“Which someone clearly violated.”

  “Yes, because that isn’t security footage. If it was, it would be black and white and from an aerial view. It certainly wouldn’t be in full color and focused in tight on the action.” Alejandro rose, paced.

  This was very bad news. People paid a lot of money to enjoy themselves at the club anonymously. Often high profile people. Stars, senators, diplomats. If that privacy was compromised and people found out… He didn’t want to think about what it might do to their business.

  “Would you excuse me for a moment?” he asked.

  “Yes.”

  Alejandro pulled his cell phone from his pocket and hit the speed dial button to reach his partner.

  “Del?” he asked after hearing a familiar voice rumble at the other end. “We have a situation you ought to know about.”

  “I’ll be there in five.”

  It was more like ten minutes later when Del sauntered in, buttoning his shirt and wearing a smile. His mussed hair explained why. Damn, it was barely past ten in the morning, but his buddy had already been getting busy. A glance at Shanna reminded him that he hadn’t been busy like that in longer than he cared to admit…and he knew exactly who he would like to change that fact with.

  “What’s up?”

  “Del, this is Shanna York. She is a professional ballroom dancer. Shanna, my business partner, Del.”

  Shanna held out a prim little hand for a professional shake. Del, being the Frenchman he was, enveloped her hand and brought it to his mouth for a soft kiss. “Enchanté.”

  No doubt he was enchanted, but this wasn’t a free-for-all.

  “Back off,” Alejandro growled in Del’s ear.

  His friend sent him a dark-eyed glance full of curiosity. Ali wasn’t saying a word. Del wasn’t stupid. He understood.

  When Shanna snatched her hand away, Ali had to repress a gratified smile. When had any woman ever pulled away from Del? Never. Usually, they threw themselves at his dark stubble, wealth, and bad attitude.

  “This is Shanna’s situation…”

  Ali clued Del in, and Shanna provided the flash drive for viewing again. After the clip ended, Del was gnashing his teeth and looking none too happy.

  “I wish I knew who to beat the shit out of for violating the rules.”

  “Me, too,” Alejandro agreed.

  “Okay, so you don’t know off the top of your heads who might have done it,” Shanna said. “I’m assuming you know in which room this…event took place?”

  “Yes,” the men answered together.

  “Maybe by figuring out who might have used the room in the last week, you can get a list of likely suspects. Do you keep records?”

  “For payment purposes, yes,” Del confirmed. “But that room, it’s likely been used at least fifty times since that recording was made.”

  Shanna did the math. “Ten…events in there a day?”

  With a shrug, Alejandro smiled. “We go through a lot of sheets.”

  Del laughed, the sound hearty and male.

  “Aren’t you two cute? Freshman Frat Boy and his sidekick, Horny.” She rolled her eyes. “I’m assuming you don’t want it known that someone is sneaking into your club and recording your guests’ most private actions without their consent or knowledge.”

  He and Del sobered up quickly. She was right. Business now. Pleasure…soon.

  Still, his mind took a little detour. Her shock about the room’s constant use was amusing, and it pleased him that she did not understand how addicting watching—and being watched—could be. Yet. He intended to introduce her to that delight.

  “Of course we don’t want our guests compromised,” Del cut in smoothly. “We could make a list of all the guests who have used this room in the last week, but I doubt it would help. In all honesty, I would never have believed any of our members would violate such a cardinal rule. The fee to join is steep enough to attract only the most serious. Our rules are absolute; there is no room for gray. We also have ways of ensuring that anyone who violates our rules finds themselves unwelcome at similar clubs elsewhere.”

  “This feels to me as if you were targeted specifically,” Alejandro said. “The note was delivered to your dressing room, so close to a major competition…”

  “That’s it! Do any of my competitors belong to your club?”

  Ali looked at Del, who looked back at him. That was the great thing about having been friends for nearly a decade. They could almost read each other’s minds. Answering the question wasn’t really giving away information…

  “No. Kristoff is the only ballroom dancer and he’s recent. He came highly recommended and has been very active since he joined.”

  “I’ll bet.” She snorted. “And here I thought he was your average, garden-variety gay man…”

  Del choked. Alejandro resisted the urge to laugh himself.

  Shanna swatted his shoulder. “Okay, clearly that’s untrue. You two can stop snickering now.”

  Alejandro couldn’t resist her ruffled feathers for another second. He was dying to soothe them…right before he melted her.

  “What about any of my former dance partners?” She directed the question to Alejandro. Not that she suspected Jonathan, but the first two hated her. “Do you know who they are?”

  “No and yes. None of your former partners are members.”

  “Hmm.” Shanna bit a pink, bee-stung lip as she thought. “Have any of your other members indicated this breach of privacy has been a problem for them?”

  “Hell no! Whoever took the footage isn’t one of your competitors, but it is someone who knows about your world of ballroom. About you and what you value.”

  “Yes,” Del agreed. “Someone who knew that competition was coming up and that the judges would punish you if such footage became public.”

  “Any ideas who among your members that could be?” Shanna prompted.

  Again, Ali looked at Del, who shook his head. “Not a clue. I could ask you the same question. Who are your enemies?”

  Shanna’s blue eyes darted around as if scanning her memories. “No one else I can think of. If it’s not a former partner or a competitor, I know of no one who hates me enough to want to destroy me.”

  “Well, if any guest was a friend of one of your former partners or competitors, we have no way of knowing.”

  “True…” Shanna nibbled nervously on a hangnail, then, as if realizing she’d done something less than perfect, she stopped. “What about your employees? Do any of them have access to video cameras and those rooms?”

  Del shook his head. “We have four types of employees: security, housekeeping, waitstaff, and bar crew. That’s it. They are paid to be invisible unless they’re needed. None of those employees should be anywhere near a room when it’s in use. All the watching and exhibiting is done for and with fellow members.”

  “So, another dead end…”

  “It appears,” Del agreed, then looked his way. His buddy had the glint of the devil in his eyes. “That we should draw this blackmailer out.”

  “Have Kristoff come back and do it again and hope someone makes another recording?” She sounded confused.

  “No,” Ali said, catching on to the idea. “Kristoff has been recorded. He has served his purpose. It is interesting that whomever recorded him chose to give the video not to him, but to you.”

  “Exactly,” Del chimed in. “The blackmailer is trying to get to you. He or she wants you to suffer. Kristoff is just one avenue.”

  “So what are you suggesting I do?”

  One more time, Alejandro and Del exchanged a meaningful glance.

  “I think, querida, he’s suggesting that I arrange a scene for you here and see if we can catch him red-handed in the act of filming you.”

  Shanna’s jaw dropped. “Are you insane!! You think I should come here and get naked and…”

  “Spend a little time showing our members what you enjoy,” Alejandro supplied.

  “I can’t give this creep any more ammunition to ruin me.”

  “He already has everything he needs to discredit you with the judges. But I do not think he’s actually trying to prevent you from competing, as much as he’s attacking you. This feels personal, not business related. If you want to find out who is behind this, you must…expose yourself.”

  “I’m not into that!”

  After last night, Alejandro knew better, but now wasn’t the time to remind her. “Pretend, if you must. But I believe the plan will work.”

  Shanna hesitated, as if she was pondering his words. “If I agree to this crazy scheme, can I do…whatever it is alone?”

  Alejandro couldn’t resist the grin spreading across his face. “Plenty of our members would jump through rings of fire to see you touch yourself.”

  “Wait. You mean masturbate for an audience?” She turned terribly white under her usual golden glow.

  “Even the thought of it makes me hard,” he whispered for her ears alone.

  “Absolutely not!”

  “No? Then I will be more than happy to assist you,” Alejandro volunteered.

  “I’ll bet.”

  “It would be more believable…and more blackmail-worthy,” Del chimed in. “I will hide in the room and watch all doors, windows, and passersby—see if I can identify our camera-wielding asshole.”

  Her jaw dropped. “It’s bad enough to contemplate getting naked with the Latin Lover, here. But having you watch? No.”

  That horror on her face was nothing but a lie. Her suddenly hard nipples told him that. She was scared—of herself, of him, of whatever was fueling her ambition. Suddenly, he wanted to get to the bottom of it all. He wanted to learn her.

  “What troubles you? Is the idea too arousing?”

  Shanna sent Ali a hard glare. “It’s too weird. And it won’t work.”

  “What are your better ideas?”

  Pausing, Shanna bit her lip. Oh, yes, she was thinking her options through.

  A few moments later, she gritted her teeth. “I don’t have a better idea. But there’s got to be one.”

  “This guy will return to the scene of the crime if we dangle the right bait in front of him. Catching him in the act of creating or delivering a video is the only way to be certain he’s the guilty party.”

  Shanna’s firm ass outlined in white capri pants that made Ali’s tongue melt as she paced the floor and contemplated in a silence broken only by her high-heels.

  “God, I can’t believe I’m actually considering this. I must be out of my mind.”

  “It may be the only way to figure out who’s trying to screw up your career,” Del supplied.

  “Which is the only reason I haven’t already said no.”

  “Would you feel more comfortable if I showed you the room and all the places Del can hide in order to catch this bastard?”

  Del sent him a knowing smile.

  She nodded. “I’m not sure this will work, but maybe if I see the room, something will occur to me.”

  “You two come up with the plan and let me know. I need to get back to my…company.” Del clapped him on the back, kissed Shanna’s hand again, and disappeared upstairs.

  In charged silence, Alejandro led Shanna down a hall and up another set of stairs, to the play rooms. At the second door on the left, he paused and eased it open into a dark, enclosed space.

  Beyond the handful of comfortable chairs and a long, cushy sofa lay the far corner of the room, which comprised the stage, currently devoid of guests. The muted lights in that corner shined down on a sleek bed with four chrome posts and matching restraints.

  “Oh.” Her voice fluttered beside him.

  Alejandro would bet this week’s take that Shanna was envisioning herself on that stage, her pussy shoved full of his cock—and a rapt audience watching. He’d bet next week’s take that she was uncomfortably aroused.

  “Other members sit here or look through the windows at the far end of the room and watch the scene. From the clip you showed me, I suspect your blackmailer sat in the room, here.” Alejandro pointed to a small chair in the shadows, a mere three feet from the end of the bed. “He either used a zoom lens or moved the chair closer to the bed to get the tight penetration shots. But we won’t know for sure until we catch him.”

  “I understand.” Her voice trembled even more.

  Alejandro smiled to himself as he turned and pointed to a bare wall. “Through here is a doorway, accessible only from the security area. See, no knob on this side. We can position the cameras to watch this chair. Del can either monitor the room from the bank of cameras or from the chairs in the far corner.”

  “I see.” She cleared her throat. “If you have security cameras viewing this room, can’t you review the footage and see if anyone holding a video camera is in the shot?”

  He shook his head. “They point only at the stage areas. Our primary concern here is for the safety of the players. We make sure everything that happens on stage is consensual. If there’s a hint that something is not, we bust in. But we do not regularly monitor the audience. For this scene only, we will change the camera positioning.”

  “Wouldn’t the blackmailer be able to spot Del if he was watching from one of those chairs?” She gestured across the room.

  “Come with me.” Alejandro held out his hand to her.

  Shanna looked at it, then looked at him, before reluctantly placing her hand in his. Immediately, sparks danced in his palm, down his fingers. God, he could hardly wait to get his hands on this woman.

  For the moment, he led her across the room instead to a dark pair of padded armchairs. He gestured for Shanna to sit in one. He plunked down in the other.

  “In this corner, the light is too dim for anyone in the audience to discern more than a shadow. Players cannot see back in this corner. It’s a good place for Del to hide, if you want him nearby.”

  “It’s dark.”

  A click and a whoosh alerted Alejandro to the fact the players’ stage door had opened. He glanced at his watch. Noon. Right on time.

  In walked a broad man dressed in leather pants, a half mask—and nothing else. Colorful tattoos covered his left arm. In his right hand, he clutched a woman’s fingers.

  As small as he was big, as delicate as he was strong, the petite redhead followed him to the bed. She wore a flowing, floral skirt that ended at mid-thigh, a button-down blouse in a soft ivory, and a pair of pink high-heeled sandals.

  “Are you wearing a bra, slut?” he asked.

  “No, Master.”

  “Show me.”

  Without pause, she unbuttoned her blouse to reveal a flat stomach, fair skin, and pink nipples that stood straight out and begged for attention.

  Shanna gasped. “We shouldn’t be watching this.”

  “They come here knowing that being watched is not only possible, but probable. It turns them on,” he whispered. “Shh.”

  “Good,” the Master in leather praised, petting one of her breasts in reward. “Are you wearing panties?”

  “No, Master.”

  “Show me.”

  The small woman lifted her skirt to reveal slender thighs and a pussy devoid of all hair. Beside Alejandro, Shanna tensed.

  “Excellent.” The Master cupped her mound and fondled her. “Who do you belong to?”

  “You, Master.”

  “Who decides what’s right for your body?”

  “You, Master.”

  “Take off your skirt, lie back, and spread your legs.”

  The woman complied without hesitation. Even at this distance, once her thighs parted, Alejandro could see a little silver bar passing through the hood of her clit.

  “She’s…pierced.” Shanna sounded shocked.

  “Yes,” Ali answered. “He marked her. Shh.”

  “Pretty,” said the man in leather as he stared. “Has it healed?”

  “Yes, Master.”

  “Does it arouse you when you walk?”

  “Yes, Master.”

  “Do you rub yourself and make yourself come?”

  “No, Master. You did not give me permission.”

  “That’s right. I didn’t. You’re wet.”

  “Yes, Master.”

  “Do you need to be fucked?”

  “Yes, Master. Please,” the redhead pleaded.

  The large man said nothing. He merely walked to all four corners of the bed, restraining his submissive into the built-in cuffs.

  “As a reward for your obedience, you will be well fucked.” The Master snapped his fingers.

  In walked another man, completely naked. Young, blond, somewhat thin—but very well hung.

  “This is Micah. He will fuck you now. If you please him and obey me, you may suck my cock as a reward. Do you understand?”

  “Yes, Master.” Her smile said the idea excited her.

  Shanna gripped the arms of her chair and stared at the trio with wide eyes. “She’s going to let a complete stranger have sex with her just because he said so?”

  “He wants to watch her be fucked, and she has given him domain over her body. She obeys his commands. That is their relationship. Shh.”

  By now, the blond man had a condom on his thick cock and was easing onto the bed.

  “Micah,” the man barked. “Test that piercing first. With your tongue.”

  The younger man smiled. “With pleasure.”

  “I will tell you when you have permission to come, slut.”

  “Yes, Master,” she panted as Micah took his first swipe across her clit with his tongue and groaned.

  The woman lifted her hips to Micah, who used the opportunity to fit his arms under her thighs and grip her, holding her wet folds against his mouth. He licked her unmercifully, insistent lashes with his tongue, and toyed with the little bar piercing the hood of her clit.

  Master shucked off his pants, pulled out a wide cock with a pierced head, and stroked slowly as he watched.

  Soon, the redhead was flushed and panting, mewling and pleading for release.

  “Stop,” said the Master.

  Micah lifted his head slowly, his lips wet and glossy.

  The woman whimpered.

  “Are you ready for Micah to fuck you?”

  “Yes, Master. Please, yes!”

  “Good girl. When I give you permission, you may show me how pretty you are when you come as Micah fucks you.”