6. Ara
Lily: I can’t believe you couldn’t make it this morning. The girls were really looking forward to seeing you.
When I don’t reply to Lily’s text, I receive another message twenty minutes later.
Lily: Is everything okay?
Lily’s text message stirs little guilt in me. I sure as fuck have bigger issues to deal with right now.
I look over my shoulder and out at the bustling city. My office is as big as a one-bedroom apartment, and yet it still doesn’t feel like it has enough airflow in here. I sit behind my large marble desk. The gold sculpture of a jaguar stares back at me from across the room. I’ve always hated the thing but left the office much as it had always been before I took over the position.
I can’t shake Luca’s words from last night. I’ve been staring at an email, my mind infuriatingly drawing back to Luca. I can’t believe he had the balls to break into my home, act like he owns it, and declare he now owns me before waltzing out and closing the door behind him. My blood is still boiling.
I grab my phone and let Lily know everything’s okay but I had a work fire to put out. I know I should be grateful I escaped with my life last night, but I can’t seem to find any elation from it. Where did I go wrong? Did I act too soon by stepping into his brother’s club? Then again, Luca had been on a flight earlier that night, so what brought him back?
A soft knock on my door rattles me. I look up and see Liam, my assistant, bringing in a few files and letters. I’m almost grateful for his intrusion when I realize it’s already past five in the evening. Most of our staff would start packing up to leave soon. I should probably do the same.
“Do you need anything else before I leave?” he asks politely.
I like Liam. He’s twenty-five with ample potential. However, I still don’t entirely trust him—or anyone else who works for this company, for that matter. One way or another, any slip up I make will be reported back to my father. I already fired two of the employees I found out reported back to him. Despite my freedom to run this company, he certainly still keeps an eye on me, and I know he’s waiting for my downfall. He want’s my time to come soon so I have to fulfill the promise I made him.
“No, you’ve done well today, Liam. Thank you.”
His chest swells slightly by the compliment. “Thank you, Miss Barone. Will you be doing anything tonight?” he asks.
“Tonight?” I query as I flick through the papers. At the bottom is a gold envelope from my stepmother. I grimace as I tear it open. An invitation to my brother’s tenth birthday. Well, at least they sent an invite this time. One I’ll decline like all the others, although I’ve only been invited to a few.
“Friday night?” he asks.
He now seems nervous about asking. I’m not one to indulge in personal questions with my staff unless it suits me.
“I’m afraid just a quiet evening in tonight,” I say with a charismatic smile. A slight red flushes his cheeks, and he leaves.
By quiet evening in,I meant I have a certain nightclub to stake out. I’m positioned across from Balmere club and I’m parked on the corner. Far enough out of sight, but close enough for my lens to zoom in when necessary. Tonight, I opted for a short caramel wig and some glasses. I added some prosthetic makeup, like I often do, to adjust my facial features. When my father had hired four women to teach me how to use makeup to cover up my scar, he hadn’t realized my interest was in how it could mask me in a completely different way.
Like clockwork, Luca’s most lucrative business partners meet him at eleven every Friday night. When he’s not in town, his second in command, Ivan, handles the dealings on his behalf. That’s how tonight should’ve and would’ve gone down—had Luca remained on his course back to Italy.
The club itself is exclusive. A fantasy of desires where only few make it in. But like any club there is always a hopeful line-up outside. Most of them will never be allowed in, but they line around the corner anyway, hoping it might be their lucky night. Because what’s more tempting than the unknown and what is rumored to be the greatest night of one’s life?
Right on cue, a woman in a long red dress steps out of a car. I recognize her immediately and take a quick snap. I don’t need the photo to identify her, but it may come in handy one day as evidence or blackmail. I’m not a good person but an opportunist. Camille Blanchet stands out like a beacon. I recall her and Luca briefly speaking at her sister’s art gallery only nights before. It was the same night Luca broke into my apartment and exposed my secret world.
So what does the daughter of Darius Blanchet require from the likes of Luca? Or is it perhaps a more personal occasion? The two seem well suited together. I scoff. Luca has numerous lovers but none are a romantic relationship. Some are high profile, some not. Is Camille another notch in the belt? She is beautiful after all.
She’s permitted to enter immediately, which is a dead giveaway she has an appointment. It’s not unusual to recognize some of the members Luca deals with. I’m intrigued by some more than others. I wonder what they might need and the propositions they present.
A knock on my window has me jumping out of my skin. A security guard built wider than my door is peering in through the passenger side window. Fuck. I half hide the camera. That’s when I realize he must’ve walked around the block and come at me from the back instead of the front knowing where my attention would be. Have I become sloppy?
He speaks through the window ever so quietly, but I can lip read just fine. I sigh. Fuck.
“Mr. Armani would like to have a moment of your time inside.”