Page 52 of Brighter Than Gold

I sat up on my elbows, curious to watch him. And Gods I enjoyed watching him. His massive frame skulked silently across the floor, wolflike. He went to the door, placed his hand on the knob and turned slowly.

I shot straight up when the door opened a fraction of an inch. “What!” I gasped.

Callan quickly shut it again. He turned back with a sly smile. “You flustered that poor boy so much that he forgot to lock the door when he left.”

My jaw hung open. “What do we do?”

“We can’t rush this. We have to play it slowly. Get dressed.”

Chapter11

Callan

“What the fuck is this!”

Reyah sat in my lap and looked up from our table amongst the girls of the cathouse. I can’t say I didn’t like her being there. This morning had been a mistake. One that I knew I was going to make again.

“It’s a card game Lazio, what does it look like?” Reyah said smarmily. I bit down on my smirk. The girl had gall, I’d give her that.

There were about eight of us around the table, everyone still in nightclothes, the women’s hair wild as they sipped their coffees. It must have been their laughing that had woken Lazio.

“Reyah taught us a game, want us to deal you in boss?” one of the girls asked politely.

“Who the fuck said you could be out here?” he snapped at me.

“Someone forgot to lock the door. We got bored,” I answered.

Lazio’s mouth turned into an ugly sneer as he quietly seethed. “Well, you might as well enjoy yourselves, we have a busy afternoon.” He walked off down a hall and my heart sank. What unspeakable thing did he have planned now?

“Your deal!” one of the women chirped. I shook the foreboding thought from my head and took the cards. “All right ladies, place your bets.”

* * *

Reyah

Callan dressed back into his leathers after lunch, his hands working swiftly over the small buckles of the greaves and gauntlets. The heavy garb made him immediately more daunting, it was no wonder Lazio wanted to utilize him.

“Where do you think he’s taking you?” I asked nervously.

“I have absolutely no idea.” His face was heavy and serious again, and it only amplified my worry.

Callan’s plan had worked perfectly that morning, to convince Lazio that he and I could be trusted not to run the first chance we got. And we now had the favour of some of the girls who worked in the brothel, which could prove invaluable in the future. When Callan had been told to be ready to leave with Lazio, the staff hadn’t locked our door behind us. But I wasn’t stupid enough to think we were free. We’d been locked in a room under Lazio’s order, inside of a brothel under Lazio’s orders, in a town under Lazio’s orders. Everyone here was under the man’s thumb, or in his pocket, and I knew it.

“I’m nervous for you,” I admitted, sitting on the bed.

“Me? Whatever conflict he gets me into, I can manage. That’s what I do. I’m worried leavingyouhere on your own.”

I laughed. “You think I’ve forgotten how to survive in a brothel with a hundred catty women and a hundred horny men?”

He gave me a look that said he hadn’t quite thought that through. “So, we are both adequately equipped then.”

“Yes, I dare say we are.”

A knock at the door revealed Verosa. “They’re waiting for you out back,” she said to Callan. “And you…”

I looked over at the woman nervously.

“The girls want you to teach them another card game.”

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