After seeing the tapes, Mercedes can't look at Eleanor without seeing her naked on the kitchen counters in Tahoe, face contorted in ecstasy as Justin makes love to her. Why couldn't Justin be after Mercedes for her money? She's offered him two and three times what she normally pays: once when she was really high, she even offered him 10k to just put it in for a second. That actually made him laugh, a very minor victory, but her only one: before or after that, he never so much as cracked a smile. Today, she finally has an appointment with him, and she is going to be able to get what she wants from him, he must already be anticipating it, because he knows she can expose him & ruin his chances of marrying his little heiress. She comes into her office in the late morning, just to gloat a little over her assistant before she heads out to meet her lover: the little fool has no idea what she's naively fallen for...Before she can get any gloating in, Eleanor, without looking up from her work, (Lord, what a drudge the girl is!) tells her that Corrine called & wants to meet Mercedes this afternoon about buying the Tahoe house. "I don't have time for that, I have more important things on my schedule today," she says, laughing haughtily to herself as she fantasizes about the 'important' things she's going to make Justin do to her, "Call Corrine & tell her I can't meet her today. She probably isn't interested in the house anyway, she just wants more music industry gossip for her magazine."

Eleanor gets uncomfortable as Mercedes presses her, asking about her boyfriend, "You never told me what he does," Mercedes smirks, wondering what lies he's been feeding the girl. "He's a performance artist," Eleanor answers, looking a little dodgy. It takes all Mercedes' strength to hold in a victorious laugh: the stupid girl will obviously believe anything. Performance artist! "How interesting!" Mercedes smirks, "Maybe we should do an article about his work in the magazine," she says, reveling in Eleanor's blushing discomfort. "I don't think I-he-I would be comfortable with something that smacks so much of nepotism," the girl stammers. What joy it is to watch her rival stretch to come up with excuses to believe Justin's lies: Mercedes wants him badly enough that she'd do a few stupid, dangerous things to get him, but she isn't so turned around as he's got this silly little wretch!

Mercedes watches the tapes alone in the hotel room while she waits for her appointment with Justin, and she keeps it running when he comes in.

He's the one who sets the rules here, he's the dom: but not this time. This time, Mercedes is going to have her way, and she stakes her claim to it right away, "How dare you tell me you 'just don't do that'? Clearly, you do it when you have to, and now you're going to do it for me." she yells at him, poking him furiously, "I know what you're up to, when you get her to marry you, you'll have the easy life. Well, I can help you make that happen, or I can snatch it away by telling your little heiress what it is you do for a living." There, she thinks, she's made that very clear. Mercedes had thought the anger he would display during the 'sessions' she paid for was real anger: she sees now what she bought was a cheap imitation, and Justin's real, red raging terrifying anger boils up for her now, completely free. God, he's beautiful...

"Stupid fucking bitch," he snarls, and Mercedes quakes, her nipples clench painfully, she doesn't even know if this feels good or bad..."Don't speak her name to me, your filthy mouth isn't good enough to say it. She knows what I am," he says, the insults, the rage, it turns her on, so much, but it's going so horribly wrong, he's supposed to be submitting to her will now, but he goes on, cold & harsh, "You cannot expose me, bitch, you don't know anything about me that she doesn't know already. Except for one thing, Mercedes, I've never told her who any of my clients are," and he turns away.

Eleanor knows what he is? Mercedes collapses along with her only weapon, useless. "I've tried throughout the years to maintain the professional nature of our...transactions, Mercedes," Justin says coldly, "In light of recent developments, I've decided I can no longer continue to retain you as a client. Though I would prefer to not have this secret from her, I will keep silent about our...history..if you prefer." Mercedes came here expecting to at long last get what she has been wanting for so long: now she's losing even what little she had of him. That just can't happen... "I could fire her," she threatens weakly: without Eleanor she has no magazine...but if Mercedes can't even have her paid sessions with Justin, she's not going tolerate having his bitch in her office, magazine or not, she has to retain him. "Turn off the TV, now," Justin commands, and Mercedes obeys without question, getting angry at herself for doing it.

This is Mercedes last chance, so she gives it her all, "I want you, Justin," Mercedes says, building steam "If you don't do what I want, I will fire Eleanor." Oh, yes, she has him now

"C'mon, Justin," she purrs, caressing her thigh, sliding her hand suggestively between her legs, but she arouses his fury, not his lust, the hands that she longed to have grabbing & pulling at her in sexual heat suddenly come around her throat, and he has murder in his eyes. "Bitch," he snarls at her, tightening his grip around her throat, and she thinks he really might kill her, even though he'd never get away with it. When he suddenly releases her, Mercedes bursts into tears, and he walks out on her.