She hoped Andie didn’t tell her Dom everything, but she couldn’t worry about that yet. Lennox was gesturing with his free hand as he spoke to whoever was on the other end of the line. He saw her coming, said something else she couldn’t make out, and disconnected.
“Marie,” he said.
“I came to see if you needed my assistance while we’re a bit short staffed.”
“Yes, that’s what I was just telling the monitoring service. They’re insisting the alarm was manually pulled and I don’t see how that’s possible when there were so few people with the opportunity to do so.”
Damn it to hell and back, she’d not thought through her plan to save him very well. She bit her lip, hoping she looked thoughtful and not guilty. The cameras had probably caught her pulling the alarm. She needed to get to those files before he did.
“Is there any way a fuse could have blown or a wire short-circuited or something?” she asked.
“Not according to them.” He sighed. “I need to make sure everyone’s out of the building. Can you do a head count and see if anyone’s missing? I’ll get started on clearing everything for us to get back inside. Maybe Andie can see if Fulton could help me with that?”
“I’ll get right on it, Sir.”
“Sir,” he mumbled under his breath. “Speaking of which, you’re Susan Mims’s advisor.”
It wasn’t a question, but she nodded anyway.
“She has a problem forgetting to use proper terms of address. She’s due a punishment, but I’d like for you to talk with her first.”
“Of course, Sir.” So that’s what had happened in the dungeon. “I mean no disrespect by asking, but are you going to be the one who punishes her?”
“I don’t see another viable alternative, though I’m going to follow up with Fulton and David to see if they’ve experienced anything similar from her.”
She nodded. In the end, she hadn’t saved him from anything. At best, she’d bought him more time. She debated for a few seconds if she should get the camera files now when he was obviously occupied elsewhere. After all, it really didn’t matter if everyone was out or not, it hadn’t been a real fire. But there were too many eyes, and now she had to speak with Susan, so she went back to the larger group. Hopefully, there would be time later to grab the files.
As it turned out, it was much, much later before she had a chance to pull the damning video from the server. Fortunately, it didn’t appear that Lennox had been back to his office before she made it to hers. She breathed a sigh of relief even though she knew that nothing was ever really deleted. Hopefully it wouldn’t prove important enough for anyone to dig into the incident more deeply.
A knock on the door drew her attention away from her laptop. Susan. She had a feeling this would be a very interesting talk.
“Come in,” Mariela said.
Susan walked in and draped herself across the loveseat. Mariela had met with Susan once before, back when classes first started—she thought she might be a bit of a bratty sub. Which was fine, some Doms liked that in a sub. Mariela didn’t think Lennox was one of them, however. He’d sent her a brief message a few minutes ago saying Susan had always used correct protocol when speaking with Fulton and David.
Mariela had a pretty good idea as to why she pushed things with Lennox, but she wanted to hear Susan say it first.
“Miss Mims,” Mariela said. “Master MacLure asked me to meet with you today. Can you tell me what happened this morning?”
“I’m sure you’ve heard what happened.”
“Yes, but I’d like to hear your side.”
“My side? It’s really very simple. I don’t have any issues with protocol.” Susan smiled and leaned forward. “I decided not to use it because I figured out how to get something out of Master MacLure that no one else has been able to.”
The little bitch.
“So you were aware that not addressing him properly would lead to some sort of consequence?”
“Very much so. How long has it been since he’s done anything remotely close to punishing someone? A long-ass time, that’s how long. Or at least that’s the rumor going around.”
And Mariela and Andie had basically handed him to her on a silver platter.
“You deliberately baited him to get him to punish you?” Mariela asked.
“Yes, and it worked until that damn fire alarm was pulled.”
“Miss Mims, one of the principles of RACK Academy is respect for others. Your actions this morning show a decided disregard of the others involved in the scene. Not only did you disrespect Master MacLure, but you disrespected your entire class.”
“I felt it was worth it to have his hands on me.”
Mariela felt like such a hypocrite. How could she say anything to this woman about respecting others when her own actions didn’t? When she herself longed to feel Lennox’s hands and had done underhanded things in an attempt to draw his interest? The only difference was Mariela hadn’t been caught.
“Be that as it may, that is not the type of action we encourage, endorse, or will allow to continue. If it happens again, you’re out.” She really wanted to send the woman packing now, but Mariela knew she had to follow the proper channels. “As for what Master MacLure had planned for you, I’m sure you’ll be receiving more information shortly.”
Susan nodded, looking more unsure about herself than she had when she arrived. “Am I free to go?”
“Yes, of course.”
• • •
LATER THAT NIGHT, Mariela was in her apartment on the island, drinking her second glass of wine and wishing she’d poured whisky instead. She hadn’t seen Lennox at all after her talk with Susan. She’d had dinner with Fulton and Andie, and Fulton had said he’d shut himself in his office and hadn’t been seen since early afternoon.
When Fulton said Lennox hadn’t been seen all afternoon, Andie had glanced her way with a look of remorse. So much for the plan. Thus far it hadn’t gone very well. Maybe it’d be more accurate to call it a complete and utter failure.
From what she’d guessed, Andie hadn’t told Fulton what they had planned or their unexpected involvement in the day’s events. She secretly hoped it’d stay that way. There was little doubt that Fulton would stop their plan in its tracks and, as bad as today had been, she wasn’t ready for that to happen.
The knock on her door startled her. Curious as to who might have come by to see her, she rose and went to answer. She opened the door and managed to cover her surprise at finding Lennox there.
“Master MacLure, how nice to see you this evening. Come on in.”
“Thank you.”
“Would you like a glass of wine?”
“Yes, I think I would.”
She went into the kitchen and poured him a glass. He waited beside her mantel holding an old picture of her and Winnie that was on display there. He looked up as she walked in and put it back down.
She handed him the wineglass. “Here you go. Want to sit down?”
“Thank you,” he said, settling into a corner of her couch. “How did your talk with Susan go?”
“About the way I thought it would.”
“And how was that?”
She took a sip of wine. “I’m not sure what you plan to do with her, but I strongly recommend you not be the one to punish her.”
He lifted an eyebrow. “Oh?”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Why is that?”
“Because that’s what she wants. She wants you.”
“You must be mistaken.”