Free In the Den by Sierra Cartwright

Mistress Catrina?”
    “How—?”
    “My brilliant deductive reasoning skills.” Gregorio crossed his long legs. He grinned. “Susan was here last week with a new guy. You were cordial to them both. To my knowledge, you haven’t played with anyone other than Mistress Catrina recently.”
    “No one should know about that.”
    “It’s a small community, Boss. Someone saw you in the hallway with her. And the tension between the two of you when she left that night erased any doubt. And since she hasn’t been back, I can’t think of anyone else whose name you’d be looking for on the reservation system. Yep. There’s no one else you’d be smitten by, well, I mean if you were smitten—which you’re not—since men don’t get smitten.”
    “Do you want to shut the fuck up now?”
    “Oh, hell no. I’m just getting warmed up.”
    Gregorio grinned, pissing Damien off even more.
    Damien breathed out, forcing himself to relax.
    Contemplatively, he held his glass in his palm, warming the brandy. The ritual itself helped settle him.
    A minute later, he brought the snifter closer and swirled again, releasing more of the alcohol’s aroma. As always, he appreciated the sight of the liquid clinging mysteriously to the inside of the glass.
    A few seconds later, he took a sip. The liquid gold tasted of smoke and fruit, and it warmed on its way down.
    “Good idea?”
    “Indeed.”
    Gregorio took a small drink. He closed his eyes and sighed. “I don’t care what you say. This stuff can make anything better.”
    “Especially when someone else pays for it,” Damien said wryly.
    “Especially then,” Gregorio agreed.
    Following Gregorio’s lead, Damien pushed away from the desk and relaxed against his chairback. He realized this was the first time in two weeks that he’d managed to release any tension without first spending an hour at the gym.
    “So, you played with her outside of the Den.”
    “Mind your own business.”
    “More than once?”
    “You know goddamn well I’m not going to answer that.”
    “Have you called her? Or are you waiting for Mistress Catrina to fall under your spell? Wait. No. Holy shit…” Gregorio uncrossed his legs and leaned forward. “Unless you subbed for her.”
    Over the top of the snifter, Damien regarded his second-in-command until the other man shrugged.
    “Never mind that.” Undeterred, Gregorio continued, “She subbed for you, which meant something since she’s a Domme and sometimes shows up with multiple pets. And now you want her to become a sub for you. So, let me guess. You issued an ultimatum, you want her to do things on your terms. Ergo, you can’t give in and call her.”
    “Ergo? No one really uses that word.”
    “Never mind.” Gregorio nodded. “You have been waiting for her to come to you. Only she hasn’t. And that means this is a unique situation for you.” He took another drink then said, “How’d I do?”
    “I’m relieved you’ll be able to get a job as a psychic advisor when I give you your walking papers.”
    He expected Gregorio to be at least a little chastened.
    Instead, the man all but crowed. “I did that well?”
    “It’s time for you to get back to work,” Damien said.
    Gregorio grinned and raised his empty glass in a silent toast before leaving the office and closing the door behind him.
    Contemplatively, Damien ignored all the screens demanding his attention, and instead, stared out of the window.
    With the frost on the trees, it looked fucking cold. And since the atmosphere was so dry, he doubted it would snow. Now, knowing Catrina wasn’t planning to attend, he wished he’d stayed home. He had no desire to interact with anyone. And if he remained in his suite, he knew he’d brood.
    Another sip of the brandy warmed his insides. In selecting the beverage, Gregorio had made an excellent choice.
    Right now, it annoyed the crap out of Damien that Gregorio was right about so many things.
    After Damien had finished the drink, he