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He can see a lot from the other building’s roof, but I doubt he’s watching Julianna’s progress across the room.
“Freddy’s taken Julianna upstairs.”
I watch the guard at the bottom of the stairs step aside to let them pass. Julianna heads up first, and Freddy watches her ass as he follows.
“I need to get up there. She knows that.” Another punishment for Julianna that I will never get to dole out.
The thumping of her fist at the back of my rib cage just pounds harder and harder as an overwhelming sense of loss mixes with the burning heat. They blend together until all I’m left feeling is need, for what exactly I’m no longer sure, but I know it is not the Keystone.
ChapterSeventeen
JULES
Freddy ushers me up to the second floor and to the small couch in the middle of what looks like a large office or library.
I didn’t expect him to take me up here, so close to where Titan said the vault was, but anything to get away from that man who seemed to follow me around the party like a socially awkward puppy.
Titan wasn’t much better, glaring at me the entire time as if he didn’t know it was Freddy’s interest in me that got him into the event in the first place.
You were right to end things when you did, Julianna.
You distracted me. You pulled me from my purpose.
I bite my lip to stop from letting out a bitter laugh at Titan’s words. I never intentionally distracted him, not until tonight. I’ve been enjoying every moment of Titan’s eyes on me, playing up the swing of my hips and flirting with the other guests.
I was prepared to get through this event as civilly as possible. I would hold up my end of the arrangement. But then in the back of the SUV, he made clear his lack of remorse. He didn’t get it. For so long, pride was all I had. Pride and the belief that one day,Iwould prove my mother and Richard wrong. My success would be entirely my own. And Titan took that moment from me.
Shame swirls in my belly, mixing with the discomfort of the evening, as I’m reminded that I couldn’t even get my own money back without his help.
“How are you doing, darling?” Freddy offers me a glass of some dark liquor he’d poured at his small bar and clinks his glass against mine.
“Much better, thank you. It was overwhelming down there.” I take a small sip.
I had no idea who the man in the designer suit and coiffed blond hair was, so I wasn’t going to take the chance of pissing him off in case he happened to be a good friend of Freddy’s.
He never introduced himself, and while I talked to him while Titan was watching, I didn’t lead him on. Each time I moved to a different group of guests, thinking I’d left him behind, I’d turn around and find him inches away.
“That’s good to hear.” Freddy smiles and sits in the chair next to me. “I can’t havetheBlaire Starfire rushing to leave my event. We’re just starting to get to know each other.”
I smile but don’t respond to his flirtation. Freddy can’t seem to see me as more than my short-lived character.
“You know, you didn’t have to have an excuse to get me alone. I’m happy to give you a private tour of any of my homes.”
If Freddy isn’t thinking of me as an eighteen-year-old intergalactic captain, he thinks I’m an idiot. I’ve played it for Titan’s purposes, but for all of Freddy’s money, he is not someone I want to be involved with past tonight.
“Good to know.” I suck in a deep, calming breath as I subtly shift my weight away from him.
The space is almost as large and open as the floor below, but where the walls were bare, with only a few large graphic paintings, here they are covered in bookshelves and display cases. It dampens the noise from below, not fully, but enough to let my nervous system calm.
I should leave. Titan got what he wanted from me. I fulfilled my part of the bargain, so there is no reason to stay. I was a tool, and I’ve worn out my usefulness. Titan’s Pull will be taking over, and I doubt he’d realize I left.
A man in a black suit wearing white gloves ascends the stairs and moves to Freddy’s side. I’d seen him and a few others dressed like him handling the artifacts near the podium. He bends down and whispers something in his ear.
“Fine,” Freddy says and, with a grunt, gets up from the chair and moves to a large oak desk. He slides his hand along the decorative edge and seems to push into the carved floral design. He then immediately moves to the column of bookcases in the center of the room.
I frown, thinking something looks off about the shelving, but then Freddy reaches for it. One side of the shelves is actually a door that is now partially ajar. He opens it further, revealing the metal front to the vault deeper inside.
He hits several keys on the lock’s keypad and swings the thick metal door wide before stepping in. The man in the suit waits patiently several feet back, and I’m able to see a few of the items stowed on an interior shelf. I try not to make it obvious, but I slide to the far side of the couch to get a better look inside.
