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A mixture of determination and vulnerability flickers in Angelica’s eyes. She nods, her grip on her drink tightening as she takes another sip. “Let’s do this,” she says, her voice filled with a newfound confidence.
ChapterSixteen
Angelica
My eyes are saucers. Saucers on stilts. Did I know this was going to be some sort of sex party on steroids? Fuck no.
Did I?
I try to remember the meeting with Lycus, my boss and the client, but all I can recall is the panic attack that followed learning I would have to fly to Arizona.And how nice Lycus was to me after my break down.
I’m almost certain a sex club or swingers party, or whatever the hell this is wasn’t mentioned. I would remember, surely, if they’d given us any indication of what type of event we’d be attending tonight.Surely.
Only…I don’t. Remember, that is.
I grab Lycus’ arm, probably digging my nails in too hard in my panic, but he doesn’t complain.
“What’s wrong, Angelica?” he asks, concern creasing the corners of his emerald eyes.
“Did you know?” I hiss, dragging him away from the entrance into a dark and quiet corner nearby. My brain is overloaded and short circuiting at everything around me right now. I can’t take it all in.
Instead, I take a deep breath and try to focus on Lycus, using him to ground myself.Three distinctive scents, two smouldering eyes, one full mouth I desperately want to kiss…
I shake myself to get a grip.That is not helping matters, Angelica! Get sex off your brain.
“Did I know what?” I scowl at the amusement colouring Lycus’ tone.
“That we were going to some sort of sex party!” My whisper is almost a yell, and several pairs of eyes turn our way.
“Sì, naturalmente,” he replies easily. How is he so relaxed about this? “Did you not complete your questionnaire?”
I frown. “What questionnaire?”
“Ah, there you are, Angelica,” the woman from the welcome foyer says, rushing over to us and looking much more stressed than she did a few moments ago. “We’ve just realised there was a problem with your paperwork. Can you come with me, please? We can get this matter sorted out right away.”
A problem with my paperwork? What paperwork? There’s a problem here all right but it has nothing to do with paper.
It’s on the tip of my tongue to say something, but this woman’s presence has already drawn even more unwanted attention our way, so I decide to have this conversation in private.
Shooting her a tight smile, I say, “Yes of course, lead the way.”
“I’ll come too,” Lycus offers.
“That won’t be necessary,” the woman says to Lycus before I can rebut him myself. “Angelica will require some privacy.”
What the hell for?
She leads me out of the…ummm…bar area, back to the foyer where we came in and through a door marked for staff only. The corridor has several doors coming off it, but she leads me to the furthest one – with a door that says ‘management’.
Inside, the office has a similar vibe to the bar and lounge area – what I imagine Americans to believe to be a cosy Victorian aesthetic (it’s not) and I smile tightly when the woman invites me to take a seat on one of the red sofas. She must be the manager, or the owner or something, but I’m not one-hundred percent sure.
Honestly, thus far, this business trip has not been what I was expecting, and the club is definitely different. The staff are all wandering around in their underwear for one.
“I’m sorry to pull you from the event so soon, Angelica,” the woman says. “I’m Claire by the way, the club owner. Thanks for coming with me, I thought you might prefer some privacy for this.”
I flash another tight smile but don’t really know what to say, so after a beat, Claire continues.
“We don’t seem to have your questionnaire for tonight, so I’m going to get you to fill that in now before the event begins. I appreciate it’s not ideal to rush you through it, but we can’t let you go into the party without one on your file.”
