Page 46 of Mastered By Lust

I face the detectives. “If I’m not under arrest, I would like to return to my evening. If you need to get in touch with me again, here is my card.”

I make a mental note to contact my attorney tomorrow. She’ll want to know about this, even if nothing comes of it. She’ll be furious I answered questions without her, but cooperation seems the quickest way to get rid of the detectives. I need to return to Leah.

Vazquez looks as if she’s tasted something sour, but she accepts my card with a nod. “Thank you for your time, Mr. Jannik.”

I start to move away, but then stop. “Have you spoken with Harvey Billings?”

Now it’s the detectives’ turn to blink in surprise. Li frowns. “The director?”

“Yes.” I offer him a grim smile. “If anyone would want revenge on our cohort, it’s him.”

Vazquez says, “Mr. Jannik?—”

“Goodnight, Detectives.”

I turn on my heel and stride down the hall. Margot accompanies me back into Low Vice. Paxton will make sure the detectives find their way out of the club.

“What kind of trouble are you in, Gage?” Margot asks. “Can I help?”

“No trouble.” I give her a grateful smile. “But I appreciate the offer.”

“We’re friends. The offer’s always there.” After squeezing my arm, she hurries past the crowded auction area and toward the hall.

I follow her, pausing when I see that Seth Colton is still in the audience. He grins and says, “It wasn’t for lack of trying, you rich son of a bitch.”

“You should’ve known I wouldn’t give up.”

He shrugs. “Worth a try. Maybe you’ll let me watch again sometime.”

I’m not against the idea, but it would be entirely up to Leah.

Leah, who is waiting in Room One.

Leaving the audience area, I move down the narrow hallway until I find the door. Knocking once, I open it and step inside.

Leah and Dmitri are standing on opposite ends of the room. Leah has on one of the club’s black silk robes. She holds it closed.

Dmitri moves toward me, toward the door. He holds out the collar that matches Leah’s belly chain. “Thirty K. She’s all yours.”

“Stay.” I keep my voice soft so he can interpret that as a command, or a request. I’m not sure which approach would work better with him at the moment. He’s very obviously a Dom by the way he carries himself and his general attitude. But when it comes to Leah, he’s willing to sacrifice some of his dominant tendencies.

Dmitri stands at his full height, but he stops moving toward the door. “What the fuck do you want, Gage?”

“Here is what will happen.” I look between the two of them. It strikes me, then, how perfect they are for each other. Their undeclared feelings stretch between them like a chasm. Longing, yearning.

I could step away and let them be together. I could let him love her like he wants to, if he can stop getting in his own way. And I could let her love him like she does already.

But I can’t leave Leah. I want to love her, too.

My phone buzzes with a text. I’m tempted to ignore it, but it buzzes a second time. I check in case it’s Betty having trouble with the auction. After all, I did just rob the club of one of its bouncers.

The text isn’t from Betty, though—it’s from Ryder Callihan at Ironwood.

Results are in from Tagger data. Serial number mostly scratched off. 26 possible numbers associated. Here are names associated with the numbers.

What follows is a list.

And the name at the top of that list?

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