Masks That We Wear

"Save it!" he snapped, deciding to cut straight to the point. "Are you having an affair?"

She went white as a bedsheet. "Why would you say such a thing!"

He reached for her coat and ripped it open, revealing the white miniskirt dress that she was wearing, high heels, and the diamond choker. "Call it a hunch." He held up the carton of birth control pills that had her name and prescription on it. "Is this why you're taking these? Because you're sleeping around on me" he demanded, shaking the half-used carton at her. "I found them in the bathroom! We were supposed to be trying for a baby and I thought that we were doing that with all the sex that we've been having lately!"

"I-I-I can explain..." Mandy said weakly. "I swear to you that I love you with all of my-"

"SAVE IT!" Brent thundered, his heart breaking and tears of betrayal welling up as he shouted. "Save it for the lawyers..." he mumbled as he moved to walk past her to get his phone.

"BRENT PLEASE!" Mandy fell to her knees before him, clutching his slacks and sobbing. "I'M BEING FORCED TO DO THIS!" She shouted up at him before leaning her head against his leg and crying.

Silence reigned as Brent looked down at her, dumbfounded. Out of all the possible explanations, this was one that he didn't even consider. The fact that she raised her voice to even get it out shocked him. In all the years that he'd known her, she never once yelled. Now, here she was, on her knees blubbering. "Okay..." he said at last, very slowly as he collected his wits and checked his emotion. "I'll bite. How?"

"You know that I have no family," she sniffled, trying to wipe her nose with the back of her hand. "I grew up virtually penniless. My brain was the only thing that I had going for me. It was the only way to get out of poverty. I got a couple of scholarships, I was doing community college over the summers in between high school semesters. When I aged out of foster care I had to get a job that would pay for college. I bounced between jobs while trying to pay for school and get into an ivy-league university. I had a past and pictures that were going to keep me out. I turned to stripping to pay for bills and this man, I only know his name as Mister Falcon, cleared up my past and got me in to Harvard with all of my expenses paid."

She looked up at him and he could see the pain and hurt in her eyes. His heart broke in a different way. "He... he gave me ten years. Ten years to get my degree and do whatever I wanted to do. Then he'd call in the debt by making me work it off. I... I'd thought that I'd have to work in his company or something. Not... THIS!" she gestured to herself, indicating her slave-slut getup. She looked up at him with tear stained eyes. "I met you and it was like you were sent from God to get me out of this! I gladly moved down here to be with you. Your family took me in like I was one of their own. I got everything I ever wanted through you. I thought that I'd be free of Mister Falcon but then he showed up here and forced me to service him... to service his clients..." Her chest heaved and she started sobbing once again. She buried her face into her hands. "I don't wanna do this anymore!" she wailed.

"Why didn't you tell me all of this before?" Brent asked, confused, the hurt still evident in his voice.

"Because he threatened to ruin my life... and yours. He'd release all the evidence of my soiled past to Harvard, to you, to your family, to our church. I'd be right back out on the street where I started!" Mandy shuddered and hugged herself. She started rocking in shock. "I don't wanna do that again... I can't do that again!" She looked up at him. "I did it to protect you and your family! I was doing it for us! I couldn't tell you because he has people here watching me who will tell him!" Mandy then went into exact details as to how Mister Falcon was controlling her and how he was getting more brazen in his blackmail to the point that she'd be wondering when this confrontation was going to happen.

Brent lowered himself down to kneel in front of her and took her into his arms, hugging her close. Mandy lost any remaining composure and broke down again. She cried long and hard into his shoulder as he gently rocked her back and forth, making soft, soothing noises into her ear. "I'm sorry..."" he croaked at last. "I'm so sorry that I even considered calling a divorce lawyer... I just... my heart just broke when I thought you were cheating on me."

"No..." Mandy shook her head. "No... it's not your fault. Everything is my fault. I should've told you when we first met..."

"You obviously had your reasons." Brent said, kissing her on the forehead. "So I take it you're heading out to see him now."

Mandy nodded, wiping her eyes with her hand. "He has another client for me," she added sadly. "I'm late... he's going to punish me..."

"I'm going with you." Brent said. "I can and I will," he said, placing a finger on her lips when she got a fearful look in her eyes and started to protest. "This... Falcon... isn't the only guy around with contacts. Or money for that matter. I'll just talk to him man-to-man and we'll see about getting this over with." He kissed her, this time passionately on the lips. "I love you, sweetheart. Your problems are my problems and we'll solve them together. Just no more secrets between us, okay?"

*

Mandy swallowed hard, her heart thudding in her chest and her hand squeezing her husband's so hard that her knuckles were white. She didn't dare let go of him out of fear that he'd suddenly leave her. She kept her hand in his during the entire time he drove her to Mister Falcon's building downtown. Now she couldn't help but stare in wide-eyed fright at her owner while Brent led her into the office.

Mister Falcon was glaring at them both in obvious anger over folded hands as he leaned on his desk. "My client has been kept waiting to the point that I had to offer him another girl," he said to Mandy. His eyes flicked over to Brent. "And I see that you obviously told your husband of our arrangement."

"I'm here to tell you that your arrangement with my wife is over," Brent said with just as much ire in his voice, glaring back with equal hatred.

"Okay, fine." Falcon said, spreading his hands as if acquiescing while leaning back in his chair. "It's over. She can go on about her life. However..." his voice took on a dangerous tilt, "if she chooses to do that, I'm going to release enough information to destroy not only her, but you as well."

"I've been threatened by far worse than you," Brent smiled.

"Maybe, but I've been at this game a lot longer than you have," Falcon replied calmly. "We can start with your wife registering under false pretenses to Harvard. Add in a dash of somewhat doctored evidence that she cheated on some of her exams along with pictures of her partying with classmates her senior year of High School along with pictures of her at her side jobs. Her alumni status will be immediately revoked and there will be an investigation that will invalidate her degree. All that time and effort she put in? Now wasted. With her educational credits now gone, you'll be forced to fire her from her position at your business and won't that cause quite a scandal among the upper elite here in Dallas? We haven't even got into what this will do inside of your church community and I imagine that the political fallout for your father's career will be disastrous,"

"Enough! Please!" Mandy cried out, tears streaming down her face. "I'll work! I promise! Just please; leave Brent out of this!"

"I can't, you brought him here." Flacon snapped at her. "And now I own him just as I own you."

"How much?" Brent asked, reaching inside of his jacket for his checkbook.

"For what?"

"To cover her debt. Name a price." Brent said with a smile, clicking a pen to get ready to write.

Falcon shook his head and laughed. "You can't afford her."

"Every man has a price. You know who my family is and therefore know how ungodly rich we are."

"You misunderstand me," Falcon gave him an evil smile. "I have a price and it's her. I can make far more money off of her serving out her debt than I can with you just paying the amount of her tuition with interest." He took out his smart phone and punched in a few buttons before putting it back into the inside pocket of his suit blazer. "Now the punishment I just administered is a slap on the wrist to you both. Mandy, you will now wear your collar twenty-four seven as a sign of your servitude to me. And to make amends for standing up my client, you will go downstairs and perform for the time that you would've been serving my client."

Mandy was torn as she looked between Brent and Mister Falcon. Brent was giving her an encouraging look so she ultimately decided to side with her husband and stay. Falcon's glare turned murderous as he scowled at them both. "Do not test my patience," he warned her, his tone suggesting that things would be dire.

"I'm waiting for this so-called punishment of yours," Brent said, unimpressed. Just then his phone started buzzing in his pocket. He frowned and looked at it, wondering why his mother was suddenly calling. He punched it though to voice-mail. Then his phone buzzed again. It was his sister calling. Voice-mail again. Then it buzzed a third time with a text message from one of the deacons of their church demanding to know why his wife was sinning. Frowning, Brent looked up and eyed Falcon with an inquisitive eyebrow raised. A fourth buzz and it was a flurry of texts from the women's group leader who wanted to know if they were living in sin.

"I released photographic proof of your wife's birth control medicine," Falcon said simply, "and forwarded it on to your family and select leaders of your church." He folded his hands on his desk and glared at Brent.

"Honey, please," Mandy was now begging her husband by tugging on his arm. "I don't want the family torn apart because of me. I'll... I'll just do what he says and we can go home."

"I'd listen to her, if I were you," Falcon said.

Jaw set, Brent faced a hard decision. He could sit here and see what Falcon had to offer in terms of more punishment or he could sit here and take it. Knowing that his wife was about to go down to perform in front of other men galled him but at the same time thrilled him. After all, she would be going home with him. He looked over at Mandy who was silently pleading with him not to piss Falcon off. Brent leaned into Mandy. "He's got us beat right now so do what you have to. I'll be right here once your... shift... is over."

With tears in her eyes, Mandy nodded her understanding before kissing him full on the lips and leaving. She knew exactly where to go and who to see for costuming as that was one of the first things she learned when coming into Mister Falcon's 'service'.

"You see?" Falcon said to Brent when Mandy was out the door. "That wasn't so hard, was it?" The way he talked reminded Brent of Negan off of The Walking Dead. Now that he thought about it, Falcon seemed to resemble the character on the TV show just a little bit in the face. "There's no reason why we can't be friends here. Come," Falcon stood up and beckoned for Brent to follow him. "I got just the place where we can watch the action."

Brent followed him into a back room that looked like it was a private stripper's lounge. Falcon grabbed a remote to turn on the huge flatscreen TV that dominated the wall behind the stage with two stripper poles on it. The screen lit up with a good view of the club down on the ground floor that was already bustling with activity for the night. He then pressed a button on a plush red lounge chair while motioning for Brent to sit in the other. Two maids in outfits that left their breasts bared and little to the imagination under their short skirts scurried in.

Falcon ordered brandy for them both before turning his attention back to Brent. "Now, for your punishment for defying me. I have a party in my penthouse upstairs tomorrow evening to kick off my month of costume parties for my lead-in to Halloween. You and Mandy will be there for each one of them, of course, but she will not be your date as she'll be too busy acting as decoration and entertainment. That's the second part of her punishment for defying me just now in my office by siding with you. Your punishment will be taking one of my girls as your date. You'll get to enjoy yourself all you want, rub elbows with the elite our country has to offer and all that, but the entire time you're going to stay where you can watch your wife get fondled and fucked by whatever one of my guests, male or female, happens to walk by. And you won't make any attempt to talk with her or stop what's happening to her." he said while Brent bristled with anger.

The maids came back with the drinks, one each serving Mister Falcon and Brent. Falcon then waved them off after they had their drinks in hand, Brent looking at his dubiously. Falcon laughed. "Relax, if I wanted to kill you I'd just do it with a gun and then have your body dropped into the Gulf. Poison is lowbrow and beneath me. Besides, it's more fun to torture you like this."

"Gee, thanks," Brent replied as sarcastically and bitterly before he slugged down the alcohol.

"Ah, don't get too bent out of shape. I like you. You stood up to me. That takes balls and I respect that." Falcon said, raising his glass in a salute to him. "I don't get too many people who have the nerve to walk into my own office with the intention of kicking my teeth in. You fight for your woman, and that's admirable. Most husbands just cave at the first hint of threatening and become dickless little cucks who couldn't stand up to a boy scout troop. The other half just divorce their wives and wash their hands of the 'betrayal'." He smiled at Falcon. "You'll soon come to realize what true power is. It isn't money or who your family is. It's who you know and what you know about them to get them to do what you want."

Falcon took a quick drink and then quickly pointed up at the widescreen. "Mmh!" he grunted as he swallowed fast to speak. "Hey, she's coming out onto stage now; you wife. Catholic schoolgirl outfit there to the left with the white eye mask on. Don't worry, all my girls that dance downstairs has masks on, so she won't be recognized or picked out of a crowd. Have you seen her dance yet? No, of course you haven't. You're a good Christian boy and don't watch that sort of thing, aren't you? You're in for a treat."

As much as he didn't want to watch his wife debase herself on stage, Brent couldn't help but watch. He owed it to her as she was doing this for him and his family. He took another drink as she started to dance and couldn't help but wonder just how much of her past did he not know about.

*

Britney Spear's old smash hit, Baby One More Time, blared out and Mandy strutted out onto the stage as if she'd never left. Wanting to put on a good performance in order to satisfy Mister Falcon and keep Brent safe, she put on a dazzling smile and got to work on the center stage pole. Wearing the schoolgirl outfit that was provided for her, Mandy played up the part in time with the music. Her instructions were clear from Mister Falcon's chief of staff; she was to dance on the stages only tonight. There were to be no one-on-one private lap dances for her, which was a relief.

Mandy lost the tied blouse first, showing off the white bra underneath to the hoots and howls of the men watching her in the audience. She gyrated up and down the pole and even did a few swings to get back into practice. Then she climbed the pole, hooked her legs around it, and inverted herself before taking off her bra and letting it fall to the stage. The crowd went nuts as she slowly lowered herself back down to the stage, planting her hands down on it when she reached the floor. Then she did a half-cartwheel to right herself, coming down into the perfect splits.

She then spun on the stage and waved her long legs in the air as if she were in a king-fu movie. At the same time, she hooked the waistband of the skirt and let her movements take it up her legs. When she righted herself again, the skirt was off and she was doing the splits again wearing nothing more than her white lace panties. Mandy then gyrated her body up and down off of the floor as if she were dry humping it before standing up, turning towards the pole, crossing her legs, and bending over. Then she hooked her panties and brought them down to her ankles before coming straight back up with a 'oops' expression on her face complete with her hand up to her mouth in mock shock.

Now that she was naked save for the collar and white eye-mask, Mandy made her way up and down the stage, shaking her ass and waggling her tits for the ravenous audience. By the time the song ended, she blew them all a kiss, collected the costume and the one dollar bills that were thrown, and headed off stage with a shy smile and a wave.

The crowd ate it up and was begging for more.

Mandy gave the money to the head mistress and went to go get into her second costume for the next performance.

*

Upstairs, Brent wasn't aware that his mouth was hanging open and that he was gaping at the widescreen where his wife had just left the stage until Falcon had laughed and pointed it out. It wasn't all that he pointed out as he mentioned that he was sporting one helluva hard-on too. Brent couldn't help it. He looked down and realized just how uncomfortable his hardness was inside of his pants.

"You need relief after watching that. Who could blame you?" Falcon said. "Carla!" He called over to one of the two maids. The simple looking strawberry blonde hurried over. Falcon motioned over to Brent. "Take care of that for him."

"Yes, Master," Carla said at once before rushing over to Brent.

"That's okay, really..." Brent protested. "There's no need for her to do that."

"If you don't, I'll just whip her all night long for displeasing you," Falcon said in a dangerous tone while giving Brent a pointed look. "And I'll do it while you're watching your wife get gang banged by five random audience members onstage. She won't get pregnant thanks to her pills, but what are the odds that at least one of them will have an STD? I don't screen out the masses like I do my very select clientele. Now fuck Carla or you both will suffer."

"Christ..." Brent muttered as he reluctantly motioned for Carla to do her thing. She gave him a pitying, but grateful, look and mouthed the words 'I'm Sorry' to him as she knelt in front of him and started undoing his pants. He gave her a pained look and nodded to her. She was as much a victim in this as he and his wife were.

His cock sprang out, now harder than ever now that the prospect of fucking another woman was a certainty. He'd read somewhere that infidelity actually increased libido. Something about competition or something like that. Brent felt that the theory was standing up to the test as he was fixated on Carla's sweet, girl-next-door face looked up at him before her hot mouth descended on his cock. "Holy fuck..." he gurgled as she sucked him hard while staring up into his eyes.

"Enjoying the sweet taste of forbidden fruit over there, Brent my boy?" Falcon asked with a smile. Brent glanced over to see that the other maid, a petite ebony girl, was curled up on his lap with his hand up under her skirt. The look of bliss on her face told Brent exactly where Falcon's had was at and what it was doing.

Brent looked back at Carla, who was still staring up at him submissively. He watched her, transfixed on the fact that another woman was giving him a blowjob. He felt like a heel. He felt like a cad. He felt like a dirty sinner and he felt guilty. But at the same time, he couldn't help but feel good. His breathing became ragged and husky as he felt his cock threatening to explode. He shouldn't feel like this with another woman. Hell, he shouldn't even be enjoying the fact that his wife is downstairs performing for other men. But dammit, it was erotic as all get out and he wanted more!