But Montgomery was busy looking down at the thick, cream-colored invitation he’d picked up from the tray after he set it on the long table.
He handed me a second invitation. “I’ll take you back to the room. I have things to attend to today, so you can finish your meal there and prepare yourself for the evening activities.”
I took the invitation with only the slightest hesitation, hastily reading to see what tonight would have in store for me.
At the bottom were instructions: You will serve your master at his feet all night long as his obedient pet.
11
Montgomery
I wondered what would be worse. The Initiations or waiting for them. Killing time in awkward silence in our prison cell was far from easy. The tick of the clock that sat on the bedside table as each second passed had me fighting the urge to throw it against the wall.
Grace seemed to be handling everything all right as she spent most of the day curled up in a chair reading a book.
I busied myself with my laptop trying to keep up with work. I was glad I had decided to check in because my father was already stepping in and trying to take over deals and projects that I was overseeing.
I needed to mark my territory and make sure that the staff knew that though I would be out of the office for 109 days, I was still around. And since it was just a matter of time until the business would be mine fully, they would be wise to not overstep or allow my father to control them. This would be a good time to truly see who I would be able to trust or not when this entire process was over.
A tray of meats and cheese had been brought to us for lunch, and since we had a bathroom connected to our room, we really had no reason to leave the room yet. I think we were both grateful to have some quiet time to be alone with our thoughts and just mentally prepare for whatever the night would bring us.
We both nearly jumped from our seats when there was a knock on the door and Mrs. H entered the room with two boxes in her arms.
“I have your attire for the night,” she said, looking at me with a smile and walking past Grace as if she didn’t exist.
“Thank you, Mrs. H,” I said for both Grace and myself since I figured Grace would remain quiet.
Mrs. H shot a quick look at Grace and then focused her attention back on me. “Good luck tonight.” She quickly left the room without saying another word.
“I don’t know why that woman hates me,” Grace said as she closed her book and placed it on the table beside her.
“That’s just Mrs. H. It takes her a while to warm up to people. You have to remember that I’ve known her my entire life.”
Grace stood up and walked over to the boxes that Mrs. H had placed on the bed. “I wonder what expensive gown and jewels they have planned for me tonight.”
I fought the urge to laugh and had to also try not to smile. I had a feeling Grace was about to lose her mind, and I couldn’t help but find the coming surprise to be hilarious… in a very dark and twisted way.
I must have not done as good of a job as I hoped hiding my amusement.
“What?” she asked. “What’s so funny?”
I simply shook my head and waited for her to open her box. I didn’t know exactly what would be inside of it, but I had a pretty good idea.
As she opened the box, her wide eyes and her, “What the fuck?” had me bursting into laughter.
She pulled out a black collar and a gold leash. Her mouth was wide open, and her fingers held her evening’s attire like they were on fire.
She looked at me with stunned horror. “Is this some kind of joke?”
I kept laughing and shook my head.
“Why are you laughing?” she shouted. “They can’t seriously expect me to wear this? And where is the actual clothing?” She looked back inside the box as if hoping to have missed something. “They want me to be naked? Are you fucking kidding me!”
My belly hurt from laughing. I was such a cruel bastard, but her reaction was priceless, and I had a really sick sense of humor.
She tossed the collar and leash onto the bed and yanked open my box. “And what do you have to wear tonight?” When she pulled out a black tuxedo, bowtie, and polished black shoes, she rolled her eyes. “I can’t believe this shit. You get to dress up, and I have to be a… what… a dog? A naked dog?”
“You didn’t expect this to be easy, now did you?” I asked, finally able to stop laughing. “And it’s not like you haven’t been naked in front of the Order before.”