“Ivy and I have thoughts on the colors,” Tate responded. “We’re thinking, maybe we don’t go all black this time?”
I shrugged. “As long as y’all don’t turn the place into a bubblegum bouncy castle, I don’t care. You know our budget—and you know when to let the brat rest.”
“Of course, Sir.” He made a note on his iPad.
Kingsley drew a hand over the banister on the stairs. That was another relief. The fire hadn’t spread to this area to the point where we had to install a new staircase.
We left the lobby together and headed down the hall to the right, and our next stop was the dressing room. It was fairly empty, not to mention underused. Well, members used the facilities, but most showed up dressed the way they wanted to, or they had no issues shedding clothes in front of others. Third option—they had a guest room on the third floor.
“Mild water damage to the floors. Sinks and toilets work,” I said.
Kingsley nodded pensively. “And lighting?”
“We’ll know on Wednesday,” I replied. “But if we have to redraw the wiring or whatever, is that something you can do, or should I call an electrician?”
Not that we didn’t already have two of them on proverbial speed dial for all the work that needed to be done in the club area. They’d stripped the whole area of old electrics, from wires to sockets.
“No, I can do that,” Kingsley said. “It’s nothing I don’t already do at work.”
That was a relief. I didn’t wanna assume, considering he worked mainly with elevator technology these days. At the same time, he’d once been in charge of a whole crew of technicians and engineers on board destroyers and carriers.
We moved on to the kitchen next, where four of us would be working full-time this week. Greer and Colt had taken time off work to help River and Shay tear out the old cupboards and flooring. We had minor smoke damage and some water damage, but the latter was taken care of. New flooring would be delivered soon.
Wood was out, ceramic tiles were in.
An old house was a fucking headache already, without a fire adding to the shit pile.
“Comin’ through!” Colt picked up a stack of boards and one countertop, so we got out of the way to let him pass.
“Are we still drawing power from the carport?” Tate asked, nodding at the spotlight stands we’d put here and there.
“Garage, patio, and a temporary post out front,” I said.
“Jesus, this is blue-collar porn right here.” Tate eyed Colt’s utility pants. “They’re almost like yours, Master.” He glanced at mine too.
“Quit objectifying us.” I frowned. “We have feelings, you know.”
Tate smirked and lifted a brow. “Turn around for me, baby. Just once.”
I snorted and pulled him in so I could ruffle his hair. He hated that.
“You ogre!” he yelled, shoving at me. “Oh my God, are you twelve? Get your donut fingers away from me!”
I laughed and almost bumped into the doorway.
“The hell did you call him?” Kingsley went straight for the Dom card.
We liked to play it every now and then.
“Oh, come on!” Tate wrenched free and stared incredulously at his Owner.
I grinned and glanced over at Shay, only to find him giving me a similar “Are you serious, Daddy?” look.
I was always serious. I was the most serious guy I knew.
The rest of our little tour was sexier, because Tate wore a ball gag now.
Same lighting issue in the supply closet next to the kitchen, and in my office that followed. We’d know more after the inspection, but if we had any issues, Kingsley could take care of them.
So those were the minor problems. Those were the rooms along the exterior wall that’d been farthest away from the fire. Across the hallway was another matter. For one, when I opened a door, the opposite wall was missing.
We’d never understood what the previous owners had done to the place. Not only had they created interior rooms without windows in what’d once been a ballroom, but they’d done a shitty job of it. Because when River and I had bought the estate, it’d been in horrible condition. And we hadn’t been able to afford fixing all the problems, so the interior rooms had ended up being storage for kinky furniture and sometimes office space.
But yeah, so all those rooms were nearly gone now. The damaged walls had been torn down. With the walls remaining, we’d keep the hallway that went alongside the kitchen and so on, because nobody wanted a kitchen and an office directly adjacent to the club. And the rest would be club space with semi-open seating areas.
Proper seating areas were the one thing we’d been missing in how the club had looked before. We hadn’t had the space for it. Now we did.
Kingsley started taking notes too, particularly for our bar, which had to move.