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He took a swig of the drink, then threw the knife on the ground. I could hear Lawrence exhale.
“Lawrence,” I requested, “take Miss Castell back to the group. Make sure she is safe and watched over.”
Lawrence muttered a “Yes, Sir,” the same time Celeste barked out a “Wait.”
Amadeus looked over to her with a grin, and I turned my head to gaze at her over my shoulder.
“I want to hear what he has to say,” she said, moving away from my back. Her voice was firm, and her shoulders were straight. She wanted answers, and she was going to get them from whoever was willing to talk. She wanted all sides to the story, not just mine.
“Celeste,” I growled. “He is not the one you need to be listening to.”
My eyes found hers in a plea attempt. She didn’t know what she was about to get into, and I tried to convey that to her.
“What do you wanna know?” Amadeus interjected, taking another drink straight from the glass bottle.
“Amadeus, you need to leave.Now.”I raised my voice, but it didn’t faze him. Instead, his face turned sour as he held his free hand up to me.
“Let the lady speak,” he began, then stepped off the chair. “Don’t you have any common courtesy?” He took a step toward Celeste, and in return, she took a step back. Amadeus took the hint and surrendered, remaining still in the spot he stood.
At least her guard is still up. I held back a grin. She can definitely hold her own.
“Who are you?” she asked.
“Amadeus Attila,” he stated proudly. “Most people call me Dey. My family runs this shitshow. Or, should I say,yourun it, right, brother?” He turned to me, his words laced with spite.
I could feel Celeste turn and look at me briefly before turning back to my brother.
My blood was fuckingboilingat this point.
Her eyebrows narrowed as her expression turned confused. “You don’t like it here?”
Amadeus let out a soft chuckle. “No. Never have.”
“Why?”
He took another swig of champagne. “Because it’s immoral.”
“Dying and being laid to rest isn’t immoral,” she countered.
“No, but choosing to stay here is. Man doesn’t deserve that much power. We deserve to be judged for our sins, and if we stay here, we escape judgment.”
I fought every fucking urge to roll my head back and groan. This is why I didn’t want him opening his mouth to her in the first place.
But, looking over, I could see the wheels in her head turning. She was taking his words and processing them, validating them, maybe even agreeing with them.
“Why aren’t you allowed here?”
He shook his head. “I’m only banned from the annual Open House. I’m assuming it’s because I actually stand against this place, and that’s bad for business. Right, Cai?”
My expression remained blank as I forced my hand to stay at my side, rather than forming a fist to send in the depths of his face.
“Business?” Celeste echoed, turning to me. My gaze remained on my brother. If I looked at her now, I wouldn’t be able to keep my emotions at bay. The softness that she brings out in me needed to stay dormant in this situation.
“Oh, he didn’t tell you?” Amadeus cocked his head pompously. “You must be new here. Purgatory is a soul-sucking, life-fucking business that preys on the people it keeps.”
God, I need to start fucking counting before I lose my shit. Ten… nine… eight…
“Do you know how much it costs to be buried here?” he asked Celeste, who turned back to face him and shook her head.“Eight million dollars.People arepayingto give their souls to this place when they could be in Heaven instead.”
