Page 18 of Queen Of Dark Money

Thiswhole evening was absolute shit.I’dalready spent an hour rubbing shoulders with some of the most obnoxious men and women to grace the public scene, and it was far from over.Thehighlight of the evening had been watching two women get into a heated argument over which of them had a better chance of snagging a husband before the end of the year.Mymoney was on the heiress with the blonde hair, but the other girl had some fascinating sticking points, not the least of which was her opponent’s track record with fucking anything that moved.

Ofcourse,Iwasn’t one to stick my nose where it didn’t belong, soIwasn’t about to delve into the private lives of two harpies.EvenifIwas insanely bored out of my mind and ready for anything to stimulate myself with.

Sexualpun not intended.

Mysperm donor and current employer glared at me from across the table, his lip curled up in a very unbecoming sneer.Ipolitely ignored him and glanced back over at the man sitting alone.Icould feel his eyes on us, but for what,Ihad no clue.Maybehe was just another hanger-on, looking to rideSinclair’scoattails to riches and power.Orperhaps he was an adversary,looking for some dirt on the man who stood to pretty much run the city in another few months.

Or, at least, it looked that way.Eddywas poised to take over theDA’soffice for another term, and his numbers were great.Nobodyknew the real him, though.Ifthey did–

Well, if they did, they probably wouldn’t give a damn, anyhow.Peoplewere blind like that when it came to those they put into power.Isaw it across the country, and the same no doubt held true here.

Humanswere all the same creatures at our core–selfish, stubborn, and willfully ignorant.Wetook the path of least resistance and made decisions based on how they would benefit us as an individual, not how they helped the human race at large.Halfof us couldn’t give two shits about others, and the half that could, couldn’t be fucked enough to make an effort to change the mind of the others.

Thestrange man wandered off, answering what sounded like a very dull call, andIwatched him go with a hint of jealousy.Sure, he could stand up and walk away.Thiswasn’t something he was stuck in, like a bad rerun of a show that had no business being replayed.

Ispent the next twenty minutes listening to these two idiots–the man whoseDNAmade up a portion of mine, and his newest ass-kisser who, if the conversation snippetsI’dbeen catching all night were any indication, was stepping into line to impregnate my twin and solidify his social standing on the tailcoats of the worst manI’dever known.

Ew.

Whenthey’d exhausted all their topics of chit-chat, the sleaze turned to me and smiled.

Oh,hellno.Ihad to bounce, and fast.Whatwould be a reasonable excuse to slip away and not piss offEddyin the process?

“Excuseme, gentlemen.I’llbe right back.”Ileaned overEddy’sshoulder, trying desperately not to cringe at his nearness. “Bathroom.”

“Therestroom,”he growled, rolling his eyes as he jerked a thumb over his shoulder, “is that way.Don’tbe long.”

“Ofcourse,Father,”Imocked back, throwing a heavy dose of sarcasm into my tone asIshoved off the back of his chair and strode off.Blendinginto the crowd didn’t make me feel any safer, and it certainly didn’t take away the crawling, tingly feeling of being watched that had trailed me all evening.

Ifanything, it intensified it.

Yearsago in college, an ex had stalked and tormented me, resulting in a mid-winter near-drowning that put me in the hospital for weeks.Andever since then,I'dbeen super vigilant and was now plagued with anxiety thatIneeded medication for.Hisdamage might have healed, but that feeling of being watched, the eerie, skin-crawling sensation of strange eyes on you everywhere you went, every turn you took, and every door you passed through, never left.

Insome sense, my cam girl job felt like being watched.Butthe difference was,Icould turn the camera off.Ifelt empowered.

Thisthough?Thisfelt dangerous.LikeifIblinked for more than a second,Imight become the victim of this crawling sensation.Myeyes cast about the room, finding nothing out of the ordinary asIslipped into the women’s restroom at the end of the hall.

Theroom was just like the rest of this ostentatious castle-like residence–overcompensating for the fact that the owner was clinging to the only thing that brought them some sort of worth in life–being rich.Themarble floor reflected the too-bright lights hanging from fancy brass sconces on the wall.Shinyoak paneling made everything in the room feel too sterile.Toofancy.Iwandered over to the mirrors along one wall and studied my reflection.

Iwas washed out, pale, and felt like not myself in my twin’s foundation and makeup.Shedidn’t get a lot of exposureIsupposed, if her complexion was anything to go off of.Andsheesh, she was rail-thin.

Iwondered ifEddieSinclairexhibited the same amount of iron control over his daughter to make her into the perfect image in his mind as he did with everything else in his life.

Mademe feel bad for her.

Iran my hands under cold water for a moment, then patted the back of my neck, wishing that there was another solution for my mom.Iwould give anything to rewind time and choose literally any other thing to help her than this.

Ispent two weeks learning the ins and outs of what this fuckwad wanted me to act like.Howto pass as my twin, who couldn’t be further apart from me in personality, looks, and manners.Shedidn’t cuss, didn’t wear normal comfort clothes, she didn’t even come out of her fucking room whileIwas there.

Imean, not thatIknew she was there or not.Shecould have been holed up somewhere else, andI’dhave never known.

Lifeat theSinclaircompound was really shit.

Iheard the door open and swing shut again, andItried my damndest to pretend thatIwasn’t interested at all in the person who’d come into the room with me.Myfingers scrambled through my clutch for lipstick soIcould pretend to touch it up.Anythingto avoid one of those weird, awkward as hell small talk conversations where she andIwent back and forth about stupid shit like the weather, kids we don’t have or care about, and other fancy socialites whose lives were now gossip fodder for lack of more entertaining things.

Thankfully, whoever it was slipped into one of the stalls behind me and didn’t bother to stop at the sinks, soIslipped outwhile she was busy behind that door and didn’t look back.I’djust meander around the room and kill some time, then return toEddyand his wet-behind-the-ears lapdog.

Ibrushed a hand down my dress and glanced around the hallwayIcame down, the feeling of being watched intensifying tenfold.Tinyhairs at the base of my neck prickled ominously, alerting me a split second before it hit me that the lights in this hallway had been significantly dimmed, and the sound of the crowd mingling was further away than it should have been.Therest of the attendees must have already made their way into the dining hall for dinner, and nowIwas alone in a creepy hallway, ripe for the picking and wearing skyscraper heelsIcouldn’t even fathom running in right now–

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