Page 21 of Rogue Royal
“Yes, Your Highness. He’s waiting for you in the main office. I’ve also called in Princes Albert and Arthur to cover.”
Douglas nodded, and although he knew the way, Clarice pointed toward the offices, and Douglas strode towards it. He knocked and entered the darkly decorated room. All the furnishings were in the same dark wood, but the walls were of a dark port colour, making it appear smaller than it was.
“Douglas. I hear it’s been a tricky night.” Freddie rounded the desk he’d been sitting behind and clapped Douglas on the shoulder.
“Have you spoken to anyone else yet?”
Freddie shook his head. “No, I wanted to hear from you first. And besides, I’ve not long been here. Tell me what happened.” He pointed to the seats, and they both sat.
Douglas explained what he’d seen and heard, finishing with what he’d done to care for Eddie.
“You’ve done well. I know you don’t need me to tell you, but you’ve done everything you could. And no doubt, you will contact Eddie to check on him over the next few days as well.” Douglas didn’t need to answer because Freddie knew him well. “Let’s see what Talon has to say.”
Freddie exited with Douglas close behind, and they strode towards the office used for discussions about behaviours if needed, which wasn’t often, but often enough that they dedicated a room to it. The room comprised a large desk with two chairs in front and three behind it. Talon and Christian were sitting on the chairs in front, and Patrick was standing to the side, leaning on the wall with his arm crossed.
All straightened and stood as they entered. Freddie and Douglas rounded the desk, each taking a seat in a chair.
“I assume because you have no one to help represent you, you do not want anyone?” Freddie directed his question to Talon.
“I don’t need anyone to fight my corner, Your Highness. I did nothing wrong.”
Freddie leaned back in his chair and waved his hand in Talon’s direction before linking his fingers over his stomach. “By all means, explain away.”
Douglas could tell by the tone of Freddie’s voice he was less than pleased with Talon’s show of cockiness. As Douglas expected, Talon described a scene where Eddie had been on a fuck bench, enjoying himself when he’d begun pushing back against Talon. Talon had assumed—wrongly—Eddie was eager and wanted more, and he’d given it.
“He was pretending to cry and humiliated me in front of the people watching.” Talon’s jaw and hands clenched.
Silence reigned for a short time, then Freddie sat forward. “This is not the first time you’ve hurt a sub, although they recorded it as accidental the last time. Unfortunately, your actions after the scene ended have proved to me you are a liability here.” Talon spluttered, but Freddie held up a hand. “You appear unable to take criticism, even when it comes from a sub who said their safe word. Just because they safe word doesn’t mean there is an unresolvable issue.”
Douglas inhaled. “What you did after was unnecessary and cruel. Every person within these walls and outside of them deserves to be treated with respect and not penalised for having different views than you. If you had an issue with a sub, you should have involved a Dungeon Monitor.”
“He is my sub to punish as I see—”
“There was no need for punishment.” Freddie’s voice whipped across the distance, and Talon reared back. “You hurt him because you were angry. No other reason. With that in mind, we revoke your membership. Please remember the non-disclosure agreement still stands, and we will prosecute you should it come to light you released information about this club.”
“You can’t—”
“We can. Master Christian, Master Patrick, please see Talon to the changing rooms to gather his belongings. After that, escort him to his car until he leaves the premises.”
“Yes, Master Frederick.” Both men flanked Talon and manhandled him to the door.
“This isn’t fair! Subs need to be punished when they misbehave! Why am I the one being punished?” Talon’s voice disappeared as the office door closed.
Douglas scratched his chin. “We need to monitor Eddie. Talon may blame him for losing his membership.”
“Undoubtedly. I’ll arrange for protection.” Freddie rubbed a hand over his head. “I hate this part of the job, but I’m happier he’s not making trouble inside the club. We’ll have to watch his movements as well. I have a feeling this won’t be the last time we’ll hear from him.”
“I agree.” Douglas gave a small smile, finding it amusing how much Freddie’s accent changed when he was talking to family to when he spoke to the public. He affected a posher tone for public speaking and events.
“Why don’t you head home. I’ll deal with the rest of this. Remember to get your statement down on paper and bring it back for the file. We need this as clean as possible to stop Talon from causing us undue issues if he decides to take this further.”
Douglas rubbed his forehead. “I will take you up on that. I know I’m supposed to be here for several more hours, but this has wiped me out.”
Freddie rested his hand on the back of Douglas’s neck and squeezed gently. “I knew it would. Go. If there are any repercussions from Father, I’ll deal with it.”
“Thanks.” Douglas stood. “Let me know if you need anything else.”
“Will do. Get some sleep.”
