Chapter 7
Chapter Seven
“Hey,” Michael said with a grin as I walked in the front door.
“Why are you in such a good mood?” I asked as he pulled me into him for a hug.
He held me at arm’s length, a smile still planted on his face. “Guess what?”
I couldn’t begin to guess. He was never this happy after a workday. “Just tell me. I’m not a good guesser.”
“Fine. We’ve been invited to a party hosted by one of my company’s special clients!”
“And we have to go?” His excitement surprised me. Michael wasn’t the party type. Hell, neither was I.
“What? Yes! It’s an honor to receive an invite. These gatherings are usually kept a secret.”
“Clearly not very well.” I tightened my lips in a pinched smile.
“I don’t even know what sort of party it is, but I was told we have to wear something nice and we have to leave our phones in the car.”
“Leave our phones? That doesn’t seem the least bit suspicious to you?”
“Not really. Maybe they’ll have drugs or something. You wouldn’t want phones with cameras if you were throwing that sort of rager.”
“Rager? How old are you?” I laughed, making his smile widen.
“Fuck off. You know you want to let loose. When was the last time? Before we got married?”
“I don’t need to loosen up.” I pawed his hands away. “I had my crazy teenage years already. Actually, they crept into my twenties too.”
Michael stared at me with a half-cocked smile. “Well?”
I rolled my eyes. “Fine, we’ll go, but if you expect me to snort cocaine off your dick, it’s not going to happen.”
I ran a flat iron through my hair, straightening the unruly waves.
Smokey eyeshadow covered my eyelids, making my dark eyes look sultry and seductive.
I longed for the beautiful confidence I tried to portray.
This mask I wore wasn’t me, but for a moment, I felt like the woman in my fantasies. Sexy and alluring. Wanted.
“Wow, you look amazing,” Michael said as he walked into the bathroom. He stopped adjusting his tie and stared at me.
“And you look like you’re going to the party to do people’s taxes.”
Michael looked down at himself. “Too much?”
“Yes, too much. Take the damn jacket off. And the tie.”
Michael stripped off the garments until he was down to a maroon dress shirt and slacks. He draped the jacket over his shoulder, and I melted as he brushed his hand through his short golden hair. “Better?” he asked as he made a half-spin.
“Yes, much better.”
“Do you need help with that?” He gestured toward the back of my dress, still unzipped along my spine. I nodded. His familiar touch along my skin made me throb.
We gathered our things and headed out the door.
We drove for what felt like forever, crawling along winding roads with the sun creeping lower on the horizon.
Orange hues exploded across the windshield, making us lower our visors at nearly the same time.
Pastures of lush grass sprawled on either side of the car, eventually giving way to thick forests.
In the middle of fucking nowhere, we pulled onto a long gravel road that took us through the heart of the woods and up to a house.
My jaw went slack as I looked up at the huge home in front of us. It was basically a mansion, with arches and pillars everywhere I looked. The driveway wrapped around a circular fountain spewing a geyser of lit water into the air.
“Jesus Christ, Michael, they have fountains! We do not fit in here.”
Michael looked around with a similar expression. “He’s a down-to-earth guy, relax. Besides, we could get a fountain if we really wanted one.”
I put my hand on his arm. “No thank you. It would be one more thing to mow around.”
A man in a suit waited beneath the overhang. Michael pulled up beside him and slowed the car to a stop.
“They have a fucking valet?” I let out a dramatic huff as I unbuckled my seatbelt. “I’m beginning to hope there’s drugs here. I’m going to need them.”
We got out of the car, handed our keys to the valet, and headed toward the massive double doors. Michael let out a low whistle. “Rich people,” he said as he knocked.
“The party is toward the back of the house. Just go right in,” the valet said as he closed the car door.
Michael turned the handle and pushed the door.
We looked around in awe as we stepped onto pristine marble floors.
The click of my heels echoed through the hallway, and my eyes wandered along the walls, admiring the finely engraved wood that seemed to be everywhere—flourishes and designs had been etched into every surface.
The dull sound of music drifted toward us from the far end of the hallway.
No wonder the guy told us to walk in. No one would’ve heard us knock.
At the end of the hallway, a spiral staircase led to the lower floor. A nervous sweat collected on my palm as it touched the cool crystal railing. I gave Michael a sideways glance and he shrugged.
“Michael Edwards, is that you, my friend?” came an excited voice as we reached the end of the stairs.
“Sure is,” Michael called back.
“I worried you weren’t going to come.” A tall figure came into view, and he brushed his hand through his long, well-kempt hair.
“I wouldn’t miss it!” Michael said, feigning excitement. He gave a broad, believable smile as he held out his hand and they greeted each other.
The man turned and set his gorgeous brown eyes on me. “And this must be the lovely Zoey?”
“Sure is. I don’t think we’ve ever met,” I said as I held my hand toward him. His hand grasped mine, his skin warm and sweaty.
“I’m Mr. Roderick. That’s all you have to worry your pretty little head about.” He touched my cheek. “Come, come, follow me.”
After exchanging a nervous glance, Michael and I followed Mr. Roderick through his home. He looked too young to possess such an extravagant residence. Generational wealth, maybe? Involved in something illegal, perchance?
He stopped at a door and turned to face us. “Did you leave your phones as requested?”
Michael nodded, and Mr. Roderick led us through the doorway.
The music rushed toward us, making my heart thump against my chest. Dim lights cast little more than shadows through the room, but I could see a naked woman lying on an overstuffed white couch, passed out.
Her arm draped over her bare torso, just beneath her exposed breasts.
What the hell kind of party is this?
In the corner, a man hovered over another naked woman and sniffed lines of powder off her chest. He inhaled deeply, pulling away long enough to devour the skin of her breasts.
She moaned as she sniffed powder from a necklace around her neck.
Another pair of people were entwined at the waist, moving together as sweat coated their bodies and reflected the gentle gleam of the overhead lights.
I didn’t bother with a sideways glance this time. I stared at Michael with no pretense of subtlety. What the hell have we gotten ourselves into? I now understood the reasoning behind the no-phone rule.
A woman across the room leaned against a shiny black piano. Her champagne-colored dress opened across her slim waist, exposing her stomach, and the skirt hugged her hips. She caught me staring, and a flirty smile crossed her face.
“You guys okay?” asked a voice from far away. “Zoey, you okay?” The voice grew closer, and strong hands shook my shoulders. “Zoey!” his voice grew stern.
I escaped my trance as the music grew louder and Mr. Roderick’s touch became firmer. “I’m okay, it's fine. Just a bit shell-shocked,” I said as I turned to face him. Not a lie.
I had been to some fucked-up parties in my lifetime, and what I was seeing wasn’t all that shocking comparatively, but it wasn’t the same as a married woman.
It was different with Michael there because I had to be a different person in his presence.
I’d left this sort of wild lifestyle behind when I let him slide the gold band around my finger.
“Do I have to worry about you two being narcs?” Mr. Roderick laughed with an uncomfortable snap at the end.
Michael wrapped his arm around me. “No, don’t worry. We don’t get invited to parties like this very often.”
“Or ever,” I said under my breath.
Another man in a suit came by with a fake smile plastered on his face. He held the silver tray in his hand toward me, and I eyed the white baggies. A goddamn display of drugs toted around like they were fucking hors d’oeuvres.
“Pick your poison,” Mr. Roderick said with a smile, wrapping his arms around both of us.
I hesitated before grabbing one of the baggies. Michael glanced at me with a pinched face and a frown.
“You guys need to relax,” Mr. Roderick said with a smirk. He motioned toward the woman I’d been staring at, and I could somehow hear her footsteps over the music as she came toward me. She touched my arm with soft fingertips.
“Mira, show them to a quiet area where they can decompress,” Mr. Roderick said.
“With pleasure,” Mira said. She wrapped her arms around our waists and guided us into an adjacent room.
Once she’d closed the door, the music faded into a low thump again.
She gestured toward the couch, and we all sat down.
Mira slipped her heels off and drew her legs up, showing a flash of black between her legs.
“It’s a bit much, I know,” she said with a smile.
“It’s just different,” I said.
Mira pulled a baggie of powder from between her full cleavage.
“Different is good, no?” She opened the baggie and dumped its contents onto the glass table, splitting it into three even lines before reaching down the front of her dress and pulling out a straw.
Her blonde hair slid along the glass as she leaned over and snorted a line.
She sat up, wiped her nose, and held the straw toward us.