Chapter Thirteen

Screw Fenton O'Connell. Screw him and his questions and his goddamn superiority. She didn't need his permission to be in the club, and she sure as hell didn't need him getting in the way of her investigation.

Alexis knocked back a shot from her small table in the shadows of the club. She'd seen him out on the floor a couple times that night, lurking around, patrolling. She wondered if he was on the lookout for her.

Alexis reached into the bodice of her red leather corset, and turned the dime-sized microphone over in her fingers. Fenton may be a pain in the ass, but she got the impression that he carried a lot of power around the club. The night the dom had attacked her, he'd had no compunction lording that power over her would-be assailant. She come to the club four times since he'd kicked her out for her questions, hiding in the shadows, watching him interact with the staff and the other patrons of the club. Yes, he was very important. He knew all about the club's inner dealings, dirty secrets, who held the most power and who had the most to lose.

The best way to find that girl's murderer was through Fenton. Alexis wished she hadn't screwed the pooch on that one. He could have proven to be useful. But he could still prove useful to her, just indirectly.

She watched him head down the stairs, ready to make his rounds on the floor, schmooze people, check in with the staff. According to the last few nights, Alexis had about eighteen minutes to get in, place the bug, and get out.

She watched him head to the bar, to the pretty bartender who seemed to like the few submissive men who came through the club, and Alexis took her shot, walking purposely—but not too quickly—up the staircase that led to his office. A turn down the hallway and she was in front of his door. She made quick work of the lock with the set of hairpins she'd gotten for this very task. The internet was a useful thing. It was also where she'd found the tiny, remote microphone that she was about to plant.

Alexis closed the office door behind her and flicked on the light. Papers were scattered over the desk, and heat spread over her cheeks as she considered the memory of being perched up there, ready for Fenton to put his hands all over her. It had been a ruse, of course, but Alexis couldn't shake the regret she'd felt when she'd had to open her mouth to ask him those questions. The sweet bliss that had wrapped around her when he'd played with her hair hadn't been a ruse at all. It was a kind of pleasure that she hadn't felt in too long, not since Kevin.

At that thought, she shook her head and continued her task. She looked around the office for an ideal place for the microphone. Somewhere that would pick up conversations easily but stay out of sight. She crawled under the desk to attach the microphone. Hopefully it'd be able to pick things up from its location. Once in place, she hurried out from under the desk and returned to the hallway, securing the lock in its place behind her. She took about two steps before a couple of men turned down the hallway, stopping in their tracks with shock on their faces. Alexis recognized one of them as the man who had tried to attack her before. Seth. The man whose nose she'd broken right before she'd kneed him in the balls. He looked all too happy to see her again.

"What the hell are you doing up here?" Seth demanded.

The man at his side grinned, and Alexis realized that he was another of her conquests. What had his name been? Dominick? She'd left him unhappy, too.

"I'm looking for Mr. O'Connell." She forced her voice to remain even and nonaggressive. Maybe she could pull her sub act and get out of this none the wiser. They hadn't seen her leaving the office, thank God.

"He's not here, sweetheart," Dominick said.

"But we are," Seth grinned. "And I believe we have some unfinished business."

THWACK.

Alexis gasped and bit her lip, her body trembling, sweat trickling down her spine

"So, you wanna tell us what you're really doing here?" Seth asked with a casual grin.

"I'm looking for M-Mr. O'Connell," Alexis gasped.

THWACK.

The cane made impact on the back of her thighs again. Pain seared through her nerve endings. She tried once again to buck Dominick's grip off her wrists, which were twisted behind her back at a painful angle.

"Naughty little sub, we know you're lying," Dominick crooned. "Seth's seen you lurking in this place. He saw you wait till O'Connell came downstairs to come up to the office."

Fear slid down her spine, but she just shook her head. "I-I wanted to surprise him."

THWACK.

She bit her tongue to stifle her cry, and blood filled her mouth. She wasn't going to give these ingrates the satisfaction of hearing her scream. God, where was Fenton? He should be coming back to the office now, shouldn't he?

Though Alexis was trained with the best of them, and she could have, and maybe even should have, put up a fight against the two brutes, she didn't want to break her cover. If all they thought about her was that she was a flighty little cocktease, well, that was better than knowing she was a cop. The former resulted in her being held down on Fenton's desk by the two doms and their sick sense of justice. The latter would have just gotten her a bullet in her head.

"Tell me, baby. Tell me the truth, and I'll let you up. Maybe even give you a nice reward for your good behavior," Seth said.

Dominick laughed, and Alexis knew that whatever the reward was, she probably wouldn't like it. These men weren't dominants. They were criminals. Rapists. Hell, either of them could be the murder she was looking for. She wondered if she could get their fingerprints when this was all over.

"G-go f-fuck yourselves," she snarled. Both men tensed, and she knew it was a mistake.

THWACK! THWACK! THWACK! THWACK! THWACK!

The cane landed on skin that had already been abused, cutting across some of her fresh, new welts. She threw her head back, almost dislocating her shoulders, an animal cry of pain escaping her throat. It hurt!

"What the fuck are you doing?"

Her head spun with pain and endorphins, making the world around her harder to grasp. Shit. She could not pass out now. Suddenly, her arms were freed, and they fell by her side, twitching and shaking from residue strain.

"We caught her lurking around your office. Thought she was trying to break in."

Alexis grasped for straws, trying to push herself off the desk even though agony cut through her and her arms were weak after how they'd been restrained for so long. "I'm here to see you, Mr. O'Connell," her voice came out like a groan. "I wanted to t-talk."

"Did we fucking ask you?" Seth snarled, raising the cane again.

Fenton was there in a heartbeat, catching the cane in his palm and snapping it in half over his knee. "Get out," Fenton said, his voice low. "Now."

"But," Dominick tried, "she was snooping around."

"I asked her to meet me here," Fenton said coolly. "And you just couldn't keep your hands to yourselves."

"She's up to something," Seth tried.

"She's my sub," Fenton snarled. "She's mine. It's my call to make, and I'll be the one to discipline her if I chose to." He stepped closer to the two men. "And if I see either of you touching what's mine again, you'll have a hell of a lot more to worry about than a broken nose. Now get the fuck out!"

With glowering looks, the men left the room, leaving Alexis spread out across Fenton's desk, her ass in the air, covered only by her panties. Long, purple lines crossed the backs of her thighs, raising into painful welts. Her face was pale, and she looked utterly lost.

Fenton shoved the door shut behind him and locked it. The click of the lock had her wiggling off the desk, landing unsteadily on shaking legs. She tensed, unable to stop the whimper of pain as her skirt swished back down, the fabric rubbing against the welts dotting the back of her thighs.

Fenton took a step forward, and she mimicked him with a step backward. Her behavior resembled a cornered animal, and Fenton couldn't decide if that was an appropriate reaction or not. He'd never wanted to protect someone and scream at them at the same time.

It wasn't until she'd bumped against a bookshelf that he realized his feet had carried him across the room, less than a foot away from her.

"Don't you dare try anything," she hissed.

A question had been on the tip of his tongue. A demand to know what the fuck she could have been thinking. And it stopped on its way out of his mouth, stalled by the almost feral expression in her eyes, like a wounded animal fighting for his life. Or a stubborn, fierce woman who had just been assaulted, Kevin whispered to him.

"I don't take without asking first," he said. "You know what."

The look she gave him told him that she didn't know that, didn't really trust a word that came out of his mouth. Instead she asked, "Why did you lie to them about me?"

He considered her question. He'd lied on two accounts. Not only had he not asked her to meet him, he was fairly certain that after their last disastrous encounter, she would never agree to do anything with him ever again. He watched the color slowly drain from her face the longer she stood in front of him, watched her limbs tremble as she tried to remain strong.

He wasn't lying about all of it though. Alexis might not be his sub, but it was clear that she was his responsibility. Trying to dissuade her or push her away or even ban her from the club clearly wasn't going to work.

"You're dropping again," he said softly. "You should lie down."

She shook her head. "Right. And let you discipline me? No, thanks."

"I won't touch you without your consent. But if you pass out on my floor, you're gonna lose that control you're fighting so hard to keep." He held out his hand. "Let me help."

Slowly, reluctantly, she took his hand. He led her to the chaise lounge and directed her to lie on her back. She whimpered, grabbing onto his suit jacket when her bruises and welts pressed against the fabric.

"On your stomach, then." She eased herself down. She was so pale she looked sickly. He brushed a strand of hair from her face. "I'm going to get a few things. Just lay here while I'm gone, okay?"

"What about Seth and Dominick?"

"They won't come in here again."

When he got back, Alexis was using her arm as a pillow, watching him with exhausted eyes. He held out the soothing balm and bandages. "We need to get you cleaned up." She made to sit up, but he held out a hand. "If you'll allow it, I can take care of it."

She watched him for a long string of seconds, then nodded and shut her eyes. He pulled the ottoman over and took a seat on the edge of it. "We should stop meeting like this," he mused.

She didn't respond, and he took that as his cue to make good on his offer. He gently lifted her skirt to reveal the welts and bruises dotting the back of her thighs. He put some cooling cream in his palm, then gently applied it to the welts on one thigh, then the other. Heat was radiating from the raised, purple marks, and a new flash of fury speared through his chest. He was gonna fucking kill those idiots.

She flinched when his fingertips made contact with the marks, but she didn't make a sound. As he gently worked the cream into her skin, he noticed her slowly relax, slowly stop flinching at his ministrations.

Once the cream had been generously applied, he applied bandages to protect the abused skin.

"These'll bruise pretty badly, but you'll be fine in a few days," he said.

When she remained silent, he turned to look her in the eyes. Tears slid from the corners of her eyes, and with the exception of her almost inaudible, shallow breaths, she gave no indication she was crying.

Fenton bit back a sigh. Once she was tended to, once she was no longer at risk of dropping, he'd fully intended to find out what the hell she was doing back in the club, how she'd ended up on his desk.

And much as he prided himself on being tough, he didn't want to push her when she'd clearly had a rough night. His questions would have to wait.

Instead, he ran his fingers over her back, dragging them upward to the nape of her neck. She tensed, not expecting the soothing gesture. "You can let it out," he said quietly. "You're safe now."

Then Fenton began to gently drag his fingers through her hair, soothing her in the only way he knew she liked. She was very still at first, but as he persisted, she slowly began to relax into the chaise lounge. Animal satisfaction unfurled in his chest, awakening the side of him that took pleasure in moments like these, moments when he was in control, he was the one giving someone something they needed, something only he could give to them. The fact that Alexis wasn't just anyone, that she was fierce and independent to a fault, that he'd earned at least enough trust for her to accept this gift of his, well that just made the moment all the more sweet.

For a long time, he stroked her hair, occasionally letting his fingertips travel over the exposed skin on her arms and shoulders. That warmth in his chest grew, and his awareness narrowed only to the rise and fall of her breaths, to the sweet way she would occasionally hum her satisfaction, to the look of peace and serenity on her face. Her eyelids had fluttered shut, showing off her long eyelashes. She'd stopped crying some time ago.

If her legs didn't look like a battlefield, he would have been tempted to pull her into his lap, and Fenton had a feeling that she might have let him. "Pretty girl," he said softly. "You still with me?"

She hummed, but didn't open her eyes. Fighting back a smirk, he let his fingers sink into her tresses and grab a fistful of the russet locks. He pulled just hard enough to add tension, perhaps a tiny sliver of pain, and she gasped, her ruby lips making an "o," her eyes opened wide. Her eyes were glassy, her pupils dilating from the sensations he was eliciting. His blood began to run southward as his mind filled with images. Christ, how did that simple expression have the power to threaten his control?

"I asked you a question," he said.

"I-I'm still with you," she answered somewhat breathlessly.

Part of him longed to tell her to address him properly, but now wasn't the time for that. Plus, he had a feeling he wouldn't be able to control himself if she showed any more signs of submission.

"You wanna tell me what you're doing here?"

"I…" She braced herself on her arms, lifting herself up. She winced as she repositioned herself on the chaise lounge, sitting on the very edge of it to keep the pressure off of her legs. He saw some of that sweetness slip from her expression, and she blinked rapidly, like she was coming out of a haze. "I was… I was looking for you."

He watched her for a long string of seconds, watched how her eyes darted around, how her expression became more calculating, more like the Alexis he was used to seeing. The Alexis who lied to him. His eyes narrowed.

Fenton had a natural respect for the scrappy, scheming, clever side of Alexis. She was stubborn, relentless even, and a fighter. She didn't give up when things got hard; she didn't believe in odds. But Fenton and Kevin both knew that those strengths were also weaknesses. She was gonna get herself seriously injured one day, and Fenton wouldn't always be there to save her. So whatever the hell she was doing, he needed to know the truth. No more games.

He watched her lick her lips as she stared back at him, her eyes still dilated. She wasn't completely immune to their natural dynamic, to how he'd made her feel. That was good. It would make everything else so much easier.

He stroked her face with his thumb, and though she kept her eyes open, kept watching him, undoubtedly waiting for his next move, her head tilted into his palm. His thumb dragged back and forth across her cheekbone, when he saw her eyelids flutter just once, saw her being pulled back under, he let his other hand slide through her hair. Then he wrapped those locks around his fist, yanking her head back just a few inches. His hand slid down her face to cup her chin, and his thumb dragged over her full lips.

He leaned closer, so his face was mere inches away from hers. "You know I don't like it when you lie to me."

"I'm not—" she began, her voice breathless.

"Yes, you are." He tilted his head down, let his breath wash over the shell of her ear. He felt her shiver. "Now let's try this again. What are you doing here?"

"I'm telling the truth."

Before he thought twice about it, his teeth nipped at her earlobe in a reprimand. Alexis' responding gasp turned into a delicate little groan, and Fenton had to stop himself groaning in response. She was too perfect.

"Try again," he growled.

"I can't tell you," she mumbled, her voice sounding wrecked. "I can't."

"Why not?"

"Because I don't trust you."

Was that a tinge of regret in her words? He pulled back, her cheeks were flushed, her eyes were dilated, and she looked good enough to eat. Still, she watched him warily, perhaps with a bit of sorrow in her eyes.

Fenton cocked his head to the side. There was the honesty he'd been looking for. He'd asked for the truth, and she'd given it to him. He was suddenly struck with the desire to reward her compliance. It had taken some small measure of trust to admit what she had told him. It wasn't nothing. He wondered what her mouth would taste like…

No, that was not an option. He'd already touched her far too much. He'd already broken so many of his own rules. He look her hand from her lap and pressed a kiss to her knuckles. "Thank you for your honesty."

Confusion spread across her face. "That's it?"

He sat back and tried to ignore both the disappointment in his chest and the unfulfilled tension below his waistline. "For now. I can respect that I haven't earned your trust yet." He sighed. "Is it fair for me to assume you'll keep coming back here until you do find what you want?"

She hesitated for a moment, then nodded.

"And you're not going to tell me what that is?"

"No."

"Does this still have to do with you finding a dom?"

"Yes."

He watched her expression carefully. There was something going on that he didn't understand just yet. But he would, in time. One way or the other, he'd learn her secrets.

"Well, then I think our best course is to pick up where we left off, don't you think?"

Her eyes widened. "Excuse me?"

"I can't tell if you're looking for a dom, or you have a genuine death wish. Either way, if you want to spend any more time in this club, it's gonna be with me and me only. Can you live with that?"

She sighed and nodded. "I can live with that."

He held out his hand. "Promise me you're not going to keep looking for trouble here when my back is turned, and I promise that I'll respect your boundaries, keep you away from the other doms, and help you find what you're looking for. Deal?"

She hesitated for a moment before placing her hand in his. "Deal."

"Glad we have that cleared up." He went to his desk and pulled out a business card, he caught Alexis watching him warily as he rifled through his desk drawer. He crossed the room again and held the card out to her. "Here's my cell. You will call it when you get home tonight. I'll need your number."

She stood and took it from him. "Why?"

"Because if I'm your Dom, I'm going to need to be able to contact you, and you me."

"Okay."

He headed to his office door and she followed, watching as he dug his wallet and keys out of his desk. "I want to see you in two weeks for our first session. Your bruises should be healed by then."

"Is that a question?" she asked, some of her stubbornness coming to the front again.

"Do you want to say no?"

She shook her head, and he smirked, stalking around her. His hands closed around her shoulders, and he leaned in to whisper in her ear. "Smart choice, pretty girl." His hands rubbed down her bare arms, and he felt goosebumps rise under his fingers. "Now that's sorted out, I'm taking you home."

"Get your head in the game, Castle!"

Alexis blinked and barely missed Javi's punch, deflecting it weakly and stumbling from the force of it. "Sorry!"

She fixed her stance and blocked him the next time, sending a few of her own punches back his way, which he dodged easily. Then her feet were swept out from under her and she hit the floor, landing right on the still-healing bruises on the back of her legs. She yelped at the pain, but didn't hesitate to roll to her feet.

It had only been about ten days, and Alexis thought Fenton must be vastly overestimating her body's healing factors. Of course, it probably didn't help that Javi was still handing her ass to her three mornings a week. And since she'd been spending her nights glued to the recordings inside Fenton's office, sleep was becoming a foreign concept, too.

She assumed her stance again, but Javier was frowning at her, his arms crossed over his chest. "This is a little pathetic."

"Try me again." She squared her shoulders. "I'll be ready this time."

He waved his fingers at her. "Come at me, then."

She rushed forward, engaging him again in a volley of punches, clipping his jaw just in time for him to grab her fist, swing her around, and shove her back the way she came so she stumbled onto her hands and knees on the mat. Unlike most of their sparring sessions, especially the ones when her partner really seemed to be enjoying himself, he didn't pounce on her. Instead, she heard shock in his voice. "What the hell happened to your legs?"

Alexis' head snapped up, and she was glad that her face was turned away from Javier. Her spandex shorts had ridden up in their session, revealing just enough to get her in a load of trouble with her partner. "Oh," she stood slowly, wiping sweat off her forehead with as much nonchalance as she could muster. "Slipped going down the stairs in my building. Really felt those steps." She forced a laugh.

He frowned, and she immediately wished she'd come up with a better lie. Her bruises didn't look anything like a slip and fall, and they both knew it. "You're doing it again, aren't you?" he sighed. "Working off the clock?"

She opened her mouth to speak, and he held a hand up. "Don't lie to me."

"I have everything under control," she said instead.

"I can see that." He shook his head. "I knew you were acting strangely lately."

"Espo, it's just a few bruises. I walk out of here with bruises every week." She shrugged. "Don't make this into something it's not."

"You can't keep focused on enough to block a punch. You show up looking like you've literally had your ass beat. Are you sleeping at all these days?"

"You're not my keeper."

He stepped closer. "I'm your partner, and lately those two things seem to be the same thing. How am I supposed to trust you to watch my back?"

"Of course I'm going to watch your back! This doesn't change anything."

"Keep telling yourself that." He rubbed his face. "I'm not sparring with you while you're black and blue. Let's call it for the day."

"Till when?"

"I don't know, till you're done with whatever put those bruises on you in the first place? Till you're ready to be honest with me?"

"Fine." She reached for her bag. "I'll go."

"Enjoy your day off," he called to her on her way through the door. "Maybe try using it to rest?"

"Not a chance," she muttered.

When she made it back home, showered, and dressed in comfortable clothes that didn't chafe against her bruises, she found herself on her couch in front of her laptop. She'd queued up another several hours of audio recordings from Fenton's office.

When she'd pulled the audio recording from the night she'd been assaulted in his office, fast-forwarding through the assault itself and the time he'd spent taking care of her, she listened to a particularly satisfying encounter that Fenton had with Seth and Dominick. From the sound of it, the encounter had come to blows, and it didn't seem like Fenton believed the men's concerns about her. That was good. And had also been nice to hear the sound of Seth's nose breaking a second time.

Both he and Dominick had skipped right to the top of her suspect list, though Seth took the number one slot. He was aggressive and a man of action—the fact that he'd singled her out twice now to hurt her was telling. She'd have to keep an eye on him. If he had the tattoo she was looking for there would be no more doubt in her mind.

Beyond that interaction, though, Alexis hadn't heard much. At least nothing that would help with her case. She'd heard references to shipments, dealers, product, and the like. Just as she'd suspected. But that wasn't terribly surprising, and as soon as she'd nailed Amelia's murderer, Alexis would be happy to drop off the audio recording in Narcotics. But not till she had the proof she was looking for.

Maybe Fenton would be able to shed some light on the situation at their next session. Her cheeks heated at the thought, and she picked up her cell phone, scrolling through the message thread from the night she'd texted him her number.

This is Alexis. Thank you for taking care of me tonight.

You're welcome.

He hadn't tried to contact her since that night, and Alexis wasn't sure what to think about the silence. Did he regret playing with her? Was the silence normal? Several times over the last ten days, she'd thought about texting him again, striking up a conversation about anything and everything that she could use to help her case. But each time she'd deleted the message before pressing send. She didn't want to tip him off. He was already suspicious of her motives.

Taking a breath, she typed out another message.

Hi. Are we still on for Friday?

His response didn't take long.

Wouldn't miss it, pretty girl.

Heat bloomed in her face again at the pet name, and she set the phone aside. Fenton O'Connell was going to be trouble.