11. Messy
Chapter 11
Messy
CALLIE
M y nerves made my stomach churn as I followed Miles. He didn’t chat with me about Moonlight history, Parisian Crescent specials, or his family like he had the other times we’d spoken. Instead, he eyed me with a blank expression.
I’m so getting fired. I don’t even know what I did wrong, but I’m getting fired.
It’ll be okay. I’ll be fine. There are countless other jobs in Vegas. They may not pay as well. Or have the perks. And getting fired from my very first job after a couple of months won’t exactly shine on a résumé…
This isn’t helping.
When I’d gotten to work after my two days off, I hadn’t had time to decide between hanging in my car or getting the scoop from the older ladies as they waited for bingo. Miles had been waiting in the employee lot.
For me.
And we didn’t go to Parisian Crescent, either. Instead, he steered me toward a hallway marked for Black Resorts employees only.
At first, I’d assumed it was because of the whole thing with Nico. That maybe he’d complained and passed the blame to me, or that they were checking to be sure I was okay. But that didn’t explain why Miles was acting so cold.
Or why the ominous feeling grew stronger with each passing second.
Going up the elevator, we got off on a floor with a bunch of receptionists. I wanted to ask him who I was supposed to talk to or what was happening, but I couldn’t get my voice to work. It didn’t matter. We weren’t standing there long when a different elevator dinged and opened to reveal Marco.
He wasn’t exactly a teddy bear, but he’d always been friendly—in his own intimidating way. Not right then. He didn’t even look at me as he jerked his head, silently instructing us to get in.
Or just me, I guessed, since Miles didn’t follow.
We rode up in a heavy silence that made my interaction with Miles feel like a besties vacay. It confirmed my suspicion that I was in trouble, and my thoughts raced as I tried to figure out what I’d done wrong. I was about to blurt out a desperate plea for him to put me out of my misery when we reached a high-class waiting room. I didn’t have the chance—or the interest—to check it out as I rushed to keep up with his long, determined strides. He knocked on a door but didn’t wait for anyone to answer before continuing in.
I followed, pausing in the doorway.
What is going on?
Mr. Black sat behind a desk that was nearly as daunting as the man himself. Chef Frédéric stood behind him. Cole was on a couch to the side of the expansive space. A laptop was open on the coffee table in front of him, but his gaze was aimed at the wall next to me. The bearded man with a shaved head sat next to him. I’d seen him at Parisian Crescent a few times—once when he’d come to pick up Juliet’s friend—but I couldn’t remember his name.
Marco kept going, moving across the office to position himself opposite Chef, but I stayed frozen where I was.
There were no shy smiles. No chin lifts. No concerned questions asked in a soft, accented voice.
Karma really was a bitch because after weeks of pretending Chef Frédéric didn’t exist, I was getting the same treatment.
Times three.
Other than Juliet’s husband and the bearded man, none of the other men even looked at me.
For a panicked moment, I wondered if Cole or Marco had lodged a complaint against me. Maybe I hadn’t done a good job hiding my two crushes—three if I counted Chef now that I knew he wasn’t married. Perhaps I’d misread their professional kindness as interest. Maybe I’d done or said something wrong when they’d escorted me to my car.
I wasn’t even sure what nonsense I’d spewed. I’d spent my days off alternating between cursing how uncool I’d handled it and reliving how giddy it’d made me feel to be alone with the three of them.
But what if they’d spent those same days uncomfortable because of me?
Oh no, I’m basically Nico.
I’m a scumbag.
Mr. Black studied me as I silently floundered. It was unnerving, like he could see my inner thoughts and sins. I was on the verge of confessing the time I’d taken five bucks from the shrooms stash in Utah when he finally spoke.
“How’re you doing after the situation with Nico Benson?”
I practically melted to the floor in relief.
It’s just a check-in. But why’re they acting so weird? Are they worried I’m going to make a fuss?
“It’s fine.” I gave a small headshake and amended to answer his actual question. “ I’m fine. He was, uh, inappropriate, but it’s nothing I haven’t heard a million times.”
That was clearly the wrong thing to say. No one moved or spoke, but the vibe changed. Like the space shrank and the air grew wired, all at the same time.
There was no holding back the impulsive rush of words to cut through the tension. “But if he said that I welcomed anything or started it, he’s lying. Freddy can tell?—”
“Chef Frédéric.”
My gaze darted to the man I hadn’t meant to call by his name despite the fact he’d recently told me to.
That invitation was clearly revoked, and his firm correction further flustered me.
“R-right, sorry,” I stammered, my heart cracking. “Chef Frédéric can verify that I wasn’t there voluntarily. I’d barely spoken to Nico before that, and he said?—”
“He didn’t,” Mr. Black blessedly interrupted because I had no clue where I was going with any of that. “His employment was terminated, and he isn’t allowed on any of my properties. I asked to make sure you were okay.”
“I am. Thank you. I appreciate you asking, sir.” I inched back toward the open door. “If that’s all?—”
“It isn’t.”
Damn.
I knew that was too easy for all this heaviness.
“Tell me about Eternal Sun.”
In all he could’ve said, nothing would’ve shocked me more. He could’ve ripped off his handsome face to reveal his moon fascination was because he was secretly a tiny green alien powering a human suit, and it wouldn’t be as out of left field as his order.
I opened my mouth and closed it again before my jaw dropped anyway. I probably looked like a gaping fish, but I couldn’t help it.
How did he find out?
Was it Abraham?
The hippie nature theme of his resorts… Is he a member of Eternal Sun? His wealth puts him in their target demographic.
I’m out. Abraham can’t force me back.
I won’t go back.
I finally mustered a weak, “Who?”
His dark eyes narrowed, and his jaw clenched. “Not a fan of repeating myself or people trying to play me.”
“I’m not. I just…” I swallowed hard and pushed my shoulders back, some self-preservation kicking in before I word-vomited my story and shot myself in the foot. “Can I ask why you’d like to know?”
He didn’t answer my question with his own to turn it into a frustrating roundabout. He laid it out with a bluntness I really appreciated anytime, but especially right then. “Because we want nothing to do with that kind of organization. And that includes employing members.”
“I’m not a member,” I assured him.
“But you were one.”
I was tempted to lie, but the watchful way he eyed me said he was waiting for that. That he would recognize the lie.
That he already knew the truth.
I answered his non-question honestly. “Only because my parents are members. I wasn’t?—”
A clicking noise came from the direction of the couch. Arching a brow, Mr. Black jerked his chin toward the side of me.
I haltingly twisted to see the wall was covered in monitors of different sizes. Some showed security camera feeds from various spots around the resort. Others played the news on mute. The biggest one bizarrely displayed a room filled with fabric and sewing machines.
But multiple screens came together to display an enlarged photo of Tess and Dick outside of the solarium at Eternal Sun. I scanned the image before my gaze landed on the upper corner.
I barely heard more clicking over the blood rushing in my ears, but the image changed as it zoomed in on where I’d been focused. Any hope I had of denying that it was me disappeared when the clarity improved like they’d used the best software.
Or the best tech guy.
I stared at the picture of myself, remembering the day. Even though Dick had always lived up to his name, I’d adored Tess from the first night she’d shown me to my cabin. The couple had been smiling at the camera for a picture that Tess wanted to send to her family. Something to reassure them she was okay. Her happiness made me happy, so I’d been smiling at them.
And Abraham had been staring at me. I hadn’t known either of us were in the photograph, but especially not him. He was usually guarded about that kind of thing. He must not have cared since it was just Tess’s picture.
Or maybe he hadn’t noticed the camera since the entirety of his focus was on me. It always was when I was unlucky enough to be in his company. And there were far, far too many times.
That bad feeling circling me since finding Miles in the garage turned into a toxic tornado. It wrapped around me so completely, I could barely breathe. Goose bumps spread, and the hairs on the back of my neck stood.
“Well?” Mr. Black prompted.
It took me a moment to find my voice in my panic and my memories. “I told you. My parents are members. I am not. I left.”
“Recently?”
I nodded.
“Manny was told you came from Utah.”
“I did live in Utah.”
He glared.
I rushed on to explain, even though I knew Tess and I had been misleading. “There was no lie. I never specified when I moved. And that was where my relevant work experience was.”
He didn’t look happy about it, but he moved on. “Do you visit your parents?”
I shook my head.
“Call them?”
Another headshake.
“Any communication? Texts, online messages, pagers, a damn carrier pigeon?”
Grief clogged my throat and burned behind my eyes. I should’ve taken my own advice and left without a word. A clean break without a messy goodbye.
Or the stoned and indifferent one.
“No,” I whispered. “I haven’t spoken to them since the day I left.”
“What about anyone else from the organization?” he pushed.
“No,” I repeated even knowing that it was pathetic. I spent four years there, and not one person cared enough about me to go against Abraham’s rules.
Not even my own parents.
I hadn’t heard from Tess since she moved back to Ohio. I’d sent a couple of messages that’d gone unanswered before logging on to my Facebook to see she’d unfriended me. And I didn’t blame her. Not for a second. I missed her, but I was proud she was finally ready to sever all connection to that awful place.
Including me.
My last communication was a quick message to let her know that so she didn’t carry any unnecessary guilt. I had no intention of reaching out again.
Mr. Black leaned forward and rested his chin on his steepled fingers. “What do you know about Abraham’s girlfriend, Veronica?”
My brows shot up, and I wondered again if he was trying to trick me. If he was loyal to Abraham but pretending otherwise so he could garner my trust and information. How else could he know so much?
I chose my words cautiously. “Roni? She wasn’t really his girlfriend.”
I wish she was, though.
“We weren’t at the same teachings level,” I continued, “so we weren’t around each other often. And then she left. But I liked her. She’s bolder than the others there. It was entertaining.”
“They weren’t dating?” Mr. Black seemed genuinely surprised.
“I got the impression that it was more about… business? I overheard them talk a lot about shadow welcoming.” I paused before amending, “It’s basically recruitment of new members into the program.”
“That checks,” the bearded man muttered before giving me his attention. “You think Abraham is capable of killing?”
I fought back the memories that hovered, ready to push in to overwhelm me. The pressure. The intentions. The prophecies.
The awe .
“I think Abraham is capable of pretty much anything,” I said, my answer honest yet guarded. “But he’d only do something drastic if his power was threatened. Otherwise, he would never risk losing what he’s built. Nothing and no one matters as much as that.” I looked around, which was dumb. A ghost wasn’t about to jump out to answer my unasked question. “Why? Is someone dead?”
“Veronica.”
The anxiety that’d been heavy on my chest turned hollow as tears filled my eyes. “That’s so sad.”
“You’re grieving more than her own daughter,” the bearded man tossed in.
My brows lowered, and I spoke before thinking. “Her daughter? I didn’t know she had one.”
He called her a harsh name under his breath, the fierceness of it showing it was personal.
I came to her defense as much as I could. “That’s the way it is at Eternal Sun. Members are discouraged from having connections and relationships with people outside of?—”
“It’s just the way that bitch was,” he said. “Period.”
I offered a half-assed shrug. “Like I said, I didn’t really know her.”
“Then why do you look like you’re about to burst into tears?”
“Because she was a person I knew, and now she’s dead. It’s sad.”
“It’s not. Don’t waste your tears. Her daughter—my woman—didn’t even cry.”
I assumed he was talking about Juliet’s pretty brunette friend, but I couldn’t picture her and Roni as distant family, much less mother and daughter. Then again, they were both basically strangers to me.
Which was exactly what I pointed out. “Maybe the fact I’m sad confirms what I said. I barely knew her.”
He didn’t respond, but he also didn’t call me a liar.
My focus moved unconsciously next to him to meet Cole’s eyes. Rather than the warm brown I was used to seeing, his stare was cold before he moved it away.
Dismissing me as nothing.
Less than nothing.
I must’ve been a glutton for punishment because I risked a peek at the other two men I’d been crushing on. Marco’s stony gaze was aimed straight ahead. Chef Frédéric seemed to be taking in the whole scene, but there was no hint of the kind man I was used to. His observation was with a reserved indifference.
Like he couldn’t care less.
“Is there anything you can tell us about Veronica, Abraham, or Eternal Sun?” Mr. Black asked.
I forced my attention to him. There was so much I could share. All the details of what I went through. What Abraham wanted from me.
What he had planned.
But I couldn’t. If Mr. Black was connected to Eternal Sun, and this was all an elaborate plot for Abraham to get leverage on me—I wouldn’t put it past him—I could lose the distance I’d fought so hard to gain.
Rather than spewing the truth, I bit my tongue and only shared the bare minimum. “I can explain the beliefs they put in their pamphlets. Tell you about the classes and courses and how the program works. Beyond that, I don’t know anything. Not how they run things or cloak-and-dagger details. My parents are ordinary members, the same as countless others. They aren’t part of his council.”
Though he wanted me to be so, so much more than that.