Page 53 of Masked Darling

I’m calling her.

Kade:

Go ahead.

Alison’s sigh of irritation came crackling through the receiver of Madison’s cell. “Hello? Are you there?”

Madison cleared her throat before answering. Seeing Kade’s transparency of his interactions with her friend helped ease the last of her hesitation about that very decision.

“Yes, Al. I’ll be staying with Kade tonight.”

There was a pause. “And you’re sure?”

Madison and Kade’s eyes locked when she answered, “Very sure.”

After another few seconds she finished up her phone call. Kade was about to grab his phone back when Alison sent himanother text. He opened up the message and showed it to her again and they both shared a laugh when they read:

Ali Cat:

Do you think if I got Air Tags that they would register all the way from Arizona?

Kade:

Goodnight, Ali.

And Madison, for the first time in a long while, felt like everything was exactly where it was supposed to be. She felt like she was on the right track to healing and she couldn’t wait to be with Kade again. To feel his hands on her. Feel him inside her.

Kade must have noticed her breathing change and her face flush because he gave her thigh a very deliberate squeeze before trailing his hand back up to rest around her shoulders and set their attention on the others around them once more.

Jagger was finishing up changing the taps while Jazlyn and Camille were deep into the paperwork with Sadie, the occasional scribbling of pens breaking the otherwise comfortable silence as they worked.

Camille, leaning back in her chair with her drink in hand, couldn’t resist throwing a playful jab. “You two should be careful getting so close,” she teased, raising an eyebrow at the way Jazlyn and Sadie kept exchanging glances. “I heard about thatepic kissfrom back in the day. Don’t go rekindling any old flames now.”

Sadie’s face instantly turned red, her usual cool demeanor slipping as she flushed under the teasing. “Oh, shut up, it was one time,” she muttered, trying to hide the smile that tugged at her lips. “That was, like, forever ago.”

Jazlyn, not missing a beat, glanced up from her papers with a grin. “Still, that one kiss led me to kissing this one every day so I’ll never regret it,” she said as Sadie rolled her eyes in response.

Camille was already taking the seat at the bar next to Kade, settling in comfortably as she poured herself another drink. “I’m good with how the bar is set up,” she said, swirling her glass. “As long as we keep the sex dungeon room, I’m happy. Make sure that’s written into the contract, Sadie.”

Madison nearly choked on her drink at the mention of the secret room. Her hand flew to her mouth, and Kade instantly reached over, gently pounding on her back to help clear her airway. She gasped for breath, looking up at Kade, who was practically laughing at her.

Sadie scribbled in the paperwork without missing a beat. “I know, Camille. I’ll make sure it’s all written in,” she said, her voice shaking with suppressed laughter.

Jagger, who had been watching the entire exchange with a smirk, leaned in toward Sadie, his voice low but teasing. “You can keep the setup,” he said, his eyes flicking to the paperwork, “but you’re taking the toys with you. Those stay with us.”

Sadie’s blush deepened, but she simply shook her head, refusing to dignify that with a response.

Jagger, however, wasn’t done. As he looked at Sadie, his voice dropped even lower, just for her ears. “I already found a nice place in New York. We can make a room there, too.” His words were a whisper, but the intent behind them was clear.

“You’ve got everything figured out, don’t you?” she teased back, though there was a softness to her voice that made the teasing seem warmer than usual.

Before Jagger could answer, Gremlin and Scales walked in, both holding several black envelopes. They handed them over to Sadie, who immediately jumped up with a huge smile on herface, her blonde hair bouncing as she skipped around the bar to distribute them to everyone.

“Here you go,” she said, passing an envelope to Madison before giving one to Jazlyn.

Jazlyn raised an eyebrow, taking the envelope and giving it a curious look. “What’s this?” she asked.

Scales, who was standing nearby, shook his head with a grin. “We’ve got a little surprise for you,” he said. “Gremlin and I did the graphic design work on these. Now that we know the place and time, we were able to finish these up.”

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