Page 72 of Tainted Princess
I had a feeling she was not the first person to find themselves like this, but I still looked around to make sure no one had messed with her. When it appeared she was still in the condition she had at least arrived here in, I reached out and shook her shoulder to wake her.
“Please tell me you brought coffee.” Her voice was low and scratchy, and she didn’t open her eyes.
“Of course, I did,” I replied, pushing her foot off the bench and taking the seat beside her. “One Venti triple shot Pumpkin Spice Latte with two pumps of hazelnut syrup, two pumps of caramel syrup, two pumps cinnamon dolce syrup, double whipped cream, and caramel drizzle. With a straw.” She groaned as she reached for it, still not opening her eyes. I gripped her wrist to stop it from flailing and slid the giant cup into her eager palm. “Do you have any idea the kind of looks I was getting from the barista? I think she wanted to spit in it when I kept asking for more whipped cream.”
“What can I say? I’m a basic bitch when I’m hungover. As long as you tip well, they’ll make you anything you want. Baristas are magicians who can make any morning better.” Lexi sat up enough to get her mouth around the straw, taking a huge sip before she finally tilted her head back and opened her eyes, smiling at me. “You, Francesca, are also magic, and I think I love you in the most platonic way possible.”
I chuckled. “Love you too, Lex.”
We sat quietly for a while, Vinnie behind us, as we watched the campus move around us. Students and teachers hustled from one class to another, some looking completely at ease, others looking like their whole future rested on these few months of their lives. As I watched the different members of the student body going about their days, I thought again of Antonio and what our lives would have been like if things had been different.
If my mother and brother hadn’t been killed, would my father have been quite so relentless in his need to protect me and the family legacy? Would Tony and I have gone to college? Maybe we would have gone together, choosing a campus like this one, far from New York and the pressures of our lives there. Sipping on my own, much less complex latte, I imagined him and I, renting a house near campus, going to parties and football games and just doing all the things that kids in their early twenties take for granted every day.
Knowing what we both missed out on made my chest ache and my eyes burn, so I turned my attention back to Lexi, who was scooping whipped cream out of the bottom of her cup with her straw and dropping the globs into her mouth in a way that I was sure she wasn’t meaning to be sexual but came across so enticing that she had people staring. Not that she could help it; everything she did was effortlessly sensual, whether she meant for it to be or not. She was just a sexual creature.
Sexy Lexi.
“So,” I started, smirking when two guys stopped to stare as Lexi took nearly the entire straw into her mouth to lick the cream off, slowly drawing it out again through her pursed lips. “Were you able to get what I asked for?” She was still in last night’s clothes, so I assumed she hadn’t been home, and I didn’t know if that would have prevented her from gathering the information we talked about yesterday.
“Yeah,” she replied, sitting up and groaning. “I stopped atA Taste of Edenon my way here this morning. It was closer to Monty’s place than my apartment, so I just borrowed one of the iPads I had there.” Choosing not to comment on the casual mention of where she had spent the night—even though I was beyond curious—I watched as Lexi set the now empty cup down near her bare feet and reached to the slouchy canvas bag I had missed previously. After she removed her shoes from the bag, she passed me a tablet. “It’s loaded with all the information you were looking for, sorted into files all right there on the home screen. I also linked it to my own, so I can add anything you need anytime, without having to be hands on. Seriously, the US government really needs to up its cyber security. I hacked the student loan database in less time than it took me to get into these pants.” Leaning close, she thumbed through all the files, showing me that she had given me what I was hoping for and then some. “There are three possible options that suit what you are looking for, but my gut feeling is to take this one.” She pointed to the picture of a pretty brunette woman, her medium length caramel-colored hair hanging in gentle waves to her shoulders. Her smile was bright, full and practiced, but her eyes told a different story. Dark blue and wide, those tired eyes showed me a woman with a lot of worries and very little hope.
Exactly the type of person that would do less than scrupulous things for the right price.
“Thanks, Lexi,” I said, sliding the iPad into my own over-sized bag. “She looks perfect.”
“I’m glad, but can wepleaseget started? I didn’t drag myself down here just for the pleasure of your company, fantastic as it is. I’m here for the hotties.”
“Right. Hotties. Let’s go.”
Wandering across campus, my own head hurting as much as I supposed Lexi’s had to be, we were quiet as we headed to the athletic complex, aiming for the doors that were labeled as the ‘Strength and Conditioning Center’. Just as I pulled the glass door open, I felt a shiver run up my spine, the kind you get when you can feel eyes on you.
I stopped, slowly turning to look at the parking lot. It was about half filled with vehicles, students milling about on their way to or from something, but I didn’t see anything that I could pinpoint as the source of my unease.
Lexi went through the door, but Vinnie stopped by me, searching my face before following my gaze.
“Everything alright, Francesca?” he asked, his own keen eyes roaming the area as well.
“I’m not sure yet, Vinnie. But let’s make sure we keep our eyes open, hey?” Vinnie only nodded.
The inside of the athletic building was cool, both in temperature and in tone. The decor was shades of gray and black and red—the school’s team colors—and the high ceilings gave the whole space an open and cavernous feel, creating an atmosphere of freshness in a building that I imagined might have smelled of dirty socks and sweaty jock straps if not well maintained.
No one stopped us as we wandered down the halls, following the directions on the board to the weight room, the only room that seemed to be at all occupied at the moment. Lexi was practically running by the time the glassed-in room came into view, the space filled with every conceivable weight training machine on the market. There was less than half a dozen guys inside, sweating and lifting, bulging muscles on display.
It was actually perfect.
“Alright,” Lexi said, running her fingers through her hair to try and resuscitate it. “How do we want to play this? Do we gently ease into the porn conversation, or start with something like ‘We’d like to pay you to take your clothes off’? I’ve never recruited before; the girls have always just flocked to the office to try and get an interview with Enzo, and he’s picked them all himself.”
Well, that was an image I didn’t need to have kicking around in my brain; Enzo, with a line of nubile young hopefuls, each one bent over his desk for inspection.
In reality, I know that likely wasn’t how he conducted business, but still.
Fuck that.
“How about we just go and talk to them, see where the conversation takes us?”
“Boring, but okay. We’ll try your way first. Let me know when you want me to tag in.” She bounced on the balls of her feet, her fists up, making shadow punches like a boxer while I laughed.
Pushing through the doors, the sound of the weights clanking against each other was sharp in the otherwise quiet space. Each of the men seemed to be deep in concentration, counting reps and focusing on their goals for the set. Having spent time training myself, I felt bad for interrupting their workouts.
