Page 117 of Their Ruthless Sadist (Office Intrigue Duet 5)
Case’s mask came off and he inched closer to Matt. “Choose your words carefully,” Case warned. “Because offending my—Zeke—is not somethin’ I’ll tolerate.”
“Your Zeke?” Matt laughed. “Sounds about right. You seem more of the alpha in this relationship. Makes sense considering your Zeke loses that hard outer layer when he falls in love. Has he done that yet? Told you he loves you? Asked you to sleep in his bed? Because that’s where I ended up. All I wanted was a Dom who could stay the course and be true to himself. Turns out, Zeke wasn’t capable of that.” Matt laughed and it had a sickening tone to it. “He ended up wanting more. Love and shit. I mean, come on. What real Sadist says I love you? That shit’s for pussies.”
Holy shit. This dude was delusional. What the fuck was he even talking about?
I turned to ask Zeke that very question only he wasn’t there. I glanced around the crowded room but I didn’t see him.
Suddenly Trent appeared and Case backed up.
“What’s going on here?” the famous Dom asked. “Why aren’t you wearing a mask?”
Case didn’t respond, simply continued shooting daggers at Matt with his eyes.
“We’re sorry, Master Ramsey,” I said politely. “Case and I were just … going to the locker room.”
Without waiting for Case to argue, I shoved him forward away from Matt.
“Don’t you dare turn around,” I hissed. “Keep moving.”
“Who the fuck does he think he is?” Case snapped. “And who the hell let him in here?”
Those were good questions. Questions I didn’t have answers for.
“Where’s Zeke?” Case asked when we were heading up the stairs.
“When I turned around, he was gone.”
“What the fuck? Did he leave?”
I didn’t know for sure, but I suspected that to be the case. Whoever Matt was, he had a history with Zeke. And based on Matt’s patronizing attitude, it hadn’t ended on a good note.
Case stopped on the stairs as though he was going to turn back around.
“Come on, Case. Let’s get changed. No way can we stay here and let that asshole start shit. I am not losin’ my membership to this club.”
Although, that was the least of my worries at the moment.
Case and I had to go to Zeke. We had to figure out what was going on and why he had bolted. That was very unlike him and I didn’t like the thought of him being by himself.
Especially if he was hurting.
The man might’ve been hard-core and standoffish in most things he did, but he was as human as the rest of us. It was possible he didn’t want people to know they had the power to hurt him, but he wasn’t a superhero.
And Matt was a fucking moron if he seriously believed there was a single person out there who could shut himself down indefinitely.
Certainly not Zeke.
THIRTY
ZEKE
NOT ONLY WAS I A shitty Sadist, I was a shitty Dom in general.
The instant I had recognized Matt, I left my fuck toys at the club. Up and left them without a word.
Did I regret it?
No.
I was sure they’d gotten enough from Matt to know that I could never live up to their ridiculously high expectations. I could never be the man they believed me to be. Yes, I was fucking human. Yes, I had fallen in love with Matt and thought for some stupid fucking reason that I could spend the rest of my life with him.
I still remembered the day it had all gone to shit. It was forever etched in my memory.
“What’s going on here?” Matt asked when he walked in my front door.
Finally. It felt as though I’d waited forever for him to get here. I couldn’t explain the reasons for my nervous anticipation, but I was practically vibrating with energy. For the first time in a long time, excitement fueled me.
I had cooked dinner for the two of us, hoping for some quiet time at home. It was Friday and we generally went to the club, but I wanted something different, something more intimate. Although I knew he enjoyed it, I wasn’t up to beating on him in front of dozens of people.
“I cooked,” I told him with a smile.
He frowned, his body rigid as though he wasn’t sure if he should stay or go. “What do you mean you cooked? Why aren’t you ready for the club?”
“We’re not going to the club.” I figured that was enough of an explanation. Matt was the type who liked for me to be dominant in every aspect of our lives, including when I spoke to him. So, I would put my foot down this time.
“Why not?” His normally cool tone sounded slightly petulant, as though he was gearing up to argue like a teenager who’d been banned from going out.
He looked around as though I couldn’t possibly find something to entertain us at my place. It was true, we rarely came here. Matt preferred to go to the club whenever it was open. Sometimes I felt as though I spent more time there than I did anywhere else.
