“What is it?” Adrian made no move to take thedrink.
“A gin and tonic. A bad habitofmine.”
“I don’t take drinks unless the bartender hands them to me directly.” Adrian crossed his arms over his chest andleanedback.
With a huffed laugh, Sterling set the drink on a coaster on the coffee table in front of Adrian, then sat across from him in a leather armchair and rested his elbows on his thighs. He dangled his drink between his knees. “How cautiousofyou.”
“Is that an admission ofguilt?”
Sterling shrugged. “I guess you won’t know unless youdrinkit.”
Silence fell between them. Adrian stared at Sterling, allowing his eyes to narrow as he pulled himself back into the right head space. Sterling wasn’t charming—he was theenemy. If it hadn’t been for him, Adrian would still be enjoying his Fridaynight.
Well, enjoying it as much as he could with Marcus on a revenge rampage. There was no doubt that Marcus and Lucian were doing what they were doing because Adrian had taken incriminating pictures of them groping each other in the back alley behind The Shepherd when Lucian was stillemployed.
They had wanted to hurt Adrian in the boldest way they could, and they’dsucceeded.
“I’d like to have my phone back, please.” Adrian broke the silence. “You took it when you left. It doesn’t belongtoyou.”
“Why don’t we discuss why it was in my club before I do that?” Sterling lifted his glass, arched a brow, and drank. When he lowered the glass and let it dangle between his knees, he continued. “You’ve been a member long enough to know the rules, so why would youdefythem?”
Adrian capped his knees with his palms and squeezed, trying to work off some of the agitation heating his blood. If Sterling had asked him that downstairs, there’d be no need for their private one-on-one. “Because Marcus and Lucian have been breaking the rules for months now, and I am so goddamn tiredofit.”
“So you thought that breaking the rules would be the best way to go about informing me that someone else was doing the samething?”
“Having a phone on your person and sleeping with the fucking bartender aren’t the same thing!” Adrian’s shoulders tensed, and he sat up straight and stared Sterling down. “You can’t tell me they’rethesame!”
“No.” Sterling met Adrian’s gaze and returned it with cool fire. “I think having a phone is worse. Do you know how many people’s professional lives you could have ruined with a single picture? How many people could have suffered from a single press of your finger to thescreen?”
Adrian’s eyes narrowed. Sterling did notlookaway.
“What Marcus did was selfish, but ultimately, it was a harmless crime.” Sterling set his drink on a vacant coaster. Theclinkas the glass bottom met narrow wooden disk punctuated his statement. “And if you were on your phone getting ready to inform me that Marcuswascommitting a crime, it leads me to believe you have photographic evidence of his affair. You know that Marcus is an attorney, don’t you?” Sterling crossed an ankle over his knee and sat back in his chair, arms spread. “Blackmail is afelony, Adrian. Marcus could have your ass in jail faster than he could have his little bar boy strung up from asuspensionrack.”
The impact of Sterling’s words rattled Adrian’s ribs and left him feeling hollow, but he did not allow his weakness to show on his face. He stared Sterling down, steadfast. “It wasn’tblackmail.”
“Well, whatever it was, it was in direct violation of The Shepherd’s rules.” Sterling shrugged a single shoulder. “I should revoke yourmembership.”
“No.” Adrian spoke firmly and without hesitation. On the inside his panic was growing, but on the outside he strove to remain stony-faced and impartial. He would not lose The Shepherd. It was the one place where he could feel good about himself. “Youwon’t.”
“Unfortunately, if I will or if I won’t isn’t up to you to decide.” Sterling looked upward, then drew in a deep breath. “The rules are clear. I should expel youimmediately.”
“Then why do you have me sitting in your living room?” Adrian wound down from his fear. There was a ‘but.’ There had to be. “If you really wanted to throw me out, you could have done itdownstairs.”
Sterling nodded, almost thoughtfully. He exhaled heavily and dragged a hand along his stubble. “You’re right. I could have. Just as I could be inclined to bend the rules if given reason to believe you’re genuinely apologetic for what you did, and that it won’t happenagain.”
The hairs on the back of Adrian’s neck stood on end, and he shifted one thigh, then the other as he resettled his weight. “Goon.”
“I want to make a deal with you, Adrian.” Sterling’s expression was unreadable, and Adrian braced himself for the worst. “You threatened the rights of every person in this club tonight, and now I want to limit your rights as atonement for what you’ve done. The terms are simple: thirty days here in this penthouse, stripped of your freedom and bound to my word. A month of total power exchange—four weeks of absolute indulgence. I want your body and your mind. Show me that you’re willing to listen, and I’ll show you that I’m willing toforgive.”
The reply sprang from Adrian’s lips before he had time to think about it, shaping the course of his future with a single syllable. He didn’t regret it in theleast.
“No.”
3
Sterling
“No?”Sterling set his foot back on the floor and leaned forward, elbows on his knees. A grin longed to break his imperturbability, but he held it back. Adrian was a wild thing—a man with a backbone stronger than many Doms Sterling knew. He didn’t expect to win so easily. “Areyousure?”
