Surrender To Me

BANE

FUCK. All my fucking senses are on high alert. My anger has come out full force, leaving my employees diving out of my way. Rachel was the first to pick up on my mood as I strolled into the club.

“Drink, Mr. Rivera?” she asked, already placing a glass of whisky on the counter.

I took the glass with a curt not and did a lap of the club. I had six girls on the poles, each of them with a couple of gentlemen watching the show. It was mid-morning on a Saturday. Things weren’t going to heat up until later tonight, but I did have a bachelor party coming through the doors at four. Some rich daddy’s boy was tying the knot and wanted to have one last fling. The guy getting married was a member, so I had Dagger organize a twelve-hour pass for the rest of his party.

I wandered through to the private rooms, checking to see everything was in order. Mostly it was, except for one room which had been used and trashed. The leather chair had been tipped over onto its side and the seat slashed, the cupboard with the floggers, paddles, and whips in disarray. Even the drawer where the condoms and lube were held had been upended. What in the actual fuck had happened?

Palming my phone, I dialed Dagger’s number.

“Boss?”

“What the fuck happened in four?” “Boss?” he replied.

“Get your ass down here.” I hung up, letting anger fill my veins. When Dagger finally appeared, he looked a little flustered, which was odd. The guy was made from fucking stone. I gestured to the room, and he stepped inside, looking around.

“It wasn’t like this at closing last night.”

“So when did it happen?”

He pulled out his phone, clicking into the club’s log system. All the Dolls had access cards to get into the rooms. Each time they swiped to gain entry, it got logged with a time stamp.

“This morning,” Dagger replied. “According to the system, the room was accessed by Veronica at ten o’clock.”

“Get her in my office. Now!” I bellowed. “And fucking get this room cleaned up.” I stalked off, slamming my empty glass onto the counter as I passed the bar. Jogging up the stairs, I strode into my office, clutching the top of the chair behind my desk, bowing my head, and breathing in deeply.

Stalking over to the window, I looked down over my club, watching one of the girls on the pole for a moment. I didn’t know how fucking long I had to wait for Veronica to get here, so I sat down and started on some work while I waited.

Not long later, I jerked my head up when there was a soft knock on the door. “Come,” I barked, standing and buttoning up my suit jacket. Veronica walked in with her head bowed and a slight limp.

Rounding the desk, I tipped her chin up, so I could see her face properly. “What the fuck happened to you?” I demanded, keeping her face turned up toward me. Tilting it from side to side, I took in the black eye that was already forming and the cut on her lip. Her gaze dropped back to the floor as soon as I let her go.

“I got mugged last night after my shift,” she replied in a hoarse voice.

Bunching my hands into fists at my side, I stepped away from her and began to pace. “What happened?”

I fucking hated this. These women were mine to protect.

“About a block away from my place.”

“You walked here last night?”

She shrugged, rolling her shoulders forward. “I take the bus, but the stop is about a block from my apartment. That’s when it happened.” “Jesus fuck!”

Veronica flinched when I raised my voice, and I swallowed down the urge to scream and yell out all my frustrations.

“Are you okay? Any other injuries besides the shiner and the busted lip?” Fuck, she wasn’t going to be able to work for a while-not until she healed. Men didn’t find bruises pretty.

“Fine, physically.”

“What did they take? Did you get a good look at them?”

“My bag was stolen. I tried to snatch it back, and my phone fell out. I grabbed that and dialed 911. They were long gone by the time the cops got to me.”

“Was your swipe card in there?”

She bobbed her head. “Yeah, and all the tips I made last night.” Fuck. “How much did you make?” I asked, reaching into my wallet.

She looked at me with wide eyes. “You don’t have to do that, Mr. Rivera.”

“Don’t fucking argue with me, Veronica. How much did you make?” She bit her bottom lip and winced. “About three hundred.” I pulled five hundred-dollar bills and handed them to her.

“This is too much, Mr. Rivera.”

“The extra is to get yourself some makeup or some shit to cover that black eye. I can’t have you working here with a split lip, though. You’ll have to take some time off to heal. I’ll pay you even though you aren’t coming in.”

“Seriously?”

I nodded. “I look after my Dolls, Veronica.”

She stared for a minute, then walked over to me, dropping to her knees and reaching for my belt. I caught her hands, stopping her. “What are you doing?”

“Thank you.”

Fuck, some of these women were messed up. Or maybe it was me who was messed up. Before Wren, I would’ve sat back and enjoyed the perks of my work, but not now. I’d lost count of the number of women who had thrown themselves at my feet and sucked my cock because they thought this was what I needed to see to ensure their gratitude.

Helping Veronica to stand, I turned her around and shoved her gently toward the door. “You can thank me by getting back here as soon as you can. Call Dagger if you need anything.”

The look of absolute shock on her face irritated me. After a moment, she slipped out the door. I turned to watch her leave, seeing some of the other Dolls hugging her or squeezing her hand in encouragement.

“What was that about?” Dagger asked.

“She got mugged last night.” I turned to face him. “Her swipe card was stolen along with her tip money.”

“Fuck.”

“Yeah.” Running a hand through my hair, I blew out a breath. “I need you to fucking find out who accessed that room, Dagger.” We didn’t have surveillance cameras inside the club for obvious reasons so that only left the half-dozen external cameras around the club. “Go through the footage. And when you find out who fucked me over, I’m going to fuck them over.”

“Yes, boss.”

With Dagger gone, I sat down again and rested my head back against the headrest of my chair. Why couldn’t things go fucking smoothly? At least I had Wren. Everything was right with her. Picking up my phone, I went to dial her number, then remembered she’d lost her phone in the fire. I dialed Dagger’s number.

“Yes, boss.”

“Can you get me a new phone?”

“Boss?”

“Wren lost hers in the fire. Can you get a replacement and everything else we need to go with it?” “Yes, boss.”

Hanging up, I placed my phone on the desk and opened up my laptop, clicking into the scheduling for the upcoming month. I made a start on it last night, but I still needed to put a little more thought into it. About an hour had gone by when there was a knock on my door.

“Enter.”

Keeping my eyes on my work, I didn’t acknowledge who was standing there until they cleared their throat. Looking up, I bit back the snarl.Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

“What the fuck are you doing here, Syndy?” And how the fuck had she gotten past Dagger. Fuck, I sent him out for the phone. “Well?”

“How’s your girlfriend?” she sneered. “It’s a pity about that fire.”

I narrowed my eyes at her. “What do you know about her?”