How hard had it been to go into that world at such a young age? To give up something so normal and natural as properly feeding her body. Who had told her she needed to be someone else in order to make it in her industry?
Or she’d been ruthless even with herself. She’d had a goal and done whatever it took to achieve it.
He was getting drawn in by a sweet face and forgetting that this woman was an actress at heart, and she knew how to manipulate a man.
“Michael? Are you listening?”
He turned at Julian’s question. “I’m sorry. She looks different.”
“Like I said, I believe she’s adapting to her circumstances,” Julian replied.
“Or she’s trying to find herself again.” Finn seemed to need to fill the optimist role in the play they found themselves in. “Look, Mr. Malone, I agree with my Master that we should look into Ms. Jones. She is close to Danielle, and she’s gotten close to our daughter, Chloe. Some odd things have been happening around her. But I don’t agree that she’s some kind of monster. She’s reserved and a bit distant. Given what she’s gone through, I can understand that.”
“What she’s gone through is all of her own money and a good portion of her husband’s,” Julian said flatly.
“Then where is it?” Finn argued, proving their relationship wasn’t so simple as Master and sub. Finn was willing to challenge his Master, though in this case Michael thought he was behaving more like a spouse. “I was closer to Nicki than you were, and she loved her sister.”
“She did not approve of Vanessa’s marriage. I remember that,” Julian countered.
Finn didn’t seem ready to back down. “Yes, but not for the reasons you think. She thought George Benedict took advantage of her sister.”
Michael listened in, the argument between spouses telling him a lot about the dynamics in play. “Was she close to her sister?”
“They talked on the phone quite a bit in the last years of Nicki’s life,” Finn said. “After their mother passed, Vanessa and Nicki reconnected.”
“Did the mother not approve of Vanessa’s lifestyle?” He’d read a bit about her family but liked to learn some things organically.
“Their mother was extremely religious. She approved of very little, including Nicki working for Danielle. She was an angry, bitter woman. Nicki changed to a less restrictive church, and her mother cut her off,” Finn explained. “So neither of them had much to do with their mother later in life, and the father walked out very early on.”
So she had no strong male role models and had grown up in an environment where sex was more than taboo.
“What type of men does she like?”
Julian’s brow rose. “Well, from what I can tell, eighty-year-old billionaires. Though there is a rumor that she was having several affairs with young members of her husband’s household.”
“You’re going to get in so much trouble,” Finn said with a sigh. He turned to Michael. “Here’s what I know. I do believe she’s straight and not bi. I believe she does not have a good relationship with her body. I’m not sure why she’s insistent on training in D/s because I think she’s terrified of all of it.”
“Which is precisely why I’m suspicious of her,” Julian added. “She wants access to The Club for some reason, and it’s not that she wants to fit in. I’ve already heard that argument from Danielle. We have many employees who do not play.”
So figuring out why she wanted to train would be his first order of business. “How would you suggest I approach her?”
Finn sighed. “I’m going to end up in the doghouse, too, aren’t I?” He seemed to not need a reply as he moved on. “I would pretend to not know who she is. I would focus on making her feel safe. I don’t think an over-the-top hard approach is going to work with her. I think you should ease her into the relationship, though if you have a chance to bring her any kind of sexual pleasure, that might be a way in. I’ve overheard her talking to Dani about how long it’s been for her.”
“If you disregard the rumors,” Julian added.
“Charm, then?” He could manage a bit of that. He would do what he always did when he needed a little charm. Pretend to be his brother. Not that he himself couldn’t get a woman in bed. He could, but JT was the one who was charming. Women flocked around him, happy to be in his company. Michael started to talk about his job and scared many of them off.
He needed to come across as pleasant, friendly, the kind of guy a woman could tell all her secrets to.
“I think kindness will work better with her in the beginning, and then you’ll need to figure out how to handle her in the dungeon,” Finn continued. “You’re attracted to her.”