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What is happening here?
I came to room twenty-three to do my job, but somehow ended up pressed against Matteo Morelli, dangling on the edge of an abyss. If I make one wrong move, I could lose everything. My sister. This job. My life. I need to regain the upper hand in this situation, but how? These three obviously want something from me, and they won’t be denied.
“Why have you been asking questions about us?” Antonio asks.
I recoil slightly, not entirely sure how to respond to his question. I know I can’t tell the truth, but I need to come up with a believable lie.
“Working.”
Short and simple. But I’m not entirely sure they will buy it. My gaze flicks between Antonio and Salvatore, waiting for one of them to respond, but they say nothing. Their eyes are focused on me, swirling with desire and something else I can’t really put into words. It’s like a caged animal, pacing back and forth behind the bars at the zoo. Biding their time, waiting to pounce on their prey, and in this case, that prey is me.
Shaking my head to clear the lust-filled haze, I step away from Matteo and slide my dress back into place.
“Lyra informed me I was to report to this room when my pager went off. It went off, and I came.”
“Like a good little pet.”
“I’m no one’s pet,” I snarl, liquid, hot rage flooding my system.
I may be many things. A fake, a liar, someone terrified of their own shadow, a fool for thinking I could ever pull the wool over these man’s eyes—but I’m no one’s pet.
“Says the girl riding my friend’s fingers like a whore.” Salvatore chuckles darkly as tears spring to my eyes, but I refuse to let them fall.
Not here. Not now. Not in front of him.
“If you need anything else, gentleman, please use the pager.”
The words taste bitter in my mouth, but I get them past my lips before spinning on my heels and storming out the door, their laughter following me the entire way.
CHAPTERSEVEN
CELIA
What just happened?
Pressing my body against the wall, I try to make sense of what transpired in that room.
I spent the last month planning for the day I’d run into one of the Genoveses, and each one of my plans went out the window the moment I stepped into that room. Room twenty-three is their domain, where they feel the most powerful and in control. And I 100 percent can’t go back in there. These men command attention the moment they enter a room, power oozing off them in waves, making anyone in their general vicinity feel inferior. Just being near them scrambled most, if not all, of my brain. I can’t think of anything besides them, all three of them. For someone that has zero experience with boys my age, let alone grown-ass men, these are uncharted waters.
To say they caught me off guard would be an understatement. I knew they were taking part in more risqué sexual behavior than the average person, but I didn’t intend on getting aroused by it. I tried my best to keep my guard up, but everything crumbled the moment Marcus touched me.
I should’ve run right out of the room after that, but there was something about these three men that called to me, making me feel safe for the first time since before all of this happened. I don’t know what I was thinking when I let him touch me. No, I knew exactly what I was thinking—nothing. I should’ve been using my brain instead of thinking with my libido, a mistake I’ll try never to make again. I don’t know a damn thing about men other than what I’ve read in books or seen on television, but those three are on a whole different level.
“Get your shit together, girl. You have a job to do.” I thump my head against the wall a few times, attempting to knock some sense into myself.
This isn’t the last time my resolve is going to be tested by these men. If I were a betting woman, which I’m not, I’d say it’s what they get off on. It’s obvious they love pushing boundaries or they wouldn’t have a membership to the club. They want to see how far they can push someone until the break. Now I need to ensure I’m not one of them.
There’s no doubt in my mind that the display they put on today was for my benefit. I’m positive they found out I’ve been snooping around for information about them, and they wanted to size up the competition.
“I wonder if I made a good impression,” I mutter to myself before pushing off the wall and heading toward the stairs.
Who am I kidding? There’s no way these men, hell any man, would go through so much trouble for a girl with no past and no future. Everything they need to know about me can fit on one piece of paper. I’m a nobody. Someone that’s forgettable, a person who blends into the background of life. And I need to stay that way. That’s the only way I’m going to complete my mission—by not bringing any more attention to myself.
“What are you, a whore now?” Mr. Black seethes, stepping out of the shadows in front of me.
I scoff and attempt to step around him, but he steps in front of me a second time, blocking my path. They sent Mr. Black to observe me, I’m sure of it, but I haven’t found a connection between him and anyone else in this place. He’s come in here once a week for a month, checking to see if I have any new information for them, but he’s been different recently. I blew it off, but that nagging voice in the back of my head is telling me to be careful because getting any closer to him means nothing but trouble.
“Is there something I can help you with, sir?” Clenching my jaw tightly, my teeth grind together.
