Chapter 24
Chapter Twenty-Four
Alexei
The best thing I’d ever done in my entire life was get my hands on the ho playlist as Carina called it. Even with Audrey sober, she was a wonder as she let loose to the music pumping through the speakers. I would never be able to close my eyes without seeing it. It had taken every single effort in my body to not put my hands on her. I’d stayed a safe distance away so I didn’t get stuck in her orbit. She was one of the ones you had to watch out for. Especially now that she had that retched golden band on her finger.
I sat on the corner of my bed and thought of the last week while I raked my fingers through my hair. How was I supposed to get through this wedding season like this? How could I possibly keep my hands to myself?
“Don’t look so glum,” Ace leaned in the doorway. “You’ll have someone new to make fun of soon enough.”
I groaned. “What does that even mean?”
Ace scrolled through his phone for a moment before he looked back at me in all of my misery. When had it gotten like this? When had she started to become the only thing I could think of? When I pulled her into the pool, I wanted nothing more than to trace her curves through her wet, transparent dress. She hadn’t been wearing a bra. The sight was still killing me. I’d taken more cold showers this morning than I had in my entire life. I even considered finding someone to release all these frustrations on, but when I went to get on a hook-up app, or even leave to go do it, all I could feel was sick. I couldn’t do it.
“Her fiancé will be joining us in New York next trip. Mother hasn’t stopped talking about it, I thought you knew.”
I sat up slowly. “ That’s who she was talking about? That’s who I will have to share a wall with?” How on earth could I share a wall with them if they were going to have sex? At least I knew it would be horrible sex, but it still didn’t fix my thoughts on the matter. For whatever reason, I thought Mother had been speaking about Carina’s mother, who we hadn’t met yet Why I’d assumed she was engaged was beyond me. It just seemed to be the running trend at the moment, I guessed.
I rolled my eyes and pretended like this wasn’t the worst thing to be said to me this week. I thought I had time, I thought I would be able to sway her more. I was pretty certain I could have convinced her to leave him, not for me… Never for me, I didn’t believe in happily ever afters or the convoluted notion that she would choose me when it was all said and done. But I could push her to not be with someone worth her time. I could convince her that she was worth more than mediocre sex and then maybe, just maybe, I could get her out of my system. I didn’t know what that would take, but at this moment, I was feverish. I felt like I was drowning, I would do anything to get rid of this God’s damned itch.
Ace didn’t let me finish my wayward thoughts. He slapped a folder at my chest and I wondered where he’d been hiding it this entire time, or maybe I hadn’t been thinking straight and just didn’t notice it. That sounded like the more logical thought, even if it did make me cringe internally. Since when had a woman turned me into such a simpleton? I could have slapped myself.
“This is for you,” He patted the folder as I wrapped my hands around it to keep the contents from spilling on the floor. “Go through it, make some notes, report back.”
My lip wanted to curl in disgust. Maybe if it were Father delivering this, I would have. But Ace? He didn’t deserve my ire, at least not yet. Even if I did know that he was working for the devil himself. He was even starting to speak like him.
The cursed folder weighed heavily in my hands as I took it downstairs to look over at breakfast. It was too early for anyone else to be up. The party lasted into the early hours of the morning and thankfully, I was used to that lifestyle so getting a few hours of sleep was nothing in order for me to function.
Mother was cutting into her fruit and Father was not at the table. thankfully. “What’s that, Sweetheart?” She was rather chipper this morning.
I shrugged as I sat down to a plate already made up for me. All the others were empty, besides Ace’s which had already been cleaned and taken away. He was also used to the wild nights and early mornings. At one point, he’d been my wingman and me his.
I was scooping up a healthy serving of eggs when I opened the folder. My fork clattered to the table and the eggs splattered everywhere. I was pretty sure some of them even made it to the other side of the table where my mother was sitting.
On the front page of the navy blue folder was a picture of a young woman. She looked familiar but I couldn’t place where I knew her until I turned her photo over.
Irina Smith- 22- enjoys traveling, working for her father’s Fortune five hundred company, and competing in pageants.
With nausea swirling in my stomach, I flipped the page back over. The picture was obviously a glamor shot she used for her pageants. Her blonde hair was curled in small ringlets around her heart-shaped face and her blue eyes sparkled. Not with mischief but probably just that sparkle all rich kids had. Her teeth were bright white and straight. They looked like they were fake.
The next image was of an Indian girl. A red dot marked the center of her forehead in what looked to be a picture snapped at a wedding. At least it wasn’t a pageant headshot. She was pretty. I flipped over the page.
Vi Sharma- 19- enjoys dancing, singing, and writing essays.
Writing essays? Did this girl even have a personality? Did any of them?
“What’s that?” My mother asked again. I’d completely forgotten she was there, she was so silent. I glanced up from the folder of eligible women and cringed. My mother hadn’t wiped the splattering of scrambled eggs from under her right eye and was watching me with a strange look. “Is everything okay?”
With a loud smack that made her jump, I slapped the folder closed on the table. “It is the folder of my inevitable doom, in case you’re wondering.”
“Oh no, not the marriage market folder.” She laughed as she rolled her eyes and I wanted so badly to laugh with her, but I knew this wasn’t a joking matter. Not by a long shot. This was a political alliance. Every single name in this folder would bring the family more money, opportunities, or connections. None of the things I wanted when I decided it was time to shackle myself to someone else, but alas, that didn’t matter any longer. My time was almost up.
“Yes,” I muttered as I scooped the rest of my eggs in my mouth, no longer tasting anything, and eating only for necessity.
“It isn’t that bad,” Mother, very carefully, dotted her face with the corner of a black, cloth napkin. “Don’t look so glum. You could find the best thing in your life in that folder. At least he is giving you a choice.”
Oh, how naive. How interesting that she would think that. It was the only bright side she could come up with, I was sure.
“Were you given a choice?” I couldn’t decide if my voice was angry or sad. Maybe it was a healthy mix of both.
It didn’t seem possible but she sat up straighter in her chair. “No. I was given absolutely zero choice. My father only saw power. I had a pretty face, strong birthing hips as he said, and the rest was history. Your father and I were wed not even four days later.”
Her father sold her soul just as my father was doing.
“Are any of their father’s head of crime syndicates?”
I blew out a breath and looked away from the damning folder. “How am I supposed to know?”
“I’m sure you’ll meet the girls soon enough.”
Which was code for: they’ll be at the next wedding function. Now more than ever I needed to find my own date.