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“It’s expensive, isn’t it?”
“Very.” She came close, her gaze narrowing. “How much are you worth anyway, Annalise Eden?”
My face grew hot.
Very hot.
“I…ummm…” I stuttered.
She burst out laughing. “I’m just joking,” she chided. “Finish your drink, Anna, and let’s get out of here.”
Her phone beeped as we turned toward the door. I finished my champagne as she scowled at her screen.
“Everything okay?”
“Others are talking. Something about Stidda royalty?”
Stidda...I’d heard the name thrown around by my father. But it had always carried a sense of fear. Someone he didn’t like…someone not to be trusted. Someone his ally, the Salvatores, hated with a vengeance. “He must be who came by helicopter today.”
“Oh?” That drew her attention even as we got on the elevator. “Spill.”
“I was hurrying and saw it land right before our class.”
“That’s who the helicopter was for? Interesting,” she declared.
My mind slipped to my old life. A life behind a monitor. I wasn’t made for parties. I was made for numbers and data. I was made for the glow of my screen and late nights tucked away in my bed, finding tumblers and mixers to split the clean money from the dirty amongst the many streams of data my dad had me check out.
I’d spent weeks researching, pages and pages of data, desperate to uncover what he needed me to find, all the while trying to find a way into his world. I'd been close…so damn close. But the moment I'd made any kind of headway, he'd dropped the bombshell of Cosa Nostra Institute, throwing me off my game, and I was still trying to claw my way back with the data.
“Helllooo…”Kat posed her face into my view. “Where were you just then?”
Careful.
“Nowhere,” I lied, and forced a smile. “Thinking about the damn party you’re dragging me to.”
“You’re going tolove it,”she insisted, hooking her arm in mine.
And I had to think to myself for the hundredth time…why?Why her, why me? We strode toward one of the buildings, with music and laughter spilling from out from above. Glass doors were open, the balconies were filled with dancing and drinking. “Whose place is this, anyway?”
“Who cares,” Kat laughed, and pulled me forward until we were running, and we all but careened into the foyer. Three guys waited at the elevators. They never even looked at me. All eyes were on Kat and she was more than fine with the attention, laughing and joking. But not once did she release my hand, not once did she push me away or make fun of me.
The elevator pinged as the doors opened. One of the guys motioned us forward, eyeing me up and down. “Ladies.”
“Oh, look out, we have a gentleman in our midst,” she winked, and strode inside, yanking me after her. I checked my jacket in the harsh glare of the elevator and smiled, lowering my gaze as the guys strode in and one pushed the button.
They were all tall, and gorgeous. One was wearing tight jeans and a black open-collared shirt. The one next to him had a black leather vest over a black-shirt and jeans. But the third guy had a tight t-shirt and a lot of tattoos.I couldn’t stop staring. Wide, muscled shoulders bulged as he lifted his hand and rubbed the back of his neck.
I was starting to get the feeling this wasn’t like any party I’d ever been to before.
Kat leaned close and murmured just loud enough for the guys to hear, “Close your mouth, Anna. You’re drooling.”
I jerked a glare toward her and swallowed hard as we glided to a stop. Music spilled through and laughter followed as the doors opened. We followed the guys, stepping out into the most lavish party I’d ever seen.
Kat commanded the room as she sashayed her way inside, heading straight for the kitchen, her hand firmly clasped around mine.
“Hey!”she replied as someone called her name. “Jacob.” She winked at a guy chatting to a brunette at the end of the hallway, slowed long enough to lean in and kiss another strange guy on the cheek, then kept walking, dragging me with her.
“Isaac,” she cried as she strode into the sleek stainless steel kitchen. The place was stunning, not quite as expensive looking as ours, but sleek and stylish.
