Page 48 of Fate and Family

I can’t get past how hollow everything seems. Is this what life is really like, or is this just America?

About an hour into my shift, the bar fills up. We have rules: two drinks per guest, no more—just enough to take the edge off, but keeps everyone level-headed. Safe, sane, and sober is the mantra. There’s a man I don’t know, but clearly Jade does. She bristles as soon as he comes closer to her.

“Jade!” he yells. The music isn’t all that loud, and he definitely doesn’t need to yell. He’s doing it to show off how dominant he hopes he is. Ugh. These guys are the worst. They never fully understand the lifestyle. They hear about it on some alpha-male podcast and think it would be cool to control a woman.

Jade gives him a half-smile, which is way more than he deserves. “Hi, Brian.” As soon as she delivers her greeting, she turns her back to him to straighten the bottles behind the bar.

He slithers his way over, playing with the water droplets on the bar top. “I was going to schedule some time with you tonight,” he says with a smarmy smirk.

“Can’t. I’m booked for the next two weeks.”

She’s not. But she flashes me the signal she’s already flagged him as a “no-go.” He has too much to learn about everything.

He waves her off. “Yeah, that’s cool. I’m here with someone.”

Jade shoots me a look like, “Poor girl,” and I’m already on my way to inform the Dungeon Master for the night about what’s going on. On my way to the back office, Tawny, a semi-regular who’s been eyeing me, approaches. Tawny’s attractive enough. She has long black hair, and her green eyeshadow is more attention-grabbing than flattering. She’s funny and has a no-strings-attached policy. I’ve almost considered calling her outside club hours. Getting her number would be easy enough. But every time I get close to convincing myself to ask her, the impulse dies and various forms of guilt take over.

“Hey, Dimitri.”

I kept my real first name. I’m not sure why. I could’ve had a full identity change. But I wanted to hold on to something from my former life—like not everything burned in that purple fire.

Nodding in her general direction, I say, “Hi, Tawny.”

She shifts from side to side, her breasts popping out and playing with the ends of her hair. “I’m thinking about giving you my number, but I’m not going to do that unless I’m sure you’re going to call.”

I motion to the Playroom. “You know, that’s not really my scene.”

She laughs a little and rolls her eyes. “I figured that out a while ago. But you know, I’m into other stuff too. Like eating dinner.”

“That is also an activity I do.” My face loosens for the first time in forever. All my muscles tingle from the lack of tension. Shit, what is this feeling? Am I…smiling?

“Well, maybe if you call me, we can figure out a time and location where we can partake in a dinner-like activity.”

The room fills as clients continue to stream in for the night, laughing and talking. As Joey would say, ‘It’s a good vibe.’ ButJade’s squirming like she’s lying in a bathtub of worms. “Let me get back to you.”

Stepping to the side of her, I swipe my ID card to get into the back room to tell Dom Darren about the situation between Jade and Brian.

“Ugh, fuckboy Brian’s back? I thought we put him on probation?” He scrolls through something on his laptop. “It ended yesterday. I’ll send out an alert to the rest of the staff.” Darren braces his hands on the arms of the chair to lift his massive body. He used to be in law enforcement or military, but whatever he was before this life, I’m sure he’s got stories to tell. “I’ll make sure he has a refresher course on club conduct before he goes into the Playroom.”

We leave the office and return to the bar, where more people are filling the space. That’s the thing about this place—one minute it’s dead, and the next second it’s insane.

I’m about to go back behind the bar when I see him, her, and, most importantly, it. Brian has his hand on some girl’s hip. Something about the way he places his grubby paw on her makes my blood boil. I notice the curve of her body, the soft plumpness of her lips as she smiles and lifts the glass for a sip. My heart stops when I notice the clear liquid slowly change to purple.

Both Darren and I push our way through the crowd. I slap the drink out of the woman’s hand, and blazing confusion erupts as the glass crashes on the table. It splits into three pieces, easy to clean for a reason. I lift the woman and fleetingly notice how perfectly she fits in my arms.

Darren has Brian in a chokehold as the rest of the clients gape in shock. Another regular helps subdue Brian, but while they deal with him, I’m more concerned about moving her out of harm’s way. Her eyes blaze as she screams, “What the hell!?”

Darren drags Brian out the front door into the lobby. The woman is still in my arms as the crowd parts, and I lead her into the back office.

Once I slam the door, she turns and glares at me. But she blinks for a second, and her rage morphs into shame as she covers her face.

I shake my head and sigh. “Oh, Katya, what have you gotten yourself into this time?”

Chapter

Twenty-Three

Katya

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