by Lola Swain
When they returned to their penthouse suite, Luca could tell that Paul Kirschner was very impressed.
“Nothing but the best, right?” Paul said and pointed at Luca as they walked to the bar in the living room.
“Exactly,” Luca said as he made the group drinks. “Why do something if you’re going to do it half-ass?”
“I like that thinking. Thank you,” Paul said as Luca handed him a drink. “Speaking of ass, how long have you and Lena been in the life?”
“The life?” Luca said and chuckled.
“Yeah, you know, the swinger lifestyle.”
Luca got the impression that Paul was building a case and was even more amused at the thought of a process server trying to locate he and Lena after their evening ended.
“Oh, about three years,” Luca said and loosened his bow tie. “Ladies? Your drinks are ready.”
Katy floated over to the bar and picked up one of the drinks. As she sipped her drink, she looked around the modernly decorated living room.
“Lena, I love how this place is decorated,” she said and walked over to the white leather circular sofa. “Where did you find this piece?”
Lena took her drink off the bar and looked at Paul and laughed. The two men joined in Lena’s laughter.
“What’s so funny?” Katy said. “Did I miss a joke?”
“No, pumpkin, you are the joke,” Paul said and finished his drink.
Luca looked at Lena and her eyes burned with anger. He winked at her and rolled his eyes.
“The room came decorated, Katy,” Lena said.
Paul reached over the bar and grabbed the decanter of scotch and poured himself another drink. Luca gestured for Lena to stop him.
“Easy there,” Lena said as she put her arms around Paul’s shoulder. “I don’t want that scotch effecting my good time.”
Paul grabbed Lena by the back of the head and covered her mouth with his. He held her to him and kissed her roughly. Lena wanted to knee him in the balls. So hard he kissed her, she felt like he was suffocating her. He stuffed her mouth full with his tongue and would not let her up for air. Finally, he yanked her head back and stared into her eyes.
“Did you feel that? Felt like it did when we were at the Met, doesn’t it? Don’t you worry about my ability! You don’t mind, do you, Luca?”
“Absolutely not,” Luca said and removed his tux jacket.
“Good,” Paul said and poured himself a large scotch. “Just want to make sure. I don’t know if you swinger freaks have rules.”
“No freaks here, Paul,” Lena said as she wrapped her arms around his waist. “Well, maybe one.”
Lena looked over at Katy who danced in the living room to the sound of the music in her head. She looked absolutely ridiculous and Luca stared at her and shook his head.
“Good song, darling?” Luca said as he walked over to the suite’s entertainment unit.
Luca loaded a play list of rock-n-roll music and threw his jacket over the back of a club chair in the corner of the room. He stared at Katy as he unbuttoned the first few buttons of his shirt.
“Having a good time at the party?” Luca said to her as he took her arm and led her to the couch. “Here, have a seat.”
“This is the best party I’ve ever been to,” Katy said as she plopped down next to Luca. “When is Paul going want to have sex with me?”
Luca stared at her and squinted.
“Is this an existential question? I’m not sure what you mean.”
“Tonight, silly. You said what you were going to show me was going to have him all over me. So far, he’s just been talking to your wife,” Katy said as she looked over at the bar and watched Paul and Lena embracing. “I don’t like this at all, Luca. I don’t want us to be here if I have to watch him rubbing against another woman. It’s bad enough to think about in my own head, never mind actually seeing it! And you should be mad too.”
“Katy, I told you that Lena and I are swingers,” Luca said and slid closer to Katy. “Did you not understand what that meant?”
“Of course I know what that means! But Paul and I are not swingers so we certainly are not here to swing with you. You guys can be swingers with other people. You cannot be swingers with us!”
Luca looked down in his lap and shook his head. He had to get her under control. It was too early to begin the Questioning and they had to follow the protocol of the Trial. He thought about slipping her another pill, but as he stared over at Paul and Lena, he had an even better idea that would kill two birds with one stone. So to speak.
“Sweetheart, I’m going to get another drink,” Luca said and stood from the couch. “Do you want another?”
“I want my husband!” Katy said.
“I will go get him. Sit tight.”
Luca walked up to Paul and Lena and Paul gave him a filthy look.
“Yes?” he said as if Luca was a butler.
“Go talk to your wife,” Luca said and shook his head. “She’s upset. She is getting jealous.”
“Isn’t it your job to keep her happy?”
“Look, I have something that will keep us all happy. Something that will keep us happy and awake, if you catch my drift. Thing is, Paul, you are not going to fuck my wife if I can’t fuck yours. Those are the rules of us swinger freaks.”
Paul moved Lena aside and stood in front of Luca.
“Are you talking about cocaine? Do you have any idea what I do for a living?”
“Yes, your wife told me. You’re a lawyer, Paul, not a cop.”
“I’m not just any lawyer, Maretti. I am a special prosecutor for the Public Integrity Board. Do you know what that means?”
“Yes,” Luca said and stepped closer to Paul’s face until their noses practically touched. “It means that you root around for scum by day and fuck my wife by night. Isn’t that right?”
“Ah, boys?” Lena said. “I thought this was a party not a pissing contest. Come on, Paul, don’t you ever fantasize about getting wild?”
Paul looked at Lena and she licked her lips.
“I’ve been waiting for you all night, baby,” Lena said and ran her fingers back and forth under the waistband of his tux pants. “You’re not going to let me down, are you?”
Paul looked down at Lena’s hand as she worked it into his pants. He looked back up at Luca and smiled.
“Sounds like we’re about to have a party. It’s good stuff, right? You didn’t pick it up from some spic dealer in Washington Square Park, did you?”
“Please, Paul,” Luca said and grabbed Lena’s hand and pulled it out of Paul’s pants. “We do nothing half-ass, remember? It’s the best. Now, you go talk to your wife. I’m going to take mine into our bedroom and get the stuff. And then the lovely Lena is all yours. Sound good?”
Paul looked from Luca to Lena and smiled.
“Sounds amazing.”
Paul, Luca and Lena walked across the living room and all paused to watch Katy gyrating back and forth on the couch trying to keep her hip motions in time to the music.
“You can tell she’s from Nebraska, huh?” Paul said to Lena.
“It’s written all over her,” Lena said and giggled.
Katy looked up from the couch and stared at them.
“Don’t tell me I missed another g-d joke?”
“Not at all,” Paul said and sat down beside Katy. “I was just telling them how much I loved you and how much you loved music and how I always here music when I think of how much I love you.”
Katy lit up like a pinball machine and looked at Luca. She mouthed a quick thank you to him and sat back and rested her head on Paul’s shoulders.
“And I love you,” she said. “So very much. And I love The Doors too.”
“This is Lou Reed,” Luca said. “But The Doors are good as well. Katy, Lena and I are going to get something out of our bedroom and then we are going to have a real party, okay?”
“Yes, if it’s okay with Paul.”
“Of course it is,”
Paul said. “Hurry up you two. It’s rude to keep guests waiting.”
Lena and Luca walked into the bedroom and Lena slammed the door behind her.
“Jesus Christ!” she said as she leaned against the bedroom door. “How much longer until we can torture these fuckers and get this night over with?”
“That’s the spirit, honey,” Luca said and pulled some lingerie out of Lena’s suitcase. “Here, take the dress off and put this stuff on. The robe you are to wear is hanging in the closet.
Lena looked at the blood red corset and panties and smiled.
“Bet the Elders didn’t wear this stuff when they performed the trials, huh?”
“No,” Luca said and laughed as he pulled a leather case out from under the bed. “Get undressed. We don’t want to keep them waiting.”
“Unzip, please,” Lena said and turned her back to Luca.
Luca stood up behind Lena and pushed her hair to the side. He ran his hands across her upper back and smiled when Lena’s skin turned into goose bumps under his touch. He slowly pulled down the zipper on her dress as he kissed the back of her neck.
Lena bowed her head and moaned as Luca kissed her neck and up and down her spine.
“That feels amazing,” she said.
“Yes, it does. Come on now. We have plenty of time for that later.”
Lena’s heart beat with excitement when she thought of going back to the Order and spending an eternity with Luca. She vowed to do everything perfectly on this mission so Luca was pleased and in the hopes the Elders would send them on more missions together. She knew she had to keep her cool with Luca and she told herself under no circumstance was she to get sappy. Any longer.
“Do I sense some tension between you and Paul?” Lena said as she stepped out of her dress and sat on the bed to unhook her stockings from their garters.
“You mean beyond the fact that he’s a self-righteous, hypocritical child molester? Nah, don’t think so.”
“Point taken,” Lena said.
Luca put the large leather case on the bed and flipped the latches. The top to the case popped open and he looked down at its contents and grinned.
“Holy cow!” Lena said as she looked in the case. “Getting caught with that case would be life in prison for sure!”
“Thankfully, we didn’t have to deal with TSA on our flight over,” Luca said and stared down at the case.
The case was filled to the top with any kind of classified narcotic imaginable. Pills and powders and liquids and herbs. Luca rummaged around the case and pulled out a kilo of cocaine and threw it on the bed.
“This should do,” Luca said and grabbed a silver tray off the nightstand.
“Do you think so, Pablo Escobar? I think doing that whole thing is going to kill us all. Well, them,” Lena said as she took her bra off and undid the hooks from the eyes on the corset.
Luca watched her sitting on the bed naked and felt a protectiveness toward her that he knew was dangerous. But like many great lovers, he sometimes listened to his heart.
“You don’t have to do it, you know,” he said and hopped up on the bureau across from Lena.
“What, the blow? The hell I don’t! You think I’m going to miss an opportunity to be able to feel those effects and not have to deal with the misery of the coke hangover tomorrow? You’re crazy!”
“Yes, I understand. But,” Luca said and ran his fingers through his hair, “I wasn’t talking about the coke. I’m talking about Paul. You don’t have to do anything with Paul.”
Lena looked at Luca as she stood from the bed and wiggled into the silk panties. She saw a side of him she hadn’t seen as he was sitting on the bureau looking up at her.
Innocent, Lena thought.
“No, it’s absolutely fine,” she said as she admired her reflection in the bureau mirror. “I don’t mind.”
“Oh, well, if you don’t mind, great. That’s good. I just want to give you the option.”
“No, it’s cool,” Lena said and leaned in toward the mirror. “How do I look? I think I look pretty damn hot.”
She looked more than pretty damn hot, Luca thought. But he’d never her tell her that.
“Yep. Get the robe on, though. And not that red lipstick. Pink. Get a pink one out of the makeup case. And put your hair in those pig things, not down.”
“What on earth are pig things?” Lena said and walked into the bathroom.
“Pig things! The way the little girls wear their hair. Pig things!” Luca snapped.
“Okay, okay, I get it. Man, stop yelling. It’s pig tails by the way, not pig things.”
“Pig tails, pig things, pig ears…I don’t give a fuck what they’re called, just do it!”
Lena stared into the bathroom mirror and opened her mouth to respond, but then remembered her vow.
“No problem,” she said as she stuck her tongue out at her reflection. “I’ll be out in two seconds.”
When Lena finished putting her hair up in pig tails, she joined Luca in the bedroom and he stood at the door holding the silver tray with the brick of cocaine on top.
“I’ve got straws and razors too,” Luca said and chuckled. “So, you all ready for this?”
“Yep,” Lena said and glanced down at the floor.
“Yeah?”
“Yes, just a few butterflies. That will help take the edge off,” she said and pointed at the coke.
“Okay, remember the plan. We’re doing this in which bedroom?”
“Second bedroom, not this one. They are not to come into this bedroom.”
“Perfect. Deep breath. Ready?”
“Yes, I am ready,” Lena said as Luca opened the bedroom door.
They walked back into the living room and Paul Kirschner looked at Lena like his eyes were on fire.
“Holy shit, do you ever look amazing,” Paul said as he made room for Lena beside him.
Katy looked over Paul toward Lena and frowned. She stood from the couch and stormed over at Luca.
“What the heck is going on?”
“What do you mean, Katy?” Luca said and set the tray on the large, round coffee table in front of the sofa.
“I mean, why is your wife all over my husband? Again?”
Luca looked around Katy at Paul and Lena. Paul had his hands inside Lena’s robe and massaged her breasts. He cleared his throat and Paul looked up. Luca shook his head and nodded toward Katy. Paul was angry, but removed his hands from the inside of Lena’s robe and put them in his lap.
“Katy, leave Luca alone and come sit down. He has some party favors he needs to prepare.”
Luca knelt on the floor in front of the coffee table and pulled his knife out of the back pocket of his pants. He touched the gold trigger on the copper and ivory handle of the knife and the long, sharp blade sprung out.
“Whoa,” Paul said as he moved forward on the couch, “that blade will get you some serious time.”
“Yeah? So will this,” Luca said as he stabbed the package of cocaine with the knife and slit a bit of the plastic. He brought the knife out of the coke and licked the blade and smiled. “You gonna tell on me?”
“Not unless you refuse to share,” Paul said.
“I think we’ve already established that we are definitely sharing,” Luca said.
Luca scooped out a pile of cocaine on the silver tray and placed the package on the coffee table. He cut and laid out four thick lines and placed a stubby silver straw next to each line. He handed the tray to Lena.
“Darling, you’re first,” he said and winked.
Lena moved forward and rubbed her hands together as she stared at the tray.
“Oh, how I missed you,” she said as she picked up a silver straw.
“Wait!” Katy said and turned to Paul. “Do you know what they’re doing?”
Paul rolled his eyes and turned to Katy.
“It’s called cocaine, darling.”
“I know what it’s called! I can’t believe we are watching this!”
&nb
sp; “Katy?” Paul said.
“We shouldn’t even be in the room with it!”
“Katy?”
“We are not doing any! I am putting my foot down.”
“Hey! If you don’t shut the fuck up, I am going to put my foot down your throat! Do you understand? Now, sit back and keep those silicone lips zipped!”
Katy brought her fingers to her lips and gasped.
“Paul!” she said.
Paul’s face turned red and he scrambled on top of Katy and straddled her lap.
“One more word, so help me, one more motherfucking word comes out of your mouth, and you won’t be able to swallow right for a year,” Paul said into Katy’s ear. “Just do me a favor, Katy and nod that you understand.”
Katy nodded and swiped at the tears running from her eyes.
“Good,” Paul said and tossed his handkerchief in her face. “One more thing, since you think you’re tough in front of our new friends, we, that’s you and me, are doing the drugs! Digest that. So if you need to dial into your fantasy world and caucus with the wooly pink berserkers who make all your decisions and pray to the pork rind princess you don’t go to hell, do it fucking now because in about nine goddamned minutes, you will have a straw shoved up that rhinoplasty disaster you call a nose and you will be doing that fucking cocaine!”
Paul slammed back on the couch and closed his eyes. Katy sniffled and wiped her face. Luca and Lena stared at each other with their mouths ajar.
“I’m sorry, Lena,” Paul said. “I just don’t know what to do with her sometimes.”
Lena looked at Katy and shook her head.
“Here,” Lena said and handed Paul the tray, “let her do the first line. It will relax her and we can continue with our party. And try being a little less abrasive with her, perhaps?”
Paul smiled at Lena and kissed her on the cheek.
“You’re a really bright bulb, you know that?” Paul said and took the tray from Lena’s hands and turned to Katy. “Darling, do this. We all are. I just want you to be part of the party. I want us to connect. Half of that line in each nostril.”
Katy looked at Paul and nodded. She put the straw inside her nostril and bent her head toward the tray. She inhaled half the line and choked a little.”
“You’re okay, Katy,” Luca said. “Now, the other side.”