Karlie walks in on time. Hugo texted her to come meet him at our place right before he told me how his father has been paying her off for years.
“Let’s ask her.”
“Ask me what?” Karlie asks.
“I went to my dad’s condo to see the look on his face. Very enjoyable, but it was a tad bit short lived once he informed me that he has been allegedly paying a quarter of a mill every six months since you left. Now please tell me he’s a good liar.”
“Unfortunately, no. He isn’t.”
“But you are.”
“I never lied.”
“But you never told him,” I chime in.
She gives me a look. “True, but only because I didn’t find it necessary.”
“How is it not necessary?” he scoffs.
“Your pops told me to keep my mouth shut.”
“About what?” I ask. “It had to be more than just about the fact that you were with his son.”
“It was that. Listen, you don’t get it. What’s worse than your son killing himself over a girl but killing himself over a poor black girl from Queens? Johnathan Mandrake couldn’t let people know, especially since Scarlett roped him into joining with them when it came to crucify me. ”
“I thought you said he didn’t kill himself,” I say back. “And still it makes no sense that Jonathan Mandrake would pay you all these years.”
“Well, that’s what Johnathan Mandrake thinks. He thinks he killed himself. He doesn’t believe Scarlett has that much influence.”
“Well, what if he’s right… Karlie, you know that if Gabriel did kill himself, it wasn’t your fault.”
For a moment the guard goes away. “Thanks for the assurance, but I know Scarlett killed him.” She faces Hugo. “As for the money, I asked for the price out of anger and grief. I held on to the money for a long time but never could spend it. After meeting William and getting my life together, I now use that money to put into the foundation. That’s it.”
“Okay,” Hugo says.
Okay? Seriously?
“Okay.” Karlie looks as shocked as I do. “Now that that’s settled, let us get back to the damn thing.”
“Hey guys!” Poppy comes skipping in in a white and pink polka dotted bikini. Jaz is behind her staring at her ass. “Nicky King is throwing a party on his yacht. Let’s go!”
I expect Hugo to decline, but he doesn’t.
“Alright,” he says.
“Hugo, we need to discuss about looking into Scarlett,” Karlie says.
“And we will. I’ll come by tonight, but now I would like to drink and watch idiots partake in fun in the sun.”
Karlie is not happy about this and neither am I. Well, about the letting her off the hook part. That is what I’m mad about. Her story doesn’t fit. When Noel told us the story, he said Scarlett brought Mandrake into blackmailing Karlie too. How? I’m sure Gabriel wasn’t in the video. Unless she had something else on him? I think there’s more to it on both sides already between Karlie and Scarlett, but now I feel it’s more to it on Mandrake’s side too.
8
HUGO
“Welcome bitches!” Nicky Young yells from the upper deck of his yacht. We look up from the dock where two women in white bikinis are waiting with trays of shots of light liquor.
“Good to see your maybe sibling hasn’t lost his touch with hospitality,” I say to Jordana, grabbing a shot. Everyone, including Jordana and Nicky, knows that they are most likely siblings, but like the rest of us, no one really cares.
The yacht takes off as we enter. Half naked women walking around. I can sense the tension already with Juliet about Karlie, so the fact some of these half naked women are coming up to me flaunting their silicone breasts in my face does not help.
“Hugo, haven’t seen you in a while,” Olivia says to me while her cousin Abigail slides her hand around my neck.
Juliet arches her brow at me as Nicky Young comes up to her.
“You sure you’re taken?” he asks referring to the time she rejected him to pursue something with me.
“Yes.” I take Abigail’s hand off and grab Juliet’s. “She is.”
“Mandrake jealousy.” Nicky Young is amused. “Never thought I’d see the day. Good for you, but Juliet if the Mandrake curse is still in full effect, give me a call.” He drapes his arms over Abigail and Olivia. “Do enjoy the party.”
“I so need a drink,” Jordana says. “Juliet come with.”
“I would love to. Jaz?”
“Uh…” Jaz looks at Poppy. “I think I’ll stay over here, love.”
Juliet laughs along with Jordana and I follow them to the bar.
POPPY
So far this summer has been really exciting. Like super crazy. I’m happy that we’re all still together and we keep just getting new friends like Anika, Karlie, and Jaz. Jaz is gorgeous. He’s funny too and really sweet. I think he likes me, but I can’t tell. Like right now as we dance he looks at me like he likes me. Not just in the whole I want to bang you way but also in a way like hey, you’re pretty cool. I twirl around, the sun shining on my face. Then someone slaps me across my ass.
“Poppy!” Hector Denanzo smiles, leaning in for a kiss. I step back because I just don’t feel like kissing him. I would like to kiss Jaz though.
“Hey Hector,” I say back.
“Nicky has a room below deck. What do you say we go down so you… can go down.”
I am not the smartest crayon in the box, but even that line can’t work on me.
“Sorry, mate.” Jaz puts his arm around my waist. “But Poppy doesn’t feel like being insulted today. So why don’t you piss off?”
Hector, who is very tall and muscular, steps closer to Jaz, who is tall but not that muscular.
“Who the hell are you?” Hector asks.
“Just a friend, who also happens to be a former champion rugby player, so I can take a punch. But if I was you, mate, I’d go talk up those twins over there who are fiercely checking you out.”
Hector takes a look behind him and sees the Corzetti twins. They’re more whorish than me. Hector smiles and walks over to them. Jaz takes me to the bar and we order drinks.
“That was really cool,” I say. “What if he hit you?”
“Like I said, love, I played rugby. Real man’s sport.” He winks at me and I blush.
“You good, though?” he asks.
“Yeah.” I take a sip of my Shirley Temple.
He laughs. “You are the only girl I know that still drinks those.”
“I know. My mom says it’s childish.”
“No, it’s not. If anything it’s nostalgic.”
“They’re just good to me and they always remind me of happier times.”
“You were happy as a child?”
“Yeah. My mom was less of a bitch.”
He laughs again. “What are your parents like?” I ask.
“They’re cool. The normal traditional Indian parents. My dad doesn’t like what I’m doing with my life now with the whole taking a break from school and wanting to travel and find myself, but they have my older brother and sister who are making them proud, so I’m in the clear. Especially since my brother agreed to an arranged marriage with the daughter of a very wealthy and royal friend.”
“Are they gonna make you marry anyone?” I nervously ask.
“They try but, like I said, I do what I want. My mum is more understanding of it. She doesn’t really love my dad.”
“She married him for his money too?”
“No. The usual arranged marriage. Her parents forced her to marry my dad and although I know she cares for him and loves us, she was never in love with him and for that she doesn’t press it. I’m not saying it’s always like that. I have cousins who have done the arranged marriage thing and have fallen in love with their betrothed, but I don’t want to do that. Besides… I like blondes and how many blonde Indian girls do you know?”
“With good hair dye, I do.”
He la
ughs again and again and I like his laugh. “You mean everything you say?”
“Yeah. I know stupid things come out of my mouth all the time.”
“Not stupid if you believe in them. You’re sexy as hell and you’re truthful. That’s all a man needs.”
“Why haven’t you tried to have sex with me yet?” He spits out his drink a little. “It’s another one of my honest questions.”
“Well… um…”
“You don’t want to have sex with me?”
“No! No. No. I do. Boy do I want to, but… well, I fancy you and I mean usually I would just, you know, take a girl in my bed the first day I meet her, not to sound too cocky.”
“I like it when guys are cocky.”
He smiles. “Good.” He leans in and presses his soft lips against mine. I feel his silk beard on my chin and cheek and it tickles me in a good way. I once felt butterflies and chills for a boy. I was fourteen and the boy was twenty-four. He was my older brother’s friend and he was so sweet to me, but once I had sex with him he ignored me and then got married. I didn’t find out until later that him being twenty-four and me being fourteen was wrong. I told my mom once I did. She told me to forget it and to next time keep my legs closed. Then I moved in with Ms. Eleanor and met Scarlett and Hugo and the others. Scarlett taught me to open my legs back up and to use it for my advantage because it was my only best attribute.
Jaz looks at me. Like really sees me and I feel really happy. The same happy I get when I drink a Shirley Temple. The same happy I see in other people.
“I have a feeling, Poppy, that most of your life your looks and physical skills have been the only interests of other guys. But I’m here to tell you that… I’m interested in more than that.”
I think I want to cry. This makes me sad. A happy kind of sad.
I guess Scarlett was wrong. I guess my mom is always wrong.
HUGO
“Did we just witness...”
“Jaz and Poppy kiss?” Juliet finishes Jordana’s sentence. “Yep.”
We’re sitting at our own private table at the corner of the yacht by the buffet of food.
“Well, I’m gonna go find me some action,” Jordana says and already eyes her prey in the form of a Brazilian supermodel eyeing her back. I definitely recognize her from the fashion magazines.
“See ya around kids.” Jordana leaves us.
“And here I thought he was in love with you,” I suddenly say.
“No, you didn’t. You just wanted to make up an excuse not to like him.”
“A guy can dream.” I smirk and look at her. She’s looking around, avoiding me. Her gorgeous legs crossed, both of them shaking. “What?”
She stays focused on the crowd. “I didn’t say anything.”
“Yes, you did. It’s all said through what you’re doing at this moment.”
“And what am I doing?”
“Well, your legs are shaking, one eye is bigger than the other as they are both focused on everything but me… and you’re surprisingly silent. You are venting in your mind to avoid arguing with me.”
That catches her attention and she finally looks at me. “You seriously don’t want to look further in that deal between Karlie and your dad?”
“There’s my girl.” She tries not to smile at the reference of my girl. “And yes, I don’t.”
“So you believe her.”
“I believe her…and she gave me access to the account, and I saw that in fact the money has been going towards the charity.”
“Oh.” She looks away and crosses her arms over her chest. “She’s still holding something.”
“I don’t care.”
“Well I do.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.” She sighs. “Or maybe I do. Maybe I’m… maybe I’m jealous.”
“Seriously? I have no interest in my dead brother’s girlfriend, Juliet.”
“I know, but… it’s the connection. Just like the one you had with Scarlett. I can’t explain it, but… you have turned me into that girl. I’m insecure.”
“Well look at what you have turned me into. What about the connection we have? What about the witty banter between us that lights up a room? What about the way you look at me and the way I look at you? It makes people envious of us. What about the moment we kissed in the rain? What about the fact that I actually love the fact that my brother is also in some way in love with you too? What about the fact that I am in love with you? You. No one else. No need to be jealous. No need to wonder. I am yours. I belong to you. That is what you have turned me into.”
“Well…” She gets up from her chair and sits on my lap, removing my sunglasses. “Since you put it that way.”
I laugh a little and so does she. I kiss her. We make out in front of everyone who are probably too drunk to notice. I know she won’t drop it entirely, but it’s enough truth to calm her down. Women are very peculiar creatures when it comes to their emotions, I swear it. But I understand what she means. I have the instant care for Karlie for some reason. Maybe it’s because she is the link to a brother I do not know. Can’t explain it, but it is not love. It is not Juliet and I. We are something else. She is a drug that I cannot contain in one dose. I must consume it all and welcome death willingly.
SCARLETT
I kiss his neck first and then work my way down. Patrick has been very tense lately and a good blow job should do the trick.
“Wait, Scarlett.” He stops me and I’m annoyed but put on a concerned front.
“You okay?” I lay next to him propping my head on my hand.
“No. First that scum gets away for what he did to Rebecca and my mother helps him and now the NeoLock deal is over.”
Don’t even get me started on that. Once Patrick received the news that Harper was going with Fairchild, I wanted to scream and destroy someone. But since the Rebecca thing and the reappearance of Karlie Dale, I figure I should lay low when it comes to my side hobbies.
“I’m sorry things haven’t been working out for you lately.” He looks at me.
“What about you? How have you been?” That’s so sweet. Even through his mess he still seeks to know my thoughts and feelings. I guess that’s a part of marriage. I wouldn’t know.
“Fine,” I answer and I am.
“What about this Karlie woman? Something seems off about her. Do you remember her?”
“Not really. She was an average girl. Smart on scholarship until she overdosed.”
His eyes widen. “Really?”
“Yeah. It was crazy when it happened. No one really knows. She was troubled.”
The overdose was just some silly rumor I made up so people would stop questioning about Karlie Dale’s disappearance. Everyone believed it like the sheep they were. Even Noel believed it like a fucking idiot. Karlie Dale never touched any drugs other than anti depressants.
“What about your friends? Noel and Chad? If you ask me, when she showed up they looked as if they were gonna piss themselves.”
I guess Patrick pays attention more than I thought. I wonder if he ever sees me. Like the real me. If he does, he doesn’t say anything. I guess that’s love.
“Well, I can’t answer that. I don’t know everything Chad and Noel did in high school. Maybe they hooked up with her?” I suggest.
“Must’ve been some hook up.”
“I suppose it was.” I smirk, remembering. “Now…” I kiss him and I work my way back down to remind him. “Enough about the cruel outside world. As long as you’re with me… I’ll make all the pain go away.” I feel his heart racing. His dick hard. His soul mine.
GABRIEL
“You look handsome,” Scarlett says to me. I look through the mirror in my tux.
“Thank you,” I say back.
“Where are you going tonight?”
“I have to go to this gala for my father.”
“Really?” She looks at me confused. “You didn’t tell me.”
“Well you know how insignificant my
father’s orders are to me.” I smile. “When he offered to get me the jet for New Year’s, I couldn’t refuse again.”
“Lovely.” She snickers and then looks at me longingly. Sometimes I wonder if Scarlett is actually in love with me. I doubt it, but then again I didn’t expect the recent event either.
“Ya know,” she says, “when we first slept together… I thought: Your heart racing. Your dick hard. Your soul mine.”
“Romantic,” I joke.
“I’m serious.”
I turn around and look at her. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” She comes closer. “I just wondered if you know… how important you are to me. No man has ever been as important to me as you.”
Her grey eyes speak the truth even when her lips don’t. This time both of them do.
“Why?” I ask and she wasn’t expecting me to question her.
“Because…” Her eyes fall to my chest and her hand covers my heart. “I always know when this beats for me.” Her eyes lift back up to mine, but they are no longer loving or sane. They are the usual cunning and threatening irises they consist to be. “I wouldn’t know what to do if it ever stopped beating for me.”
She knows. If she doesn’t, she has a feeling. Scarlett is practically a fucking witch.
I cover her hand with mine. “Then trust that it will never stop beating for you.” I clasp my hands around her face and press my lips against hers. Pushing my tongue through along with the echoing sounds of my heart that I force to beat for her. Beat harder than ever before because before this they had been hollow as of late.
She breaks away still holding my hands. “Sure you need to go? I want you.”
I kiss her again. “Yeah. I won’t be back until tomorrow, but when I do…” I kiss her again. “I want you. Only you. All day.”
She sucks my bottom lip between her teeth and hisses.
“I guess Noel or Chad can last me until then.” I chuckle.
“Good girl.” I get ready to leave until it hits me. “I’m sorry,” I say to her.
She is confused.
“Karlie Dale. She didn’t bite. It’s been almost five months now. I gave up. The virgin is a true resilient bitch.”
Reckless Karma (Sinners & Saints #2) Page 9