by Aubrey Rose
This outfit on the other hand left very little to the imagination.
In fact, Ellie was almost certain the tiny gauze-like strips of material that covered Kelly’s nipples and crotch probably couldn’t be considered an outfit.
“Wait, that’s what you’re wearing?” Ellie said, her mouth going suddenly dry at the thought of exposing that much of herself.
“Yeah, all the girls do and the tips we make...” Kelly giggled, “well, let’s just say it’s pretty darn obscene.”
“Out on the floor, Kelly, now,” the party manager said, her tone a warning. She turned back to Ellie, her lips pursed as she stared Ellie up and down.
“I don’t think I can wear that...” Ellie said, her hands clammy and her stomach flipping uncomfortably.
“No way. You’d look like some sort of deflated hot air balloon if you did. I suppose if you carry the trays out to the refill table it won’t really matter what you wear.”
Ellie didn’t know if she should feel relieved or insulted. She followed the other woman down the hall to the steamy kitchen and when she paused in front of a trolley of trays Ellie came to a halt too.
“Carry these out and set them on the table just through there. I don’t want any gaps on the tables and I don’t want any delays for the girls, is that clear?”
Ellie stared at the wide and heavy-looking trays. Some of them were already filled with food while others had plates and little pieces of cutlery in them.
“Who’ll be helping me to carry them?” Ellie asked, but she had a sinking feeling that she already knew the answer.
“Help? You don’t need any help, you’re a hefty girl with thick arms—you’ll be able to manage them in your sleep.”
The manager smiled and it wasn’t a pleasant look.
She could just walk away. If she left now she would keep at least a small amount of her dignity intact.
“What are you waiting for? Get to work, I told you I don’t want the girls left waiting. When they wait, the guests wait.” The manager’s voice had lifted several notches, something Ellie thought would be utterly impossible.
She stalked away, her heels clicking on the tile floor as she barked orders to the others gathered in the kitchen.
Just leave, Ellie. Walk away now and save yourself a lot of heartache.
The voice in the back of her head was of course right and yet Ellie knew she couldn’t just walk away. Selena had stayed on to look after Rosalind and Ellie knew that if she left she might not be able to afford the few hours Selena had done.
No, she had no choice but to swallow her pride and get on with it.
Reaching out, Ellie wrapped her arms around the first tray, the heat from the metal scorching along the bare skin of her forearms and hands as she struggled to lift it.
Struggling, Ellie managed to take it in her hands and pulled it in tight against her chest. The tray was almost too heavy and Ellie’s muscles screamed at her for release but that wasn’t what brought tears to her eyes as she staggered forward to the door and the room beyond.
The lacerations and welts across her back stretched with the pressure of lifting something so heavy. The feel of them reopening had tears dripping down Ellie’s cheeks.
“I can’t go home, I can’t fail Mom.”
If she went home she wouldn’t be able to afford to keep paying for the home care. What was a little pain if it meant looking after her mother the way she deserved?
Ellie pressed her back against the swing door, agony searing into her as she pressed the door open and stepped out into the room. Several girls stood around the table, all of them wearing the same multi-coloured scraps of fabric as Kelly, and all of them impatient.
“Get a move on, fat ass!”
Ellie’s face flushed as she carried the tray to the table and set it down before turning to get the next one.
“I need the shrimp.”
“Where are the canapés? I can’t go out there without the canapés.”
“We’re all out of champagne.”
A chorus of voices drowned out the thoughts in Ellie’s mind. If it continued like this it was going to be a very long night.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
“What the hell were you thinking?”
Stuart wanted to bury his face in his hands and drown out the sound his brother was making. Spending a night in the cells and most of the day wasn’t conducive to rest. To make it worse, Riley hadn’t stopped ranting since they had left the cop station.
Grey had decided not to press charges, which surprised Stuart to no end. It would have been the perfect opportunity to get him out of his way and yet...
“Riley, I told you, he got a little of what was coming to him. And anyway, I was simply telling him he could take his job and stick it. I was merely doing it with flair.”
“Flair? Is that what they’re calling it now? You assaulted him in his own home. You’re just lucky he didn’t press charges.”
Stuart shook his head and swallowed down the painkillers he had dug out of the medicine cabinet.
“I think that’s a little weird, don’t you? He had all the evidence he needed to have me charged and I certainly wasn’t going to deny it.”
“That’s the other thing, Stuart, why weren’t you going to deny it?”
Riley paused in his near-constant tirade just long enough to shoot Stuart a confused look.
“There was no point and anyway, if he pressed charges I wouldn’t have denied breaking his nose but I would have claimed it was in self-defence.”
Riley studied his brother and sighed.
“I don’t understand you at all. Sometimes I think you’ve grown up, that after everything that happened you’ve learned to leave that reckless side behind you. And then you go and do something like this? What made you go over there like that anyway?”
Stuart hesitated. How much could he really tell Riley? Ellie’s story was her story to tell, not his. The last thing he wanted to do was spread it around. She’d told him in confidence and it didn’t seem right to break that connection they’d made.
Thinking of Ellie brought up the memory of the night before. The taste of her, the feel of her skin beneath his hands. It was enough to make him want a cold shower. She was irresistible and of course the fact she already had someone in her life was a problem. But it was a problem that Stuart didn’t want to care about. And yet he did.
“It was that girl from the diner, wasn’t it?” Riley said, hitting on the one thing that Stuart wanted to keep to himself.
“Why I went there doesn’t matter. All that does matter is that Grey is bad news and I want to be the one to get rid of him.”
“That’s not possible, Stuart. The man is too well connected. To get rid of him you’d need to know who is bankrolling his political aspirations.”
“That can’t be too difficult to figure out. The office he has in town is the one he uses for all his political campaign planning. There has to be something there that’ll give me a direction to go in.”
“You? You’re not doing this on your own anymore. What do you think would have happened if I hadn’t turned up with the cops when I did last night?”
Stuart shrugged and grinned.
“Then I guess you’d be down a brother. Might have made trying to get Holly on your side a little easier. You could have declared your love for her by saying you sacrificed one of your own.”
Riley’s expression was anything but friendly.
“That’s not something to joke about, Stu. You and I both know you weren’t getting out of there last night if I didn’t turn up.”
“That’s why I called you in the first place. I knew I needed some form of leverage and anyway, if you hadn’t turned up I’d have told him I’d spoken to you, told you exactly what I planned on doing. He wouldn’t have been able to touch me.”
Riley seemed unconvinced and shook his head as he turned to the mirror and straightened the tie he wore.
“Just promise me you won’t go doing an
y more stupid things—that any more crazy plans will be run by me first.”
Stuart nodded and lifted his fingers in the scout’s salute.
“Scout’s honour.”
“Where are you off to tonight?” Stuart said, eyeing the expensive suit his brother had changed in to since they’d arrived back at the house.
“Where am I going? You’re coming too.”
Stuart shook his head and lifted his hands.
“Not a chance, you’re on your own. I have some business I need to attend to anyway.”
The image of Ellie as she moaned in pleasure flashed through his mind once more and Stuart swallowed hard.
“Business? Not tonight, Stu. Anyway, you’ll want to come to this party.”
Stuart was suddenly suspicious and watched his brother through narrowed eyes.
“Why? Why would this be a party I’d want to attend? You know how much I hate rich people parties. That’s not going to change.”
“Grey will be there and maybe you’ll learn something about some of his partners.”
Stuart closed his eyes and groaned.
If Grey was going to be there then it would be the perfect opportunity to see the man in action. It would at least give Stuart his own baseline for how deep Grey’s connections ran in the town.
“I’m not sure if it’s a good idea...”
Riley laughed and turned to his brother.
“You’re telling me you’re not even in the least bit interested in seeing the state of Grey’s face after what you did to it last night? Not curious in seeing how he explains how it happened? There’s a free bar.”
“Fine, but I’m not staying for the whole thing,” Stuart said, the thought of a free bar and Grey’s face when he saw him there making the thought of the party a pleasant one.
“Great, I’ve had a suit laid out for you.”
“I’m not wearing a suit.”
“Stu, you asked me to trust you when it came to your line of expertise and while I’ve been sceptical of your methods for the most part, I have. Now I’m asking you to trust me... Wear the suit.”
Stuart stared at his brother. He was right, Riley had shown more belief in him during the last few days than he’d ever shown before in their lives. It wouldn’t be such a terrible thing to show some gratitude and wear a suit...
Fine, but only because you asked so nicely.” Stuart grinned and headed for the stairs. “I’m going to grab a shower and wash the stink of jail cell off me before we head out.”
“Don’t take too long. The sooner we get to the party the sooner we can leave... This sort of thing has never been my favourite type of gathering.”
Riley’s words had Stuart pause on the large sweeping staircase.
“What do you mean by that? You love parties.”
Riley smiled and shook his head.
“Just get dressed. You’ll see what I mean when we get there.”
Suddenly curious, Stuart didn’t waste any time in hurrying up the stairs and into the room he was using as his own. If Riley didn’t like the party then there had to be a really good reason for it. And Stuart couldn’t wait to find out what that reason was.
Stuart shifted uncomfortably in the back of the limo and fidgeted with the tie he wore for what felt like the hundredth time since he’d put it on. Suits were not his thing. In fact Stuart wasn’t sure he could even remember the last time he’d worn one.
The car pulled to a stop outside one of the many mansions that lined Cliff Road. Stuart didn’t wait for the door to be opened, pushing it open himself and stepping out into the humid night air. The only good thing was the smell of the fresh sea air that drifted past in the breeze.
The sound of the waves crashing against the cliffs told Stuart they were very close to the sea itself and he made a promise to himself that the moment it turned boring at the party he would escape and investigate just how close.
“If anyone asks you if you punched Grey, the answer is no.” Riley stepped up behind Stuart and leaned in over his shoulder as he spoke.
From the corner of his eye, Stuart watched as his brother straightened his cufflinks before moving towards the steps up to the house, a smile plastered on his face.
It amazed Stuart that his brother could pretend so easily. The parties had never been something Stuart enjoyed, since they were always boring and stuffy. Talk inevitably came back around to how much money they were all making and the best way to invest.
The only thing Stuart had ever been interested in investing in was his own security company. Of course now that he was back in Breaker’s Point and he had money in his account he could set the wheels in motion for something that was all his own.
But for something like that, a reputation for smashing clients’ faces into glass table tops might not be the best thing.
Stuart sighed and started up the steps after Riley. The house was more than impressive: all white marble pillars and polished floors. As far as Stuart was concerned, however, it had no personality and it reminded him of the inside of the family mausoleum.
Stepping into the main hall Stuart stalled, his eyes widening as he took in the sight in front of him.
The room was awash with men in suits, impeccable and expensive suits, that wouldn’t have looked out of place on the catwalk of some Italian tailor’s show. But that wasn’t what had Stuart so utterly shocked.
A pretty redhead passed him, her smile wide and inviting as she paused and pressed a glass of sparkling champagne into his hand.
“Is this your first time at one of these parties?” she said, her green eyes flashing with interest as she let her gaze slide down over his suit. “I haven’t seen you here before.”
She purred before taking a step closer and pressing her hand against his chest, as though she was about to smooth away some lint. Her hand lingered for a second longer than it should have and Stuart found himself taking a step backward, away from her touch.
He found himself utterly speechless as she turned and stalked away, casting him a cheeky smile over her shoulder.
Stuart’s eyes scanned the crowd, coming to rest on Riley. He moved in his direction, placing the champagne glass down on the first polished surface he came into contact with.
“What sort of party is this?” he whispered to his brother as soon as he caught up to him.
Riley’s smile remained fixed in place as he turned and spoke to Stuart.
“This is the kind of party you get when you have a whole lot of boys with more money than sense. Here are where all the most powerful men in Breaker’s Point gather. They throw a party like this once or twice a month, each one more extravagant and extreme than the one before. I have my suspicion that a lot of the money they get to spend on it comes from public funds. One of these days they’re going to go too far and the people from town will find out. As it is I’m surprised they don’t already know.”
Stuart’s eyes caught the gaze of someone vaguely familiar. He had the odd feeling of seeing her at the diner but he wasn’t sure why. The only woman at the diner Stuart had eyes for was Ellie and there was no way she would come to something like this.
“Are you sure the people in town don’t already know?” Stuart said as the blonde weaved through the crowd, smiling and nodding appreciatively as men patted her ass and tried to rub her breasts through the small piece of gauze that did little to hide her. She didn’t try to stop them either, which surprised Stuart.
“What makes you think they already know?” Riley asked, following Stuart’s gaze.
The blonde came to a stop in front of him and gave him a coy smile.
“I didn’t expect to see you here.”
“I could say the same for you. The diner, right?” Stuart said, trying to keep his voice as neutral as possible.
She giggled and pressed her body up against him.
“Yes, I’m Kelly. Well, isn’t this a happy coincidence. Perhaps we should celebrate it?”
She angled her body into his and tried to drape her
self against his hip and shoulder. She leaned in and whispered into his ear.
“I’m sure we can find somewhere a little more private? I don’t normally do the public shows but if you’re into it, I’m sure I can make an exception.”
Riley intervened, his hand clamping down on Stuart’s arm as he tried to extricate him from Kelly’s grip.
“I’m not interested, Kelly. I’m here for business.”
Stuart side-stepped her as she tried to move against him once more, making her pout.
“Everyone is here on business. It doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy yourself while you’re here.”
Stuart shook his head and moved into the crowd. The more distance he could put between himself and Kelly, the better. She was attractive and Stuart could imagine the men that would trip over themselves to get close to her. He just wasn’t one of them.
He spotted a set of doors at the far end of the room and headed straight for them. The room was becoming a little too crowded for his liking.
His eyes scanned the crowd and he couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed that Grey was nowhere to be seen. It seemed that a broken nose was enough to keep him away from such a gathering.
Stuart pushed through into the room and paused. Tables were laid out with trays and piled high with food. Several of the girls in gauze milled around. Stuart contemplated turning on his heel and walking back out the way he’d come. The last thing he wanted was to draw more attention to himself.
Spying some doors that led outside he made a beeline for them, ignoring the girls that watched him with interest.
Stuart stepped outside and paused, the night air washing over him. He drank in the salty air and scrubbed his hands across his face. The party had not turned out to be what he’d expected at all. He’d always known that the rich had a propensity towards debauchery but what was going on inside was beyond his comprehension and he could only imagine it getting worse as more alcohol flowed.
“I said, no!”
“And I said yes. It’s your job to give me whatever I want...”
The sound of fabric ripping had Stuart moving in the direction of the other side of the patio.