Page 82 of Their Domme

Nicholette

Friday

“One day, I’m going to have to go shopping. I can’t keep wearing clothes from all of you.” I commented as Ansel threw me one of his button-ups. Blake had gone out and bought me some underwear, two bras, and a few leggings, but I had mostly been wearing my boyfriends’ clothing.

Ansel ignored my complaint, so I let out an exaggerated sigh and slipped on the shirt. I didn’t bother to button it up before grabbing my cell phone and walking out of the room. Hurrying downstairs and into the kitchen, I found some leftover Chinese food and heated it up, digging in just as knocking came from the front door.

It was like people didn’t realize I was growing fucking human beings. I ignored it and kept eating, determined to use the excuse of being pregnant if anyone complained. A few more knocks, then I heard Ansel’s measured pace before the door opened.

Roderick’s even voice hit my ears, the familiar sound accompanied by a surprise—Allen. I shoved a few more forkfuls of noodles into my mouth before they got to the kitchen. Roderick looked like his normal put-together self, but Allen seemed worn out. Exhaustion lined his face, and real concern filled me as I inspected him.

“What’s going on?” I asked after swallowing down the food.

“If you could get dressed…” Allen waved at the still open shirt, being totally ungrateful that I had a bra on underneath.

“Thisisdressed,” I huffed in mock annoyance as I did up a few buttons then propped my elbow on the counter. I looked between the two men as Ansel came to stand beside me, his hand brushing my side. “Are you two here for the same thing or different things?”

“Different,” Roderick answered, not the least bit ruffled by my direct demeanor or lack of clothing. “Allen, you go first.”

“Fine, I’m sure you already know that Maeve is dead.” I tilted my chin in agreement, keeping my expression carefully blank. Allen took a deep breath before he continued on. “Her status in Ashview means there’s a lot of pressure on us to figure out what happened to her… from legitimateandnot-so-legitimate sources. There are a lot of people speculating about who’s going to fill the void with her gone.”

“Meaning you need me to come back in?” I asked, my mind racing. Why was he coming to me right now? Then I remembered that the body had been done up to look like me…

“Sooner rather than later would be good,” Allen replied honestly, running a hand through his gray hair. “We need answers. Even if it’s off the record, we needsomething.”

“I have no idea who is behind this,” I slowly replied after a beat of silence. “But we might have answers tomorrow, no guarantees though. Anything else about the other case?”

“Unfortunately.” Allen grimaced. “Lewis is taking over your assault-turned-murder case. Despite your complaint and everything else against him, he was put back on the team. I might be able to join him when he questions you, given the history between you two, but they put him in charge of it again.”

A long sigh escaped me as I shifted in my seat, brushing against Ansel’s side in the process. He wrapped an arm around my shoulder and pulled me against him. Humming, I leaned into it, snuggling against him. The thought of dealing with Lewis again was making my skin crawl, so I’d take any comfort I could get. If the two men had opinions about our familiarity, they kept them to themselves. I snagged the leftovers and took another bite as Allen spoke up again.

“I’m also looking for Emmerich. Is he here?”

A door somewhere in the house slammed open right then, and I smiled. “Ask and you shall receive, Detective.” The only other person who exited and entered rooms like that was Oli, and he wasn’t here.

Shouting started, and my eyebrows rose as Emmerich entered the kitchen, oblivious to our presence, arguing with whoever was on the other end of the phone. I couldn’t tell who he was talking to or what they were talking about until it registered that he was speaking Italian.When did Em learn Italian?!The person on the other end of the phone started cursing loudly, cutting off Em’s tirade.Oh man… I bet I know who this is.

“A lovers’ spat already?” I asked sassily, not missing the way Roderick stilled at my teasing before he masked it.Interesting.

“Shut up, Nic,” Emmerich growled, throwing a glare in my direction before finally getting a word in edgewise.

I laughed at his irritation, not the least bit put off by his attitude. “Fight and fuck it out, Em, but you have a visitor first.”

“Can we please not talk about fucking people?” Allen implored as I fought not to smile. “I know more about your sex lives than I ever wanted to know.”

“Yeah, no shit,” Em grumbled. “Nic fucking my dad is the fucking cherry on top.”

“I mean, I was fucking himbeforethis,” I pointed out helpfully, but given the startled look from Allen and the sigh from Ansel, they didn’t agree with my problem-solving skills. “What? I was!”

“Nic—”

“Let’s not talk about all the people in your family I’ve fucked?” I guessed innocently, trying and failing to hide my smirk.

“I swear to god, Nic, someone needs to beat your ass.” Em muttered as he ended the call, though it was anyone’s guess whether the conversation had actually finished or if he’d just given up and hung up.

“I have a lot of people who do that on a regular basis for the fun of it. They don’t need a reason, but you’re welcome to share this incident with them.”

“Can you please just stop being a smartass for a fucking second?” Em pinched the bridge of his nose. Ansel wisely stayed silent, but I saw a sparkle of humor in his gray eyes.

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