Slumping forward, I held up a hand, letting her know that I’d be with her in a moment. I spent next several minutes making sure my other customers were taken care of while attempting to calm my quickly fraying nerves.
“Never seen a hot thing like that in here before,” one of the men muttered as I set his beer down on the counter in front of him.
“Are you two dating?” one of the regulars asked.
I shook my head in answer before muttering, “Just friends.” There was no possible way I could even begin to explain the intricacies of our ‘relationship’, so it was much easier to keep it simple.
Damn Domme’s, always sticking their noses where they don’t belong.
When I couldn’t procrastinate any longer, I made my way to that end of the bar. The hairs on my arms stood on end and I could feel the panic beginning to rise as I looked between the two of them, waiting for someone to speak. I had nothing to say to anyone, least of all these two. Unfortunately, I had a feeling that wasn’t gonna matter. I couldn’t explain it, but I had a sinking feeling that this night was going to end in disaster.
“We need to talk,” Mistress Destri stated firmly, leaving no room for argument.
“Not here.”
“I actually think this is the perfect place.” She looked around and took in the faces of nearly every person at the bar watching our interaction. “This way, you won’t flip your shit.”
I leaned in close, hands spread out on the bar and with a clipped tone said, “Not here. Not ever. You have no right to come into my place of work to dish out a lashing. Now leave.” A smirk teased at the corners of her mouth, completely ignoring the fire in my eyes.
“Hey, man. We just want to talk, okay,” Camera Man muttered, his voice gentle as he tried to keep his cool. “We have a mutual friend here, okay?”
I squinted at him, my vision blurring. “I don’t have friends,” I seethed. “Please leave…both of you.”
“Pet, calm down. You don’t want to make a scene. Especially not here of all places.”
Me, make a scene? She was the one that had the audacity to come here. And for what purpose?
I stood to my full height. “I’m not doing this here.” I had no fucking clue what they were up to, nor did I really care. All I knew was that it wouldn’t be happening here.
“If you walk away,” Mistress spoke, her voice hardening. “It’s over. Our sessions will end right here and right now.”
“That’s really low of you, Destri,” I managed to choke out while willing my rising panic to remain under lock and key. “You know why I do what I do. And if you think you have a say over that, then you were never the right woman to help me. Try me. Ifuckingdare you.”
“How about you just take a moment to breathe,” the cameraman advised.
“Eli,” she cautioned. “He’s just running his mouth.”
“Red!” I seethed, the words falling from my lips without thought as I shot one last glare her direction, her surprise and worry both evident. My heart sank to my stomach. I’d said the one word I never thought I’d say. The one simple word that would put a stop to everything when it came to Mistress Destri.
Ezekiel
Icollapsed against the cold brick wall outside, grasping for breath.
Fuck!
It had been quite a few months since I’d experienced an attack like this. They were the types of panic attacks that took everything out of me. The last time I’d had one, it was over some stupid family drama about me not dating. I know she meant well, but trying to explain to my mother why I wasn’t fit to even think about dating had caused one hell of a panic attack to ensue.
But this time––this time was so much worse than anything I’d experienced before.
My heart was racing, thoughts spinning out of control, and my stomach swirled with nausea.I thought I had everything under control.Things had been challenging, yes, but not this bad––not since before I asked Theo for his help in tracking down Judah.
Judah.
Just the thought of the kid I’d once shared a space with sent me spiraling even more than I already was. I gasped, hands clenching my chest as I bent forward and tucked my head between my legs. I felt like I was going to die.
I gulped in a breath, silently begging for it all to end.
Everything was falling apart around me and I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to survive the aftermath. A person who’d been through the things that I’d experienced could only take so much before their world eventually crumbled. And I feared my breaking point was near.
