Chapter 17
Casey
“Remember, Chickadee,” Meredith said as she applied yet another layer of powder to the hollows of my cheekbones, “Subservient. Eyes down. Obedient. You need to act like his servant, holding his drink, having it ready when he’s thirsty, kneeling beside him on the floor when he sits-”
“Excuse me, what ?” Riley interrupted, her head snapping up from the page she’d been scribbling on, her pencil sliding to the side.
“What is it with guys and making us kneel at their feet?” she muttered bitterly.
She’d been perched at the head of Vails bed while I sat on the end, with Shelby and Meredith attacking me with makeup brushes, eyeshadows, and hairspray.
Though we hadn’t divulged much of what we were doing tonight regarding our mission, when Shelby heard that Meredith was planning on dolling me up, she eagerly volunteered to help.
Logan carried Riley up so she could hang out with us, with her clutching one of the extra sketchbooks I’d had lying around and gave her, along with some pencils, while muttering something about needing a break from the testosterone downstairs.
As they primped me up for tonight, Meredith coached me on what I needed to do to blend in.
Lee would be there as my “master,” and though I cringed at the word, I trusted him implicitly.
Vail would be waiting outside with Maverick, who I was going to officially meet tonight, and a few of the Black Spades, who were also ready in case we got into any trouble.
Lee and I were to draw attention from the owners in the lounge so Shaw could break into the basement and see if the missing girls were actually being kept there.
“Wish we could have found something a little sluttier,” Meredith said after she finished applying a pale pink to my lips and moved over to one of the bags from Goodwill they’d returned with.
She peeked inside, curled her lip in distaste, and said, “Or some more money to afford something a little nicer.”
“It’ll most likely be low lighting in there,” I reminded her as Shelby circled around me, curling my hair with an iron.
“So they won’t notice labels, and they’re men…
what do they know about fashion… uh, excluding your guys, of course,” I added, thinking about the clothes that Micha and Logan had arrived in.
Guaranteed their jeans alone were worth several hundred dollars.
“Still, the two dresses I have at home would be perfect, but I can’t make a run back there now. Plus…” She glanced at me and smirked, “You’re kinda shrimpy.”
“I resent that.” I rolled my eyes at her as Shelby carefully ran her nails through my curls to loosen them up a bit. “I’m not shrimpy. I’m a delicate little butterfly.”
“Hopefully, the guys in that club will believe that, cuz no one in this room is gonna buy that bullshit. I saw what you did to Celeste’s stitches…” She smirked.
“What’d you do?” Riley asked, looking up again from her sketch.
“Well, a few days before, I’d ripped her earrings out, the bitch was going to shove a fork in my face, so I ripped out the stitches.”
Shelby finished curling my hair and backed away, setting the iron down to grab some bobby pins, but I noticed how one of her hands had touched her own ear, as though she were imagining what it would feel like to be in Celeste’s shoes, and shivered.
“Trust me, she deserved it,” I said when she returned, pulling sections of my hair back.
“A fork in the face?” she muttered, glancing at Riley for whatever reason. “I’d say that earns a stitch-rip.”
“She’s the one your crazy-ass boyfriend punched out today,” Meredith added nonchalantly as she pulled out a black and silver-looking cocktail dress from the bag.
“Wait, what?!” Riley’s head snapped up again, her mouth dropping in surprise, and looking at Shelby. “What part of being covert does your boyfriend not understand?”
“I know, I’m sorry!” she moaned. “Some guy grabbed my butt when we came in. Logan might’ve… overreacted a bit.”
“He punched a girl?”
“To be fair, Celeste needed a punch in the face,” I said as Shelby arranged my hair so that a layer was pinned back off my face, the lilac curls loose and falling down my back.
“All set. I have no idea what kind of undercover mission you guys are about to go on tonight, but either way, Casey is gonna look hot as hell while she does it.”
“C’mon, you!” Meredith nodded at me as she handed me the clothes. “Get changed. The others will be arriving soon.”
I hurried into the bathroom as Shelby and Mer congratulated each other on a job well done. After closing the door behind myself, I could finally see what they’d done to me… and my mouth dropped.
I really did look over the top. My eyes were extra smoked out, with long, curling lashes added to the outer corners to make them stand out even more.
All that bronzer Meredith applied to my cheeks made me look older somehow, and the pink she chose didn’t clash with my hair like the first choice had.
I quickly changed out of my clothes from the day and slipped on the black dress.
It was a spaghetti strap, and the triangular cups over my boobs were so tight that they made my boobs swell together, creating ample cleavage.
The material fanned out around my ass, down to a couple of inches above the knees, with silver slivers running up and down the black, gauzy material.
She’d also given me a pair of black heels and some fishnet stockings that were more uncomfortable than I thought they’d be.
They squeezed around my toes, and I feared that by the end of the night, I’d have diamond-shaped markings all over my legs.
Shaking my hair out down my back, I stepped out to find Vail’s bedroom empty.
The last thing I wanted was to walk down there by myself.
Even after adapting to life on The Hill, I’d never dressed this girly.
The thought of the guys seeing me this way had my stomach jumping up and down, and my heart was racing a little.
I was starting to feel more nervous at the prospect of everyone seeing me this way rather than walking into La Maison Rouge, pretending to be a whore.
“Casey! Get your cute ass down here!” Meredith hollered up the stairs.
I took a deep breath and headed down, ambling carefully down the steps in my heels to avoid breaking an ankle.
I kept my eyes down as I walked, hoping that I’d be able to slink by without anyone noticing, however the moment I emerged, I could hear a small breath catch from the lounger chair by the couch.
I looked up to see Shaw staring at me from beneath his black hoodie, mouth slightly open, blue eyes wide as they took me in.
Slowly, I looked to Lee, dressed in a dapper looking grey suit with a white button-up shirt underneath, undone at the neck.
His eyes were smoldering as he slowly looked me up and down, making me feel like he was undressing me with his gaze.
Then I looked to Vail, who appeared quite unmoved by me altogether.
He was checking his phone, texting someone before glancing my way.
His hazel eyes flicked over me like he was checking to make sure I looked the part, and he just nodded as he turned away.
“Good. C’mon. They’re waiting.” He tossed a grey teddy faux fur coat at me and slipped on a thick, black fleece sweater, carefully covering his hair in a black toque.
Shaw was dressed similarly, in dark clothing, his hood pulled up over his head.
They look like robbers more than anything.
I will admit I was a little hurt by his dismissal.
It stung. But Vail was in “business mode” while Shaw looked nervous as hell as he watched me, like he was just itching to throw me over his shoulder and lock me in his bedroom.
If we got caught tonight, we might end up being in another dangerous situation like they were in last time.
I involuntarily shivered as I thought about that biker who killed Bryce with the saw.
The way they described him… he sounded like a lunatic.
“Should we say good luck?” Logan asked from where he was sitting on the couch, Shelby cradled in his lap.
On the other end, Micha and Riley were snuggled up beneath a blanket.
I hid my smile as I tried not to laugh, but, the moment the sun went down and the temperature dropped, our Florida houseguests all began shivering.
Even Logan, who sneered at first at the sweats and hoodies that the girls had bought for him from the Goodwill, changed into the comfier, thicker clothes to stay warm.
“I’d say that’d be fitting .” Lee smiled at him, and I just knew he was thoroughly enjoying how Logan was cringing from having to wear second-hand clothes.
“Good luck, guys,” Micha said from where he was lying.
“I get to keep Shaw’s gaming system if shit goes down,” Logan added, earning a smack on the back of his head from Shelby.
“Ignore him,” she said, then covered his mouth with her hand to prevent him from saying anything further.
“We got things here, Boss,” Meredith called over from the dining room table where she and Haldon were sitting close together, working on some homework.
Vail didn’t respond, but I caught the subtle nod to Haldon, who returned it, the motion so minuscule that I almost missed it.
He and Meredith had a lot on their plate watching these four.
There was likely a group of Vendetta members hanging out close by in case backup was needed while we were gone.
He tipped his head to the three of us and headed downstairs.
I stayed close to Lee, my earlier anxiety and nerves about tonight rushing back to me.
Lee wrapped his arm around me, sensing my unease.
I was so glad that at least he’d be there with me.