Page 4 of The Lies You Love
Grey slings open the fridge to see what I’ve got and makes a list of what he wants to buy. “I’ll throw a fit if they move us to the country,” he says mindlessly, rummaging. “This is the first time I’ve been anywhere cool. No ketchup? What the hell are you doing over here?” He scribbles it on a notepad on the kitchen island. We’re the rare few who still use paper lists. “Ragor doesn’t want to make waves,” Grey mumbles. “You know, since Lexington took over, he’s walking on eggshells from the way he used to run… things.”
Lexington is the reason the Charge Men aren’t robotic shells any longer, and Ragor was the old-school dictator that had little empathy for anything or anyone.
Closing my eyes, I sling myself onto the sofa. “I might have mentioned pulling the plug on her city love because everything else, too.” This forces his full attention my way. “She was just at Silver Moon.”
His eyes flare wide. “She fucked a dude there?”
I nod solemnly. “And there is a new guy tending that reeked of trouble.”
His surprise turns to glee as he smiles widely.
“He shook me down. Wanted to know my business.”
“Finally. The kind of action I can get on board with. Not just her orgasmic mewling.” Grey is just as chill as I am with regards to her sexual… addiction, but we’re also on the same page with kicking ass. That’s the fun part. “What are you thinking?” Grey asks, eyes narrowing.
I lift one shoulder. “We can’t bug the place because it’s already bugged, but we watch and wait and try to keep Ramsey from going there.” I hold a finger in the air. “Let’s use the Health Department. You know they’ll fail at something. Even if they don’t close the joint down completely, if she knows it’s not sanitary, she’ll steer clear.” At least, I think she will.
Grey guffaws. “Man, she fucked a stranger in a dirty bar bathroom and you think the Health Department will work? I admire you for many reasons, but this is not one of them. Give me a couple days, I might have something a little better than slapping the Silver Moon with a B minus.”
Sighing, I agree and pass the baton of control early, giving him any detail I’d want to know if he were switching shifts with me. The daily report is still expected because one can never deviate from the regimen.
“Any grand plans?” Grey asks.
I hear Ramsey start to blow dry her hair. It takes her eleven minutes, almost always. “The usual,” I respond, lowering the volume on my earpiece. “My friends are coming to the city for a bachelor party. It should be quite the rager.” I exhale noisily. “It was a long month. I’m ready to not think of anything except my stomach and my dick.”
Grey smiles with his eyes. “She really took it out of you this month.”
I’d never admit that as truth. “Aside from the couple of sketchy incidences, it’s been unbearably monotonous. That’s all.” Heading into the bedroom, I take out my duffel and cram it full of everything that can fit. I grab my toiletries from the bathroom, my laptop and charger from my office, and hand Grey the phone connected to her listening device.
My personal cell rings from my pocket, and when I answer, all I hear is club music thumping. I breathe a sigh of relief and hang up the phone. My friend Griffin calls right back, and I send him to voice mail. “Need anything else?” I ask Grey before dialing my friend again.
Grey’s listening on the earpiece, a distant expression on his face. “She turned down Auden for a night out, so I’d say I’m all set for the evening.”
I tip an invisible hat to him before grabbing the knob to the apartment door. “Protect the heartbeat,” I order.
He nods, and I lock up after myself while calling Griffin. He answers on the first ring. He screams an address and hangs up. As I descend the stairs, I carefully and quietly shed the skin of a bodyguard. I have to detach myself from that person.
It’s the only way to survive. It’s the only way I won’t worry about Ramsey constantly.
CHAPTER TWO
Auden
My ass itches and my wig feels like a thousand ants are fighting over real estate on my scalp. Granny night was supposed to be a fun way to dress for Margot’s bachelorette party. It will be fun, and we’ll be fully covered so sleazy men won’t hound us while we celebrate Margot. The thing is, I kind of want to be hounded. Wait, that’s a lie. I want to go home with a guy, I don’t want to be annoyed all night. My friends are all taken, like I used to be, so being the odd woman out hits a little different. My best friend, Ramsey, had no interest in coming tonight, and I don’t know why. She’s the wingman who is always down to clown. She would have been my savior in the current sea of married or engaged women.
Management turned us away from Privvy Fete, an expensive, exclusive club we had a reservation at, because our “costumes” were considered a hazard. The bouncer might as well have told us we looked too ugly to party there, and we’d ruin their shiny image. We’re now holding fort in the corner of some bar on the east side. Margot is refusing to drink in protest, so I’m drinking everything for her. The waitress brings more shots, unable to keep a straight face as I shake my padded granny ass against my friend Betty. Betty has been married for five years and doesn’t know how to let loose anymore. The music is loud, and the alcohol smells like bad decisions and lies. I take two small shooters from the tray and down them one after the other.
Betty looks at me, raising one painted eyebrow. “Auden, you aren’t going to last until midnight if you keep drinking like that.” She’s the cautious friend, the motherly one because she is a mother. She’s the friend who insists we stay together all night and drinks a little less to make sure there’s always a responsible adult around. Secretly, I think the motherly friends are actually just self-serving assholes who don’t want a hangover the next day and act that way under the guise of caring the most. Staring Betty in the eye, I take the shot from her hand and gulp it out of principle.
“If things go my way, I won’t need to stay out past midnight,” I reply, regretting the last shot. My stomach flails, and I inhale a deep breath to steady it. “This outfit is stupid, Margot is having a miserable time, and this place is seedy,” I say, looking around. We’re drawing stares with our getups, but not the kind of glances I want. I throw up my arms. “And men are never going to notice me. It’s so easy for you guys with your diamonds perched on your fingers, but over here on the other side of the world, I’m alone. Now I’m alone and ugly.”
She swallows hard as she looks at Margot. “No one thought they wouldn’t let us into Privvy. It’s just clothes.” She picks up the frumpy dress she’s wearing at the hip and lets it flow back down again at her ankles. “I’m sorry, but even if you took off the granny outfit, why would you want to be piss drunk when you go home with a guy, Auden? Not only is that insanely unsafe, it’s sort of… desperate. You aren’t in college anymore. You’re thirty.”
My face reddens. “Maybe I am desperate, Betty.” Desperate to get over my ex-boyfriend. Desperate to not feel like I have a hole inside my heart that will never be repaired. Desperate to not feel desperate anymore. “And I’m always safe,” I sneer, spotting what must be a bachelor party on the other side of the bar. Not surprisingly, they haven’t looked our way once.
Betty folds her arms, and I know what she says next will be unpleasant. Margot and Lindsey are keyed into our conversation, drifting closer to hear over the thump of the bass. “Wearing a condom and not getting murdered are two different definitions of safe,” Betty reprimands.
I smile at Margot. I truly don’t want to spoil her night. “You’re right, Betty.” I swallow my pride. “I’m sorry, Margot. I’m going to readjust in the bathroom. I’ll be right back.”
