"I've attended conventions like that," Malcolm said. "Back before we met. They can be very effective. But regular meetings? It sounds very risky. The power exchange could easily go to the dominant partner's head."
I gave him a wry smile. "While I had told Drake about my experience before him, I'd skimmed over a lot of details at his request. He said our past partners were exactly that, and we didn't need to dwell on what couldn't be changed. So he hadn't even known Jimmy's name. It wouldn't have mattered though, because Jimmy was going by JD now."
"I take it Jimmy is the guy he met?" Becca asked.
I nodded.
"As sly as ever, I see," Malcolm said, shaking his head.
A shudder ran through me. "They started hanging out together. Not just at the munches but private sessions with Jimmy's latest partner. Drake was applying the lessons at home. It explained why he was demanding more obedience from me. Inflicting punishment more often for minor infractions. I should have figured it out. I'd been there before with Jimmy. The name was just too coincidental."
"You're being too hard on yourself," Becca said.
Malcolm laid his hand on my hand that I'd rested on my knee, and I tried not to cry. He would know what was going through my head. We'd been here before. "Daphne, no one could have expected you to imagine Jimmy was behind it."
He was right. But still... I looked up at him, my vision blurry. I blinked, sending tears trickling out the sides of my eyes. "I should have known something was up when Drake told me two months ago that I should stop modeling and stay home instead. He didn't give me a reason. I trusted that he had a good one, even if he didn't voice it. So I quit my part-time job like he asked. It was classic Jimmy, though. An easy way to monitor my movements. Control me. Even if he wasn't home all of the time."
"That's not what being a Master is about at all," Becca said. "Where did he go wrong?"
CHAPTER FIVE
It took a moment before I could speak again.
"After he finally told me about his secret outings, he said he wanted me to meet his friend, JD. To get to know JD's partner, Monique. It would be good for me to have another submissive to talk to. It was the first time he'd mentioned me having a friend—outside of my co-workers, whom I never see anymore—and a kinky one at that. I was overjoyed. But that was three weeks ago, and he didn't bring it up again. I almost had a heart attack when the doorbell rang last night and I found Jimmy and a woman standing on our doorstep."
"I'm so sorry, Daphne," Becca said, her voice cracking.
"Drake was right behind me and invited them in. I felt outside of myself for the next thirty minutes as they sat drinking and chatting like they were old buddies while I scrambled around the kitchen trying to stretch our meal to feed four instead of two. I still couldn't comprehend that JD was really Jimmy. That he was sitting in my house and I couldn't find a single minute to steal Drake away to explain."
Malcolm shook his head. "As you should be."
"While we ate, they talked about how Drake's training with me was going. How much he enjoyed the 24/7 lifestyle over the occasional scenes we used to have. It sickened me that Jimmy was acting like this was an everyday occurrence and my abusive ex-boyfriend wasn't swapping sex stories with my husband. I felt like the maid the entire time. There but insignificant. I'd barely touched my food I was so upset."
Becca was crying now, her face in her hands. Malcolm rubbed her shoulder with one hand and clenched one of my hands in the other.
"When Jimmy finally left, I told Drake I was sick. He said I should be, he'd told me about the dinner date two days ago and I must have forgotten. I'd made him feel like a fool, as if he couldn't handle me. That I'd embarrassed him when he was only trying to introduce me to our new friends. He wouldn't even listen to me when I tried to explain who JD really was."
"Let me guess, Drake already knew." Darryl's voice made me jump. I'd forgotten he was there.
"Yeah. Jimmy had told him outright."
"And he hadn't said a word to you?" Malcolm's voice was closer to a growl than anything human. It made me shiver. "He hadn't told Jimmy or JD or whatever the fuck his name is now to get lost?"
I adjusted so I could pull my knees up to my chin. Closing up, building my defenses. I felt so small inside already it wasn't hard. "He said Jimmy thought it would be better not to say anything to me."
Darryl snorted. "For six months?"
I shrugged. "I don't know how long Drake knew who JD really was. And I don't know what all Jimmy told my husband about the two of us. But whatever they did discuss, Drake...he just said Jimmy didn't act anything like what I had described. That he must have matured and changed since I'd last seen him. People can do that. Especially if they'd been to prison. I should give him a second chance to be friends. And wasn't our relationship better now that we were fully committed to it all of the time? All thanks to Jimmy's direction?"
"What an ass," Darryl said. "Nothing against your brother, Becca, and I don't know this Jimmy, but that's a load of bullshit. I'm not sure if I want to meet this man now."
Becca sniffed and roughly wiped at her face. "My brother seems brainwashed. He never used to be like this. He was kind. Loving. Protective,
