Page 64 of Daddy's Lesson

“Yes,” Audrey snapped. “Respect is earned, not freely given, and right now you aren’t earning it. And it’s not just with Lennon. You’ve had a stick up your butt all week, and you need to take a chill pill and cut it out before you do damage you can't undo to someone you really care about.”

Archer was glowering with every word she spoke, but Audrey rightfully ignored him and kept going, reaching over to put her hand on his thigh. “I’m serious, babe. I know work has been stressful, and this case is killing you, but you need to find a different outlet for your frustration.”

I could see the moment her message got through and Archer was able to drop the “I’m the Daddy” act and hear her for real. His shoulders dropped, his gaze softened, and he reached up to rub the bridge of his nose, pinching it between two fingers.

“Okay, you’re right. You’re right. I’m sorry.” He sighed. “It’s just this case.”

I nodded, biting my tongue.

Audrey didn’t take the same route. “And if it wasn’t this one, it would be another one. Do you even like your job anymore? Like seriously…. Do you? And if not, why do you do it? It’s not like you need the money. What could you possibly need it for? Nice cushy penthouse apartment, check. Expensive, lavish cars, check. Posh office working with your best friends, check. Amazing and hopping BDSM club, check. Residual income from said offices and businesses, check. Seriously, Archer. It might be time to reevaluate what’s important in your life.”

I sucked on my teeth and met Bas and Bain’s eyes across the table. For one, I was glad to have the heat off me, and for another, we’d recently said the same things. The more successful Archer became in his job as a defense lawyer, the more miserable he seemed. And Audrey was right. He didn’t need the money. None of us did. And while most of us still had side gigs in our areas of expertise, none of us worked those side gigs full-time, and none of us worked as hard as Archer. Even Bas and Theo, who basically ran Penthouse Corp’s day-to-day operations.

There was a heavy silence as we all waited to see if and how Archer would respond. One look at him and you could tell he was wound tighter than a girdle.

He sighed, and I downed my drink, pouring another.

“I’ll think about it,” he finally said. “Can we talk about something else now?”

Bas flicked his fingertip against his glass as the corners of his mouth turned up in a smirk. “Well…” he said, “we were talking about Lennon and Zoe, originally.”

I groaned. Every time we went there ,we somehow ended up in a fight.

Archer appeared to have the same thought, because he shook his head. “That’s probably not wise.” He turned to me. “You know I love you. And I want you to be happy. I really do. And I get that we all have to grow up sometimes. I just don’t want you to change for any other reason than because you honestly, genuinely want to.”

I downed my drink again and poured yet another. “I promise you, I honestly, genuinely want to.” I ran my fingertip around the rim of my glass, smiled, and met his eyes. “Just not tonight. Tonight, I want to party.”

“Hell, yeah!” Theo raised his glass to clink it against mine.

Bain, Bas and Archer followed suit, each of them finishing their respective drinks. When they were done, Archer set his glass down and pulled Audrey to her feet in front of him.

“I’m going to think about what you said,” he promised, taking her hand to raise it to his lips and pressing a row of kisses across her knuckles. “But first, I think we should have a little chat about your delivery.”

Audrey bowed her head, but her eyes were sparkling, and it was easy to tell she was not too upset about the outcome of her outburst as he took her hand and led her to the center of the club floor.

All our eyes were on them as she stripped off the dress she was wearing, revealing a black bra and panty set with thigh-high stockings and a garter belt. Theo whistled, and Archer jerked his head up to scowl at him, but there was no real malice or jealousy there.

“Looks like we’re getting a show tonight,” Bas said, scooting forward for a better view.

Theo grunted. “I don’t know, man. Archer’s not much to watch.”

Bain elbowed him hard. “Will you knock it off? We get it, okay. We know you’re the one everyone comes here to see. But newsflash, you’re not up there playing, and haven’t been for weeks. In fact, you don’t seem to have anyone to play with.”

I eyed Theo, wondering what was up with him. He’d been a grump for weeks, and Bain was right. He hadn’t brought Erin or anyone else to the club for ages. What was up with that?

I waited for him to respond to Bain, but all he did was grab the bottle of scotch I’d brought to the table and drink directly from it. And not just like a sip, either. He was chugging scotch that was a hundred dollars a shot like it was water.

When he’d downed about a thousand dollars’ worth, I grabbed it, pulling it from his lips.

“Hey!” He reached for it, but I scooted out of his reach and downed a few shots worth myself.

Not because I wanted to self-destruct the way Theo was doing, but because I was barely buzzed, and I hadn’t drank all week. I was here to have fun and cut loose. Being with Zoe gave me an opportunity to grow and change and show a different side of myself, but that didn’t mean this side was dead.

“We’re just chugging that shit from the bottle now?” Nyla asked, scoffing. “So much for class.” But even as she said it, she grabbed the bottle from me and took a swig, grimacing as it went down.

“Nyla!” Bas warned. “What did I say about drinking tonight?”

Nyla’s eyes went wide, and she slammed the bottle back down on the center of the table. For a moment I thought she was seriously regretting her life choices. But then she smiled coyly and blinked innocently at him. “What, Daddy? Did you say something about drinking tonight?” More pseudo-innocent blinking ensued as her voice rose to a shrill octave. “I don’t remember.”

---