“I bet I could find a t-shirt that would bother him. But in order to prove it, you have to wear it for his reaction, you can’t just show it to him.”

Maria opened her mouth to respond... and hesitated.

“I wouldn’t accept that challenge if I were you,” Ellie murmured, picking up her menu to hide her smile. Next to her, Angel was practically quivering in her seat, obviously hoping Maria would fall for the bait.

Sitting back in the booth, Maria crossed her arms over her chest. “So what’s everyone eating?”

Slumping in disappointment, Angel elbowed Ellie, obviously blaming her for Maria’s retreat. Ellie just giggled. When she looked up from the menu, Olivia was studying her from across the table, a contemplative expression on her face. Uncomfortable, Ellie looked back down at her menu, but when the server came over to take her drink order, Olivia was still looking at her with that piercing gaze. It wasn’t judgmental, but it was just a little too focused for Ellie to be able to relax. Everyone ordered their food, and Ellie ordered a glass of wine at the same time.

She spread her fingers across the edge of the table nervously, concentrating on the smooth wood it was made out of. Angel and Maria started chattering, with Olivia’s occasional interjections, but Ellie could still feel Olivia’s focus on her. Which made her feel nervy. The Domme had the same kind of penetrating gaze Michael did, like she could see more than a normal person. Not exactly a comfortable feeling.

“... new club.”

“New club?” Ellie asked, echoing Angel’s last words.

“Yeah, apparently Michael and Patrick are going to be business buddies,” Angel said, playing with her straw wrapper. “Patrick can’t fit any more people into Stronghold, but new applications are still coming in, and there are some people who want to come and would be willing to pay big bucks for a more discreet location.”

“So the new club is going to be more expensive?” Maria asked.

“Only for people who want membership exclusively there or to be able to visit as often as they want,” Olivia said. Ellie dared to look up and was relieved to see Olivia’s focus had shifted to Maria. “Regular Stronghold members will be able to visit there four nights a month with their Stronghold membership, and it’ll be open Wednesday through Saturday every week so they’ll have plenty of chances. Or they can pay more for more visitation days, etc. if they want to, or even apply for a full membership to the new club, but the regular membership dues to Stronghold aren’t going to change.”

“That’s pretty cool,” Maria said, resting her hand on her chin. “I bet it’s going to get slammed when it first opens though. Everyone’s going to want to check out the new place.”