Greg laughed, but there was no humor in it. “You are one brave soul. Jamie’s going to have your ass when she finds out what you did.”
“Yeah. Well. There are worse things.” Such as some bastard putting his greasy fucking hands on her. Fuck. I couldn’t even think about it.
“Never figured you for a hypocrite, Zeke.” Ransom’s tone held only a small amount of disappointment.
Propping my elbows on my knees, I stared at my closest friend. “And what do you suggest I do? You want some asshole beating on your kid sister?”
Greg was the one to answer. “Not all Doms are assholes.”
“Maybe not. But it’s not like I can handpick someone to give her a glimpse into the lifestyle.” The thought was absurd. There were only a handful of people I trusted, but I wasn’t sure I trusted them with my kid sister.
“What if you could?” Ransom asked, his tone suspicious.
My fists clenched as I pinned my meanest glare on my friend. “You are not touching my sister. I’ve seen the destruction you leave in your wake.”
“Never anything they didn’t ask for.” He laughed, a deep, rumbling sound. “Plus, you know she’s not my type, Zeke.”
True. For one, she was female. “Then who?” I grimaced. “And be careful. You might be signing some Dom’s death warrant.”
Ransom’s grin widened, his eyes cutting over to Greg. “Why not Edge? He’s the resident Dom here and he runs the submissive training classes. Who better to introduce a newbie into the lifestyle?”
Greg sat up straight and glared at Ransom. “Are you fucking crazy?” His gaze shot to me. “I swear, Zeke, I would never touch that girl. I don’t care—”
“It’s not a bad idea, actually,” I said, surprising even myself.
“Okay.” Greg held up his hands. “You two are not allowed to drink before you come to the club. You know that.”
I laughed. I rarely drank at all, and on nights I had scenes prepared, I didn’t touch alcohol. So, he couldn’t blame the irrational thoughts on that. And they were irrational, even if they made sense.
“You don’t find her attractive?” I teased my friend.
Greg’s entire face fell, and for a second, I had to think about anytime the man had been around my kid sister. Sure, he knew her. Everyone knew her because I’d brought her to events outside the club. Weddings, birthday parties. That sort of shit. Never had I seen anyone talking to her, though. Not without me being present, anyway.
“Zeke, you can’t be serious.” Greg looked sincerely confused. “I can’t… I don’t…” He shot to his feet. “You know what? This conversation is ridiculous. I’ve got things to do.”
Don’t ask me why I felt compelled to convince one of my closest friends to do this. However, I trusted Gregory Edge. He was one of the good ones. Sure, he could be hard-core and he had the ability to scare some of the submissives, but he was still a good man. I would trust him with Jamie.
Perhaps I was having a mental breakdown.
“I went down to Razor Wire,” I explained, “to tell them not to let her in the club. It wasn’t until I walked in there that I truly thought what might happen if Jamie decides to explore kink on her own. I can’t stand the idea of her being inside that place.”
Greg shook his head, facing away from me. “I would kill one of those fuckers.”
“I know. That’s exactly how I felt. Then I saw that asshole who hurt Addison. He’s a member down there.”
Greg spun back around, his expression grim. “Why would Jamie go there?”
“I’m not saying she will.” However, I knew my baby sister. She was hardheaded. The simple fact that I’d told her not to was enough fuel to have her stubborn streak coming out. She would likely go simply to defy me, then convince me it was all on the up-and-up and I had nothing to worry about.
That thought made the idea of having Greg show her the ropes—not literally, of course—the lesser of two evils.
“What if she came here for one night?” I suggested, then thought it through a little more. “You know, on a night when I’m not fucking here because no fucking way am I gonna witness that.”
Greg stared at me like I had an arm sprouting out of my head.
What I really hoped was that this was a bad fucking dream and I was going to wake up to find out I was not attempting to convince one of my closest friends to top my sister.
For fuck’s sake.
*
Brax
(The cowboy)
DICHOTOMY IN CHICAGO WAS FAR busier than the sister club in Dallas on any given night. I’d learned that during my recent trips here. And it seemed all the freak flags were flying on Friday night. They were packed. Not quite like it had been on the night of Trent’s surprise collaring ceremony but pretty close.
