“I’ll be here Tuesday, Master.”
Jesus. That was not what he wanted her to say. Yes, it is, you prick. “Goodnight, Shelby,” he said, more clipped than necessary, and motioned toward the door. If she didn’t get out now, he couldn’t trust he wouldn’t be groveling at her feet. For what, he wasn’t entirely sure. He did know he’d always had precise control over his emotions and had never spoken to another woman like this. Sure, he punished subs when they were out of line, but this was different.
She picked up her bag and left without another word.
He heard the quiet click of the front door closing behind her, but felt it as if it was the door to his heart slamming shut.
As it should be.
He would do everything in his power to make sure it stayed that way.
Chapter Eleven
In public.
That was what Shelby had thought about since last night, and it was all she could think about as she stared at whatever this file was on her desk.
“Normal people are happy on Fridays,” Viola said as she popped over to Shelby’s desk. Shelby glanced up, but was unable to muster a smile. Her coworker’s face fell as she looked at her. “Did something happen last night?”
“Oh yeah.” Boy did it ever. Before the realization her next scene would happen before everyone’s eyes, she’d had amazing sex with Mason yet again. This time she’d planned on spending the night with him, only to be kicked out like a worthless slut. Then again, she was being paid to sleep with him, so if that was what he’d been going for, he’d nailed it.
“Uh-oh. Is that why Rick called the meeting this morning?” she asked, grabbing her arm. “Are you okay?”
Shelby was far from okay, but she couldn’t go into it now. With the next scene being in public, she had an even bigger obstacle to clear. One she created herself, and one she had to fix immediately.
It was time to bring her team up to speed on everything. Everything. But she didn’t have the strength to spew out all the sordid details more than once, so Viola would have to wait and hear it with everyone else. “Rick has new intel, and I told him I wanted to give an update since he was bringing everybody together.” She picked up her cup and downed the last of its contents. “C’mon, I need more coffee for this.”
Viola followed her to the break area and watched silently as she poured. “You don’t look so good. Did he hurt you?” Her eyes narrowed, Shelby felt hers watering. She blinked a few times to hold off the tears. Yes, Mason had hurt her, but not physically. Threatening to end their association, telling her he was going to put her on display, and then kicking her out all because she’d called him by his name? Every bit of it bothered her. She didn’t know what she expected, though. He wasn’t her lover, not really. He was part of her job. She’d done this to herself. If she hadn’t gotten too close to him, none of this would matter.
It did.
“I was bound last night. No lasting marks.” On the outside. The inside was another matter, and one she wasn’t ready to address. She headed to the conference room, and Viola followed silently beside her. When they got in, they sat beside each other and greeted the others as they came into the room. Shelby tried returning Darrell’s smile, but it felt shaky. God, she wasn’t looking forward to rehashing what had happened with Mason in front of Darrell.
The man frowned at her, obviously noticing something was off, but she quickly looked toward the door as Rick walked in.
“Thanks for getting here on short notice. I have an update, but first Shelby has a status on her investigation. We’ll start with her.”
Shelby’s hands started sweating, and she looked down as she drew in a full breath, finding the strength to confess. When she looked up, all eyes were on her. She couldn’t drag this out. The sooner she said the words, the faster this would be over with.
She looked directly at her boss because it made her feel more detached. “During my scene last night, I had sexual intercourse with Showalter.” She didn’t say she’d had sex with him during the first scene. She didn’t want her ass chewed for keeping that a secret. The number of times it had happened wasn’t relevant to the case. Although, if it had any importance at all, she’d lay it all out there.
Nobody made a sound, and Shelby was too nervous to look at their expressions. Rick didn’t even flinch. She wasn’t sure if that was good or bad.
“Were you forced?” he asked as he rubbed his chin.
“No, sir. I was a willing participant. I could have used my safe word to stop, but I didn’t.”
“Were you able to get anything out of him last night?”
“Not much.” She swallowed, focusing her energy on the details and not the emotion involved. That was incredibly hard since sex on a normal day for her held a lot of emotion. Sex with Mason was off the charts in that department, in every department. But it was easier to stay detached if she relayed the specifics without the feelings. “He’d intended on me staying the night with him, but when I began asking questions, he ended our evening.”
Rick’s eyes darkened. “Were you made?”
“No,” she said quickly. He had no idea she was an agent. “It took him a while, but he did say he thought his boss was up to no good, and he’s stressed about it. I’m not sure if he would’ve said anymore last night because he’s very closed off. I think he was surprised he said that much to me and used an excuse to put up a wall.”
“What excuse?” Darrell asked, and Shelby wanted to groan at the
