Page 55 of Bling

“Do you have a coworker tonight or are you on your own?”

“Someone is here with me,” she breathed.

“Very well. You have the rest of the night off. You’ll still be paid, but you’re going to make this right before you work again, understood?”

“Yes, Sir,” she whispered, her voice trembling.

“Hey, I’m not trying to upset you, little one. You’re not in trouble with me. I can’t speak for Garrett though.”

She sighed as she gathered her composure. “I’m pretty sure I’m in deep shit with him,” she said dryly. “I’m sorry if I put you in a tough spot. I didn’t expect him to call you.”

Deep laughter rumbled through the phone. “We’re all one big family at Solitaire. If we can help each other, we do. Of course he called me.”

Isabelle giggled. “OK. Well, I’m sorry anyway. I guess I should go fix this.”

“Goodnight, little one.”

When her coworker arrived at the desk a few minutes later, she clocked out and made her way across the lobby to the hotel bar where Garrett was waiting for her.

He was twisting a glass of scotch in his hand when she approached.

“I’m really sorry,” she said tearfully when she slid into the booth across from him.

He didn’t lift his head to meet her gaze. “How long have you been working two jobs?”

She shrugged. “It’s something I’ve done off and on since I started working.”

He sighed. “You know that’s not the answer I was looking for, Isabelle.”

She blew out a breath. “Master Hunter offered me the job the night he punished me at Solitaire. I started the next Monday and then you rehired me. It seemed like too good an opportunity to pass up because the schedules lined up perfectly for me to do both. I can finally pay off some of my sister’s credit card debt and get ahead on my student loans. Maybe save some to help Cat with college tuition.”

He lifted his head and gave her a quizzical look. “And why are you paying your sister’s credit card debt?”

When she didn’t answer, he picked up both of her hands and squeezed. “Communication, Isabelle. How am I supposed to take care of you and be a good Dom If you’re keeping things from me?”

“It’s just family drama. It shouldn’t be your concern.”

“If it’s causing you to work two jobs and not eat and not sleep, it’s absolutely my concern. You’re running on fumes and I want to know why.”

“You already know my sister is in prison for the second time. A variety of offenses. She fell in with the wrong crowd, but one thing she did was take out credit cards in a number of family member’s names, including mine and her daughters. We’re all in debt as a result. The District Attorney only charged her with the counts he could prove, and those charges got wiped clean. Our debt was not debt included in the criminal case against her so we’re on the hook for the money.”

Garrett swore and Isabelle cringed. She hated that she’d made him angry. “So why didn’t you tell me you were working for Hunter when I gave you the new job?”

She winced, unsure how to answer.

“Spit it out, Isabelle. You’re already on thin ice.”

“Honestly? I wasn’t sure it was going to work out with us, and I wanted to have a fallback plan.”

He drained his scotch. “I guess that’s fair.”

“Am I in trouble?” she whispered when he fell silent again.

“Are you mine?” he asked, his eyes steely and intense as they bored holes into her.

She nodded. “Yes, Sir.”

“Then yes, you’re in trouble.”

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