Page 160 of The Dollhouse

“I did not come for you,” Markus spoke, his words like knives toward Lola, and Lola shrugged.

“Fine,” Lola muttered. “But if you ever want to join the big leagues, I’ll be over there.” She winked at him, and then she turned to me, leaning into my ear, her masked face so close I could feel the coldness of the metal on my shoulder. “Good luck with this one. He seems like more of an asshole than the rest.” She gave me a wink, and then she was gone.

Markus spoke, shifting his intense stare to Roman and saying, “She is insufferable. I don’t know how any of you deal with her on a daily basis.” He glanced to the girl at his side, and something unspoken passed between them, a bond I could feel radiating from them.

That girl, whoever she was, belonged to Markus just as I belonged to Roman. I knew it because I was in a relationship just like it. I could tell, and by watching the girl return his look, I knew she was just as enamored with him.

Kind of ironic, since she seemed so… innocent and girly, but the heart wanted what it wanted.

“Fortunately, we don’t,” Roman responded, glancing across the room at Carter, who stood with Maddox and Sylvester. “I don’t know how they do it, frankly.”

Markus set a hand on the back of the girl beside him. “Is there a quieter room we could talk in? There are… more people here than I realized there’d be.” His gaze surveyed the room, not staring at anyone the same way he looked at the girl.

“We can talk in the office upstairs.” Roman led us up, and once the four of us were in his makeshift office, he shut the door. I watched as the girl wandered the room, staring at everything with wide eyes. She ran a hand across the mostly-empty bookshelves on the wall, seemingly absentminded about it all.

To Markus, the girl whispered, “This house has so much more light than yours.”

Markus said nothing for a few moments, and then he heaved a sigh. “This,” he spoke, gesturing to me, “is the girl I mentioned before. You’ve been good, so you get a taste of freedom. Do not make me regret it, Juliet.”

I glanced at Roman, wondering if he felt this was weird, but Roman was stone-faced behind his mask.

The girl, Juliet, nodded. She didn’t object to anything Markus had said, and she turned those big, blue eyes to me. “Hi.” Just a single word. She sounded awkward, like she wasn’t used to meeting new people. She returned to Markus’s side, sticking to him like glue.

“How long will you need Zoey?” Roman asked. “I am itching to get back home and put this dreadful city behind us for good. No offense meant, of course.”

Markus had a reply ready: “None taken. These are not my people. They are simply the ones who hire my family in the darkness to get rid of their secrets and do dirty deeds for them. They mean nothing to me. The only person who means something to me is Juliet.” Now his dark gaze rested on me. “I trust you will watch out for her when you are with her. She is… sheltered. She doesn’t have much experience out in the world. She needs to be protected from everyone who would take advantage of her.” He took a step towards me. “Can you do that for me, Zoey?”

What could I do besides nod?

“As for how long I’ll need her, I can’t say. I suppose until I say so.” Markus stared squarely at Roman, as if daring him to say something.

“Zoey misses her old life. I trust you would not keep her here longer than necessary.” Roman didn’t exactly threaten Markus, but his words were ominous, just short of a threat itself.

The two men were alike in many ways. Strong, unyielding, not the kind of men who bowed down to anyone else. Having them in a room together was like seeing double, and I chose to break the ice in the room by telling Juliet, “I like your dress. I love the color pink.”

Juliet bit her bottom lip, like she wasn’t sure if she should talk to me or not. “Thank you. I… I like your hair, too.” She fiddled with her own hair as she said it, and I knew the girl wasn’t lying. She didn’t strike me as the type of person who ever lied.

I had to admit, though, she did seem a little too innocent for Markus, but who was I to judge? From what it sounded like, Markus had a thing for controlling her. Again, kind of reminded me of Roman… except I’d pushed back and gave Roman an ultimatum: if he wanted me, he’d have to let me see Lake.

As much as I wanted to continue this conversation and learn more about the girl before me with Markus, I also knew I had things to do downstairs. “What time is it?” I asked Roman, and when he told me, I brought my eyes to Markus. “I need to get ready for the show. Is there anything else?”

Not that I was trying to rush out of here and get away from Markus, but, well… I was trying to rush out of there and get away from Markus.

“Not right now. Tomorrow, though, I will let you know what time I’ll be dropping her off here on Monday.” That was spoken to both me and Roman, and all I could do was nod. I hoped Markus didn’t keep me here forever showing his girl around. I mean, I was all for helping this girl spread her wings and fly, but I was also dying to get back home and back to my routine.

The Dollhouse. Yes, God, I missed that place. Jamie, the girls, all of it. Even our regular customers.

Roman went to the door, holding it open for me, and I was the first to venture back downstairs. Markus and Juliet were behind us, but as we rounded the corner into the main room, they were the last thing on my mind, because almost immediately, I saw my parents. They’d found the new dean of Hillcrest University, and they were probably trying to bore him with a story or something. They had no idea what I had in store for them, but they’d learn. They’d learn very, very soon.

My mother spotted me and gestured for me to come over, and I shook my head softly. She must’ve excused herself from the conversation with the dean and my father, for she came walking up to me, holding her head high, as always. As if she was untouchable, the best of the best—which she wasn’t.

“Honey,” my mother spoke slowly, “while I am glad you were able to get such a… wonderful list of people together, I do have to wonder how in the world you know some of them.” She glanced over her shoulder, and I saw she stared not at anyone she knew or admired from afar, but at Lola and Stella, who were currently knee-deep in a conversation of their own. Lola, at least, looked animated.

Stella, on the other hand, looked bored. So far, she had that same expression the whole time. Not like I could blame her.

“Why, Mom? What’s wrong with the people I know?” I questioned, tilting my head at her as if I really didn’t understand it. I watched as her eyes shifted to the men in the room who radiated a dangerous energy, the ones who looked like they could kill you and have loads of fun doing it.

Probably because they totally could. Yep. We were surrounded in a room of rich socialites and psycho killers. What a combination, huh?

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