Chapter 5
Five
Belle
I hit the elevator button and wave to the front receptionist for the murder-for-hire department of the Constantine empire.
Like I said, its head, for now, is my dear sweet cousin with a penchant for the mysterious, Sapphire Constantine. Her father was a one-time undertaker and now she’s stepping into the role as a way to pay back a debt she believes she owes after her father took off with the money he stole from a contract.
It was a mess that left my cousin with nowhere to live except my spare bed for a long time.
I keep telling her she doesn’t owe the family shit. If anyone owes anything it’s the deadbeat who abandoned her, but she’s not listening.
I slap the newspaper down on the table in front of us and giggle when the blue-eyed beauty jumps.
“Damn it, Belle. I nearly had a heart attack.” Sapphire grips her heart.
“I did it.”
She picks up the paper and turns a curious eye on me. “Did what? Should I be worried?”
“Totally a point-of-view answer. Check out page eight, top half.”
I watch as my best friend’s eyes grow wide with surprise.
“So you applied to be a janitor at The Society?”
I sit up, laughing. “Right? Could they have been any vaguer? But I gotta say. When I walked my size five Choos into the hiring office I was pleasantly not greeted with a mop bucket or broom.”
“What were you handed instead?”
“Three gorgeous military men. Navy by the looks of the tattoo on the arm of the one named Aziel. I didn’t get a good look. They were too busy kissing me.”
“Landed as in?” Her mouth drops open as the puzzle pieces start clicking together. “You hussy! You’re killing me here.”
Since Sapphire’s “office” lacks walls and is more of a table pushed into the back corner of the death-dealing floor Polaris spots us and comes over.
“What are we gossiping about?”
“Our friend here has hooked up with three guys.”
“Navy men,” I correct. “SEALs I suspect but I still need confirmation on that.”
Curiosity piques in Polaris’ expression and she slides half her cute, little ass over the edge of the table between us. Both she and Sapphire are glued to my next words.
“This stays between us.”
“Always,” they both assure me.
I lean forward. “They are looking for a girl to take the stage with them and I think they are going to pick me.”
Sapphire sits up straighter and I can tell she is stunned from the way her mouth goes back to hanging open. Polaris mirrors her.
“You what?” Polaris starts and Sapphire picks up right after that.
“You can’t do this. If anyone finds out who you are it could come back to the men. Harlon’s enemies would hurt you and use it to blackmail him the second they see you on that stage. It’s like handing them a live grenade with laser tracking aimed at your brother.”
My heart falls and I can’t hold back my frown. “I thought you two would be happy for me.”
Sapphire shares a look with Polaris. “We are, but?—”
“—I’ve had enough people telling me what I should and should not do,” I cut in. “You both should know I am doing this. I can’t sit in this fucking place another day, hour or minute wondering when I get to live my life. I want this. I want to feel a man’s touch. I want to know what it is like to have someone or someones touching me and making me feel alive.”
There’s no calming music piping through the overhead speakers. That doesn’t happen until business hours start. So the dead silence between all three of us is deafening.
“You sound unhappy.”
I bristle. “I guess I am, Sapph. I didn’t realize just how unhappy until right now. That’s why I have to do this. I need you guys to understand I won’t put myself in harm’s way. These men...” I look off over Sapphire’s shoulder gathering my thoughts for a moment. “There’s something about them,” I finally say. “They are intense for sure. But between them, I felt protected, not in danger. The way they touched me. Kissed me. Made me feel.”
I look between my two friends.
“Please don’t judge me, but I want to see what happens. If all goes well, tonight’s plan is to tell them I’m a virgin. See where it goes from there. They could kick me out and this conversation is moot at that point anyway.”
“Tonight’s plan? Are you seeing them again?”
The ringer on my phone goes off and I stand up. “They are sending a cab for me tonight. We are having dinner. They want to see how compatible we are before any of us sign and so do I.” I grab the newspaper and my Birkin.
Polaris smirks. “And your security detail? How do you plan on getting around them? The second they see what you are up to they will end it. Who knows what orders your brother has given them.”
“They are downstairs getting their asses chewed out for losing me in traffic today.”
We share a cringe. I hurry to the back elevator. “Cover for me tonight?”
“Do we have a choice?”