Page 81 of Lesson In Honesty
“I—”
“Shut the fuck up. Go back to your cabin, take this pathetic piece of limp-dicked shit with you, and pack. Get in your fancy car and get the hell off this property.” He was probably stepping over the boundary here, but he didn’t care. Evander and Elias could ream his ass for the liberty. “Bullies aren’t welcome here.”
“You can’t tell me what to do!” Portia snapped.
“Oh, I can. If you’re not gone in thirty minutes, I start making phone calls. I think my network is efficient enough to make sure that dearly beloved husband of yours has his lawyers in action before you get home.” Mack released Dustin before he was tempted to obliterate his nose a third time. “Leave Maryannhere. She seems like a nice girl—she might even flourish when she’s not under the heel of a gold-digging, bitter, controlling whore.”
“I want to speak to the owner.” Portia grimaced in disgust when she glanced at Dustin. “We want to make a complaint. File charges for assault.”
His heart skipped a beat, he could admit.
He wasn’t sure if it was that or the smooth, cultured voice behind him that turned his spine to a rod of ice.
“By all means, you’re free to make a complaint.” Elias stepped beside Mack, shooting him a disapproving glare. Setting his phone down on the table, avoiding the blood, he regarded Portia calmly. “What seems to be the issue?”
“Are you the owner?” she demanded.
“One of them, yes.”
“Thisperson,” she sneered, gesturing to Mack, “approached our table and attacked my companion without provocation. I want you to call the police and have him arrested. While you’re at it, evict his boyfriend and the thing that should be in a cage at a freak show.”
“Thing?” Eli repeated, lifting an eyebrow at Mack.
“Yes, that hairy thing that spends most of its time in the Nursery. The facilities here are fabulous,” she added, altering her voice to compliment Elis’s club even as she snuck in a sneaky verbal backhand. “Such a shame you allow things like that in. It really lowers the tone.”
“It,” Eli repeated again. “I see.”
“Well? Do something!”
“Hmm, whatever should I do?” Eli murmured under his breath, so quietly Mack was sure he was the only one who could hear the sarcastic question. Sharp blue eyes scanned the room as he turned, then he lifted his hand. “Master Grit. A moment, please.”
Shit was hitting the fan, Mack mused, if the Master of Security was getting dragged in. His stomach plummeted; how was Elias going to handle this?
Better than Mack had, no doubt.
“What can I do for you this evening, Eli?” Grit approached, summing up the mess with a keen gaze. “Ah, this must be the conflict I heard over the radio. Two of my guys are on their way.”
“Excellent. They can escort these two to the infirmary, then back to their cabin. Make sure they’re packed and off the property within…” Elias checked his watch, then cocked his head at Mack. “Thirty minutes, I believe. Is that correct, Master Maverick?”
Another hard jolt, this time in his sternum. He wanted to correct the man—he hadn’t earned the Master title—but Elias was waiting for an answer, and he wasn’t the kind of Dom anyone questioned. “Thirty minutes.”
Portia lurched to her feet, hampered by the table. “What the hell?Heattacked us!”
Setting a hand on the table, Elias leaned forward, using his other hand to slide the phone across the wood. “Prolonged harassment of another guest and employee of this club. Bullying. Verbal assault of a guest and employee, among other infractions which are being catalogued as we speak. All violations of the contract you signed upon arrival and punishable by termination of your membership.”
“This is bullshit. Have you seen what he did to Dustin’s face? Thousands of dollars down the drain. It’s going to cost a fortune to repair the damage.” She glowered at them. “You have no proof of any harassment or bullying—this is all just bullshit concocted to steal my money.”
“Beast fucker.” Elias enunciated the words perfectly, coldly, in that stiff accent. “Kissing an ape’s ass crack. Fucking that monstrosity is a twofer.” With a smile to rival a razor’s edge, hearched his brows at Mack. “I sincerely hope your dick is not into beast porn, Maverick. That is not the kind of reputation we want here.” Hard blue eyes returned to Portia. “Neither do we require members who take great delight in tormenting and harassing other guests.”
“You were listening.”
“Master Maverick possessed the foresight to maintain an open line before he approached you. I heard everything from start to finish.” Straightening, Elias gestured for her to leave the booth as two security guards joined them. “Your memberships are revoked; you are no longer welcome here. I will take the opportunity to remind you of the NDAs you signed, prohibiting any discussion of Serenity business outside of the club.”
“I want that bastard arrested!”
“That’s your prerogative, of course. Mack has the full backing and support of Serenity, including our lawyers. We have enough evidence to prove he was provoked into acting in defense.” Utterly unflappable, Elias shrugged a shoulder. “Likely more than enough to pursue a civil case against you for discrimination as well. That inheritance you’ve spent eighteen months cultivating could be gone before you see a cent.”
Portia sneered. “No one would take that seriously.”