The Red Door (The Door Series Book 1) (28 page)

“Diana? She’s not that bad.”

“Whatever man. Her moods are up and down like a whore on Saturday night. I don’t envy you being around her at all.”

“Okay, don’t know what happened there, but she’s fine. I’ll work with her so you don’t have to.”

“Thanks. I did find that three of the girls all went to the same college. And two of them went to the same high school as your Angel.”

“Don’t call her that. Only I call her that.” Shit, I sounded possessive even to my own ears. I listened to him laugh at me before I noticed the time. I hadn’t seen my little Angel since I left her that morning, and it was almost time for the club to open.

“Listen, I have to go. Keep digging until you find gold.”

“Later.”

Aurora

I made it back to the club a little before nine. It was about to open, and I could see some couples sitting in their cars around the parking lot. I noticed when I drove in that the gate was open, and I wondered if the door was still unlocked. It pissed me off that it was opened. That meant it was open season on me, and I would have to deal with it until this asshole was brought down. It wouldn’t be so bad if they did what they said and stuck with me. Even though I was the one to leave this morning, neither had tried to call me throughout the day.

If I had to be honest, I didn’t want to be at the club now, either. I didn’t want to see Calvin and admit how much of what he said affected me. I didn’t want the pitying looks from Jackson. And I especially didn’t want to see Mitch and Alex do something to confirm it. I needed a break.

I felt my eyes water and took a deep breath, then released it slowly. I wouldn’t cry anymore. I was stronger than that. Mark didn’t know how good a night in with both him and Becca sounded. I wanted to be able to sit back and relax. Lay in the hot tub, eat too much junk food, and watch crazy movies. It sounded like heaven right now.

Holly had called to tell me that they made a dent in the videos. I was hoping that would help whatever the guys did to find the answers. I wanted to feel safe again, instead of having that eerie watched feeling and be constantly looking over my shoulder. I looked over at the door then the clock on my car. Ten minutes until the doors opened. I decided to go in and say hi before everyone was busy. Surprisingly, I found the door locked so I knocked then looked up at the camera.

“We don’t open until nine p.m. sharp.” I jerked and looked over and saw an intercom off to the side of the door. I leaned forward and pushed the button.

“Yes?”

“I am aware of what time it is and when the club opens, Sir, but if you’ll get Mitch or Alex, they will let you know I’m supposed to be here.”

“Mitch and Alex are busy and don’t have time for a disorderly sub. Go find your Master before I decide to gag you and punish you myself.”

“If they’re busy, then ask Diana.”

“Diana is busy stocking the bar. Any other names you want to throw out there?”

Asshole. I thought about Calvin, but there was no way I was going to ask him for help. I glanced at my watch and saw it was now three minutes until nine. I decided to wait at the door. At nine on the dot the door opened.

“Since you wouldn’t wait patiently for the doors to open, you can wait until everyone else comes in. If we haven’t reached our limit by then, I will let you in.”

“You can’t do that, that can take an hour. Plus, it’s full capacity every Friday and Saturday night.”

“I can and I will. Now, you’ll stand there with your trap shut or I’ll shut it for you.

“Being in a position of power doesn’t give you a reason to be a bully and block me from being where I belong.”

“If you belonged here sweetheart, you would know to shut the fuck up and do as I tell you to.” I could see people had gathered around behind me waiting to be let in. Whoever this guy was, he had embarrassed me. I didn’t want to be here, and now I was being humiliated in front of all the members. I had enough. I wanted a hot shower, cup of cocoa, and to lose myself in a good book. I turned to leave and ran right into a chest. I looked up and saw it wasn’t just any chest, but Calvin’s. He grabbed my chin and tilted it up to his.

“You okay?”

“Yeah.” I jerked out of his hold.

“Mm hmm. Where are you going?”

“Home.”

“No, you’re not. Your Masters are waiting for you in the office. We’re meeting to discuss what all was accomplished today.” He grabbed my hand and stepped up in front of the guy at the door. “What’s your name?”

He looked down at me and gave me a nasty grin. “Found you a hero? It’s none of your business who I am; go to the back of the line.”

“Not a hero, a good Master, but you’re right; it is none of my business who you are. As a Master of this club, who’s firing you, I don’t give a fuck who you are. Go pack your shit and get the fuck off this property.”

“You can’t tell…”

“I can. You heard of the new Master, a Master Calvin? That’s me.” I watched as Calvin stared down this idiot.

“I didn’t do anything. You have no reason to fire me.”

“You certainly are a dumb fuck. You don’t ever talk to a sub the way you did to Ari, no matter who that sub is, but you especially don’t talk to the owner’s sub that way.” I watched as this guy’s face turned to me and comprehension dawned.

“Oh yeah, you finally get it. Not too bright, are you? Who gave you permission to open the door?”

“It’s nine. The doors always open at nine.”

“You didn’t answer my question, but I don’t need you to. I know no one gave you permission. I know this because we are opening late tonight and everyone on the guest list received a call or an email to let them know. So, you what, decided to play pretend?”

“What do you mean? I thought I was helping out.”

“Bullshit. You were on a power trip. First off you’re a security guard, not a Master. Fuck, you aren’t even a Dom. You get off telling others what to do but hold no authority to do it. You’re too afraid to step up into a real position of power, so you get off on pretending. Go grab your shit.”

Calvin turned around and looked at the gathering crowd. “We will open thirty minutes late. For those on the wait list you should have been notified and if you weren’t, please check the contact information you gave us on your copies to make sure it is correct. If not please email us the correct information. Anyone not on the wait list should leave. We already have confirmations for a full house tonight. Thank you.”

He turned around and pulled me through the door and down the hall into the office.

“Fired one of your men. He was openly rude to Ari. He also played pretend at being a Master while trying to open the doors. He’s gathering his shit now.”

“You think he could be involved?” Mitch asked as Alex walked out.

“Personally, I think he is too stupid, but what the fuck do I know.” He walked me over to Mitch and pushed me toward him then turned and walked over to Jackson. I watched as Jackson stood from his spot on the couch, letting Calvin have his spot. He then sat between Calvin’s legs, leaning his head back against the juncture. What Calvin said out front earned a little of the respect he lost back. I looked over to see him watching me as he reached around Jackson and slid his hand into his shirt. I knew he was daring me to say something. Fucking head games. He protected me from an asshole so he could play with me himself. I turned into Mitch, wrapping my arms around him as he did the same.

“Hey, my Ari. Missed you today.”

“I missed you, too.” I watched as Alex walked through the door.

“Okay everyone. That was Tommy at the door. He’s gone, but we will still keep an eye on him. I went over the old files on the girls and compared them with what we have. We are missing something major. My team and I have decided to stop reporting in for now. We think—” He sighed. “We think there’s a reason we were assigned to this particular club. We were sent in blind, which never happens. Diana, can you think of any reason you, particularly, were picked for this case?” I watched as he stared at her, like he was dissecting her.

“No. I can’t.”

“Hmmm… I brought Colby up to speed, and he along with Calvin, Jackson, and me went over old surveillance feed. We only keep feed from the entrance rooms, the rest of the feed gets erased within twenty-four hours, but we’re hoping to find something.” Mitch tightened his arms around me as he spoke.

“The Youngs came over and helped Holly and me go through our personal recordings.”

“Who?” Alex didn’t look happy by this news.

“The Youngs. Jackson’s parents.” I watched as Adam glanced over at me but didn’t say anything about me bringing them into our fold.

“What part of quiet do you not understand, Adam?”

“Actually, it was Becca who called and told them. I told her and had her help me with the memberships today,” I informed everyone. I knew Alex wouldn’t be happy, but I needed my family close to me, I needed them to surround me. With all this crazy being thrown at me, I needed to be able to turn in any direction and bump into one of them. I couldn’t lose another person in my family to this nut job. I wouldn’t survive it if I did.

“What the fuck, Ari?” he yelled at me. I knew if he would let me explain he would understand who they were to me and why, but he didn’t let up. “This isn’t some big game of Clue. And you invited some girl in the club to look over private memberships? That’s illegal. Are you out of your fucking mind?” I brought my hand up to my chest. It hurt, physically hurt, but what did I expect. He had been nothing but hot and cold with every step since he walked back in my life. No more. I wouldn’t stand here and let him use me as a fuck toy while convenient to his case and a verbal punching bag the rest of the time. Or worse, invisible, which seemed to be what I had been the last few hours. I felt the tears come and did nothing to hide the pain I was feeling at his words.

“I know it’s not a fucking game, Alex. These people we are after killed my parents. I’ll never think of this as a game, but to me it’s more than a fucking job. The Youngs are my family and Becca’s my sister.” I pulled away from Mitch and walked to the door. “I downloaded a program making it easier to check members in and keep up with records. It only has active members and anyone with a little computer skills can add in others. Wouldn’t want my fuck-up to be a total waste of time.” I heard Mitch call my name as I walked out. I wondered if I was walking out of the club or out of the relationship. I felt the ache in my chest increase and knew that I would be leaving a piece of me behind if I did.

I walked out the door knowing the members waiting to get in could see I was upset. I figured it would add in with all the other drama going around about our relationship. I saw a letter poked into my door and knew the bouncer had left me an ugly note. I threw it the car not caring to have more hateful stuff pointed my way.

Alex

“Shit! I fucked up,” I said out loud before I could stop myself. I had done it again. I didn’t know why I kept physically pushing her away when all I wanted to do was hold her close.

“Yeah, you did.” I looked over to Jackson. He was pissed, and I was sure the only reason he wasn’t beating my ass right now was because Calvin had a grip on him.

“I don’t need to hear it from you, boy.” God, I wanted to hit something. Anything. And if Jackson wanted to fight, I was ready. I wanted to. I needed to release all the anger and confusion from Mitch and Ari and this case. Everything was right in front of me that I always wanted and things were so fucked up I could no longer see.

“Boy? I might be a few years younger than you, but I would never be so pissed off I take my anger out on someone I cared about.” Jackson stood and took a step toward me before being pulled back into Calvin’s chest.

“What the fuck would you know? You’re all of eighteen and are hiding who you are to Calvin from everyone. You’re not even man enough to admit what you like.”

“Pot and Kettle.” He laughed while sneering at me. “Did you enjoy jacking off Mitch in here this morning?” I kept still and showed no emotion, but I knew that if I hadn’t gone through years of training to keep myself in check I wouldn’t have been able to.

“You don’t know shit, don’t think you do.”