Page 126 of Heist

Chapter Thirty-Six

“Jesus Christ, Austin, when was the last time you slept,” Lance asked when he showed up on her doorstep on Thursday morning.

She shrugged and took a sip from her coffee mug. “I’m neck deep in research. I’ll sleep when it’s done.”

“And Patrick lets you get away with not taking care of yourself that way? I thought you two were practicing D/s outside the club.”

Austin ducked her head. “We agreed that my work was off limits.”

“Well, if you were mine, you would be over my knee right now. You look like hell. Take care of yourself, woman. You’re not going to do Patrick, or anyone else any good if you pass out from sleep deprivation.”

“I’m not anyone’s,” she said, holding up her empty wrist.

Lance scowled. “I thought you were going to keep wearing the club bracelet.”

“I will when I’m at Solitaire. Any other time is too painful right now. Can we change the subject, please? I want to get to work.”

He shook his head disapprovingly but pulled out a laptop and a tablet and started typing. “Wi-Fi password?”

She pointed to the fridge as she pushed past him to the coffeemaker to refill her mug.

“Why did you keep working on his case after his dick move?” Lance asked as he worked.

“It’s my ethical responsibility as an attorney. I could have filed a motion to withdraw, but unless we just absolutely can’t work together, this judge is unlikely to grant it. Besides, he’s innocent and we all know that. He deserves to have me fighting for him even if he was an ass.”

“Think you’ll work things out?”

Austin shook her head. “Please, Lance. I’ve cried so much in the past few days. Can we not talk about it?”

He paused his typing to hold up his hands in surrender. “Fine, I’m sorry. It’s just my awkward way of checking up on you. I feel like you’re my responsibility until you work things out with Patrick, especially since you’re continuing the house submissive program. Which I’m proud of you for, by the way.”

Austin shrugged. “It’s fun. You have a good group of people and Solitaire is my second home. I’m not sure how I’ll face him there, but I have to find a way.”

“Good girl,” Lance murmured.

“Seriously, can we change the subject? What are you working on?”

“I’m trying to get some more numbers for Jax. He’s about to confront a potential witness for you. I’m not going to say who, but you’re a smart girl and you’ll figure it out. If we’re lucky, the witness will give us what we need to go to a judge and get the charges dropped. At the very least, they’ll give you something to present at trial.”

Austin leaned against her kitchen counter and watched him work.

“Will Patrick be at the club this weekend?” she said when he took a break from typing to dig in his backpack.

Lance shook his head. “No. He even let another couple borrow his suite for the weekend and got someone to fill in for him on his dungeon monitor shift. You want to tag along with me? That’s where I’m headed when I leave here.”

She shrugged. “I don’t know. It feels wrong, going without him.”

“I think you need the time away from his case, especially since you two still aren’t speaking. It can’t be good for your mental health and did I mention you look like shit?”

She stuck her tongue out at him.

“Do that at Solitaire and see if I don’t spank you,” he said, glowering at her.

“I’ll think about it. When will Jax be back from his super-secret trip?” He had taken off early Wednesday morning promising to call as soon as he had anything useful but didn’t tell her where he was going

“He won’t be at Solitaire this weekend, let’s just put it that way. So, you might as well just relax and come have a good time at the club. For the demo this time we were thinking of doing a mini version of the masquerade tasting tour. You could help us out.”

“Fine. I’ll go with you, but I can’t promise to have a good time,” she said.

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