Maybe she would let Alex order for her. He always knew what she liked and when he’d really been her Dom, she could relax and enjoy it. She had…issues. She’d had them all her life, but those years when she’d been married to Alex, they had been under control because he’d been in control.
Wouldn’t it be nice to have permission to enjoy her life again? Some of her peers would say it wasn’t healthy to seek another’s permission, but Eve had learned long ago that it didn’t necessarily matter how a person found happiness so long as they did. And it was beyond healthy to acknowledge one’s weaknesses and to seek a remedy to them.
“Earth to Eve?”
She couldn’t concentrate today. “Sorry. I was thinking about something.”
He gave her a grin. “You were thinking about that bugger again, weren’t ya?”
“I’ve been thinking about a lot of things.” She looped her arm through his because while the parking lot was well taken care of, it was still a minefield when it came to five-inch heels.
“Do you have any idea how far you’ve come in the last couple of months?” Liam modified his walk for her, giving her balance against the slight uphill grade. “When I first came on, you wouldn’t touch anyone, not for any reason.”
“Hey, I’ve learned to trust you guys.” She wasn’t sure when it had really started, but she thought it might have begun with watching Sean fall in love. And then Adam and Jake, and now Li. She grinned up at him. “I figure if you idiots can get your shit together, I should probably get mine.”
Liam laughed. “See. There you go. Ya never used to joke. It looks good on ya, darlin’. We love you, Evie. There’s nothing we want more than for you to get your shit together.”
She gave his arm a squeeze. Having these men around had been a wonderful thing, but she really thought it was their women who were bringing her out of her shell. They’d all been through hell, and they were still standing. Eve was still here, still kicking. They found their strength. She was going to find hers, too.
It was time. Alex had changed. She had changed. The question was could they still be together?
The door to Sanctum opened and Ryan Church stepped out. Eve could hear loud music blasting from inside just for a moment before the door closed again.
“Are you having a party?” Eve asked. Sanctum didn’t open until eight or nine o’clock at night, depending on the day. It was just a little past two in the afternoon. No one except staff should be here, and from what she understood, Ryan ran a tight ship. He was a former CEO who had run into hard times. He’d taken the job of Dom in Residence and manager of Sanctum after his business had gone under.
Ryan had a grim handsomeness to his face. She pegged his age at somewhere around forty. He’d been in the lifestyle most of his adult years, and she’d heard a rumor that he’d even kept a permanent submissive at one point, but she’d left when his fortunes had turned. “Yeah, I guess you could call it a party. A party of one. I’m sorry to call you, but we don’t know how to deal with him. I’ve tried talking to him, but he just ignores me. I tried sending him a couple of subs, thinking maybe they could change his mood, but he just scared the fuck out of them. I now have three crying subs and my bar manager just quit on me because he says he can’t handle Guns N’ Roses. Does he do this often?”
Eve looked at Liam, who shrugged. Obviously he didn’t know what the hell was happening. “Does who do what often?”
“Ian. He was here when I got to work an hour ago. None of us were supposed to be here until six this evening, but I wanted to go over the scenes for the weekend. There’s a really complex one Jake wants to do and with Serena pregnant, I wanted to make damn sure every piece of equipment is in full repair. I brought the subs in so we could test everything, but there was already a scene playing out on the stage. Ian has got that Scotch bottle in complete submission, I tell you.”
“Ian Taggart is here, and he’s drunk at two o’clock in the afternoon?” Ian was always in control. She’d never once seen him out of it.
“As far as I can tell. He’s not exactly talking much. He growls a lot. Cusses. That man has a mouth on him. And it’s a good thing he’s the boss because he’s worked his way through a bottle of Macallan thirty-year-old Scotch. Do you have any idea how much that costs?”
A whole lot. What the hell? She looked to Liam. “Do you know of anything that could have set him off?”
Liam shook his head. “No idea, but he won’t want me to see him like this. He might be able to handle it with you.”
Because she was a sub and his longtime friend, but Li was right. He would be horrified at anyone but her and Alex seeing him in less than perfect control. He might still lash out at her, but she could handle it.