“I appreciate it.” Abby said. No, the mention of Xavier’s name had not sent tremors through her body. It hadn’t.

“To friends.” Rona raised her glass and clinked it against the other two. “It’s nice to have more women in the lifestyle, and even nicer that you’re a few years past drinking age.”

Abby winced, remembering Nathan’s young “slut.” She should have punched him. Making a hard fist, she nodded. She really should have, even if she’d have hidden under a table when he yelled.

She gulped more wine. As it started to buzz in her head, she remembered she’d skipped lunch. Actually she’d missed quite a few meals, enough that her jeans were loose. Excellent diet—the Xavier Plan.

“So.” Rona’s blue-green eyes turned serious. “Xavier showed up at the house.”

“What?”

“I saw him and almost had a conniption fit.” Lindsey wiped mock sweat away. “If the invincible Rona hadn’t been there, I might have buckled. He’s scarier than a pissed-off wolverine.”

Despite the pain of thinking of him, Abby snorted. “More like Count Dracula.”

“True.” Lindsey tilted her head. “Did you ever listen to those messages he’s left you?”

“Uh-uh. I delete them right away.” Because I’d cave in and listen otherwise.

“Impressive willpower,” Rona said. “Well, I’ll blurt this out quick. He said he’ll accept Simon as his proxy for reading your research article.”

Abby’s mouth dropped open. “Really?” As her spine turned to jelly, she sagged. “That’s…that’s nice of him. I’ll give you the papers before you leave.”

“His second message was to say ‘I was wrong.’”

“Rona!” Abby shoved away from the table, making it rock, and put her hands over her ears. “I won’t hear this.”

Rona caught her wine glass before it hit the floor. And just looked at Abby. Patiently.

“I can’t believe I worked so hard not to…” She lowered her hands. “What does that mean—he was wrong?”

Rona winked at Lindsey. “I don’t know. He knew I wouldn’t bring you a big explanation or apology.”

“I was wrong.” Xavier had actually said that. He was so rarely wrong.

But he had been once. At the club. He’d cuddled her and apologized. “I’m sorry, Abby. The remote wasn’t a good choice for you. I thought it would teach you to listen to your body without putting you on display. I never intended that you should feel abandoned.”

When he was wrong, he admitted it. And if he said something, he meant it.

“We weren’t exclusive, you know.” Abby swirled the wine in her glass.

“You agreed to that?” Lindsey sounded shocked. “I know some of the subs do, but you?”

“After Nathan, I wasn’t interested in getting involved with anyone. And Xavier and I both agreed. Only, then, when I was living with him…I didn’t think he’d still go out with someone else.”

Rona squeezed the bridge of her nose. “I’m surprised, actually. He’s very up-front about having more than one woman. I think if he’d continued to date other people, he would have told you.”

“Blind, deaf, and dumb—that’s me.” Abby stared at the skyline. The setting sun turned the Bay Bridge to a fantasy and sparkled on the water. “We talked about his wife once. He said she was his whole world.”

Rona nodded. “Simon said while Xavier was turning Leduc Industries into the powerhouse it is, Catherine was beside him all the way. His admin, his submissive, and his wife. He hasn’t taken anyone seriously since.”

“Yeah. So it seems.”

Rona’s hand closed over Abby’s. “Until now, Abby. Until you.”

Tears swam in her eyes. “Sure. That’s why he went out with my stepsister.”

“‘I was wrong,’ remember?” Lindsey leaned back in her chair. “Now I only started going to the club a month before you, but he…” She paused. “He looked more alive after you came. Like you woke him up or something.”

“You need to think about this,” Rona said.

“Sure.” Not gonna happen.

“Dropping the subject of idiot males, what about your stepsister?”

Abby gave Rona a frown. “What about her?”

“Are you going to let her continue to step on you?” Rona took a meditative sip of wine. “You said she’s done this to you before?”

Abby snorted. “Every single boyfriend I ever had.”

“Exactly. But Abby, what did you do to deter her?” Rona tilted her head. “Do you enjoy pain that much? If you’re a masochist, I know some sadists at the club who—”

“No, I’m not a masochist! Just how was I supposed to stop her?”

“Oh please,” Lindsey said. “If one of my sisters had shown up with my guy, there’d have been hair-pulling, name-calling, and serious screaming.”

Abby managed to close her mouth. Screaming?

“Now, that said, we battled out the no-poaching-on-a-sister rules when we first got tits,” Lindsey continued. “But if you always let her shove your face in the mud without a good catfight, then…”

“I…” Abby stared at the table. Keep your voice down. Never start a fight. Don’t argue; just agree. All those behaviors she’d learned because of her father. She couldn’t upset him, so she’d retreated. But Daddy was gone, and living a life without altercation wasn’t natural. It hadn’t been his fault, but… He’s dead, and I haven’t moved on.

“Does it seem like you can hear her thinking?” Lindsey whispered.

So when Xavier had shown up with Janae, she’d run. Not knocked Janae on her ass or grabbed Xavier’s lapels and asked him why he’d do such a thing to her.

Because… Her mouth dropped open. Because he wouldn’t. She stared as the lights of the city flickered on in the evening dusk. Xavier would never deliberately hurt her like that—not anyone, but certainly not her. And his face had held sheer shock and then anger, but not at her.

Janae had conned him somehow.

“Abby?”

Abby held up her hand. “Wait. I’m having an epiphany here.”

“Sounds mighty painful,” Lindsey muttered, getting a snort from Rona.

“My assertive skills are screwed up,” Abby stated.

“That’s an epiphany?” Lindsey scowled. “No, sister, an epiphany is when God hauls his big ass out of the clouds and smacks you over the head.”

Abby giggled and drained her glass. “Today you and Rona did the thumping.”

“Oh Crom.” Rona made a grab for Abby’s glass and failed. “Have you had anything to eat today?”

“Nope.” Abby poured herself more. “And my head’s going to hurt tomorrow. But—trust me—Janae’s head will blow off her shoulders by the time I get through with her.” She held her glass up. “But first I have to deal with Mr. I-Was-Wrong Leduc.”

Two glasses clinked against hers in a unanimous toast.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Abby almost cried when she walked into Dark Haven and the familiar scents and sounds surrounded her. She’d missed this place.

“Abby?” Dixon stood behind the reception desk…which was covered in papers again. “Abby!” He scurried around the desk and dropped to his knees, hands clenched in front of his chest. “Tell me you’re coming back. Puh-leeeze.” The puppy-dog eyes he gave her would have melted the hardest resolve.

And his joy at seeing her lifted her heart enough that she could smile. “I’m not sure yet. We’ll see.”

After rising, he hooked his fingers in his chain-mail shirt and eyed her clothing—a black vinyl dress that buttoned up to her chin. High, black vinyl boots. “Fantastic Domme outfit. Armed for battle?”

“Absolutely.” Almost what she’d worn the first time she’d met Xavier, only this time with even more coverage. Confrontations were too one-sided if one opponent was clad in only a corset and thong.

“Go on in, sweetie. Make sure to come back and let me know what happens. Or…” As Abby headed for the door, she heard the beep of the touch phone. “Gina, my peachie-poo. Can you take over the desk? I have something to watch.”

Inside the main room, two Doms were setting up the left stage for a suspension demonstration. A few people were dancing. At the tables, people socialized and negotiated the terms before going to play.

No Xavier.

The stairs to the dungeon had grown much, much steeper, or maybe her wobbling legs affected her perception. She passed the first scene area where Angela was cleaning up the cross, her sub bundled in a blanket on the floor.

Heart rate increasing, Abby walked across the room. Past a flogging. Past the spanking benches in the center. A man in a cock-and-ball torture scene groaned continually. Screams came from a genital needle play on the other side.

Still no Xavier.

To her disgust she spotted Nathan instead. What was he doing here? His young, chipmunk-faced submissive knelt beside the sex swing as he checked the chains. His leather bag lay on a bench nearby.

“Nathan,” Abby called. As she walked past the bench, she grabbed a short cane from his toy bag.

He turned, shocked. “I can’t believe they let you in.”

“Well, I’m surprised they didn’t cancel your membership.”

“If I’d been in Dark Haven rather than Serenity, I’d have been pitched out.” His face twisted with anger. “Because of you, I’m on club probation. I had to take the beginner’s class.”

Oooh, bet that hurt. Nonetheless, it didn’t make up for the rest of his crimes. She whipped the cane in a vicious backhand. It hit his right thigh with a loud smack.

Although his jeans must have dissipated the effect somewhat, he gave a satisfying yelp.

“That’s for saying we were in a committed relationship all spring while you were screwing around with your toy here.”