Page 36 of Tempting All The Way

“Well, gee, that’s reassuring.” I’m not sure if I should be concerned or not. I know Lucy though. If she thought she was in danger, she would tell me.

“We need more drinks. And more dancing,” she announces suddenly, standing and gesturing for me to follow her.

An hour and four drinks later, we’re stumbling out of the club. Arm in arm, we walk down the sidewalk, attempting to hold each other up.

“Tim should be just up here,” Lucy says, pointing in front of us. Tim is her driver. It’s bougie as fuck to have a personal driver. Although, on nights like tonight, I don’t mind the luxury. Climbing—or more like falling—into the back seat, we slide over. It takes us longer than it should to buckle our seat belts. We eventually get them on though.

“Where to, Miss Lucy?” Tim asks from the driver’s seat. He’s an older man with greying hair, always so polite.

“Linlithgow Road, Toorak,” Lucy answers with a smirk.

“Wait, that’s not your address, LuLu.” I laugh, thinking she’s had too much to drink.

“I know. We’re going on a little McKinley adventure,” she says, her eyebrows jumping with the implication.

“Oh god, you’re going to get me killed or locked up, aren’t you?” I sigh and lean my head against the seat.

“Don’t worry, your boyfriend will bail you out if you get arrested.”

“Not my boyfriend,” I grumble.

“Not yet.”

It only takes ten minutes to get from Chapel Street to wherever it is we are now. I should question Lucy more, ask her what it is she’s planning. But before I can, we’re out of the car and she’s telling Tim to go home for the night.

“Ah, what? Lucy, where are we?” I laugh as I stumble along the footpath.

“We’re going to break into Dominic’s house and mess with his shit. Like move stuff around. The guy is the walking definition of obsessive-compulsive. It’ll piss him right off.” She grins like it’s the best idea ever.

“Oh, yeah, let’s piss off your psychopath then, because that’ll end well.” I roll my eyes at her, yet still find myself following her to a large black iron fence. It’s dark so I can’t see much beyond it, other than the driveway that’s illuminated along each of its sides. Lucy enters a code and the gates swing open. “How do you know his code?” I ask with suspicion. She’s clearly been here before.

“Lucky guess.” She shrugs. “Come on.”

“Wait.” I pull on her arm, “What if he’s here? Or, shit, he has to have cameras everywhere.”

“Oh, well, let him watch.” She smirks and then continues to stumble to her destination.

I catch up and quickly link my arm in hers. Lucy strolls straight to the front door, which is unlocked oddly enough, and walks right in. We end up in what looks like a library; it’s stacked full of books. I wait for her by the door as she starts moving books around, placing them on various shelves. I’m not sure why she thinks this is as funny as she does, but she’s laughing uncontrollably.

A few moments later, I find myself standing in a closet—no, this isn’t a closet. It’s a men’s high-fashion department store inside a house.

“Help me mix up these shirts,” Lucy says as she removes a jacket from its colour-coordinated hanging space and shifts it down several spots.

“I can’t believe this is what we’re doing on a Saturday night.” I giggle as I blindly help her fumble around the wardrobe. Ten minutes later, Lucy takes me to a bar area in the downstairs living room. She really does know her way around this place.We’re halfway through a bottle of vodka when we hear footsteps. “Shit.” I freeze as two large figures step into the doorway.

“Don’t move,” one voice says.

“Ah, Lucy?” I question as the two police officers make their way towards us.

“You’re under arrest for breaking and entering. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say…” The officer continues his speech as my arms are pulled behind my back and handcuffs are snapped over my wrists.

“Don’t say anything, Shar. You’ll be fine.” Lucy’s words offer me little comfort right now.

We’re taken to the police station and placed in separate rooms. I knew I was alone in this world, but it didn’t dawn on me until the moment I was offered my one phone call. I declined, because who was I going to call? Lucy’s already here. I don’t have anyone else to bail me out of trouble. And, honestly, I’m just really drunk. The police officer talking to me has two heads. Whatever kind of vodka Dominic stocks is strong, and the rest of the night is catching up with me.

“Shardonnay, do not say a fucking word.” The harsh tone has my head snapping to the door. “My client has nothing to say. The owner of the property is not pressing charges and the fact that you haven’t already released her is negligence on your part.”

Xavier walks into the room. Grabbing me out of the chair, he glances down at my wrists.

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