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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.
15
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.”
But when I opened the door, it wasn’t Santino standing there. I took in the unfamiliar guard. “Oh, hi. Are you my babysitter for today?”
“The boss wants to see you.”
I froze halfway out the door. There was no reason to meet with him. We had nothing to discuss. I gave him regular updates on my work. Nothing out of the ordinary had happened. And why did Maurizio send someone else to walk me there? “Where’s Santino?”
He ignored me and took my arm in a bruising grip, pulling me into the hallway. “Let’s go. I don’t have all day.”
The door clicked shut, and I knew this wasn’t going to be good.
Turned out it was worse, because the first thing I saw when the guard shoved me into the room was a naked ass. I stumbled to a stop in the middle of the opulent office, taking in the scene before me. And, by the sounds of it, next to me as well.
Why am I here?
“The girl with the golden pussy,” Maurizio greeted me while fondling the naked woman on his lap. Gross, not just because nobody needed to be witness to this but also because she was about half his age.
