Half an hour later, Patrick came out of his office and barreled towards where Michael was sitting, chatting with Luke, a thundercloud across his expression. The conversation between Luke and Michael died as he caught a glimpse of the approaching Dom, and Michael’s voice died out. What had caused Patrick to look like that?!

From the way Patrick was headed straight towards him, only two possibilities cropped up – Marquis or Ellie – and since Patrick wasn’t even glancing at Luke…

His heart squeezed, and fear and panic seized his body.

“Ellie emailed me a request to cancel her membership to the club,” Patrick said as soon as he was in earshot, his voice strangely flat. “Which voids the contract the two of you signed. She sent workups of all the graphics and logo options she’s put together for Marquis, said she was sorry she couldn’t finish working on them but if we liked them it would be easy enough for someone else to tweak them.”

Out of all of that, Michael only really heard one sentence.

Canceled her membership to the club.

A roaring noise filled Michael’s ears as pain splintered through the left side of his chest. He didn’t even realized he’d stood up until his knees collapsed and he dropped back into his chair feeling incredibly bereft.

She didn’t want anything to do with him, to the point where she was willing to leave the club.

“Don’t let her,” Michael said his voice strained. He stared down at the table in front of him, feeling horribly alone. “Email her back. Tell her I’ll stay at Marquis, I won’t come here… she doesn’t have to cancel her membership to avoid me.”

And she’d still be able to get her needs met and be safe while she was doing it. Still be able to see her friends.

To be honest, coming to Stronghold without Ellie there didn’t exactly appeal anyway.

“No.” Olivia’s voice slid through the rest of the club’s noise like the crack of a whip, drawing every eye around them. The Domme got to her feet, a steely look in her silver eyes. She pointed at Sharon, Kate and Andrew. “You, you, and you. You’re with me.” She looked at Patrick. “Don’t do anything with Ellie’s membership for now. I’ll be in touch.”

Then she strode towards the door to the lobby, a woman on a mission, expecting Andrew, Kate, and Sharon would be behind her – which they were.

Standing next to Michael, who was too stunned to move or say anything, Luke let out a low whistle. “Damn that was hot.” He clapped Michael on the shoulder. “Don’t worry buddy, I’m pretty sure Scarlet there is on your side and she’s not about to take no for an answer.”