Page 54 of The Den of Sin
“You’d be surprised,” I smiled. “I have a private equipped medical room to ensure they get top care.”
“Hmmm.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means, thank you.” Her eyes darted away from me, and I knew her next words I wouldn’t like. “I’m not staying in New Orleans though.”
Stay for me.The words were on the tip of my tongue.
Goddamn it, she rattled me. I thought removing Ryan Johnson from her life would make it easier to get her back but now I wasn’t so sure. The attraction between us could set off fireworks in the entire damn state, but she was unwilling to bring her walls down. Five years ago, she gave me everything, but now she kept herself barricaded behind stone walls.
Little did she know, I was willing to bulldoze through it all. If she left my city, I would follow. Because she was mine, and I’d be damned to let anyone, Benito King or her own half-brother, get their hands on her.
Chapter Eighteen
Isabella
It was half past nine and I still waited for Tatiana. One of Adrian’s men would take us to the party. Supposedly, Adrian and Vasili got into it or something. Tatiana wouldn’t elaborate but she found out Adrian would be at the party tonight. Waiting for her. I could see excitement painted all over her face.
Taking the brief encounter with paparazzi out of the equation, and Vasili’s grumbled behavior when he found me roaming the city, it was a pretty good day. I hoped it would end on the same note.
The late lunch I had with Vasili unsettled me. It was surprisingly comfortable and pleasant. He acted like a different man, like he cared. I wasn’t sure if I could trust that exterior. He had so many layers, I wasn’t sure which one was the real him.
Was it the man that threw those cruel words at me the morning after we slept together? Was it the caring brother? Was it the man that I had lunch with? Or was it the man that blackmailed Ryan into leaving me?
Whichever one it was, my body wanted them all. But I worried about my heart. There were no guarantees when it came to affairs of the heart. I learned that first hand with Vasili, and unfortunately, my mother experienced it too.
Ironically, those last few hours with Vasili brought back memories. Spending hours and hours on the beach, the smell of the ocean and sun tan lotion, our little home, Paolo and his family. It broke my heart when I heard he joined a gang. He swore he never would. We both knew that gangs were bad news. When he learned of the connections between Santos and my mother, he was appalled. So was I! But I never told him how deep that connection went. I hadn’t told anyone. Certain secrets were better left buried.
Halloween!It all started that Halloween night five years ago. It was my least favorite day of the year and here I was... wearing a costume.
I stared at my reflection and this ridiculously skimpy costume. All the years at Georgetown and we never dressed up in costumes once. And here we were, doing it now. The costume called for Cleopatra, but I swore I felt like a belly dancer with a golden mask. I shook my head at the ridiculousness, and with a last glance of my reflection in the mirror, I left my room and headed for Tatiana’s.
I went into her room and groaned. She wasn’t even close to ready.
“Seriously?” I complained. “What is taking you so long to get ready?”
She was only in her bra and underwear, staring at two costumes laid out on the bed.
“I can’t decide which one!”
She had ordered herself two costumes, unsure which she’d like better. One was a red riding hood costume and the other was a skimpy maid costume, or should I say bodysuit, that revealed pretty much everything but her boobs and her private area. The mask matched each one of those costumes.
Not that my costume was much better. I went for a Cleopatra look, two pieces of skimpy cloth material in golden tones and a mask with matching material. I didn’t like having so much skin on display for everyone to gawk at, but it was too late to find a new costume now.
Tatiana’s eyes skimmed through me. “Fuck, you look so hot in that costume.”
I rolled my eyes. “You will look even hotter in either one of those, if only you’d decide to put one on.”
“I just want to look good so Adrian can’t resist me.”
My lip curved into a smile. He wouldn’t be able to resist her if she wore sweats to this party.
Although if I said that to her, she’d object. I took a deep breath. “Do you know what he is dressing up as?”
“James Bond.”
I chuckled. It kind of suited him. Adrian liked gadgets, and the little I saw of his security screens and technology, he was all into that shit.
