Page 21 of High Roller

The door opens again, and I prepare to let loose on Victor. But it’s Gracie. She comes off as a quiet girl. Not quite timid, but definitely anxious. There’s something about her I like but can’t quite put my finger on what it is.

“Victor is an asshole,” I say when she stands there staring at me without a word for what feels like an eternity. Silence bugs me and I always want to fill it.

She ignores me and goes about picking up the mess I made. I’m used to having people do things for me, but it wasn’t always that way. Our family started out squarely in the middle class until I was in high school, and my father made it in politics. When I married Phineas, I had to get used to housekeepers, chefs, drivers, and personal assistants. But for some reason, Gracie cleaning up the mess my tantrum caused is sparking guilt I’m not used to.

“If you unchain me, I’ll clean that up.”

She looks at me and shakes her head. “Victor told me not to let you free. I can’t disobey him.”

“Is he your Dom?”

She shrugs. “It’s complicated. He’s one of the club owners. I’m a club submissive.”

“So, you obey all the owners?” I’m curious about the club and the way it works. And I’m annoyed that I didn’t realize it existed until now. I’ve had a curiosity about kink for a long time. Not that Phineas would ever let me go to a place like this.

“Victor wouldn’t want me answering your questions. I’m sorry.”

I shake my head. “It’s fine. I understand. Can we talk about something else? Silence scares me sometimes. Being kidnapped definitely counts as one of those times.”

It’s true. I can’t handle a lot of silence, and silence triggered my freak out last night. Thinking back to throwing food around like a petulant child is embarrassing. But when I’m on my own, there is always music or a podcast playing in my headphones, and I enjoy going to noisy places because silence is almost painful.

When I first got married, I would play music or podcasts on our sound system at home because there were speakers everywhere in the house, but Phineas prefers silence and bought me an expensive pair of noise canceling earbuds that he now insists I use. It works, but it’s not the same as being in a room filled with sound.

“What would you like to talk about?” Gracie asks as she picks up slices of limp tomato off the floor.

“What do you like to do for fun?” I ask.

Gracie smiles, but quickly schools it. “When I’m not here, I write a lot.”

I want to sit up, but the cuffs make moving hard. “What do you write?”

Gracie blushes and shakes her head.

“You can tell me. I won’t make fun or anything, I promise.”

She eyes me skeptically. “I write erotica. Usually of the sapphic variety.”

I raise an eyebrow. Had I read her wrong? I could have sworn she was into Victor.

“And are you… lesbian?” I ask, unsure if it’s considered a polite question.

She moves on to picking up the scattered slices of onion and is quiet for a moment. “Bisexual,” she finally admits.

“Me too,” I say. “But no one knows that about me, so you have to keep it a secret. It would not be good for my family if anyone found out.”

Gracie looks at me with a sad smile. “I understand that. My family not being accepting of who I am is kind of how I ended up here. I had a girlfriend… and a boyfriend. It didn’t end well when my family found out. But like I said, it’s complicated.” She rushes through the end of her explanation, and I get the feeling there is much more to that story and there isn’t a happy ending. My heart aches for her.

I wiggle my wrists. “You don’t need to explain. I’d love to read something you’ve written sometime.”

Gracie blushes now and violently shakes her head. “I’ve never shared my work with anyone.”

“That’s too bad. But I respect it. I’m sure it’s wonderful.”

She’s clearly uncomfortable, so I don’t push.

When she finishes cleaning up the food, she gathers the clothing and puts them on the dresser.

“Do you think Victor will come and let me out soon?” I ask.

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