Page 156 of Their Courtesan
ONE MONTH LATER
The Château didn’t often host private parties for the sole enjoyment of those who lived there. The most private things got was when everyone’s patrons were invited to a monthly banquet, but Judith’s patrons often chose to skip that in favor of doing other things… like absconding with her to Mexico or Europe for either one-on-one bonding or one of the raunchiestménage a toisanyone had seen. (She figured most of Western Europe had seen a lot. Not that it stopped both Seth and Miguel from dragging her into a closet at Le Bourget.)
But they made an exception for the party she threw the last weekend of Monica’s maternity leave. Up there in the mountains, the August weather wasn’t so bad. Cool, fresh mountain air mingled with a warm, shining sun, bringing forth plenty of greenery and cute critters flitting about. Most of the party was hosted on the grand balcony overlooking the backyard, although there were a few stragglers wandering inside and below in the hedge maze.
“Look at you,mi reina del Castillo.” Miguel surprised Judith when she passed by, snatching her hand for a kiss. He had a glass of champagne in his other hand. “You’re the most important looking woman here, so you must be mine.”
Anyone looking chuckled, but not in front of Judith. Her arrangement with her patrons was the stuff of legend now. Not just how much money they were paying a month, but how beneath the finances and other business transactions was the aura of them actually being inlove.Judith didn’t often talk about it. She had a business to run in Monica’s absence.
“Excuse me, Mr. Bolivar, but I need to make sure the other guests are well tended to.” She shirked his hands with a flirtatious grin. “If I may.”
All it took was walking a few steps forward and letting her fingers touch the tip of Seth’s chin. Both men sat in lounge chairs facing one another on the balcony, engaged in conversation until Judith sashayed her derriere by them. Ever since they signed their contracts, Judith’s patrons had engaged in a friendly rivalry to vie for her affections. She never paid more attention to one over the other, but men were men, and if they weren’t goading each other until they cracked, they didn’t know how to function.Especiallywith that derriere on the line.
“I know the greatest designers and tailors in Europe. Come to Italy with me next week after Monica gets back,”Miguel had said earlier.
“I’m going to give you the greatest massage of your life. Bubble bath, the works.”Seth wasn’t about to be beaten by a foreigner.“After I’m done pleasuring you, I’m going to paint how beautiful you are.”He left out the part where he would probably send it to Miguel as a trophy. He would keep it in his Monegasque apartment so his sister could see it every time she dropped by. Such a lovely woman, Dolores was!
“You two are freaks,” Zack said from his seat next to Seth’s. He had no problem also staring down Judith’s ass as she walked away. He could never contain his jealousy. “Lucky, lucky freaks.” After Seth drunkenly told him about the mind-blowing threesomes, Zack had a change of heart regarding his best friend’s love life. Again, the jealousy.
“We need to get you a girlfriend.” Seth found his champagne glass being filled by Chelsea – or was it Holly? – the moment it was empty again. “A serious one. No more philandering for you. Time to grow up.” He reached over and patted Zack on the knee. “If I can do polyamory, you can do monogamy.”
“Why don’t we focus on getting our new friend some other friends first?” Zack lifted his glass to Miguel, who in turn lifted his as well. “Ever since he got here he’s been hanging out with us and your girlfriend. Shouldn’t he be expanding his social circles?”
Miguel shrugged. There were other guests at the party, but he wasn’t in a hurry to introduce himself to the suits in slacks and the other women milling around. Sure, some of them were the girls’ friends from outside of the Château, but Miguel only had eyes for one woman these days. Now, if they were going to play matchmaker forZack…“I socialize plenty back home. I see my time in America as an opportunity to kick back and relax, as you say.”
“Never lose that accent, Mr. Bolivar,” the girl with the champagne bottle said. “It’s a treat to hear.”
“Sorry, dear, my money’s reserved for your boss.”
“Can’t blame a girl for trying…” She left, greeting a pair of men in dress shirts and trousers. They settled on the far end of the balcony and laughed about their latest game of tennis at the racquet club.
“You hear that?” Miguel said. “She was trying to seduce me.”
“Don’t flatter yourself. Look at him. Always flattering himself.”
“It’s because you’re insecure and I like to make you even more insecure.”
“I am not. I have nothing to be insecure about…” Seth stopped. “Now that I sound sorely insecure…”
“What in the world is going on here?”
Half the party stopped and turned to the hallway, where a confused Mrs. Warren stood with a party of servants carrying babies and baby bags. The music continued to play on the speakers, but lips were sealed.
Both Seth and Miguel lifted their glasses. “Enjoying ourselves, Madame!”
“Very much so.”
Someone squealed and darted into the hallway, intercepting Matilda as she strolled by with an infant in her arms. Before Monica could say“Someone explain this to me right now”she had half a dozen estrogen-fueled ladies swarming her baby, cooing and making faces. Judith chose then to make her reappearance.
“I’m making us some money.”
“With your friends?”
“They’re all paying. You think there’s gonna be a girl without at least two cocks in her before this party is over?”
“We’re not talking about you, Judith.”
“Sooooo what are you doing here? You’re not supposed to be back until Wednesday.”
