Chapter 30
CHAPTER THIRTY
“ L ucia…”
I wake up drowsy, not even realizing I’d been asleep. Pulling myself out of a dream that clings like quicksand. The red clay, bulls in the arena.
“I love to watch…” the earpod rolls out and thee sound cuts off. I’m hunting for it in the mess of wet sheets and I hear Carlo’s voice from the phone behind me.
I ask him, “What did you say?”
“Just that I love to watch you sleep. Not quite as much as I love to watch you come.”
“That was… really, that was amazing.”
“You were really tense.”
“Is that the secret of such great sex?”
I found the earbud.
As I put it in, I watch him on the phone screen. He smiles and shrugs.
“Great tension, great release. Maybe I’ll bring toys back. They have more toys than Vegas here.”
“Oh, you’re shopping sex toys?” I ask him, “Or are the dancers giving you demos?”
He says, “There’s a whole mall and it’s very popular. Apparently, people who come here to play the slots and tables like to play in other ways, too.”
“Who knew?”
“Right? But they’ve got things I haven’t seen before. Should I bring you some back?”
I tell him, “I don’t need toys when I’ve got you.”
“But for when we’re apart?”
“When we’re apart, nothing else will do.”
“See?” he laughs. “That’s why I don’t even notice the dancers or anyone else.” His laugh makes me feel happy and whole again, like nothing else matters and everything’s going to be alright.
I wonder, though. I trust him. I trust them all. But I can’t ever help wondering. Imagining them. I think it’s because I love imagining them.
I see how women look at all of them, at Alessio for his power and dark magnetism, Bruno because he’s so athletic he makes you wet just watching his body move under his suit.
And Carlo. The evil look in his eye and you know that he sees all the way through you. I know the effect that all of them have on women. Somehow, I can’t believe they would all pass that up and all the time. but then, I do it, too.
I get more than my share of attention now and, unless it}s one of my three kings, I’m simply not interested. Knowing what I’ve got, I know there’s never going to be anything better.
That’s why it’s tearing me up, being apart from them. And especially feeling this horrible rift with Alessio.
And, deep down, I’m sure that if I have a problem with Alessio, it will hurt the bond of trust, the balance of all of our connections.
And it’s killing me.
I take a long breath in. I wish he were here. Or that I was there. I wish it so much that it hurts. My voice is soft as I ask him, “I thought you had a thing you had to go to?”
“I do. I didn’t go.” he smiles. then he says, “Don’t worry. It was a card game. It wasn’t important.”
“There’s no way we can get Bruno to join us here, is there?”
“Alas, no. He’s doing vital missionary work. He’s our ambassador, out pressing flesh, trying to smooth over all the ruffled feathers. We’re both going around as many of the tribal leaders as there are here, trying to give them reassurance. Show them that we’re sincere and we’re in this for the long haul, and to do whatever we can to convince them that we can be trusted and we}re working in good faith.”
“How are they taking it?”
“It’s not good. Everything changed when they heard about the raid. We’re going to have a tough job. Everybody is angry.”
“I get it. Do you see anything we can do?”
“Bruno’s better at this than me. He’s all out with the charm offensive.”
“Is that going to do it, do you think?”
“Not a chance. They don’t care how charming we are. It’s keeping the doors open, though and without that, the deal would be sunk.”
“you think its on the line?”
“Nobody says so, but I’m sure of it.”
“What makes you say that?”
“Whenever talk turns to anything in the future, they switch off. They blank out and disconnect. I was talking with Waya yesterday about construction in the region. As soon as we got to the upcoming road developments, I saw him tune out.”
“That’s incredibly sharp observation, Carlo.”
“It’s the same with everybody here. They’ll pass the time of day and talk about things that are going on now, but it’s a waiting game.”
“Do you think they’ve made up their minds?”
“No, I don’t think so. I’m certain if they had, they would just throw us out on our ears.” … “There’s still a chance. While Bruno is charming them and keeping the lines of communication open, I’m trying to figure out what we can do to put this right for them.”
“What do you think it will take to make them feel whole?”
“I don’t know. Nothing small. Nothing easy.”
“I wish the two of you would come back here.”
“It’s your call, my queen, as always. If we want to save the Cascades deal, though, I think Bruno and me ought to stay on it up here. It would probably help if you could be here, too.”
“And Alessio?”
“I don’t know. It’s hard to tell where his head’s at right now.”
“Where’s your head at, Carlo?”
His smile is as devilish and hard to read as always..
“They say parting is a sweet sorrow. Parting you is always a joy for me. Parting from you, not so much.” His voice is low, “but still, think about all the chance it gives us to get back together.” He smiles. “Tension — release.”
I’m resigned to him going and me spending another night without him. Without any of them. I have the three hottest men in the city, three kings of the underworld, and here I am in my new house, about to sleep all alone.
Again.