Page 446 of The Daddy P.I. Casefiles: The Second Collection

“Emmett likes to brag after he’s come,” she responds. “He says they’re growing the Pack within the club and soon they’ll have the numbers to take over.”

I swallow hard, trying to control the flush of anger. I don’t know Emmett much better than I know Drew. Emmett’s mostly at the club on weekends. He’s never held a role on the management committee. He hasn’t come to any of the Monday Madness nights I’ve organized. If I’ve ever done a scene with him, it’s been a group scene. I don’t have any idea of what he’s like as a Dom. The only thing I can remember about him, except that Bren jokes he has the second-best hair at Blunts after Rob, is that I’ve seen him around the pool and sauna a lot recently. But that could just be because I’ve been there frequently of late while Mac teaches Bren to swim.

“I will not let that happen, Annabelle,” I say firmly.

She presses her lips together and flicks her eyes over my face. I’m not sure what she’s looking for but I give her the same honesty I’d give Emmy. I will not let Blunts be destroyed. Not by that twenty-two-year-old saboteur, not by a group of predatory Doms who think they have some God-given right to terrify our subs, not by anyone.

“I wasn’t here but the other house subs, they say you left. Master Logan, I’m not trying to insult you. I just ... I’m afraid. I’m afraid they’ll hurt me again. I’m afraid they’ll hurt my family if I don’t keep my mouth shut. I’m afraid.”

“I’m back to stay,” I promise. “I’ve taken back the role of Master of Training so I can help the house subs fix whatever the hell went wrong while I was gone. If that includes membersgetting the idea that they can hurt subs with impunity, that’s the place I’ll start. I’m your cannon, Annabelle. Give me ammunition and a target.”

A smile peeks through her tears. “It’d be nice to have a cannon.”

“You have two,” Mac says. “Give us ammo.”

“Emmett began asking me for scenes about a month after I started at Blunts.” She wipes her eyes and sits up a little straighter. “I was flattered at first. I’m not young and beautiful like your subs.” When Mac opens his mouth to object, Annabelle shakes her head. “I’m not putting myself down. I’m realistic. I love my body but I know I’m the oldest house sub by quite a few years. I know I’m not the ideal of beauty I see among the house subs. And I didn’t have any expectations coming to the club. I was flattered to be hired. Even more flattered when I had so many requests for scenes. It’s lovely to be wanted again. So I accepted any member who asked me for a scene. I didn’t talk to the other house subs about them. I didn’t negotiate my limits. I assumed a Blunts Dom asking to scene with me would know and respect them. Most did.”

Her lower lip quivers and she takes a fortifying breath.

“Emmett began pushing my limits from our first scene. I know what you’re thinking. That should have been a red flag and I should have refused future scenes but he has a way of saying things to make you feel like it’s your fault. He said he’d always respect my safe words but that it was his job as my Dom to challenge me.” She twists the damp tissue between her hands. “It was anal at first, which I’d done before but not like he wanted it. Big plugs and toys to stretch me. Very rough and with less and less lube. I won’t lie, he made sure I had orgasms but the pain was like nothing I’ve put myself through before and I’ve given birth to two babies. Aside from the pain, he made all the right noises. He asked for regular scenes. Praised me to the moon andback when I overcame something I thought I couldn’t. Plenty of aftercare, asking about me, my interests, my family. Now I realize he was just gathering information to use against me but at the time it was so flattering. I’m not complaining, please don’t think I am but thatinvestment—it can be lacking at the club. I’ve done the same number of scenes with Emmett as with Masters Javier and Theo and I don’t know a single thing about their lives outside the club. Emmett made me feel like he cared about me as aperson.”

She rubs her lips together and dabs at another tear. “It was all a lie. He wasn’t invested and he didn’t give a shit about me as a person. Once he found out my son’s in banking, he began using it to push me more and more. If I didn’t agree to the scenes he wanted, he’d tell my son’s employers and business associates about what I do with my days. Double-penetration was first. I had to take sick leave for three days to recover after he and Drew went at me. Then it was two in one hole. You’d think all those plugs and toys would’ve made it bearable but they didn’t. He scheduled a four-in-two scene with three guests and I just couldn’t. I resigned and went to stay with my son upstate. That’s when the threats started. If I didn’t return to the club, he’d make good on his threats against my boy. My other son stepped in when he saw what a mess I was. He took me to see a lawyer who told me sex clubs are illegal in New York and that Emmett and the other members have more to lose than I do. You could be prosecuted just for being members, much less hiring house submissives. Is that true?”

I glance at Mac. His jaw is set but he nods.

“Yes, that’s true,” I tell Annabelle.

Franco and the club’s other lawyers have tried to protect the members as much as they can but the bottom line is that we’re all investors in an illegal sex club.

Annabelle nods. “That made me feel a little stronger. I messaged Emmett back and told him what the lawyer said. I said nothing could make me come back. He changed his tune then and told me to stay away from the club, keep my mouth shut, not say a word to the two of you ... but Shannie told me she trusts you, that you’re trying to help, and I know keeping quiet won’t stop them. I’ve seen abuse before; it doesn’t stop. People like Emmett, they don’t stop once they get a taste for it. They’ll do it to someone else, if not at Blunts, then someone they hunt in the clubs. Just like that man did to Cappa.”

Mac’s jaw drops.

“I’m sorry, Annabelle, what did you say about Cappa?” I ask.

“Emmett told me that Drew gave Cappa to one of the pack as a reward. He didn’t name names but Emmett said Drew knew what the wolf would do to Cappa. They’ve been trying to get that date rape drug, roh-something, so that subs wouldn’t remember what was done to them. The wolf who hurt Cappa—he’s their supplier.”

“Rohypnol,” Mac spits. He’s flushed; his hands are clenched into fists between his knees. “I will fucking kill them.”

I nod. “You’ve given us plenty of ammo, Annabelle. Give us targets. Emmett, Drew, anyone else?”

“Emmett mentioned two other names, Jared and Hans. I’m not sure about Jared but I know Hans was there during Shannie’s hunting.”

“Did Emmett call it that, sweetheart? Shannie’s hunting?”

Annabelle nods. “She’s refused scenes with anyone but Rob since but Drew was planning on asking her for a scene and then letting the pack go at her after he drugged her. Just like Cappa. That’s what Emmett bragged about.”

Mac flexes his hands and reaches out. Annabelle takes his hands. He rubs his thumbs over her knuckles. “We’re locked and loaded, sweetheart. How do we protect your son?”

Annabelle bites her lip. “I don’t want to be like them.”

“You’renothinglike them,” I say.

“Maybe I am if I tell you what I know about Emmett.”

“It’s totally up to you, Annabelle.”

She nods and squeezes his hands. “Emmett works in banking just like my boy. His father’s high up in the bank and got him the job. Nepotism, right? Is that what it’s called?”