AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I locked the door behind me, launched myself on the pillows, and cranked the music all the way up, listening to “Water” by Tyla.
Even through my cheap earbuds, I managed to hear everything outside. Cars pulling up at the entrance. Valets. Champagne glasses clinking together. The indulgent laughter of people who didn’t know how to pay their own bills. The live band. The hustle and bustle of point-one-percenters enjoying themselves.
I lay in a bed that wasn’t mine and stared at the ceiling, stewing in my own anger. This time, I’d chosen the furthest guest room from the stairs, not the one I usually occupied, hoping the sound of otherpeople’s happiness wouldn’t reach me.
But it did.
It did, and it seared my soul.
Alone, alone, alone.
Everything reminded me of that simple fact.
Here was the thing about loneliness—there’s no such thing as a loner. Only someone who has tried to give others a chance and ended up thoroughly disappointed.
Burrowing deeper under the covers, I grabbed my phone and started watching old YouTube videos of my fencing matches. Mainly to spot Dad in the first row, cheering me on.
Andras always urged me to study my weaknesses. That my path to the Olympics required discipline and humility.
I still didn’t know if I’d ever make it.
It seemed unlikely, considering my past.
Yet, fencing made me truly happy. I would hate to let Andras down. Plus, the only time my mind shut off was on the piste.
And while getting impaled by a broody billionaire in a sauna.
A soft knock rapped on the door. I shot upright, the duvet rolling down my lap.
Maybe I hadn’t heard right? Why would Zach seek me out in the middle of his party?
I stared at the door.
The knock sounded again, this time louder.
I cleared my throat. “Yes?”
A sweet, feminine voice seeped through the door. “Farrow?”
Dallas Costa.
“Yeah.”
“Can I come in?”
Why?
“Sure…?”
The door crept open. Dallas waddled in, about a hundred centuries pregnant, clad in a shimmery gold A-line dress with a sweetheart neckline.
Her boobs were out of control. I doubted even the US military could wrestle them into submission.
She used what appeared to be a forty-thousand-dollar check to fan her face.
“Thank God, I found you.” With her other hand, she shoved a tray full of enough food to feed the entire neighborhood my way, cannonballing onto the bed beside me. “I’ve been looking for you everywhere. I went through every single guest room. How many are there here?”
“Thirteen.”And I’d slacked off on cleaning each and every one of them today.“Plus, a dumbwaiter leading to a secret cellar. I don’t clean thatone, though. Can’t run the risk of finding the remains of people Zach has killed for mispronouncing Latin words or miscalculating his tax returns.”
