Page 118 of Pressure

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Marissa stepped out of the elevator on the first floor and made her way to the busy Chicago street. Lance was lying to her about Colorado and she didn’t know why that bothered her. It bothered her more than the fact that he was still trying to solve her problems.

Was he going to look for Jodie? She’d disappeared and Marissa still couldn’t find any trace of her.

As she walked down the street to the train station, she pondered other steps to take to find the woman. Something told her she wasn’t actually a submissive and her name might not even be Jodie. But her background check was clear, and her identity seemed legitimate. Something behind her made her turn. The sensation that someone was following her settled in her gut and she hurried to the station.

When she stepped onto the train, she leaned on a pole and surveyed the car full of people. Nobody else got on that seemed like they were watching her. As they lurched forward, she closed her eyes and let her mind wander back to Lance. He’d looked so sad when she said they would need to talk later.

Her fingers drifted to her new haircut. She fucking hated the short hair and couldn’t wait for it to grow long again. But Lance tugging on it had almost made her OK with the near pixie cut. Almost.

At her stop, she stepped onto the platform and walked up to the street to make the trek to her apartment.

As she approached, she spotted an SUV that didn’t seem to belong. Nobody had followed her off the train that she knew of, but something still felt off.

At her door, she unlocked it and stepped inside. She gave the dark vehicle one more look as she shut the door and it hit her. God damn him.

You can call your security goons off.

She fired off the text as she stared at the SUV out her window. His response came seconds later.

Not happening. You’re not safe until we know who we’re dealing with and why. Deal with it.

She stuck her tongue out at the phone and sent him the middle finger emoji. Part of her wanted to go to the men parked in the SUV and tell them to leave, but she knew that wouldn’t persuade them. They might leave the parking lot, but they would still watch her. Now that she knew she was being followed, she knew to watch for them.

At her computer, she stewed over Jodie and Sebastian and the fact that Lance hadn’t been honest with her about going to Colorado. Would someone else be working with him there or was he going on his own?

Her fingers rested on the keys as she contemplated what to do. She could go to Colorado and trail Lance, but it would be hard to do without him knowing and she’d said she needed space from him. She did. But she also needed closure on this and wanted to see Solitaire open back up. Being there made her realize just how much she missed being in the lifestyle.

On a whim, she pulled up a fetish website that kept track of local events to see if anything was happening at the local dungeons tonight.

She was unlikely to play with anyone, but she could at least be among the people she most identified with and maybe getting back into the swing of things locally would help clear her head and give her fresh ideas for tracking Jodie and Forcythe. Not to mention, it would be grand fun to make Lance’s security goons follow her to a BDSM club.

The website told her that Club Sin was open. It was a public club that just required an ID to enter.

With a little grin, she went to her closet to see what kind of outfit she could put together for the evening.

At eight that evening, she slipped into the back of a cab and gave the driver the club address.

Sure enough, the SUV fell into traffic behind them and followed the entire way. Inside, she went straight for the bar and ordered a drink.

Her phone buzzed. When she answered it, Lance growled in her ear. “Are you deliberately trying to irritate me or are you just fucking with your security detail?”

She nearly giggled at his ferocious sounding voice. “Maybe I just wanted to have a little fun. I’m a grown woman, Lance.”

“If you want to have some fun just meet me at my apartment.”

“I thought you were heading to Colorado.”

He sighed. “Not until morning.”

Was her visit to the club really bothering him? She hadn’t intended to make him jealous, she just wanted to be around other kinky people.

“I’m sorry,” she muttered.

“For?”

“Making you jealous. I wasn’t trying to upset you. Just clear my head. Solitaire made me realize how much I miss being part of the kink community.”

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