by Amy Brent
“I’ll know it in my gut. She’ll be real, untainted by the glam and unfazed by the idea of money. She’ll want to know about me. You know, that’s one thing I’ve noticed. No one ever asks me a damned thing about myself. They are so wrapped up in my money all they can manage is to tell me what they like in hopes that I can give them something. Half the women I’ve dated don’t even know my middle name.”
“Well, it’s a rather nerdy name, so you might just want to keep that under your hat, Bernard.” Zep snickered, and I met his eyes with a glare that reminded him I knew all too well where his own name came from.
“That’s kind of hypocritical coming from someone named after a flying gas balloon.”
“I was named after my father’s favorite band, one of the greatest of all time, fuck you very much.” He released a breath, and we both left the bathroom, heading back to find a new table as our last one had new occupants.
I sat down at the first one that was available and the waitress I’d slept with a few months back came strolling by. She shot me a glare as she approached. “Can I get you anything?” She turned and smiled at Zep who slipped in his order.
“Just get me a beer.” I eyed her up and down, remembering her long legs wrapped around my naked ass as I pounded her.
“Sure thing, honey. I’ll get you your beer with the same effort you took to call me after the sex we had.” She sauntered away, and I had to respect the girl. Most would have been insulted but never called me on my shit.
Zep belted a laugh that was loud enough to turn a few heads in our direction, the ones that weren’t already staring. “Ouch! I like that woman.”
“She was good. Maybe you should try her.” He made a face that told me he just might.
“You know, I gave her an invitation to the gala earlier. With the way you’ve disposed of a few of the locals, things could certainly get interesting.”
About that time the plain Jane who’d spilled her drink rushed past us on her way to the bathroom, she’d apparently spilled again, the front of her blouse was soaked, and tears trailed down her cheeks as she passed.
Zep curled his lip and gave me a nudge. “Poor thing, I’m sure Halle and Sadie are going to eat her alive.”
Without gawking at the poor creature, I stared across the room in the opposite direction. “Better her than me.”
Chapter 5
Ella
Halle turned in front of the three-way mirror and checked the back view of the dress as I sat watching. I could have been in my own room, looking through my collection of my mother’s gowns and choosing just the right dress for the gala, but I was expected to be at the twin’s beck and call and, apparently, they needed all hands on deck to choose the proper dress. It wasn’t as if they valued my opinion at all, but anything to keep me busy and at their mercy made them happy.
Luckily, I still had a week and already had one of the gowns in mind, and it would be there when I got a free moment. I didn’t want to suggest stepping away after what had happened the previous night. I hadn’t meant to spill my drink, but I’d choked on a piece of ice, and it had just happened.
I hadn’t wanted to go out anyway, but the girls had insisted. Of course, that was only after they gave me ten minutes to get ready and hid my flat iron. I’d only had time to brush out the wavy strands, not control them, and by the time the humidity had hit it, it was one big mess. But that wasn’t the worst thing they’d done. They’d taken my contacts the night before, and I’d spent the entire day looking for them. I’d been a squinty, clumsy mess, just as they intended. I knew they’d done it simply because of their father’s suggestion and to show that if I was going to be their tag along, I was also going to be their comic relief.
The worst part of the night was when Halle accidentally spilled her drink too— all down the front of my dress. I’d run to the bathroom crying, but hadn’t let either of them see my tears. They were mostly tears of anger, tears for wanting to get revenge and knowing that if I ever wanted to get away from them and out of the Blue mansion, I’d have to suck it up at least until I had earned some money. According to Nola, who’d always been like an aunt to me, the banks had come for the money my mother had borrowed to do her chemo. Apparently, she hadn’t had any insurance on herself. I was thankful for Nola for looking out but hoped that once things were settled, I could make a new life on my own and build my career. That was the only reason I’d wanted to go to the gala.
I planned to wear some of my custom jewelry pieces and hopefully make a few future clients. Many people still wanted to get their hands on my mother’s designs, which had increased in value after her death, and I hoped there would be a bit of interest in my stuff from that.
My mother had wanted that for me, she’d taught me everything and had promised to get me into the right circles, and though I had a few connections still up my sleeve. I wanted to be ready for them. Ready with my own studio.
“I’m sick of wearing blue,” snapped Sadie, tossing the silk scrap of fabric to the floor. The designer, Perry Morgan, rolled his eyes and stepped away.
“Then what color would you like?” He seemed to be losing patience, and I couldn’t blame him. He’d brought several swatches of fabrics and a few dresses for them to try.
“Green. Purple. Red.” Sadie ticked off the colors on her fingers and then walked over to the sofa where she plopped her ass and glared up at the man. “Anything but fucking blue.”
Halle tilted her head and cupped her breasts, turning and checking out her bought rack. “Fine, I’m wearing blue anyway, and I don’t want to match like a couple of losers.”
“I thought you chose the black gown.” Sadie put her hands on her hips and turned to face Perry. “I want to wear black, then.”
“Brilliant. I know the fabric.” He flipped through his swatches, and he and Sadie were hugging a moment later, her face barely registering a smile, but his lit with pure joy.
“You better make sure whatever scrap you wear is waterproof.” I turned to see that Halle was talking to me. “And I’ll warn you now not to embarrass us.”
“Or things will get real ugly when we get home. Worse than last night,” Sadie added.
Millie stalked into the room, and Halle stood down, returning to her mirror as if the two hadn’t been bullying me the moment before. She hadn’t cared if Perry overheard her bitter comments, but she didn’t want her grandmother to.
The man gave me a sympathetic glance. “You are going to the gala? Shall I make a gown for you?” His accent was as thick as syrup like he had something hung in the back of his throat, and he lifted a brow and his nose and peered down at me.
“No, thank you. I have something in mind already.” There was a pretty, bright blue silk dress, which matched my eyes perfectly in my mother’s things that I was hoping to wear with my favorite set from my personal collection. It was a much prettier shade than the blue that Halle was wearing which clashed with her hair.
Halle rolled her eyes and Sadie shook her head, but Millie, she smiled brightly. “I’ll bet whatever you choose will be beautiful. Your mother was always a beauty at the gala. She had a lovely sense of style and was simply elegant and an example of true classic beauty—just like yourself.”
“My mother went to the gala?” I hadn’t ever known she’d been.
“We both did,” said Nola as she sauntered into the room. I hadn’t heard her make her entrance, but she stood behind Halle in the mirror and fingered the hem of the dress as if checking it for quality. “You were only a little girl, then, but we went almost every year for a while. Your mother’s designs opened many doors for her, as did being my friend.” She turned her head to slide her sideward gaze in my direction. “It was a different generation then, and now the gala belongs to our children.” Her children, she meant.
Sadie stepped up next to her mother in the sample dress of the one Perry would make for her in black and passed her mother the scrap of fabric that was to be its color.
“These dresses
will look lovely, but they’ll need the proper icing.” Her eyes met mine through the mirror’s reflection. “Ella, darling, I’m sure you have something in your mother’s collection that would finish these dresses off right.”
My face paled as I was put on the spot. “I’m sorry, Nola, I don’t think I could bear to loan out my mother’s collection.” I’d vowed not to part with it, and it was my most cherished possessions. Everything else had been taken away from me, my home, my mother’s money that was to be my inheritance, and the very thought of loaning them, where anything could happen to them, much less the thought of them draped across the vile twins—my stomach turned.
“Excuse me? I hardly think it’s too much to ask, considering.” Nola’s eyes hardened with her expression. Here was a woman who’d been like family, who’d done everything to help me. How could I tell her no?
I fumbled through my thoughts, unsure of how to refuse—if to refuse. “It’s just they are all I have, my security. It’s—
“We’ve done an awful lot for you, Ella. Invited you into our home and trusted you with our security, surely you can’t mean you don’t trust us with a few pieces that would surely be returned unharmed.” Her tone was clipped, but before I could respond, Millie stepped in.
She gave Nola a harsh glare. “It’s highly inappropriate to suggest that Ella owes you anything, much less her most cherished possessions. If you’re so trusting of your daughter’s, then perhaps you should trust them with your own valuable pieces. I’m certain you have something just as lovely that Layla designed.”
Nola’s face paled, and I could have sworn a muscle in her jaw feathered as if she’d clenched. But then her expression softened into a smile. “Of course, forgive me, Ella.”
Halle snorted. “Like we’d want to wear her cast-offs anyway. Not when we can be loaned anything we want from any designer in town.”
Sadie’s eyes met mine in the reflection, but instead of a smile, a sly cunning glare sent her head sideways. That was the look of a viper ready to strike, and I knew once she sank her fangs, the death would be just as slow.
Nola kept her expression blank, but I could tell she was sick of Millie sticking up for me, especially since after that no one spoke for a long while, and when they finally did, Millie had stepped out, and I was back to being invisible.
Chapter 6
Aiden
Getting dressed up for events had never been something I appreciated when I was younger, but now that I could choose my own styles it wasn’t as terrible. Zep and I had decided that instead of going out to find something, we’d use my wealth and have the designers come to us. Doing so also meant that Zep could sleep in as long as possible and by the way he was curled up next to the sexy brunette when I peeked in on him he needed it.
I stood in the mirror while Frenchie, my mother’s recommended designer made a few adjustments on the tux. The man had done one suit for me in the past, and the thing had fit so perfectly that I hoped to have the same luck.
“Excuse me,” said a tiny voice as the girl from Zep’s bed entered the front room with wet hair and her head down. She was red-faced during her walk of shame, and because of that, I’d give her some credit. Most would stomp out unapologetically and half-dressed.
Zep entered the room shortly after, his hair still wet from his shower, and I could only assume the two had shared it.
“You’re looking good, friend,” said Zep as he plopped down in the closest chair that hadn’t been draped with garments.
“Thanks. We finally chose the right one. Now we’re making sure it fits me like a glove.”
“Are you sure we have to do the whole tux thing? Can’t I wear a tie and my boots?” Zep’s style had always been a bit edgier than the normal rich kid, but then again, my orphaned friend’s father was the same way, always wearing concert tees and ripped jeans with his biker boots.
“Yeah, you want to ask my mother that question? I’m sure she’ll give you an answer real fast.”
“Never mind, I’ll do it.” Zep leaned back and closed his eyes like he hadn’t gotten enough sleep.
“You’re dragging ass, this morning. She didn’t look like the type that usually wears you out.” The girl seemed to have a wholesome nature compared to others he brought home.
“She was a lunatic. She had me tie her up to the posts and then she wanted to be choked. I don’t mind holding a girl by the neck, but she begged me to make her pass out and then got upset when I declined.”
“Yeah, thanks for that. The last thing we need here is some girl dying from auto-erotic asphyxiation. Could you see the headlines? My mother would put us both in the ground before the police could get to us.” I shook my head. “She didn’t seem the type.”
“She was insatiable. I think I threw my hip out and I’m not even thirty. You just never know.”
“Maybe mother should make you settle down instead of me. Your sex life is way more fucked up than mine.” The guy always seemed to get the freaks, and I couldn’t tell if that made him the unluckiest man in the world or not.
“I know what I want. Hopefully, she brings her twin along for the ride this time.”
“You’re still hung up on Halle Blue?” I chuckled and felt a firm hand on my shoulder to keep me still. “Sorry, Frenchie.” The man shook his head and went back to pretending he wasn’t in the room and Zep continued the same.
“Wanting to fuck someone isn’t the same as being hung up, and besides, I want her sister to join us.”
“I believe they call that an infatuation,” I said, but Frenchie shook his head.
“I believe the correct term is obsession, Sir.”
Frenchie and I shared a laugh and Zep gave us both an obscene gesture before even trying to defend himself. “We have unfinished business, her and I.”
Before I could give him a good ribbing over it, my mother barged her way in. “Hello, darlings. Hello, Frenchie, dear.” She didn’t stop until she was standing in the middle of us with her hands clasped as if to say what’s next.
“You two have been busy boys.” She lifted a brow, but I kept a straight face. Zep knew better than to say a word, not until we knew of what we were being accused.
I gave her a blank look and tugged down on the cuffs as I bent my arms for Frenchie.
“Don’t even play like you have no idea what I’m talking about.” She folded her arms across her front, and I waited for her foot to start tapping. Surprisingly it didn’t, but she did continue. “I was at the club sipping my mid-morning tea when the towel girl came over to tell me how excited she is to be coming to the gala tonight and how she’d spent a month’s salary on her dress. You two really should have saved the poor girl the trouble. Anyone without an official invitation isn’t welcome.”
“Yes, mother, I know.” The cat was out of the bag, and the gala was just hours away. It wasn’t as if she could undo what was done. “That’s why I made my own official invites and handed them out to my friends, so they’d be able to attend.”
“You did what? I had those invites hand-scribed by the best calligrapher in town! They were even embossed.” She snapped at me as if I didn’t know who she’d used. “You can’t just send out cheap knock-offs and expect that to work.”
“I didn’t. I made sure that I had the same woman do mine, too. She did an excellent job as she did on the others with the calligraphy and the embossing.” I knew better than to even smile, but Zep was doing enough of that for the both of us.
“You have no respect what so ever. Here I am trying to throw you this party, and you can’t stand to let me handle it!”
I threw my hands out nearly hitting Frenchie in the chest. “You’re not respecting my wishes, Patricia.”
Her eyes met mine as she jerked her head around. “Don’t you call me that! I’m your mother!”
Frenchie stepped back and folded his arms as if waiting for us to finish and I spun around to tell Patricia what for. “If you want me to have a good time and to find someone I can warm u
p to then you have to invite more than those icy-frigid bitches from your elite society list. I need people who are warm and caring, who have more to offer than just money. And frankly, you’re lucky I’m going at all.”
“Well, as far as I’m concerned you’ve already sabotaged this party. There’s no chance of you finding someone who is decent and proper. And once the riff-raff starts piling in, the respectable few will leave.”
“Then it will be their loss.”
“I have a few of my old client’s kids coming, and I had hoped you’d be hospitable and welcoming. You know the Blue Twins. They’ll be here, and they are very important right now. See to it that you show them some special hospitality.”
“I am going to take care of them personally, Mrs. P. You can count on me.”
“You’re such a sweetheart, Zep.” She tousled his hair like she had when he was a boy, back when it used to make me a bit jealous, but now I wish he had taken my mother.
“Kiss ass,” I mumbled, earning a smirk from Zep as she headed to the door.
“You men be ready for the gala by six. I want you downstairs front and center to welcome your guests.” And then she was gone.
“See, she wants me to fuck them. Did you hear her? All that talk about showing them hospitality. That’s precisely what I plan to do.” Zep got up and crossed the room to stand beside me in the mirror.
Frenchie, who had gone back to work the minute my mother had left, was all done with me. While he worked with Zep, I called a few of my friends and made sure they were coming. The man promised to have us looking sharp by then.
After Frenchie left a girl showed up delivering our masks. I’d opted for the plague doctor look, while Zep preferred the hawk mask, and both of us looked like a pair of vicious birds.
She showed us how to put them on and then before she excused herself, I slipped her one of my last invitations to the ball, which lit her eyes. “Thanks,” she said, before leaving.