Page 30 of Chandelier Sin
“Very good,” I said to placate her.
Jewel gestured toward them. “Up. We want to look at you.”
Even with their masks on I could see they were pretty, a mixture of figures to satisfy differing tastes. All of them were naked except for the gold chains around their waists, symbolizing Pendulum’s ownership.
“Are you prepared to give your best performance?” asked Jewel.
They answered in a pleasant singsong of agreement.
“Training will resume in half an hour.” Jewel shooed them away.
Watching them go, I tried to read their moods, tried to ascertain if anyone was unhappy, like a mother hen concerned for her brood’s state-of-mind.
Not for Jewel’s though. She could fuck right off.
She faced me. “We have a problem.”
“What kind?”
She reached out and brushed a strand of hair out of my eyes, her touch making my skin prickle. She was always trying to manipulate me.
“You always hide your lovely figure with that robe,” I told her.
“I have far more fun once the mask goes on.”
Her veiled character remained unyielding. There was a mystique that clung to Jewel like an enigma, the nature of her true self slipping through my grasp.
I wondered if anyone really knew her.
She leaned over to whisper, even though we were alone. “Two submissives were seen speaking with Atticus Sinclair.”
My throat tightened. “Who?”
“Elle and Rachel.”
My breath hitched in my throat as I wondered if she might know about me, that I’d dared to seek him out. The man was merely at the bar at the same time as me—a reasonable explanation.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, reading my expression.
“Where are they?”
“With the High Chancellor.”
I swallowed back the fear I felt for their safety. “I see.”
“Hewants to handle them.”
I gave a nod to show that made sense.
She stared at me. “In the Pembrooke Suite.”
They’d been taken to one of the larger dungeons.
“Can you soften the blow for them?” she asked, her tone dire.
“Don’t be dramatic.” Even as I said it, I knew she was right.
Everyone had been ordered to stay away from the three men intent on ruining this place. The punishment would be severe.
