Page 113 of Pretty Little Thing

Twenty-Seven

Nora

Clive takesmy hand and walks me down the block. We take a right turn into the first alleyway we pass. I look back with suspicion, covering my nose over the stench of garbage while Clive’s fingers tighten around mine. Please, don’t let me step in a puddle or… worse.

We turn again and I find myself at the coffee shop’s alley exit. The next door down is bright red with white grid lines painted from top to bottom.

The Red Brick Road.

Clive reaches into his pocket and withdraws a set of keys. “Be real quiet, okay?” he says.

I bite my cheek in suspense. “Why?”

He unlocks the door and pushes it open. “After you.”

I don’t hesitate. I walk past him inside, mostly just to get out of this smelly alleyway. He closes the door behind us, plunging the room into darkness but that doesn’t seem to slow him down at all. His hand locks on mine in the dark and he leads me down a shadowed corridor cut off from the club’s floor. I hear the deep, moody music and the faint hum of voices on the other side of the wall.

“Employees only area,” he whispers.

“I figured.”

“Watch your step. Going up.”

My toes tap the edge of the first step but I find the banister beside me to keep from falling. After a few steps up, I move easier but I keep my tight grip on his hand.

Clive turns a knob and pushes another door wide-open. I blink to adjust to the soft lights inside but my jaw drops as I realize where we are now.

It’s a tight corridor, barely large enough for two adults walking side-by-side, with three large windows looking out onto the club’s second floor. My head tilts in confusion, thinking that I don’t recall those windows being here on the other side, but then—

“Two-way mirrors?” I ask.

Clive pauses by the first window viewing a St. Andrew’s cross and smiles. “Yes.”

I stand beside him, taking in the view of a young girl tightly restrained to the cross. It’s that same couple from my first visits here. Her Dom stands behind her with his belt in one hand and her ponytail in the other, gently tilting back to growl something in her ear. She smiles, just like always.

My skin shifts. “Isn’t this…” I pause, feeling the beautiful ache in my neck as he tugs the girl’s hair back. “Isn’t this like, really wrong?”

“What is?” Clive asks.

“Aren’t we invading their privacy? They don’t know we’re here…”

“In here, out there.” He shrugs. “What’s the difference?”

I bite my lip, still not sure if I agree. “There are no fake mirrors on the top floor, are there?”

“Oh, no. Those rooms are one-hundred percent private. I wouldn’t have taken you up there if they weren’t.” He points at the windows. “These are just an added measure for keeping people safe. If we suspect someone of bad behavior, we can get a closer look through these.”

“Bad behavior?” I chuckle. “Isn’t all of this bad behavior?”

He winks. “I mean rule-breaking, specifically. Not honoring safe words, things like that.”

“Have you ever caught anybody doing that?”

“Once or twice,” he answers. “We have a zero-tolerance policy, and yes, it’s very satisfying to kick them out.”

I nod, feeling a little better about it. “So, why are we here now?” I ask.

Clive looks at me, his eyes dropping down to my chest. “I have a fantasy,” he says, “and I thought that maybe you’d be willing to help me fulfill it.”

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