Page 19 of Their Domme

Ansel reached over and took the phone from my hands. “My place, Rorik. She’ll be ready when you get here.” With that, he hung up the phone. “What the hell are you planning?”

“This speeds up my timeline a bit, but I can work with it.” I clicked my tongue, my thoughts whirling as I tried to rearrange my plans. I wasn’t willing to divulge everything I had planned or up my sleeve yet. “I’ll leave you to your business and get ready to take care of mine.” Pushing past him, I grabbed my clothes and made my way inside. I wandered for a bit before I found a downstairs bathroom, but luckily I got there without a second to spare. No sooner had I opened the door than I rushed to the toilet, vomiting twice before I sat back, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand, and flushed the toilet.

“Emmerich called.” Ansel’s soft voice startled me, making me jerk and whip around to find him standing by the open door.Shit, did I forget to lock the door?“Some of Blake’s men are going to meet you at the station.”

I nodded a few times, praying my still-rolling stomach would settle soon. Ansel stepped into the bathroom, shutting and locking the door behind him. “Shouldn’t you be out there with Allen and Christopher?”

“They are leaving, and they know not to linger,” he said, grabbing a small cup by the sink and filling it with water before offering it to me. “Here. You can rinse your mouth when you’re done.”

“Well, this reunion was fun. Guess I’ll see you around,” I joked, taking the small paper cup from him, but when I tried to pull it to me, he didn’t let go. Looking up at him, confused, I found him smirking down at me.

“Oh, I’m coming too. I told Rorik, so he knows to expect me. Trying to taunt your stalker with this little excursion back to Ashview?”

“I don’t need you to come with me,” I protested, refusing to rise to the bait. I wasn’t going to reveal my plans to him. There was too much on the line right now and not enough firmly in place to share what I was thinking.

“I wasn’t asking, Nicholette.”

“I’m the one in charge of this, Ansel. This is about my brother, my men, my… children. If you or any of the others have an issue with that, then you can go fuck off right now,” I told him as I carefully stood up. I rinsed my mouth with the water and spat it out in the sink before I focused on him again. “Am I clear?”

Ansel blinked slowly, arching an eyebrow. “Perfectly clear, Liebling. Finally facing that revelation from today?”

I swallowed hard and thought back to the ultrasound photos the doctor had handed me while Ansel sat beside me, letting me squeeze his hand hard enough that I was surprised I didn’t break any bones.Twins. My men, always the overachievers.Fucking twins.“My guys aren’t going to be happy after I do this. Not that they’re particularly happy with me right now anyway…”

“I would expect nothing less from one of your plans.”

I snorted, a half smile tugging at my lips before I sobered up. “I still want our murder plans for later, though. I bet Em won’t care if we do it at the Family house.”

“You’re coming back here afterward,” Ansel said, eyes narrowing.

“Well, be ready for company then because I don’t see Blake or Em letting me just run off again,” I warned him.If others don’t join us as well.“For someone who wants to be so damn cold, you raised children with more emotion than they will ever admit to. Soft hearted, all three of you.”

“They care about you,” Ansel said. “As do I,” he added after a slight pause. “Get ready. Rorik will be here soon, then you’re filling us in on what the hell you have planned.”

Ansel exited the room just as quickly as he’d appeared.They care about you… As do I.His words echoed in my mind, threatening to overwhelm me. He cared as a friend like the others did. Right? I was too vulnerable and unsure about everything in my life right if I was reading into things Ansel said to reassure me. That’s all it was. I needed these hormones to level out and stop fucking with my brain and emotions. Considering I had fucked pretty much every member of his family, it was a surprise he even wanted to be friendly.

I slipped back into my leggings and cami, but I decided to keep the button-up shirt I had taken from Ansel instead of slipping back into the one Blake had given me.This one smells like him—rum, vanilla, and a hint of lemons.Rifling through the cabinet, I saw he had a spare toothbrush and toothpaste underneath, and I tried to ignore the shot of jealousy that hit me. Why did he have extras in a random bathroom? Did he regularly have someone stay over? Why that bothered me was something I wasn’t interested in thinking about right now.One plateful of bullshit at a time, Nic.I brushed my teeth super quick, making sure to get all the throw-up residue out of my mouth before tying my hair up in a messy bun.

Walking out to the main entrance, I saw Ansel sitting nearby, fully dressed in one of his usual suits, his hair roughly styled, focused on the phone in his hand. “Rorik will be here any minute.”

As if right on cue, there was a knock at the door. Roderick opened it a breath later, letting himself inside as if he was completely comfortable in Ansel’s space. He was just as tall and broad shouldered as I remembered. He was still clean cut, without even a hint of a five o’clock shadow on his chin. His black hair was purposefully messy, styled just so to match the business casual look he had going on with navy blue slacks, white button-down shirt, and a matching navy blazer that he’d left unbuttoned. The color worked well with his dark tan complexion and dark brown eyes. He looked at Ansel, who pointedly stared at me as if they were both waiting for me to take charge of what was going to happen.What a refreshing response.

“Lewis is going to be livid when I show up to talk to Allen, even if you’re with me,” I said, addressing Roderick first. “We are going to use that to our advantage to get something I need. And I need you to get something to Oli or Bodhi while we’re there.”

“That means leaving you alone in the police station.”

“With Ansel.” I tilted my head to indicate the man watching me like a hawk. “Besides, I can listen to whatever is said and not respond until you get back. I’m sure Allen knows the routine, and I can ignore whoever comes in with him. Ansel, what guys are meeting us at the station? Did Blake say?”

“Conrad and Robin.”

The man with buzzed hair who Blake said I needed to be cautious around and one of the older men—not the one that smoked if I recalled the introductions correctly.Interesting.They would work for what I had in mind. “Perfect. Roderick, may I use your phone?”

“Why mine?” Roderick asked, not moving.

“I’m not going to do anything illegal,” I told him with a smile, not the least bit put out by his cautious question. “I just need to call an old friend.”

“That sounds terrifying considering who you’re currently with,” Roderick muttered after Ansel ordered him to give me the phone without asking more questions.

I chuckled and began dialing a number from memory. I was relieved when her cool voice filled the phone after the second ring. “Maeve, long time no see.”

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