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The voyeur amongst them.
But I have to be cautious. I can’t mingle. I’m not really a guest, after all. I’m staff, and there’s a difference. I’d do well to remember it.
If I pull this off, though, maybe then I’ll get an invitation for real.
With that in mind, and my itty-bitty purse in hand, I head up the steps and undo the button on my light summer cape—I didn’t want to telegraph to all of Park Avenue that I was headed toThe Scene—then toss it over my arm. In one smooth move, I slide on the gold mask.
As I cinch it into place, my gaze lands on a man turning onto the block. He’s hard to look away from, since he’s wearing the hell out of a three-piece suit and a phantom mask.
Oh, yes.
Modern suit for the twist. Dark, broody character from literature for the old-fashioned.
A thrill rushes through me. Does he like the same things IthinkI like?
My pulse skitters with hope, but I won’t find out tonight. I’m here to observe how the beautiful, rich, and naughty like to play. I’m not rich, but I’d like to feel beautiful and naughty.
I quickly switch my phone to Do Not Disturb—I don’t want anyone interrupting me while I play—then climb the final stairs to the mansion.
“Hello,” I say to the bodyguard twins, as calm as can be.
One of them stares at me with hard, unflinching eyes. “Name?”
Scarlett’s warning flashes through my mind. But it’s easy, so very easy to leave behind Jules Marley, buttoned-up, twin-set and glasses-wearing good girl by day.
“Aphrodite,” I say.
The man checks his iPad, then nods. First test passed, and I feel more victorious than I should. With a blank face that hides my giddiness, I give him the secret password. “I read a good book last night.”
Well, I did.
He opens the door. “Enjoy.”
Oh, I plan to.
2
SEX NOSTALGIA
Finn
This is my first evening out in months.
Between late nights with my laptop, closing deals, and reading past bedtime with my seven-year-old—I’m a sucker for thejust one more pageplea—I can’t remember the last time I went out.
Alone.
When the invitation from the club landed in my email asking if I was interested in reactivating my membership—the one that’d been dead for years—I clicked yes impulsively.
One quick Google search later and I’d ordered the mask and had it delivered to my brownstone in an hour.
God bless New York and instant access to everything.
A masquerade at The Scene sounds like a perfect escape tonight, since my kid’s with his grandparents this weekend. “Bye, Dad,”he called to me so easily as his grandparents drove away.
Dad. I’m still getting used to that word, but it feels so damn right.
And so doesthis—catching a glimpse of a gorgeous masked goddess heading into the Albrecht Mansion. She looks utterly at home in that costume. Like sheisa goddess.
