Page 53 of Under Control

“Yes, yes. You’ve overpowered me. Just leave me alone, and I’ll have no cause to make use of what I know.” Tracht inclined his head. “I’m going to set up a failsafe, of course. Should anything happen to me or Alex, then the information will leak regardless.”

“I’d say the same, but—well, I know you can’t touch me. But before I go—” She gave him a vicious grin, “I just thought I’d tell you that I had a lot of fun reviewing some of the vids Iglesias sent me. I didn’t know you had it in you to moan like that, dear Captain.”

She logged off before Tracht could respond. He sat there, stunned, while the information sunk in. A recording of him wearing the collar. A recording of him and all those men.

“Fuck!” He took his mug and flung it across the room and was intensely dissatisfied when it only bounced.

Chapter 15

Alex had to sit at Tracht’s feet while he interviewed the prospective new First Officers. Three total so far. Alex hadn’t liked the first guy at all, especially not the way his eyes had settled on Alex and leered.

“Do you share, Captain?” the guy had asked, and Tracht had answered, “On occasion. Never with my employees, however.”

The second person was a woman with a sharp pixie cut and bright-colored lipstick. Alex thought the lipstick was a bad choice for an interview with Tracht, although it suited her. She was a bit wishy-washy in how she answered questions, and she couldn’t stop staring at Alex.

Now the third woman. She was freakishly tall—a few centimeters taller than Tracht, at any rate—with a warm skin tone and bright green eyes. Her black hair was pulled back in a braid, which made her square jaw stand out. Not ugly, but not hot. Better looking than Espinosa, at least, and as long as she wasn’t a bitch, Alex thought he wouldn’t turn her down if they’d met at a club.

She’d looked at Alex just once, when she first entered the room, but after that her attention was entirely on Tracht. The interview went just like the other two had gone, with questions about work ethics and past experiences and ‘tell me a story about a challenge you had to overcome.’

“I admit, I am impressed by everything so far, Ms. Bahjat. Everybody I’ve spoken to about you has given nothing but praise, and suggested that you are nothing if not discreet.”

“Thank you, Captain,” Bahjat answered.

Tracht crossed one leg over the other and sat back. “Have you heard rumors about me?”

“A few. I’m not much for believing gossip from disgruntled sailors, though.” Then she looked pointedly at Alex. “Although I suppose that one rumor was true.”

“Which one was that?”

“That you kept a bondservant and sometimes showed him off.”

“And does that bother you?” Tracht casually laid his hand on Alex’s head. “I’m afraid disagreement over Alex is one of the reasons my previous First Officer has decided to leave.”

“Not at all, sir. In fact, I spent a year as a bondservant in my early twenties. That was before I trained to become a sailor, of course.”

“It wasn’t on your resume.”

“No, sir. Unfortunately, there are some employers who believe my previous status should disqualify me from all positions.”

“And you aren’t afraid I’m one of them?”

“Well,” and here Bahjat gave him a smile, “I don’t believe the gossip idle sailors spew, but I admit I was curious enough to look into the situation. I talked to one of your sailors while he was at a bar, and he shared a few stories.”

Tracht suddenly pulled tightly on Alex’s hair. Probably not noticeable to Bahjat, but Alex had to suppress a wince.

“What stories would those be?”

“Nothing unflattering.” She smiled, and wow, that was already a huge difference from Espinosa. Alex squeezed Tracht’s leg to let him know he liked this one. “I did hear some interesting stories regarding your penchant for exhibitionism, but quite honestly I have no issue with that. I was more interested in how you were perceived as an employer. Your sailor—and indeed, everybody else I’ve spoken to—implied you were a fair employer who valued hard work and integrity over anything else. And I admit, hearing that you were training up your current bondservant did put me at ease.”

Alex wondered who she’d spoken to. He thought the list of people who would actually praise Tracht, rather than just call him not terrible, had to be pretty short.

“Flattery won’t get you far with me,” Tracht said, but he didn’t sound angry. He tapped on his tablet again, and then frowned. “It says here you had surgery recently. Will you be fit to depart in three days?”

Bahjat’s professional smile slipped a bit, but her voice remained even. “I would argue that I’ve never been more fit, Captain. My mental state has improved dramatically since the surgery.”

Whatever the hell that meant. Alex tried to figure out where she’d had surgery, but nothing stood out at first glance. Brain surgery, maybe, if they’d poked around in there to fix her mental state, but her hair wasn’t shaved in any obvious spots.

“Hmm. Well, you’ll have to forward your medical records to Dr. Singh, our ship’s doctor. And let her know if there are any medications she needs to stock for you.”

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