Chapter 1: Introduction
The skyscraper called Satin Pleasure loomed against the horizon. Its smooth glass windows silently India-rubbered the cloudless blue sky. It stood there with the posture of a well-established lady, celebrated by the masses that went in and out of its entrance every day.
Preston's wealthiest daughter hardly ever entered a building that she didn't own—Davina May, CEO and sole proprietor of Satin Pleasure, the woman who brought the city's fetish scene to the forefront.
As her black Mercedes quietly slipped into a vacant parking space, she glanced over her shoulder, staring at her Nigerian maid, Ola, through the rear windshield. The irony that her potential undoing lurked among her employees was not lost on her. With her dark brown hair perfectly coifed and the cut of her silk blouse accentuating her slender figure, she took a deep breath, steadying herself as she stepped out of the vehicle, locking it with the click of a button.
"Welcome back, Mrs.
May." The security guard at the entrance greeted her, ever so slightly genuflecting with a mixture of genuine warmth and fear.
"Thank you, Daniel." Davina replied with a curt nod, tapping her access card onto the RFID sensor. "Anything interesting happen while I was gone?" Davina asked, curious about any work-related events that occurred during her absence.
Daniel hesitated, considering how best to phrase his response. "There's a new employee in the administrative office, Mrs. May, but other than that, everything has been business as usual."
"Ah, I see," she responded, setting a brisk pace. "What can you tell me about this new employee?"
"Well," he tried his best to recall, "she's a Nigerian lady, very polite. I believe her name is Ola."
Davina froze.
"Ola, you say."
Daniel, sensing her concern, fell silent. He shuffled his feet nervously, unsure if his words had delivered some unintentional affront.
Fighting off the uneasy chill that now blanketed her, Davina gave him a dismissive shake of her head. "No matter. Please let me know if there's anything noteworthy."
"Of course, Mrs. May," Daniel replied, relieved that her irritation appeared to dissipate.
"I'm sure she'll be just fine."
Dismissing the encounter with Daniel from her mind, Davina brushed past the glass entrance doors, stiletto heels clicking rhythmically as she crossed the Satin Pleasure lobby. The airiness of the foyer, dominated by a rambunctious thirty-foot fountain, tingled her skin.
She smiled, welcoming the faint scent of chlorine emanating from the water feature as the droplets cast splattering shadows across the pristine white Italian marble floor. That faint scent signified cleanliness, order – a stark contrast to the thoughts that now clouded her mind. Ola, a Nigerian lady, was merely a new staff member, she insisted, telling herself that the mere coincidence of her maid's first name held little consequence. But the nagging doubt had already grated away at the edges of her focus.
Unable to concentrate as she took her seat behind the resplendent ebony desk that occupied a third of her corner office, a nagging thought prickled like an untended hangnail. Was the hand of fate toying with her?
The telephone on her workspace trilled, piercing the ambient office audio landscape. Shaking off the unsettling thought of Ola, Davina answered, the warmth in her voice replacing uncomfortable hesitation with professional confidence.
“Davina May speaking.”
“Ah, hello, Davina,” interjected a silky-smooth voice. “This is Gideon, from Stallion Enterprises.”
A notorious industry player, Stallion was both a respected competitor and a potential ally. Davina continued, “Good to hear from you, Gideon. I trust your trip to Dubai went well?”
A wisp of cool amusement worked its way into Davina's ear as Gideon responded, his tone languid.