Draft version - Russian Roulette - Family secrets

Ch. 176: Remember what I told you about panties?

They made their way to the wine cellar which held an impressive number of bottles. All in racks in the large room that basically looked like a wine library. He made her walk past whites, rosés, reds and bubbly on their way to the back of the room where he punched in a code on a panel.

"1704, that's our code."

"My birthday?"

"Has to be something we both remember."

The door next to the panel clicked open and Gareth pushed her in. Nervously, Mackenzie tried to adjust to the darkness inside and jumped a little when he closed the door behind them. His hand found her waist and pulled her to him.

"Why so nervous? You're perfectly safe with me." The whisper was sexy and intense with a dangerous undertone.

"Yeah, I'm sure that's what axe-murderers say too," she playfully replied. She was not scared to be with him in the dark, it was more the secrecy of it all that drove her insane.

Gareth had proven to be a master of surprises. She was sure that was his exceptional business mind looking at every angle to make the best sneak impact and then implementing that to a situation. Same way as he would win a business deal, he won her with his creativity.

Feeling her way with her hand along the wall as Gareth gently pushed her forward in the dark as if he had night vision, Mackenzie stumbled a little when the wall suddenly was not there anymore.

Without warning, the light was turned on. Soft spots illuminated a very large room with an enormous four-poster bed in the middle. Walls all around were covered by dark maroon drapes and candelabras stood around the room, though they were not lit.

The room felt sort of decadent, though it only had the bed there.

In a way she expected a porn film crew to jump out and yell 'surprise', because it had that steamy feel to it.

"What is this place?"

"You wanted a playroom, right?"

Mackenzie could not hold back her laugh. That was adorable, though she had expected a lot more from a playroom than a bed and some curtains. She did notice the different hooks and loops screwed into the posts of the bed.

Those made her heart race with the implied possibilities.

"We have a bed ourselves."

"But this room is soundproof, Dolly." He moved in close and whispered with a devious undertone, "Inhere I can make you scream in ecstasy and nobody will be the wiser."

"Oh..." Her mouth formed a shocked 'O' and then turned into a sly grin. She had not married a dummy, when he thought of things, he went all in. Though the room could use some upgrades if he wanted to let out the beast.

A bed would not be enough.

"Want to see the rest?"

The question took her by surprise.

There was more?

"Look here, let me show you how this works." Gareth showed her the panel on the wall. "First of all, you can only enter and leave this place by using the code I told you. If you by any chance need help getting out or in general need assistance in here, all numbers to the people knowing about this place is coded in and you can call them from this panel."

Gareth's long fingers pointed at the panel and showed the dropdown menu with all the features. One said phone list. She saw how he clicked it and names appeared. Jace, Phoenix, Devil, Richard, Anthony, Lorelai, Gerson, Rami...