Rebecca left soon after she was able to get me to agree to having dinner with them. She'd always been the mediator between us. My father knew I would say no if he asked, but I could never say no to my sister.

"You don't look so happy about going," Emma commented as she blew in the hot cup of coffee in her hand.

"I'm not. My father's a piece of shit. He's never cared about us unless there was something to gain for him; then and only then did he ever give us any attention. He left us alone and let the nannies take care of us. All was good as long as we were out of his sight and hearing." The morning had been so...cozy, and now the mood had turned sour; talking about father always did that.

Emma stretched a hand across the table and squeezed mine. "I'm sorry, that's something no children should ever experience."

She didn't look at me with pity in her eyes, only support. If there was one thing I hated, it was pity. I liked that she didn't do that; it made me feel comfortable sharing this with her.

"Yeah, I agree," I nodded and looked at the clock. "I should drive you to work. Do you need to swing by your apartment first?"

"Yeah, I have to get the uniform." She made an expression that clearly stated her dislike for that dress.

I suppressed my laugher because that dress was the worst I'd ever seen, and that was saying a lot. It belonged in a circus, and not on a body as gorgeous as Emma.

"I'll find a to-go cup for you instead, so you can finish your coffee on the road." I nodded at the cup in her hand; she'd only had time to take a few sips.

"Thanks." When Emma smiled, she did so with her entire face; her eyes turned smaller, and her cheeks turned bigger. In old age, she would have stories written in her skin around her eyes and mouth, of times of happiness–hopefully.

The drive to Emma's apartment complex was spent in comfortable silence. Each of us just taking in the beautiful morning in the city. The sun was shining once again, and people were hurrying from one place to another.

"You can just wait here. I won't be long," Emma said as I parked and hurried inside. I didn't mind waiting. I could answer some of my emails in the meantime.

True to her words, five minutes later, she was back in the car with her circus costume on. I didn't lie when I said she would look beautiful in anything, even that.

After I'd dropped her off work, there were still many hours until the dinner, and I decided to visit Callan at his club. He would most definitely be at his office working hard like he always did. Man, that guy really didn't have a life outside of work. Come to think of it, neither did Gideon. It was usually me who had to almost drag them out of their offices so they didn't overwork themselves.

Walking into the club entrance, I had to suppress a sigh at seeing Jennifer. She was...unnerving for lack of a better word. I didn't know why my sister was such good friends with her; they were the complete opposite.

"Mateo," Jennifer purred at the sight of me. "I feel like I haven't seen you in a while," she stated like we usually hung out or something. I'd only seen her here or when I visited my sister.

"Yeah, I've been busy with...stuff. Have a good day, Jennifer." I gave her an awkward smile and moved down the stairs. I always tried my best to cut short any conversations with her because as I said, she was unnerving.

Regular members had to leave their phone in the casket before entering the dungeon. Being the best friend to the owner had its benefits, like not having to give away my phone.

The ground level was empty of people, seeing as the club was closed until five PM for anyone but VIP's, they could arrive as soon as the doors opened at eight AM.

I knocked on Callan's door, which I usually didn't do, but since I didn't know his schedule–he might've been in a meeting–I wanted to be on the safe side.

"Come in," Callan's smooth voice could be heard through the wooden door, and I opened up and walked in.

Callan was sitting behind his desk. His tie hung loosely around his neck, and his jacket was draped over his chair.

He looked up when I got closer and nodded in hello. "How was the first night with our little submissive?" I could tell how curious he was and a little envious if his slightly narrowed eyes were anything to go by.

Walking over to my usual seat on the couch, I smiled, just thinking about my time with Emma would do that. "It felt so natural being with her like that. Man, she's just what I've been chasing." I frowned a bit at that because being with her felt so right, but the thought of letting her go was always circling my mind; I couldn't let myself forget that we only had her for a while.

Would I ever find someone who fit me as perfectly as Emma did?

"What did you guys do?" Callan asked, and I filled him in on our evening, how responsive she'd been at the café and how she clearly liked the thrill of the possibility of getting caught. I also told him about her training, or at least, what we'd gone through.

He smirked at the mention of exhibitionism, which I had no doubt he liked; he often chased the same thrill.

"You have her on Thursday?" I asked.

"Yes. Fuck, I have a lot planned. I think I'll explore her limits to pain." He sat with his hand on his chin, deep in thought. Knowing him, he would have everything prepped and ready for their evening. He looked excited at the prospect of his evening with her, and I was right there with him, even though I wouldn't be there. It would be fun to find out how she would respond to pain at a level higher than some spanking and massage candle.

"Anything else I should know?" Callan looked at me, questioningly.

"She's going out tonight with her friend and his boyfriend." I filled him in on the other guy who would also join them. Callan nodded begrudgingly. We all had agreed that we wouldn't decide what she would do in her spare time, or with who, as long as she didn't cheat on us. We just had to trust in her, and all my instincts said we could. Even so, it was hard to sit back and know she would spend time with a straight guy at a club with drinks involved.

What could I say? We were territorial beasts dressed in suits and wearing the smile of a charming prince.

I spent a couple of hours with Callan shooting the shit, all the while dreading the meeting with Father. What the hell could he be planning now? One thing I knew for sure, the dinner was doomed to be an ugly affair.