Page 50 of Hunted Temptation
There isa knock on the office door, and I jump up, my heart racing as I try to figure out where I am and what’s going on. Looking around the space, I inhale and exhale, trying to calm down.
“Elodie, it’s me, Nadine,” the voice calls out from the other side of the door.
Sinking my teeth into the corner of my bottom lip, I inhale deeply through my nose, then let it out slowly before I stand. One on one is probably better than the whole group of people earlier.
I walk to the door and unlock the dead bolt, then wrap my fingers around the knob before I twist it and tug it open slightly. I’m met with the beautiful woman from earlier. She’s wearing a kind smile as her eyes search mine.
“I was wondering if you wanted to just hang out. You don’t have to be locked up in here,” she says.
Looking over my shoulder, I take in the small office. It’s really no bigger than a closet, but I still find it oddly cozy. However, I can see how someone else would think that I need to get out and breathe.
Also, I should probably get to know some of these people if I’m going to try to be part of their lives. And I do want to ingrainmyself in their world. I want to be part of them, invaluable, so that Vaughn can’t just get rid of me when he’s done.
“Sure,” I agree.
My voice is probably a little too high and chipper, but if she notices, Nadine doesn’t say anything. Instead, she turns around and walks away. I follow behind her, though I do it slowly. I’m still not sure if I want to do whatever this is, but I also know that I need to.
“I’m not that exciting, but I figured it has to be better than hanging out in that closet space Vaughn calls his office.”
“So what do you do here?” I ask as I move around the open area where her desk is centered.
Nadine starts to tell me all the things she does for Securus, but my mind drifts off, and I think of other things. Like, how is it possible that all these men are so close and their women work for them? It isn’t weird. I’m sure other companies have their wives and girlfriends working for them, but this just seems odd.
“I’ve been working here since Securus was created. They needed someone to handle schedules and billings.”
“And the others?” I ask.
Nadine lifts her head, and her eyes find mine. I watch as she stares at me, but she doesn’t respond immediately. It’s almost as if she’s trying to think of how to describe the other women’s jobs.
“I am the crazy one,” a woman announces, walking into the room from another one a few feet away. “Lucille,” she says with a smile and a wink.
I can feel my face heat in embarrassment. She, without a doubt, knew that I had forgotten her name. “I do a bunch of internet stuff,” she says. “Vaughn and I work together on his side jobs.”
“The hit man stuff?” I ask.
Lucille’s body jerks, her spine straightening and her eyes widening. “You know?” she asks on a hiss.
“I saw him kill my father and that man. I asked him if I could help with the others when it’s time.”
“You want to help?” Nadine asks.
“I do,” I say.
“Very fucking cool,” Lucille says, her voice soft and even.
My body trembles as I think about the words I’ve just said. I can’t believe I told them I was willing to kill people. But it’s the truth. And it seems as if these are the only people in the world who would understand.
“I shouldn’t have said that,” I mutter.
Lucille moves toward me, closing the distance between us, and stops just a few feet in front of me. She’s close enough to touch me, and when she reaches out, she takes my hands in hers.
I suck in a breath and hold it.
I don’t know what to do, what to say.
I am frozen in place.
“You should have said that, I mean, to us. Nobody else understands this world better than us, Nadine, Colette, and I. We know this world. We know these men. They’ve let us in on some of their past, though they don’t talk about everything. But there are no better friends to have than us girls.”
