Page 7 of Control

A frustrated exhale rushed out of him, as if he knew he had hit a dead end, too irritated to continue arguing with me. “Let me get more men on this to see what we can find out,” he said, taking out his phone to make some calls. Before pressing send, he pointed to me with his finger in warning. “But I’m going on record as saying I don’t like keeping this from Shyam and Amelia. They should know.”

I glared back at him, silently cautioning him to drop it before I lost my shit. I ran this operation, and I knew how to do it without any help from my brothers.

Though I couldn’t shake the nagging feeling inside. Something wasn’t adding up with Leonid’s timing and I needed to figure it out, because there was no way in hell I was going to be played for a fool.

Chapter IV

Claire

“Madame Varon!” Meena stood in front of me with her arms crossed over her chest, glaring. Uh oh. What did I do now?

“Oui?” I had entirely zoned out and probably pissed her off more by making her wait until I snapped out of my fog.

“How much longer do we need to keep doing pliés? My legs are hurting!” She wobbled her knees as if her legs were made of Jell-O.

“Oh. Um…” I had been out of it ever since last night. I addressed the rest of the girls. “Why don’t you girls take a water break and then do some cooldown stretches?” I checked the clock to find that class was nearly over.

Why did I stay up so late last night? After I ran away from theménage à trois, I found Lana and nearly yanked her out of the penthouse. When I finally reached home, I showered to get the stain of sin off my skin and plunged myself under the safety of my quilt, hoping slumber would make me forget. Yet, I couldn’t sleep because of those damn dark eyes. I tossed and turned, trying to ignore the memory of his golden skin and carved abs. The face he made when he came, with his eyes locked with mine, made me ache so much that my swollen flesh pulsed in pain. I finally understood how “blue balls” probably felt for a man.

Threesomes were tacky, so why did I keep replaying last night in my head? Whoever he was, he was clearly a playboy, judging from the party that he had attended. He was probably one of those guys who was used to women fawning all over him. With guys like that, the physical act wasn’t what got them off. It was the attention they received that turned them on, and this guy was no different. Three women all focused on him at the same time had certainly stroked his ego. He disgusted me. His desperate need for attention sickened me, so why did my body betray me when I remembered last night?

Class had finished and the adults came forward to collect their girls. Amelia and Meena lingered behind as everyone else filed out of the studio in a burst of chatter.

“Everything okay today, Claire? You seem a little out of sorts,” Amelia asked, her face full of concern.

I managed a tired smile. Even my face muscles were exhausted. “Just had a late night.”

She nodded sympathetically, before continuing, “I was wondering if I could ask for a favor?” Meena looked up to her mother as if curious herself about what Amelia was about to propose.

“Sure,” I replied.

“I normally wouldn’t do this, but I was wondering if you’d be interested in giving Meena private classes for the next few weeks. I hate to inconvenience you, but I’m under some tight deadlines at work and won’t be able to drop her off for group classes.”

My schedule was already full because I needed the money to pay bills, so finding the time to commute to a different location was going to be too hectic.

I was about to decline, but Amelia stopped me before I could say no. “Oh, please? I would hate having one of the nannies drop her off because I’d feel like I was missing out. And Meena just adores your class. She’d never let me hear the end of it if she had to skip classes because of me.” She winked at her daughter before returning to me with an apologetic expression.

It would be completely inconvenient, but I really liked Meena. My heart squeezed as I glanced at her cute little face, smiling eagerly up at me, hoping I’d accept.

“I’ll even pay you extra!” Amelia added to sweeten the pot.

I could always use more money, too.

I caved. “Okay, I’ll do it.”

“Yay!” Meena shouted, jumping up and down, her pigtails bouncing up and down along with her.

Amelia pressed a hand to her chest, before clasping both together under her chin in gratitude. “Thank you so much. I really appreciate it! I’ll email you to set up a time and give you our address.” She took Meena’s hand. “Bye!” they said in unison as Amelia led her daughter out of the studio.

“Bye,” I responded after them, my mind already racing with how I was going to fit in Meena’s private lessons into my week. The day I didn’t have to hustle for money would be a glorious one.

•••

I knocked on the door of the luxurious penthouse belonging to the address that Amelia had emailed me last week. The Upper East Side was a far cry from my neighborhood in South Bronx. I could barely afford my apartment, even though it was basically a room with a bathroom and a hot plate for a kitchen, but it was better than living on the street, especially when the harsh winters came around.

A formidable man in a black suit, who I assumed was a butler or caretaker of sorts, answered the door. I gave him my name and told him I was here to give Meena dance lessons.

“Madame Varon!” Meena ran to me from across the entryway, already dressed in a shimmery pink leotard and fluffy tutu.

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