Page 143 of Vengeful Princess

This was why he’d commandeered our family’s Mayfair apartment for the weekend. Normally I’d stay there, but there was no way I wanted to share it with him in residence. It was bad enough knowing he cheated on Mom constantly without having a ringside seat to the show.

A suite here was more convenient in any case. Once this circus of a meal had ended, I planned to head back up there and drink myself into oblivion. Landon said he’d meet me for later, assuming his evening with Elaine Jordan went off without a hitch. He should be in the bar with her around now.

The pretty blond made eyes at me while she took our drinks order, but I ignored her blatant come on. Once she was done, she sashayed away with my father’s eyes glued to her ass the whole time.

“Looks like you have a fan there, son,” Donald, the older of the two guys we were with, chuckled.

“Not my type,” I replied dismissively. “Besides, I’m engaged.”

Donald’s chuckle turned into a full-on belly laugh, fueled by the copious amounts of champagne he’d quaffed on my father’s tab. “Come now, son, we all know being locked down doesn’t make a difference. Having a fiancée or wife needn’t stop you from enjoying pussy.”

I took in his florid cheeks and the rolls of fat hanging over his belt. “Do you enjoy pussy much, Donald?” I felt sorry for any poor girl stuck under his bloated gut. She was at serious risk of suffocation.

Donald smirked, too drunk to notice the edge in my voice.

“Hell, yes.” He slapped his thigh and grinned at my father. “Lucian is taking us to a club later. I hear it’s full of sweet young things looking for a sugar daddy.”

“I bet he is,” I ground out. My father was a member of all the most exclusive clubs in the city. Including Madame Rosa’s, where he’d taken me on my 15th birthday because, in his words, men from our world were entitled to enjoy premium pussy.

As a horny teenager, I’d loved it. Now, though, I understood how clubs like that worked. Not all the women were there voluntarily.

Madame Rosa ran a legit establishment where she ensured the women could say no to any clients they were uncomfortable with. If a client wanted an exclusive relationship with one of them, that was fine, too. The club paid the money and tips the women earned into whatever account they designated.

The clubs my father frequented were not like that. Sure, the women looked high-class, but they weren’t fucking men like Donald out of choice. The club’s owners controlled them. Men like my father pulled the strings behind the scenes, trafficking women from Eastern Europe and forcing them into sexual slavery.

Most of my father’s illegitimate business interests were vile, but people trafficking was one of the worst.

“You should come with us, son,” Dad said with an easy smile, but I shook my head. He didn’t look happy about my refusal but there wasn’t much he could do without causing a scene.

Thankfully, the server returned with our drinks, distracting him with her tits. By the time she walked away, the conversation had moved on to other, less disgusting, topics.

An hour later and I was ready to kill myself. The more Donald drank, the louder he got. Even my father’s easy-going smile had begun to slip each time Donald’s voice rose a few decibels.

“Let’s make a move, my friend,” he said when Donald the Whale’s latest anecdote about his sexcapades with his wife’s nanny concluded. “I’m sure you and Marvin are keen to enjoy the delights of the White Lotus.”

“Hell, yes!” Donald drained his champagne and slapped Marvin on the back. “Marvin here needs to get laid. It’s been a while, eh, bud?” Marvin laughed, but it seemed a bit forced. Poor guy.

Marvin turned to look at me. He’d been quiet all night, seemingly content to let the conversation flow over him. “You coming along, too?” he asked.

He was in his late 30s, at a guess. A lawyer with a high-profile corporate law firm known for their cut-throat litigation tactics. No doubt my father was grooming him for when he needed help with a contentious lawsuit.

“Not tonight,” I replied. Not any night if I had a choice.

Marvin’s gaze dipped, lingering on my chest, and then dropped to my groin. I shifted uncomfortably.

I’d suspected Marvin batted for the other team when my father introduced us. Years of same sex boarding school education had honed my ability to spot a guy who liked guys.

Same-sex relationships had been common at the boarding school I attended. The only time we associated with girls was when the school organized social mixers with the all-girls convent school nearby. Staff policed the dances, but it hadn’t stopped Landon and I from getting laid.

It was obvious Marvin was gay, but also clear he wasn’t ready to admit it in front of my father and Donald.

“Shame,” he said with a regretful look while holding my gaze for a fraction of a second longer than necessary.

“Not my thing,” I smiled, making it clear I didn’t just mean hanging out in gentleman’s clubs with my father.

“I understand.” Marvin nodded and stood, quickly moving away from me. Good, he got the message. I was open-minded but guys didn’t do it for me. If he had any sense, he’d cut short his evening with my father and head off to a venue like the Eagle, but he struck me as someone who put ambition above personal preferences.

Dad tapped away on his phone and then grinned when he read an incoming message.

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