Page 87 of Bad Enough

“Thanks, but I have enough movie shit in my life with Kubrick.” Waters shifted gears when Midas handed him some printouts. “Okay, back to reality. There are six new members who joined the club around the time this all started, but three of these people seem to show up almost every night, similar to this Fleur woman.”

TB was grateful for the subject change. “Yeah, that’s probably Medusa, Loki, and Gilgamesh. They’re a triad. Came in sometime about six months ago.” His neck began to itch. Something was off. “When Flame and I go to the club tonight, I’ll watch for them. They’ll actually be the perfect cover. It’s a bonus that I’ve already been seen talking with them at the club. Plus, Flame will want to know about triads and reverse harems for her books, I’m sure.”

“I’m going to try to forget you mentioned those two things. I’ve got more than I can handle with just one woman.” Waters paused. “And don’t think too long about what I said before. You’ll thank me for it later.” He snapped his fingers. “Almost forgot. Nemo delivered something to the house for you earlier from Midas. A ‘just in case’ item. It’s on the porch.”

“Tracker?”

“Yes. He put it in a collar.”

TB winced.

“Problem?” Waters asked.

How to explain this?

“A collar at The Library connects a sub to a Dom. It means she’s been claimed.”

“Okay. Again, problem?”

“It’s going to look like a declaration of my intentions to her.”

“And?”

TB sighed. “It’s going to be out of place. I’ve never done that before.”

“Huh. Well, first time for everything, I guess. Maybe it will send our stalker a message.” Waters’ voice lowered. “Maybe it even sends one to you.”

“This Midas’ way of offering his opinion on the matter?”

“Christ, when did you become such a drama queen? Why are you making this into a big production? Just admit you’re into her already. You’re giving me a headache and a craving for chocolate. That means I’ll have to go buy my own because Kubrick doesn’t share.”

Waters clicked out of the chat.

Shaking his head, TB checked his watch for the time. Three-thirty.

31

JUNE 17TH

Sylvan

She’d heard murmurs from downstairs when she left her bedroom, so she’d stopped at the top of the stairs, shamelessly eavesdropping. After all, if it was about her stalker, she deserved to know. If it weren’t, she’d walk away.

When they started talking about Tripoli being in the hospital, she left the top of the landing and climbed the stairs to her sanctuary to revert to her typical avoidance method of diving into her writing to distract herself. Right now, her brain refused to process one more thing about the nightmare her life had become. Maybe it would help her decide what to do about his questions.

She’d been tapping at her computer keys for about ten minutes when the air in the room changed. She hadn’t heard a noise, but something was different. She looked up and let out a squeak of surprise.

He was in her doorway again.

“I hate it when you do that. Please stop. You’re going to give me a heart attack. I’ve had all of the surprises I can take lately, and you’re going to be what’s going to kill me,” she muttered.

“Not funny.”

“I didn’t say it was! I didn’t mean to be funny. I meant to sound irritated.”

“You can say ‘pissed off,’ you know.” He shifted to lean on the door jamb. “Are you irritated with me?”

She folded her arms in front of her on the desk. “Do I have a reason to be?”

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