chapter 1

Gabby

The Playground.

Gabby read the sign repeatedly as she sat in her car,

fidgeting and trying to talk herself into going inside. She

knew she already had the job as the cleaning person for the

club, but it would all just be a lot easier if she didn’t have to

speak with the owner in person and fill out her employment

paperwork. Then again, to do her job, she guessed that

she’d have to go inside at some point.

Her hands trembled as she grabbed her purse and got

out of her piece of crap car. She really shouldn’t call it a

piece of crap. It had gotten her from Reno to Seattle without

breaking down, so she should have been grateful for that.

When she had started her trip, she wasn’t so sure it would

get her there, but now that she was where she needed to

be, she wouldn’t need to drive very much.

The building before her was large and built with brick,

and it looked to be three stories high. Seemingly large for an

adult club, at least it was compared to the one she’d come

from. Remembering the instructions in the email that she’d

read from the club owner, she pressed the button next to

the entrance and waited.

Her anxiety was through the roof, and she had to remind

herself that she needed to breathe and that she was safe.

She didn’t do well around strangers. Or men. And definitely,

not strange men. But her previous boss, Raff, had assured

her that the club owner at The Playground was trustworthy

and kind.

It only took a moment for the door to open, and a tall,

muscular man stood in front of her. She winced at his

height. At only four-foot-eleven, it felt like the entire world

was taller than she was, but he seemed even taller than

most, making her feel uneasy. Wanting to shrink away, she

lowered her eyes from his and started to take a step back.

“You must be Gabby?”

She startled at his deep voice and nodded, unable to

make eye contact with him.

“Come in. I’m Zane. We talked through email.”

Gabby followed him inside and looked around as she

trailed behind him through the club. Zane opened the door

to what looked like his office and ushered her in.

“Would you like something to drink?”

She quickly shook her head. She didn’t like taking drinks

from strangers. Gabby could feel his eyes on her, and it took

every ounce of courage to look up into his gaze. He was

handsome, and even though he was tall, he didn’t look

scary or mean. He didn’t really look like a man who would

own a dungeon, but she also knew that looks could be

deceiving.

He gave her a soft smile, “Please, have a seat. I have

some paperwork that I’ll need you to fill out, and then I can

give you a tour of the club. When Raff reached out to me to

see if I had an opening, he had a lot of wonderful things to

say about you.”

That made her feel warm inside. Raff had been the only

person in her life that she could remember being nice to her.

For some reason, the older man had taken her under his

wing and given her a safe place to sleep and some money in

exchange for work.

“Raff was always kind to me,” she said in a small voice.

Gabby hated that she never sounded confident or grownup. The man was probably regretting hiring her already.

Zane nodded, “Well, I can assure you that any staff you

meet here will be kind to you as well. Since you will be here

during the day when the club is closed, you will mostly only

see me or my business partner, Jace, but occasionally we

have a staff member come in to set up for a theme night or

to do private training sessions.”

“Okay.”

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