Page 68 of Claiming Vanessa

“Isn’t that what ugly freaks say to make themselves feel better?” Cat says between laughter.

“Yep. Oh nooo, the real beauty is what’s inside. Although I guess there were plenty of guys who wanted to fuck her.” Traci’s smile turns nastier. “They knew they could do whatever they wanted and nobody would notice if they’d left a trace.”

I glance briefly at Elena, who’s trembling and looking like she wants to bolt. Gone is the confident woman who had talked me down earlier, who was planning on teaching me how to apply makeup to help the others. Instead, there’s a broken-down shell of a woman. If I was a violent person, I’d throw a punch and mess up Traci’s lovely, well-made up face.

“You are really fucking lucky Giulio isn’t here, you know that?” I snarl at her.

That makes both of them stop laughing. Cat glares at me with pure hatred. “Why? You gonna run to the boss that we weremeanto you?”

“I’m going to tell him exactly what you said to Elena,” I say grimly. I don’t care if they think I’m a tattletale. What are they going to do to me that’s worse than what Giulio and the others haven’t already? “And you’ll be lucky if he doesn’t rearrangeyourface.”

“Don’t,” Elena hisses, gripping my wrist. “Don’t tell him. It isn’t worth it.”

“It’s absolutely worth it,” I tell her, my voice hot with anger. “They don’t get to talk to you like that. Just because they’re jealous, washed-up—” I realize I’m doing what I’d done earlier, judging them, but I can’t help it. On some level, I know they’re miserable, probably going through withdrawal of their own, envious that Elena and I “aren’t doing anything.”

“Vanessa, he’d kill them,” Stef says, grabbing my other wrist. “You can’t tell him what they said.”

“Maybe they should’ve thought about that before they opened their mouths,” I say, but the heat is gone from my voice. I suddenly have a flashback to the wedding, and all the bloodied corpses.

I can all too easily see Giulio having the same thing done to Traci and Cat.

I cover my mouth to hide my gagging.

I can’t do that to someone. They deserve a night with Slayer and his knife, maybe, but not death. And even that thought is enough to horrify the sense back into me. I’ve never been that bloodthirsty before, and I don’t want to see anyone hurt.

“Okay,” I say, staring harshly at Traci and Cat. “I won’t say anything… this time. But I swear to god that if you ever talk about her like that again, Iwilltell Giulio.” I doubt I would, but they don’t need to know that.

Traci sneers at me. “You’re pretending to be tough, but you’re still gonna let him fight all your battles? Too bad we can’t all be the boss’s favorite whore.”

Yeah, and what’s that done for me? Favorite whore, future mother of his children… I’m just as trapped as they are.

“You’re welcome to try to take over,” I tell her bitterly.

But from the look in her eyes, I can’t help but wonder if she’s already tried—and failed.

15

GIULIO

I’m only at Ntimacy to have a quick chat with Elena, but Paul stops me as soon as I enter the club.

“Boss, there’s a problem,” Paul says in his usual reedy tone.

I resist the urge to roll my eyes at him. “What problem?”

“The girls are fighting in the back. We’re opening in ten minutes, and none of them are ready…”

I stare at him for a few seconds, long enough that he gets uncomfortable and starts to squirm.

“What do you want me to do about it?” I ask him, my sharp tone making my annoyance utterly clear. “You’re the assistant manager. Managing the girls is part of your job.”

Paul turns bright red and backs up a few steps. “Right, um, I normally would, but Elena and Vanessa are also involved…”

My annoyance gets joined by a hot flash of irritation.

“Jesus fucking Christ. Fine, I’ll deal with it. But if you don’t start doing your job soon, I’m going to find somebody to replace you. Got it?”

“Y-yes, sir,” Paul answers, but I can hear the relief in his voice.

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