Page 34 of Knot Their Princess

“Hey, Matty. Miss me?”

He huffs, releasing me and dramatically checks his nails, ignoring me. “Nah. Not at all.”

I purse my lips and pinch his butt, making him squeal. “What did I miss?”

“Eh,” he shrugs. “Mostly the same old. Nothing much out of the ordinary, except…” his voice gets really quiet, his nervous gaze darts across the interior of the main room of the club. “Tasha was sent to Bert before you left. We only just found out. Mama was really mad at her for the pills.” His head shakes. “You’d think she would want her subs to be more relaxed and horny.”

I frown. “She’s sadistic,” I hiss close to his ear. “She doesn’t want it to be easier on us to do what she makes us do.”

“Yeah, but she was really mad, Sin.” His expression grows even more worried. “She was sent to him for days. We haven’t seen her.”

“Wait, what?”

“Sin.”

Mama’s strong voice rings through the whole room, drawing my attention to her office door where she stands, her gray hair pulled taut behind her head, her dull eyes looking a bit more beady than usual. Or, maybe I just forced myself to forget how she looked after a few days of near-freedom.

“I’m glad to see you’re back. Come to my office.”

She disappears, leaving me to swallow, throat dry, and cast a look at Matty before turning to follow her. When I step through the doorway, she tells me to close the door. I do as instructed, my anxiety spiking as I stiffly walk to one of the chairs in front of her desk and drop down slow.

“How was it?”

“Um.” I clear my throat. “It was nice. New York is… nice.”

One of her perfect brows arches at me before she hums and tilts her head. “I must have been nice. Petrov sent a bonus over to give you the night off.”

He did what now?

“I’ll be honoring his request. Mostly because I’d already cleared your schedule. I didn’t expect you back until late.”

“Oh. Well, thank you,” I breathe, though it’s really Petrov I should be thanking.

Mama leans back in her chair with a heavy sigh. “You’ll be hearing rumors soon enough about an incident.” She rests her elbows on the arms of her desk chair. “You know Tasha was punished for her transgressions.”

I fight the shudder that wants to wrack my body at the memory of the photo Mama showed me, the threat she made, before I left for New York, and instead nod, numbly.

Another deep sigh. “Things may have gotten out of hand.”

I blink silently at her.

“Bert took it too far, unfortunately. She’s not dead, but she’s useless to me now.”

“What?” I breathe the question before I can stop myself.

“He broke her so severely, she may as well be catatonic.” She frowns. “Actually, I think she is.”

The casual way she says it makes the hairs at the back of my neck stand up. But I come back to myself, back to the old me, emotions tamped down in a blink. Survival. My survival.

“That’s a shame.” My tone is practiced, noncommittal.

“Not really. She had been warned before and refused to heed. Bert paid a lot to compensate for losing control, but…” Yet another sigh, though this one takes on a different tone. A more real vibe. “I have to be very careful with him. I can’t have that brute damaging all my property, yet I can’t turn him away permanently. We may need to keep his visits minimal and guarded.”

“Only the most loyal guards. He’ll try to buy them.”

Her head bobs approvingly. “Yes. I thought so as well. Do you have anyone in mind?”

“Garcia and Thompson.” My response it immediate.