Page 107 of Masters of Control

He’d also seen the shame in her eyes.

He was having a really hard time reconciling the woman he’d made her out to be in his mind with the woman he’d met today. Which wasn’t necessarily fair, but he wasn’t feeling very fair right now. He was still pissed off on Brittany’s behalf and more determined than ever to get her everything she deserved and more. At least Camille hadn’t let her client’s mouth run for too long. It could have been worse.

As it was, Brittany had been shaking for a good half an hour after the meeting while Freddy took her out for coffee and soothed her. She’d been determined, though, to keep moving forward with getting her fair share from her husband, despite how frightened she’d been.

“Hey. Are you okay? You are a lot less chipper than you were at lunch.” Morgan bumped her hip into Freddy’s. Since it was Friday night and there was a show—a fire play demonstration by Master Will and his sub Gina—they were extra busy, so he was helping out until the show started. After that, Morgan should be able to handle anything that came up on her own, though he’d be around. He almost always was on the weekends.

“Yeah, I’m sure I am.” He rubbed his forehead. There was a lull between seating people. For some reason, even though they had plenty of time to stagger in, people tended to arrive in clumps. “I saw Mistress Camille this afternoon. She’s a lawyer, and she’s representing an absolute asshat.”

“Oh, wow. How did she handle it?” Morgan asked, her eyes widening.

He started to say something, then stopped.

How had she handled it?

“Well, she was surprised to see me,” he said slowly. “I don’t think she realized… I didn’t realize. I mean, Camille isn’t that uncommon of a name. Her client started in on mine, and she stopped him in his tracks.” She’d verbally slapped him down hard and fast.

“Okaaaaaay.” Morgan drew out the word, obviously waiting for him to continue.

“That was it, really. I dropped a bunch of evidence of his cheating on the table, which means that he’s not going to be able to get out of the prenup, and basically threatened him with bad press, then got my client out of there.” Leaving Camille to deal with the aftermath.

He was sure Mr. Asshat hadn’t been happy when they’d left, but at that moment, he’d felt like she deserved to have to deal with him since she worked for him.

He was starting to feel a little worse about how he’d reacted to who she worked for. Especially since she’d immediately jumped in when the blowhard started talking out of his ass. It wasn’t as if she’d let him keep going or even attempted to act as though his behavior was acceptable.

Just because she worked for Donaldson didn’t automatically mean anything about her as a person. Sometimes, people couldn’t choose where they worked. It didn’t mean she liked it, and from what he’d seen today, even if she was representing Mr. Alexander, it didn’t mean she thought very highly of him.

“I think I was surprised to see her there because… well, the firm she works for doesn’t have a good reputation, especially when it comes to the kinds of clients they take on.”

“So, you thought she’d be better than that?” Morgan raised her eyebrows.

“Pretty much.”

“But you don’t know how she got the job or why she chose to work there.”

“Yes, I get it.” He gave her a mock-stern look, and she giggled before quickly changing her expression as a couple came up the stairs from the first floor of Marquis. While Morgan seated them, it gave Freddy a few minutes on his own to think.

He came back to attention as a large figure appeared at the top of the stairs, then relaxed when he saw it was Master Connor. Newer to the club, Master Connor was already getting a reputation as an indulgent Dom with a soft hand and a penchant for cuddling and aftercare. The subs adored him, even those who thought he was too much of a pushover.

“Hey, Freddy. I was supposed to meet Law here, but he’s not downstairs. I figured I’d check up here.”

“He’s in a meeting with Mistresses Olivia and Julie,” Freddy replied, smiling brightly at the big man. “They should be finishing up soon.” He was pretty sure they were talking about the next class of newbies and possibly some more advanced classes. There would probably be a lot more requests for fire play instruction after tonight’s show.

“Ah, gotcha. Let him know I’m downstairs when he comes out?”

Nodding, Freddy waved as the big man turned around and went back downstairs. A moment later, Morgan returned to the desk.

“I think you should text her,” Morgan said forthrightly as she took her place beside him. “It can’t hurt, right?”

Freddy wasn’t sure, but he was surprised at how strong the impulse was to take her suggestion.

Camille

If there was ever a night for comfort food, it was tonight. Camille refused to feel bad about ordering her dinner in. She didn’t have the energy to cook after being chewed out by Donaldson Senior that afternoon.

The giant asshat.

Their job wasn’t to make clients happy, it was to win their cases for them, which she couldn’t do with her hands tied behind her back trying to make Mr. Alexander happy. She was pretty sure nothing would make him happy. Nothing ethical anyway. The idiot signed a prenup that left far too many things unclear, but the proof of cheating cleared up most of them. If he’d had any brains, he would have kept the cheating under cover better. She shouldn’t have been surprised. He wasn’t the type to be discreet.