~Chapter 10~
The road there is a strange mix of lights and noises clashing into each other.
When I get out of the car, the cold air takes my breath away.
The building is huge, lit up like a stage where everyone plays the same role: “no worries.”
Music, glasses, people laughing too loudly.
People dressed formally but with who knows what drink in their hand and dancing like maniacs.
“This is all about appearances,” I tell myself.
I glance a little more before Emy coughs, so I turn my head in her direction.
“What do you think, Cassian?” she says as she appears to my right.
“I… it’s nice, I guess. But too much,” my eyes hurt from how shiny everything is, and we’re still outside.
Emy just adds a simple, “come on,” and we head toward what we think is the entrance to the “Palace.”
If outside everything was all luxury and too bright, inside is heaven.
Lights everywhere, bodies dancing chaotically, drinks in a corner, food, and other craziness.
“Ooo… the Vex family!” I hear behind me, and we turn to see Colby and Ezra with a glass in hand.
Of course, Sergio went over there, and they were already talking, but then Ezra comes in front of me and Emy.
“If you want to play, know that you have to go through the kitchen, and there’s a big yard there.
We play outdoors. But know that there are quite a few people there,” he says, eyes fixed on me, so I nod.
“Where’s my drink?” Emy asks, looking around.
“Princess, come with me. And you, don’t get lost here,” Ezra says, taking Emy by the shoulder, and she disappears from my view in the next second.
Now it seems I’m on my own.
After my dear friends left me alone, I decide to look around this house.
Inside, it’s not as crowded as when we entered; most people went to the backyard, which is AS BIG AS THE HOUSE.
I reach the kitchen and grab a glass of water from the tap and undo four buttons on my shirt — Sergio clenched like he wanted to kill me.
“Hey,” I hear a voice, and I immediately realize it’s Theo.
“I didn’t know you came too,” I say.
“Neither did I. Instead of staying outside, you stay inside,” Theo laughs, walking toward me.
“You just got here?” I ask, and he shakes his head no.
“Then where were you? I’ve been left alone here; I got lost at least five times since we arrived,” I say, taking another sip of water.
“I stayed outside with your brother and some other people,” he says, pausing a bit.
“And I asked Sergio where you were, and he said you’re here, so now I’m here.
”
“Let’s go outside,” I say and move toward the front, hearing Theo follow, so I keep going.
We finally reach the yard after five minutes of searching because Theo followed me, and we got lost in this castle.
When we finally step outside, the air is different — cold but clean.
The backyard is lit by golden garlands, and people laugh as if life has no consequences.
Theo already sticks to a group talking about cars.
I stay a bit back, near the pool table.
I let my eyes roam over the shiny surface, the colored balls scattered randomly, a glass of untouched whiskey next to the cues.
I put down my glass of water and pick up a cue just to have an excuse not to talk to anyone.
I hit a ball randomly — I miss, but I always know the first try is wrong.
“Not like that.”
The voice comes calm but sure.
I turn, and in front of me is a tall guy, wearing a black suit, hair slightly tied back, and blue eyes.
His gaze is… dangerously calm.
“Sorry, I didn’t know we had professionals here at the party,” I say, trying to smile.
“You’ll find out now.” He steps closer, takes the cue from my hand without asking, and repositions it.
“Here, try like this.”
He shows me, then steps back.
I hit again. The ball goes in.
“See? It’s just the angle that matters,” he says, moving closer, his chest practically touching mine.
“Or maybe luck,” I say, trying to sound indifferent, but his tone hits me differently than it should.
He smiles slightly and leans close to my ear, whispering, “what’s your name?
”
“Cassian.”
“I know,” he says simply.
For a moment, the silence between us becomes thicker than the music.
We’re not going to ask each other’s names; anyway, we plan to leave.
Theo laughs somewhere in the back, but this guy’s voice drowns everything.
“You’re more interesting than the other guests.
You don’t seem like you want to be here,” he says, resting his hand on my ass.
“Maybe because I don’t,” I say, shrugging.
“Then why are you?”
“I’m still wondering that myself.
”
He smiles again, but his gaze doesn’t leave mine.
“Don’t leave too soon, Cassian. The game has just begun,” he says, and I see desire in his eyes, which makes the hair on my neck stand up.
He runs his hands over my body and continues walking.
I don’t know what the hell that was. But a part of me, the part that just wanted peace, seems to have woken up. And I don’t know if that’s a good thing.
I run my fingers over the edge of the glass while leaning against the pool table and glance over all the people.
All just people expecting to sit idle while money comes to them, a life where you just sit, and daddy helps you.
The music is too loud to think. I light a cigarette just to have something to do with my hands.
I take a long, deep drag as I weave through people, aiming to find Emy or Theo; we don’t need another incident like the last one.
After finally getting lost in the yard, I find a gazebo, and there’s Emy with a few girls she was talking to.
She seemed to know them quite well while speaking simply to them.
“Emy,” I say as I approach, and she turns to face me, smiling.
“Hey Cassi, come here,” she says, patting the spot next to her.
I move where she pointed and sit. I lift my head and see glances directed at me.
“What?” I say, and I see them quickly looking away, whispering useless things.
We weren’t going to hold back either, so I take the opportunity to ask something.
“How long the hell are we staying here? Everyone annoys me, and about twenty minutes ago, your boy was growling at me,” I whisper, and hear her laugh.
I nod and smile at the stupid things I said.
“We’re staying here, Cassian. Until Monday.
Almost 48 more hours,” she says, and I stop smoking, forgetting the cigarette in my hand.
I choke and ask for a glass of whiskey, taking a sip.
“WHAT? YOU’RE KIDDING!” I say, not caring that we’re surrounded.
“I’m not staying here until Monday, you know that,” I say quietly.
“And why the hell until Monday?” I ask again, sighing and taking a deep drag.
My lungs protest and wheeze.
“Well, we’re VIP clients, and Ezra and I are on good terms with the people who made this happen, so we’re staying until Monday because we have plans afterward,” Emy says, taking a sip of her drink.
“What does that mean?”
“It doesn’t matter, Cassi, just go with it.
And the clothes aren’t a problem; I can order for us tomorrow — after all, I’m rich, so why not,” Emy says, ignoring me and continuing to talk to the girls.
I get up from the table and, intending to go back inside, see Theo standing near some boys, deeply interested in their conversation, so I don’t interfere.
I grab a full bottle of alcohol after a meal and go inside.
I’m lucky — there’s no one inside. I head to the kitchen, where the last time I saw a pretty big couch.
I reach it and sit, opening the bottle of Jack Daniels, taking a big sip.
The liquid burns my throat, but it’s the only thing that makes me feel something.
The silence is weird — the kind of silence that doesn’t calm you but suffocates you.
I stare at the white wall in front of me and realize I’ve become exactly what I hated: someone who drinks to forget.
As if anything could be strong enough to erase everything.
“You chose the quietest spot in my whole palace, you know?” I hear his voice behind me.
I don’t turn immediately. I take another sip.
“And what are you doing here? Watching how people destroy themselves after you devour them, hm?”
“No. Just to see why you chose solitude over fun.”
I feel him approach.
He sits on the arm of the couch without asking.
“Jack Daniels?” he asks.
He takes the bottle from my hand and sets it aside.
“You’ve already drunk half of it, love, that’s not good for you,” he says, moving closer.
He sits down and lifts my chin, kissing my neck and continuing to my cheek but stops, the smile on his face lingering.
“I’ll help you express your excitement properly, and not just me…
” he whispers in my ear, laughing softly.
At that moment, for the first time tonight, I didn’t care if I was awake, drunk, or lost.
The only real thing was his voice.
And with that, my whole world went dark, and when I felt my lips overtaken by a familiar warmth and my neck tormented by another kind of torture…
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