Page 17 of Royal Pain

None of tonight was funny on any level.

Raleigh was correct in that the comments were a bit out there. Worse was Evangeline had answered some questions, including a few details regarding the rumors the resorts included private kink clubs. Thank God she hadn’t been provided with access to the various BDSM floors. But what she was saying was bad enough.

Once again, I almost handed the computer back to my employee when she pushed my hand. “Keep going.”

It took all of a minute to find what she was referring to. Very open and very telling photographs of the stripper event. Shit. It made us look like we were a trashy organization. I couldn’t have that.

This time, I did hand it back to her, tipping my head to stare at the room as more women came and went. “Both of you, pay attention to the damn party. Shut it down if it gets too noisy or if you get a single complaint. I’ll handle this. My way. Send the links to my address so I’ll have more time up close and personal.”

“Of course, boss. I’m sorry to ruin your evening,” Raleigh told me.

And my way was a method I knew Evangeline wouldn’t like, but I didn’t like being deceived by anyone. It tended to piss me off tremendously.

“You’re just doing your job,” I told her.

“Sure, boss,” Travis answered. I was glad he could find some amusement in the entire thing. I certainly couldn’t.

I headed back into the room, taking my time to find her. All I did was beckon her with a single finger before turning and walking out.

If she didn’t obey me, her punishment was going to be a lot worse.

My fingers tingled from the thought.

CHAPTER 5

Evangeline

There was no mistaking the look on the man’s face. The very handsome man.

Correction, the utmost fuckable man. In his tuxedo and black onyx cufflinks, he looked like a million bucks. It had taken all I had not to be seduced by him earlier. Maybe he’d sensed I wasn’t ready.

Or that I just couldn’t.

But the stern way he was looking at me now, the hard expression was entirely different. Whatever was wrong wasn’t about sex or lack thereof. It also had nothing to do with the strippers. The way he beckoned me was quite frankly irritating.

Yet something in me screamed it wouldn’t be in my best interest to ignore his beck and call moment. A shiver trickled down my spine after he’d walked out. Plus, I was hot. And wet. The combination wasn’t pleasant by any means.

I didn’t say anything to the other girls, trying to act nonchalant as I floated through the crowd. Where had all these women come from? I wasn’t certain I wanted to know.

The moment I walked into the much cooler corridor, I’m not certain what I expected. When an arm was wrapped around my waist and I was suddenly being led in a different direction, at first, I was shocked.

Then I was aggravated, yet when I realized the person holding me was Gage, I was flabbergasted. Why did the man have the ability to do that to me?

“What are you doing?” Thankfully, I found my voice.

“We’re going to my office to have a nice long chat.”

“Why?”

“You’ll learn when we get to my office. Don’t fight me, Evangeline. You won’t like me very much if you do.”

If the man was trying to scare me, he failed. However, that didn’t mean he hadn’t angered me. I tried to pull away, but his hold was far too strong.

He forced me to take long strides down the corridor, turning and heading to a set of elevators I hadn’t known existed.

“I don’t understand you. You can be sweet one minute and turn back into the arrogant ass I met in a split second.”

He snorted and headed for the very last elevator. It appeared to be unattached to the others. Which meant his office was private.