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"You would never be able to handle me, Kasey." He didn't even look up from his computer to respond, being too used to her already.
She huffed and began swimming for the edge. "Well, I'm going to go distract your guards for my personal gain, and by gain, I mean orgasms. A girl needs a dozen a day to keep the bitchiness away!"
Leaving me with her weirdness, she hopped out and made the string between her cheeks disappear even more. Costas never glanced up, and I watched to see if he would. In books, it was common behavior for men of the manor to use whores and enjoy the views of other women, but I never saw him do it. Just like Draven and Tony didn't. Well, that I had seen.
"Can I ask you something?" I spoke without thinking.
Costas finally left his screen to see me better. Respecting my conversation with him. "Yes?"
"It's a little ridiculous." I shifted in my inflated, plastic chair.
"After what Kasey says? I promise, nothing can be as ridiculous as that," he chuckled. Smiling, I had to agree. Kasey embodied a free female, and her sharp tongue of insanity often reflected that.
"In my books, most mafia families have whores that the men use, but I haven't seen any here? Last night, Giorgia mentioned them being boughten?"
"Are you asking me if the families have them?" He lowered sunglasses to inspect my face. "Or are you asking me if Tony and Draven use them?"
"Both?" I squeaked. How stupid was I, asking something so personal and inappropriate?
"Giorgia lied about the trafficking, at least from what we're aware of. Tony's father keeps four whores for himself, but with him gone, so are they. He has them travel with him to have them on hand. As for here, there's a few, but they know to not come to the main house. They reside in the spare building beyond the lawn. For an American, the easiest comparison would be to a sorority house at a college. The men who work for the houses are welcome to use the women, and they're paid handsomely for their time."
"Are they forced? Like a sex ring?" I worried.
The corner of his mouth kicked up. "No, Millie. That's one of the things the guys do not operate in. Human trafficking is something we all stand against."
"So the women are here because they chose to be?" I got up on the side of the pool with my elbows on the edge, sitting up in my chair to talk to him a little better. He paused to listen to his com, ripping it from his ear and tossing it on the table next to him. When he saw me with questions in my stare, he hooked his thumb to the inside.
"Kasey has Gregor's com, asking if I like what I can hear." Shaking his head, I had to laugh at how my bestie got under his skin. It was clear they'd never do anything, and I felt relief over that. Not that I had any right to Costas, and I felt weird having unbridled attraction to him. "As for your question, yes. They are all willing. A life here usually leads to better things for most of them, and they can leave any time unless one carries an heir of a family."
For some reason, that made sense. Maybe it was all the dark romance I'd been diving into over the years. "And Draven and Tony?"
Swallowing hard, I didn't know if I'd be prepared for the answer. He could see that my concern came from a place of worry for my wellbeing. "They know the life you lived, Millie. They know what Tim did to hurt you and made you feel absent. There was a reason we all wanted him dead."
"Even you?" Why was I asking about something I had no right to know?
"Our generation grew up with philandering fathers who never loved our mothers. While some fell in line with the married yet bachelor life, some of us saw the suffering of our mothers. We don't want that in our companions. True love might be hard to find, but we should never settle for anything less. So to answer your questions, we have used whores, but they do not now that they have you, and the women know to respect their partnership to you."
"Thank you for being so honest," I whispered to him.
"Trauma is a thing we all must live with, Millie. Don't let yours rule how you live your life though."
"Do you have trauma?" When I asked, he snorted in reply, and I realized my error. Of course, he did as the head of security. "I meant when it comes to relationships, not from violence."
"I'm not sure if you've seen my face, but the rest of me only gets scarier under the clothes." Winking he played it off like it was okay people judged his scars.
"People judge you because you have scars?"
"They've judged for less, but I've grown a thick skin since." Taking in his neck, I noticed he had more below the surface, but I never thought about the extent of them.
"Can I see them?" I asked even though I knew it would make him uncomfortable. His muscles stiffened as his eyes widened. For the first time, I felt like I overstepped. "Forgive me. I didn't think that through."
"No, you're alright. Tony and Draven are drawn to you because of the heart you carry within, Millie. You are a light in such a dark world." Lifting his shirt over his head, he showed me how much of his torso was damaged. Angry lines followed the cords of his muscle, and burns covered most of his middle area, up his neck. He had a tattoo over some, but I'd heard tattoos were hard to accomplish on marred skin. It made me ache for him in a new way.
"What happened?" At first, I couldn't help the overwhelming urge to understand the amount of pain he went through, but then I remembered it wasn't my place. "I'm sorry if that was rude to ask."
"It's not rude. Not many ask because they're afraid I might cripple under the pressure. Like those memories don't haunt my sleep nightly already."
"I can't even imagine," I breathed out. My fingers itched to trace the worst ones, but I also knew better.
