Page 22 of High Roller

Gracie makes a face. “It’s hard to say. You weren’t wrong about him being an asshole. Last week a sub disobeyed him at the beginning of the night and was mouthy when he called her out on it. He was in a bad mood, and he stuck a bar of soap in her mouth and put her on display in the center of his play space and kept her there all night. Didn’t let her free until the rest of us had finished cleaning up.”

I gasp. That sounds so harsh. But something about the way Gracie talks about it makes it sound like she thought it was hot.

“That sub is into those kinds of punishments,” Gracie adds. “But it was extreme even for her. The only reason no one is pissed at Victor about it is because she didn’t use a safeword and assured the other owners that she was completely fine with what happened.”

“This is all so interesting. I’ve dabbled in BDSM before, but I’ve not seen anything quite like this. I’m extremely curious. Do you write kink in your stories, Gracie?”

The girl turns as red as the tomatoes she picked up off the floor, and I find it arousing.

“Yeah,” she whispers. “It’s one of the things I love about working here. I get a lot of inspiration.”

“It would be a surprise if you didn’t.”

“Of course, I don’t write things exactly as they happen. I just take a bit of inspiration. The guys would kill me if I wrote things exactly as they happened.”

Secrecy seems to be important to this group. Phineas likes secrets too. But his secrets involve the women he’s fucked and the people he’s bribed.

I wonder what secrets Victor has.

“I should get to work, the shop opens soon,” Gracie mutters.

“Thanks for talking to me. Is there any way to turn some music or something on in here?”

Gracie looks at me and then at the corner of the ceiling. My gaze follows hers, and I spot the small speaker mounted there.

“What do you like?” she asks as she picks up the tray with the mess of food now piled on it.

“Anything but country would be great. Or the latest episode of Call Her Daddy. Only because my husband hates that show.”

Gracie laughs. “It’s a great show. I don’t know if the sound system has access to podcasts, but I’ll check.”

When she’s gone, I look around, examining my wrists to see if there is any way I can get the restraints loose.

I need to escape. Phineas is probably going crazy. My goal had been to make a big enough scene that he caught wind of my activity on the strip and confronted me. Then I could publicly humiliate him. To say things haven’t gone according to plan is the understatement of the millennium. I’m scared of what he’ll do to me when I get back home. Even though Victor kidnapped me, he’ll find a way to make it my fault.

Maybe escaping isn’t such a good idea. At least here he can’t hurt me.

A few minutes later, a pop song starts playing at low volume and increases a little after a few seconds.

“Thank you,” I shout, remembering what Gracie said about the mic.

The music lulls me to sleep again, and I have vivid dreams about Victor and his wicked fingernails.

“Wake up,” his voice breaks through the fog sometime later, and I open my eyes to find him standing over me with another plate of food. My stomach growls in anticipation.

“Are you ready to behave now?” he asks, his voice softer than before.

I nod slowly and try to move my arms. My tense muscles protest and I wince.

Victor sets the plate down and undoes the cuffs, gently lowering my arms to my sides allowing me to shake the stiffness out.

He tosses me the silk pajama shirt again, and this time I put it on.

“I see you talked Gracie into giving you some music.”

“Don’t be too mad at her. She’s sweet, and you’re making her uncomfortable with this whole situation.”

Victor glares at me. “I realize that. But Gracie works for me. She isn’t your concern. And stop trying to get her to do things for you.”

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