43. Juliet
JULIET
T he world runs on lies. Mommy and Daddy love you. They’ll never let anything bad happen to you. Justice is always served. Bad people get what they deserve.
All lies.
Sometimes, the bad people get away and sometimes, mommies and daddies are just human. They make mistakes. They abandon their kids when shit gets hard. The universe doesn’t care about any of it. It’s indifferent. The Earth keeps on turning. Life keeps on living.
The disconnect between what should be and what is fills my mind as Morpheus makes good on his promise—threat?—and Roquel shows up to his house a few days after our dinner.
Eyes wide, dressed in a relatively more conservative outfit than I’ve ever seen her wear before, she nods to Stuart who leads her to the bedroom I haven’t left but a few times since I moved in.
Morpheus’ assistant is particularly kind to her, smiling brightly and asking if she requires anything to drink or eat while we chat.
“Oh, no thank you,” Roquel says, offering him a shy smile. Curled up on the settee by the window, I barely glance in Stuart’s direction as he panders to her.
“Well, if you need anything, Miss Lee,” he insists. “Please don’t hesitate to ask.”
Just before he shuts the door, he glances in my direction and scowls. With a roll of my eyes, I flip him my happy middle finger and enjoy the flush of anger in his face right before the door latches. The second he’s out of sight, Roquel lets out a long breath.
“Holy. Shit.” Tugging at the long-sleeved blouse that would look more appropriate on a matronly aunt than a teenage girl, Roquel hurries across the room to practically dive onto the settee next to me. “This place is huge .”
“A huge prison is still a prison,” I say.
My bedroom is situated on a corner. One of the windows faces the side with a partial view of the paved driveway and the other faces the back garden. Right now, I’m staring at the rows and rows of well-manicured bushes and trees that line the back of the Calloway property.
“A prison?” Roquel snorts and leans closer to the window, peeking out of the sheer curtains.
“This place is a palace,” she insists. “Do you have any idea what I’d do to live in a mansion like this?
” She laughs awkwardly and sits back as she cuts a hand through the air.
“Servants and shopping sprees? Sign me up.”
Irritation flits through me, but I shove that shit down. It’s been days since I saw anyone but the staff, Morpheus, and Stuart. I should be happy that she came at all rather than be annoyed by her obliviousness to my situation. Turning and letting my legs drop to the floor, I shift towards her.
“Have you seen the guys?” I ask.
Blinking, Roquel frowns. “The Scorpion Kings?” she clarifies as if I could mean anyone else.
“Yes,” I say. “I haven’t been back to school in weeks. Are they doing okay? Have you seen or talked to them?”
Roquel lifts a finger to her lips, tapping it lightly. “Yeah, they’re still in classes for the most part,” she hedges. “They were all out for a couple of days at the beginning of last week, but they came back and have been pretty normal. Why?”
Normal? After what happened between Lex and me? Did he not tell them what I said? Why haven’t they come or tried to contact me?
“Did they know Morpheus invited you here?” I ask instead. Desperation seems to claw at me, a hungry, needy creature frenzied for any crumb of information or news.
Roquel shrugs. “They might’ve, I don’t know honestly.”
“You don’t know?” I stare at her.
“It’s not like we’re friends, Jules.” Roquel drops her hand from her lips and rocks forward, swinging her legs, clad in long dark washed jeans sans any rips or tears. “They don’t really talk to me when you’re not around.”
“Do you have your phone?” Maybe I can try to use it to call them. God, just hearing one of their voices right now would be… well, it wouldn’t fix anything, but at least I’d know they really were okay and that all of the things Morpheus had threatened hadn’t come to fruition.
Despite the fact that he got what he wanted, I still worry that it wouldn’t be enough and he’d follow through on all that he’d said.
“No, they took my phone when I came in the front door.” Roquel looks at me strangely, her brow puckering. “Why are you acting like this? I thought you’d be happy to be back in a place like this.”
“Happy?” I gape at her. She can’t be serious.
“Uh, yeah?” Her voice is sardonic as she gestures around the lavish room. From the gauzy peach-colored curtains to the luxurious bedspread, her eyes eat up every detail of the room. She pops off the settee and moves around the bed to the open door of the closet.
“This place is amazing!” she calls over her shoulder, disappearing into the other room.
Slowly, I get to my feet, drifting after her. The closet is tall and long, lined with shelves upon shelves of various clothes, shoes, and accessories. Along one wall, there are racks of dresses ranging from daily, summer picnic wear to long, glitter formal gowns.
There are more dresses than there are jeans and t-shirts and it’s actually been a struggle for me to find something to wear every day. Roquel walks the length of the room, her fingers trailing over the various fabrics as she keeps talking.
“Do you even know how much any of this is worth?” she asks. Thousands, I’m sure, if not more. Morpheus doesn’t skimp. None of it means a damn thing to me. They’re shackles. But not to her.
Roquel’s gaze glitters with desire as she pauses, her fingers curling into a long silken gown that’s an olive green. She pulls it off the rack and holds it up to her slender frame.
“Versace?” Her pitch goes higher as she flips to the full-length mirror on the wall between racks to gaze at herself.
“Keep it,” I tell her absently.
She glances over her shoulder at me, smiling. “Really?”
“Yeah, I won’t wear it.” If it were up to me, I wouldn’t wear anything in this room.
I miss sliding into oversized t-shirts that smell like Gio or lying in a too small bed with Nolan’s hot body pressed along my side. I miss riding in Lex’s SUV even when the radio crackled over every song.
Roquel squeals and jumps up and down. “Hey! I have an idea!” She whirls to face me and I blink, startled by her sudden enthusiasm. “Do you think we could get dressed up and go to one of the nightclubs in the city?”
“I don’t know that I’m allowed to leave the house.”
She tosses the dress over one of the pale pink cushioned ottomans in the center of the closet.
“You never know unless you ask.” She dives forward, ripping my hands up in hers and squeezing them tightly.
“I think if you ask nicely, your uncle would let you go. We could both go. Take a little break, you know? You must be going stir-crazy here.”
As her words penetrate my brain, I wonder if she’s right.
Not necessarily about the nightclub and taking a break, but getting out of the house by any means necessary.
I’ve been so isolated here and there’s been no contact with the outside world before Roquel.
If Morpheus is willing to let her be my friend and come over even if she’s from Silverwood Public, maybe he’d let me go out with her.
Doing something that I wouldn’t have thought twice about before my family lost everything might make Morpheus feel as if I’m returning to my old ways.
He knew that me. He’s comfortable with that me.
Even if that Juliet is long dead and gone, I can still play the part, can’t I?
Isn’t that what I tried to do at dinner the other night?
I’d only failed because I let my anger get the best of me.
“Please, Jules.” Roquel whines out her plea, gripping my hands so tightly in hers it makes my fingers ache.
With a wince, I carefully extract them from her grasp. “I can ask,” I concede.
Her smile is radiant. “He’s going to say yes,” she informs me. “Just you wait—I know I’m right about this.”
To my utter shock, when we make our way downstairs, we find Stuart and Morpheus in the front hall.
“Good afternoon, ladies.” Morpheus’ smile dips slightly, but then reinvigorates a moment later as he takes in Roquel. “Ah, Miss Lee, it’s lovely to meet you. So glad you could come and spend time with Juliet.”
“Oh, it’s no problem, Mr. Calloway.” Roquel steps up alongside me, sliding her arm through one of mine. “I’ve missed Juliet so much. Thank you for inviting me over.”
Morpheus’ gaze drops to where our arms meet before he looks back up and nods to her. “Right, well, is there something I can do for you ladies?”
Roquel’s grip tightens. “Actually, yes.” I don’t know how she does it, but Roquel’s voice dips as she bats her lashes at Morpheus.
“Juliet was showing me all of those stunning clothes you bought for her.” She lays it on thick, really leaning into the flattery.
“I just died at how beautiful they all were and she told me she hasn’t even had a chance to wear most of them. It’s honestly a travesty .”
Watching Roquel work is like taking a master class in manipulation. She tugs her lower lip between her teeth, raking the pearly whites over the flesh as she grips me tighter, leaning forward slightly. Her eyes scan away from Morpheus to me and then back.
“I thought it would be so much fun if she and I could go out for a night, but she was worried about upsetting you?—”
“Where?” Morpheus interrupts her, his attention snapping to me.
“Um… well, Roquel’s never been to Inferno .
I used to go with Avery, but I haven’t been in a while…
” I hedge. Inferno is a nightclub about a forty-five-minute drive from Silverwood and though it’s true, I used to go when Avery demanded it—it’s far enough away that it rarely became a club we’d go to regularly.
“Hmmmm.” Morpheus hums in the back of his throat and I lift my chin as he roves over me with his eyes. Examining. Scrutinizing.
“I could drive us there and back, of course,” Roquel says. “I wouldn’t want to burden you, Mr. Calloway. I’m sure you’re a very busy man. A lot of Silverwood really admires you and is so thankful for everything you’ve done for the community.”
Who the fuck is this girl? Somehow, I manage to maintain my placid expression, holding in both my nervousness and my surprise at Roquel’s tactics.
“No.” Morpheus shakes his head as he returns his attention to Roquel. “Don’t even think it. I’ll have a driver made available to take the two of you anywhere you’d like to go—” He pauses and glances at me once more. “—within reason.”
“Oh, truly?” Roquel gasps, pleasure suffusing her face.
“Yes, Juliet’s been quite well-behaved lately.” Morpheus’ words dig at me. If by ‘well-behaved’ he means I haven’t thrown shit at him or tried to kill him in his sleep, then yes, I guess I have been. “I’ll have Stuart set you up with security and a driver.”
“Security?” Ice infuses my veins, but Roquel releases me with a squeal of excitement. She jumps up and down, every inch the excited teenage girl.
“Oh, this is so exciting!” She whirls towards me and throws her arms around my neck. “Let’s go get ready!”
Security… The word resounds in my head as Roquel releases me and begins to pull me towards the staircase and back up to my room. As my foot hits the first step, I glance back.
Morpheus stands at the front door, his cool gaze pinned on me. There’s a slight curve to one side of his mouth. A smirk—as if he knows what this is truly about and he’s not even worried. Roquel’s suggestion had given me hope, but now I’m starting to wonder if I’m just fighting a losing battle.
Straightening my spine, I lift my head and turn away from the man behind me. His attention sears against my ass as I make my way upwards. Let him look. Let him try to stop me. I won’t know if I can win until I fucking try.