Page 79 of Their Ruthless Sadist

“What do you think of the three we’ve talked to already?” I asked Ben as we sat at the conference room table after having spent an hour talking to one of the many interviewees scheduled for today.

“I don’t think Mark’s going to be what we’re looking for,” Ben explained. “As for the last two, I don’t see any major issues. You?”

“Mark’s out of contention,” I replied as I set that resume aside before glancing over Lance Douglas’s. “I’m worried Lance needs more handholding than I’m willing to give.”

“Good point,” Ben conceded. “I can see that.” His eyes dropped to the copy of the kid’s resume. “He’s got quite the education, but not a lot of experience in the corporate world. Could require some molding to get where we need him to be.”

This was the part I hated about hiring people. It wasn’t necessarily the interviews, more so narrowing it down to who would be the right fit. You picked the wrong person and you were stuck with them, perhaps indefinitely. After all, you couldn’t necessarily fire them for being a whiny asshole, especially if they were good at their job. I’d done my fair share of hiring over the years, and it all boiled down to who was capable of excelling without needing someone there to walk them through every step. Training was one thing, being their mother was something else.

“Thoughts on Heather?” I prompted. “I think she’s got what it takes.”

“Agree. She lacks a lot of experience, but she’s got quite the attention to detail.”

The conference room door opened, and Justin strolled in. “Any luck?”

“A couple of possibilities,” I told him. “I’m willing to call Heather and offer her the job if you’re both in agreement. Mark’s off the list, but I’ll keep Lance in the running. This afternoon’s applicants will be here shortly. We’ve got Chris Cavanaugh, the guy Edge referred, coming in at three.”

Justin peered over at Ben, who nodded his agreement.

“Good,” Justin stated. “Then I’m going to borrow my pup here for a little while.”

I smirked. “I’ll meet you back here in forty-five minutes?”

“I’ll make sure he returns in one piece,” Justin promised.

“As long as he can walk,” I added with a chuckle.

Justin grinned from ear to ear. “Walk, yes. Sit down? Well, that’s to be determined.”

The two men left the conference room, and I sat there staring at the resumes on the table, although I wasn’t really seeing them. My mind was on the two masochists who had successfully pissed me off to no end.

I’d made the cowboy and the pretty boy stay home today. In fact, I’d kept my distance from them since my scene with Brax and the fucking machine yesterday afternoon.

I still couldn’t believe I’d kissed him. Not that I was opposed to kissing, but like aftercare, it gave a submissive the wrong impression. The worst part was I had enjoyed it immensely. It had been a damn long time since I’d slowed down enough to find that little bit of intimacy. Four years, to be exact. I hadn’t kissed a man in four fucking years. And while I told him it meant nothing, I knew better. If it didn’t mean anything, I wouldn’t have thought about it endlessly since.

But I refused to give in to them. In fact, I was considering kicking them to the curb tonight when I got home. I didn’t need this fucking hassle. I enjoyed what we had going on, but evidently, they were both seeing more than there was. Which surprised me, considering the short time we’d been together.

The cowboy, being jealous of the pretty boy spending time with me, was a big red flag. I wasn’t going to spend my time drawing up a timeline so that I fucked them equally. That wasn’t how I operated. If they wanted that shit, they could find some baby Dom who wanted to smack them around a little and cuddle them after. They’d said they understood what this was, but I was beginning to doubt that.

“Zeke Lautner daydreamin’. Never thought I’d see the day.”

I peered up at Langston as he stepped into the conference room. “Shouldn’t you be working?”

“Takin’ a break, actually. Landon’s got Luci in his office. I was givin’ them a little private time. All that yellin’ was distractin’ me, so I opted to come up here.”

“Yelling? Landon or Luci?”

Langston chuckled. “This time it was Luci. From what I gather, the little brat put salt in Landon’s coffee this mornin’.”

“Ah. She’s graduated to being a brat, eh?”

“Looks that way. We’re gonna take her to the club tonight. String her up and show her the error of her ways.”

“So, you reward her for her insubordination?”

“She’s not like your boys,” Langston said. “She doesn’t particularly care for the pain.”

“Fuck toys,” I corrected.