Page 6 of Bling

Chapter Three

Garrett leaned against the reception desk in the lobby of Solitaire, chatting with Lance, and some other members of the club. Hunter sat on the couch talking to Austin and Patrick who were just back from their honeymoon. Eli was in his office in the corner, but his door was open. It was just after seven on a Friday night, so few people had arrived, but the lobby still felt full.

He was currently waiting on Isabelle to appear. When she came through the door, he planned to whisk her away to a private corner and help her forget the trouble of her day. He knew she had to be under a tremendous amount of stress.

The door opened, and the subject of his thoughts stepped through the door. She looked tense. Not that he blamed her.

Before he could get to her, Austin jumped up from her spot on the couch and ran to hug Isabelle. The two women had become close over the past few months.

He waited, albeit impatiently, for them to finish talking. Isabelle seemed overly tense, even talking to Austin. Poor girl, he definitely needed to get her away from the prying eyes of others so he could get her to open up.

Garrett turned his attention to Patrick and tilted his head in Austin’s direction. Thankfully, Patrick understood what he wanted. “Austin, come here.”

At first, she didn’t move, but when she turned and saw the stern expression her husband and Dom wore, she pecked Isabelle on the cheek and walked to his side. Garrett watched for a moment as Patrick pulled his wife in for a rough kiss.

“Really, Sir? That’s what you called me over here for?”

Patrick gave a low growl and kissed her again. “It’s my prerogative to get a kiss from you whenever I damn well feel like it.”

Garrett wasted no more time watching the newlyweds and crossed the room to Isabelle. She didn’t meet his gaze. “Hey, Doll. You look stressed. Let’s get out of here and go upstairs for a bit.”

Isabelle looked away, and he watched as a tear slid down her cheek.

“What’s wrong, Isabelle?”

She shook her head and dashed a hand across her face. “I’ll be fine. I’m not ready to go upstairs yet.”

“To bad. You don’t have a choice. Upstairs. Now.”

Her eyes blazed as she jerked her head to meet his gaze. “Fuck you,” she bit out.

Garrett’s eyes widened as all conversation in the lobby ceased. Attention was firmly on them now and he had to handle this. Snapping his fingers, he pointed to the floor, a sign that she should kneel. When she refused, he scowled. Something was definitely wrong. “You have about ten seconds to start talking, Doll.”

Her nostrils flared. “Fine. You want to talk? Let’s talk about what a greedy fucking bastard you are for laying off twenty-six people with no God damned severance package.”

Garrett’s heart leapt into his throat. What the hell was she talking about? How did she know about the layoffs? Then it hit him like a ton of bricks. Isabelle was a local. Had she been one of the twenty-six people let go?

“You sit there in your fucking penthouses and private jets and just snap your fingers and take away the livelihoods of dozens of people just so you can save a few dollars. It’s despicable. I don’t even know why I came here tonight. You make me fucking sick.”

“That’s enough, Isabelle.” Hunter’s voice was booming and echoed through the lobby as he moved to her side with a glare.

“There are clearly some feelings you need to express to Master Garrett, but you are still a house submissive and you willnotbehave this way in front of other members.”

Isabelle looked around as if she just now realized she wasn’t alone with Garrett, and he watched as her face turned crimson. Her head dropped. “I’m sorry, Master Hunter,” she whispered.

Garrett noticed Eli had stepped out of his office and leaned against his doorframe to watch. He would expect Garrett to handle this situation appropriately, which meant making sure Isabelle was OK, while not allowing her outburst to go unpunished.

Hunter brushed some wayward hair from Isabelle’s face and gripped her chin. “You and Master Garrett should go into the conference room and finish your conversation there. Another outburst like that, though, and you answer to me. Are we clear?”

Isabelle nodded and trudged toward the conference room. Garrett waited until she was a few feet ahead before he followed.

Hunter stuck his hand out and stopped him. “Any idea what that was about?”

Garrett looked down at his hands. “She lost her job today. I have a sneaking suspicion she might be one of the people I laid off. I had no idea she worked at the fulfillment center.”

Hunter whistled. “Fuck. Good luck cleaning this one up. If you need me to step in, let me know.”

Garrett knew he was offering to handle punishing the girl. There was no way they could let her outburst go unpunished. Not when it had happened in front of so many members. That was of course if she even wanted to continue her role as a house submissive. It would not surprise him if she asked to be released. He just hoped he could talk her into staying.

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