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I knew this wasn’t the time to disobey him, no matter how much I wanted to leave. But hopefully they’d all be drunk and coked out in a few hours, and I could slip out. Maurizio was famous for his benders that lasted days.
They suited me just fine, because it meant I had more freedom to move around without being questioned. He also didn’t check the camera feeds very often, and I had time to erase whatever I didn’t want him to see. Might be a good time to sort out the mess I’d made when I didn’t show for the last job I was supposed to do for the CIA.
As soon as I took a seat, Maurizio slapped the ass of the woman doing coke on his desk. “Take care of him. He looks awfully tense.” He turned to me, his eyes glassy. “The little girl no longer doing it for you? After you went through all that trouble pulling her out of the ocean?”
I gritted my teeth to stop myself from taking his bait. He loved to goad me. “I have no complaints.”
The woman sat down on my lap, and I clenched my fists. Her perfume was overpowering, and her nose had white powder stuck to it. But pushing her off would mean stirring up Maurizio, and I needed him calm so I could get out of this.
I still had Everleigh’s strawberry and vanilla scent in my nose, the ghost of her light touch on my arm. I was in a constant state of arousal around her, and it didn’t take much to get me excited after being near her.
The woman rubbed her ass against my dick; the traitor came to life almost immediately.
I hated myself for my reaction but could do nothing about it.
Maurizio waved to another girl standing in the corner, wearing a short maid’s uniform. She held a bottle of Glenlivet, ready to fill everyone’s glass as soon as they got low. “Get him a drink.”
She retrieved a glass and filled it, handing it to me. When she bent over, I could see down to her navel. I usually did my best to avoid these parties. Maurizio, unfortunately, had caught on and now used them to punish me.
Drinking in his presence wasn’t something I did very often. I needed to have all my senses intact when dealing with him. I might have to make an exception today if I was going to make it through this encounter.
“Where have you been all day with the girl?”
I doubted he even knew her name. But the less he knew about her, the better. So far, he hadn’t shown any interest in her other than the work she did for us. But that could all change in the blink of an eye. And it was on me to make sure it didn’t.
“Just having some fun.”
The words left a bitter taste in my mouth. I didn’t want to talk about Everleigh that way. But it had the intended effect, and Maurizio roared with laughter. “I knew I raised you right.”
The rest of the night was a repetition of booze and girls. Bill and Maurizio took full advantage of what the girls offered, not caring that they were in a room full of people. I studied the amber liquid in my glass for most of the night, my vision getting blurrier as my glass never emptied.
When Maurizio finally got busy with three girls, ignoring everything around him, my drunk brain steered me to the only place I wanted to be.
With Everleigh.
Chapter15
Everleigh
I woke up disoriented,blinking into the dark room. Usually, Lucius was as silent as a cat when he joined me in bed, barely ever waking me. But he’d bumped into a chair on his way inside, the scraping noise waking me up. But if that hadn’t done it, the way he almost dive-bombed into bed would have.
He dropped like a rock, mumbling under his breath. A wave of whiskey hit me. And perfume. I tensed at the implications, telling myself that he owed me nothing and was free to do whatever he wanted.
But my stupid heart didn’t listen. It clenched painfully at the thought of Lucius with someone else. I kept my breathing even, not wanting him to know I was awake. Not that he would have, since he was already fast asleep, his snores ringing through the room. Something else I hadn’t heard him do before.
A glance at the time showed it was four in the morning. At least his actions squashed any hope I had that he returned my silly feelings.
I was so sick of being weak and feeling like nothing was in my control. And I’d gotten no closer to finding my brother. If I didn’t get out of here soon, I’d go insane.
Lucius had been my grounding anchor up until now. My lifeline. But it had all been a beautiful illusion. I was so stupid and naïve. Maybe I deserved what was happening to me.
I turned away from Lucius, curling in on myself. A few short months ago, my worries included how to remove the red wine stain from my carpet and if I wanted to order pizza or Chinese for dinner. It seemed ridiculous now. What I wouldn’t give to turn back time and not only hold on to my brother with both hands but also to not stress about the little things.
Exhaustion eventually won over, as it did every night, and I slipped into a restless sleep.
Despite most likely having the mother of all hangovers, Lucius was gone when I woke up. I wondered how he always woke up before I did. I’d never heard an alarm.
A knock on the door sounded while I was still in the bathroom. Santino was here to escort me to the kitchen. I hastily tied my hair in a messy ponytail, then pulled on my shoes. “Just a sec.”
