Clo pushed open the conference room door. "You've been hard at work all evening."
I peeked up from my laptop and stretched a little, glancing outside. The sky was dark blue now, almost black. It must be late. "Getting back into my flow has been nice." Straightening up in my seat I asked, "Can I help you with something?"
"Oh... um, well, Mr. Specter was saying that you were supposed to have met him ten minutes ago and sent me to find you..."
"Fuck... our meeting..." I jumped out of my seat and bolted towards the door. "Thanks!" I said hastily and jogged to Gabe's office.
He was sitting behind his desk, yellow light from his lamp giving an eerie look to his face. "You're late." He stood in a rush, bumping his chair back and buttoning his suit jacket. "Are you going to take this job seriously?" he asked, coming towards me.
"I'm late because I was taking this job seriously." I slapped a stack of folders on his desk. "Finished all these."
He cocked an eyebrow. "And the Mr. Winters case?"
"What about it?"
"Is it done?"
"That's gonna take a little longer than a few hours, Mr. Specter."
He gave me an incredulous look and opened up the first folder, flipping through, then the second and third before flopping them back on his desk. Satisfied, he beckoned me to sit and I did so. My ass was still tender but I kept a straight face, determined not to see the pain it caused me. He came around in front of me and leaned back, half sitting on his desk.
"Was it good enough, Sir?"
"It will do for now. Tell me how far you've gotten with Winters."
"How do you represent people like that? He's a class-A douche. Did you even read the conversation he was having with a minor."
"I didn't ask for your personal opinion of him, I want to know about the case." Gabe's voice was firm and direct, though the smirk had been wiped off and now he looked a bit annoyed with me.
"Well, I haven't made many discoveries since our chat this morning. I've been looking into other similar crimes, and have a contact double-checking on a case that appears similar to what happened with Winters. I found a pattern." **will write more here later**
"Mr. Winters is a high profile client, I'm giving you the reins on this knowing that you hate his guts. Don't disappoint me."
I leaned forward in my seat, locking my eyes with his. "Why did you want me to do this case?"
"You know why."
"Because she's a spankee? Because this prick Winters is probably actually guilty? I can't figure it out."
He hesitated before speaking. "Does it matter, Violet?" He stood, taking a step forward. "I could tell you to forget it and stop investigating, but your curiosity would keep you intrigued until you found her. Which is why you're the best person for this case."
"So if I find out that Winters did the crime anyway, I'll still get my signing bonus, right?"
"Speaking of that, I need to see your current debts and an exact number."
"You're really obsessed with that."
"I'm not giving you $10k so you can piss it away again."
"If it's my money, I can do with it as I please."
He took another step forward, giving a slight chuckle. "That's where you're wrong. Stand up."
"Don't tell me what to do..." I grumbled.
Before I had the chance to obey, he statched my upper arm and dragged me to my feet. "Take those down," he ordered, tugging at my slacks.
"You're so fucking bossy." But I unlatched the button as Gabe walked towards the drawer where he kept his rattan cane. With a deep breath I looked out at the dark NYC skyline, impressed with the view from his corner office. When I'd worked for him a few years ago, his name wasn't on the wall and he had a much more intimate office. Now, though, it was huge and impressive. I went ahead and pulled my panties down, too.
Gabe came back towards me, cane in hand. He had taken off his suit jacket and I took a moment to admire his broad shoulders and meaty arms. I hadn't paid much attention to him yesterday or that morning, but now I could see he'd been working out a lot over the years.
"It's been a minute since I've been caned in your office."
"Over the desk," he ordered.
"I'm still bruised from yesterday."
"Good, you deserved it."
With an eyeroll I leaned over the desk, poking my bottom out. He handed me a pad of paper and pen.
"The amount and name of everyone you owe."
"Ugh, I'm gonna need more time for..." Without letting me finish, the cane crashed across my ass, taking me by surprise and almost causing me to shout at him. But then I remembered we were at the office. Better not do anything to make anyone ask questions.
"You will do it now."
I let out a growl — "Grrrrrrr" — only to be met by another lash with the cane. Fucking Gabe. Whose idea was it to work with him again? I was really starting to regret this.
I racked my brain trying to remember who all I owed. My plug from Dominic's, and also a few of my poker mates. Probably I should add in the money for Jason, even if I was still pissed at him. And then my credit cards... I'd run up so much on them the last few weeks, including my old company card that I'd received a bill for. Fuck me for spending so much money.
When everything was written down, I calculated it all, and it was closer to $15k than 10. Shit... I hadn't expected that.
Gabe took the pad from my hands and glanced over my debts. I buried my head in my hands, wanting to cry. I'd been doing so well the last few years. No coke, no crazy spending, keeping steady with my job. And then somewhere it all crashed. The break up was just the cherry on top, but I was suffering long before that.
"This is substantially more than you estimated yesterday." Gabe's voice startled me away from my thoughts.
"YOLO."
"Excuse me?"
"You know... YOLO... you only live once."
The notepad fell to the floor and then I felt another cane stroke against my bottom, maybe harder than the previous two because it did cause me to squeal. "Wrong answer."
"Fuuuuck, Gabe, geez, I'm sorry. I suck at math, I didn't have a calculator or piece of paper yesterday."
He whipped the cane in the air, wooshing sound causing me to shiver. "Do you remember what it's like being under my protection?"
"Painful."
"This is only the beginning." Another lash, less harsh, causing more of a moan to come out. "If I find out you've blown this money, what do you think will happen?"
Before I could answer, another lash cracked against my bottom. "I suspect you will probably beat me black and blue."
"I have an arsenal of implements ready to bring on the tears. And I'm also not afraid to humiliate you." He took a fistful of my hair in his hands, tugging my head back to look him in the eyes. I was tearing up, guilty feelings coming to the surface mixed with the pain from that stupid cane. "Bare naked, twisted into whatever position I desire, in front of whomever I desire. Do you understand?"
"Yes, sir."
He let go of me and cracked the cane down again, then again, seemingly trying to make me cry. It was working. I was almost broken down. "Get your shit together, Violet." A couple of more lashes fell, making sure he covered my butt in red stripes before finally putting the cane away.
I wasn't full out crying, but there were definitely tears that I tried my best to dry as I awaited his instructions to stand and readjust my clothing. When I was decent again, I grabbed a tissue from his desk, drying my eyes and hopefully removing any unwanted makeup.
Gabe walked back to his desk and opened his drawer, grabbing a piece of paper and envelope. It was my contact and signing bonus. Scribbling my signature across the paper, my heart pounded with excitement. Especially when I peeked inside the envelope to see that Gabe had already predicted I'd need $15k. Or he had originally planned to be nice? Nah, that didn't sound like him.
My ass was throbbing as I exited the building, leaving Gabe inside finishing up some work. Since I just got paid, it seemed worth it to take a cab home, that way I could keep up the searching on the Winters case.
Halfway home, I received a call from my NYPD contact. "There was a case similar to what you described. Young woman from Seattle was caught and arrested about two months ago. Sage Sawyer is the name. I emailed you the case notes."
"Thanks man, I owe you one." I clicked off my phone and checked my email, getting excited about what I found. The case was almost parallel to the Winters problem. **Will eventually add more detail here**
Sage had to have a partner, and I had to get answers. Surely her calls were currently monitored, so contacting her on the phone wasn't a good idea. I had to go to Seattle to get to the bottom of this.
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