Page 146 of Master of My Heart

The next morning, Chase knocked on the big black door of Richard’s enormous brick home on the outskirts of Boston. He’d slept really well the night before and woke feeling refreshed. Of course, the texts he’d exchanged with Sabrina had probably helped. As he was finishing dinner, she responded with an apology, saying she wasn’t used to checking her phone and had been in rehearsals all day. They texted briefly about their days. Hers had several smiley face emojis, making him think she was feeling good. Ethan had also texted that she was, indeed, doing good and had been happy all day.

Kathy, wearing a black silk robe, opened the door.

“Morning, Kathy,” he said, stepping inside and kissing her cheek.

“Good morning, Chase,” she responded with a smile. “I was disappointed you didn’t come over last night.” She pouted prettily.

Chase smiled and gave her a small shrug. “I’d been in meetings all day. I don’t think I would have been good company.”

She waved her hand through the air. “Just your presence is good company,” she said with a wink.

When Richard had invited him over, he’d suspected the reason had been for a threesome. Normally, Chase would have been happy to oblige, but not last night. And now that Sabrina was around, he didn’t know how often he’d come over to indulge in his physical passions with the couple. He wasn’t sure how Sabrina would feel about such a thing.

Come to think of it, he didn’t know how Sabrina would feel about a lot of things. If she went to a Gathering, would she be shocked? Would the types of sexual encounters that went on there disgust her? There was no judgment at Gatherings. As long as it was consensual, it was good. If it could be imagined, it happened there.

Kathy wasn’t the only wife who attended the informal Gatherings, either. Most of the Deacons’, Richard’s closest Brothers, wives attended. They all enjoyed themselves, usually apart from their husbands, who enjoyed themselves with other women. He also knew that Richard and Kathy had other couples over on a regular basis. In the Brotherhood, sex was for enjoyment, however you wanted it.

But how would Sabrina react? In her natural state, as a demi-Immortal, she would enjoy it, but what about if they were in a relationship? Would she be able to accept that Chase had to go to these on a regular basis and it was bad form to not participate? How would he even begin to explain it to her? After all she’d been through, was it even fair to ask that of her?

Maybe Richard would have some suggestions on how to broach the subject with her.

“Richard’s in his office,” Kathy said, motioning toward the side of the house. “I’ll be in the living room if you want to visit afterward,” she added with a wink, then disappeared toward the back of the house.

Chase made his way through the formal sitting room to Richard’s office, knocking on the door jamb to let him know he’d arrived.

“Ah, Chase,” Richard said, motioning to him from his massive mahogany desk in the middle of the room. “Get enough sleep?”

Chase settled in the red leather chair across from him. “Yeah. Slept like a log.”

“Good.”

They engaged in small talk for a few minutes before Richard leaned back in his massive leather chair and tented his fingers. “I’ve been doing some research into what we’ve learned from Sabrina and, well, it’s odd.”

“How so?”

“Well, there is a Ramon de Sousa who fits what she’s told us, but...” Richard leaned forward and squinted as he clicked something on his computer. “He was a drug czar from Mexico. His body, along with several others, was found about a month ago in his compound near Tucson. The authorities think it might have been his brother who attacked them.”

“They don’t know it was Sabrina?”

“There’s absolutely no record of Sabrina after she got off that plane and her adoptive parents picked her up at the airport. She just vanished.”

Chase rubbed his chin. “How did she end up with a drug lord?”

Richard shook his head. “I have no idea. It doesn’t make any sense.”

The men were silent for a few minutes. “Is anyone looking for her?” Chase asked.

“Not that I can tell,” he answered. “Aside from this Master of hers.”

“No one knows who he is?”

“I’ve talked extensively to the other Elders. No one knows who it could possibly be.”

“Maybe it’s... I don’t know... someone from another country?”

“We’d still be able to sense him if he were here.”

Chase sighed. “So what do we do?”

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