbs into the car. “You don’t even know which car is mine—” I slam the door on her words.

“Take her home and make sure she goes inside,” I instruct Dominic. “Then park and get comfortable. I want eyes on her tonight. If she leaves, you follow. If anyone shows up, I want you to find out who it is. Understand?”

If she was trying to get information for someone, they’ll most likely try to contact her tonight. Or she’ll try to meet with them.

“You got it, boss.” He tips his head, then hurries around the car to get inside.

Megan Reed glares out the window at me as the car pulls away. Once the car makes its way down the alley, I turn to head back inside.

Yuri runs down the steps, worry wrinkling his expression.

“Is she gone?” He stares down the drive.

“What’s wrong?”

“I checked the box before I put it back. The drive is gone.” He shoves his hand through his hair.

“What drive?” My teeth snap as I clench my jaw.

“The little flash drive with everything we had on Dexter Thompson. It’s gone.”

She gave in so easily. Went into the car with such little fight.

I thought she’d finally learned her lesson.

Staring down the drive with him, I clench my hands.

“Not a problem. I’ll get it back.”