I waited until everyone had gone before I threw off the blanket I’d pulled over myself and climbed out of the chair with the intention of taking a quick shower, drowning my sorrows in whatever alcohol and fattening food I could find, and watching a movie until I fell asleep. But my feet didn’t move. Instead, I stood there for a minute as I stared at the closed door of the media room, my face hot with emotions I didn’t want to name, until I was forced to drop all pretenses of being any kind of okay with the fact that Jade was spending the evening with Enzo instead of me.
For a moment, I was unsure of what I wanted to do. Scream? Cry? Trash Enzo’s room?
I sank back down onto the chair. What the hell was wrong with me? I should be glad she was with him tonight. Maybe, after seeing her again, he’d remember how gorgeous and charming and fucking perfect she was and he’d forget all about me. After all, that was what I wanted. Right?
Right?
Staring off in the direction of the big screen without really seeing anything, I brushed away the tear that escaped and slid down my cheek.
It was what I should want. But somehow, even after all the shit he’d done, I couldn’t seem to convince myself of it. I should forget about the money he stole from me and the stuff he offered me, take whatever I could steal, and get the hell out of this city. Leave Austin. Go somewhere else. Keep moving around. It would be the smart thing to do. By now, my father had to know that Luigi was dead, and he’d be furious that I’d fucked things up for him. Again. He would demand retribution, if he hadn’t already.
Besides, I’d known when I stopped here that I wouldn’t be able to stay long, and my original plan had been exactly that—make enough money for some food and gas and a place to live, then get back on the road. But with the discretion of the club, I’d stupidly thought I could stay for a few weeks, maybe even a couple of months before I’d have to run again. I made good money, and it would’ve provided me with enough to be able to get a really good head start. Plus, I’d thought that by hiding in plain sight, maybe I’d get away with it.
I realized now that I’d been naive. It was pure luck on my part that Enzo was the one on the other side of the door that night. Anyone else would’ve been on the phone to my father the moment word got out. I wiped at the moisture on my cheeks again. There were enough expensive things in this house that I could easily sell or pawn. If I was careful about budgeting my money, I should be okay.
Then why was I still sitting here?
Hauling my sorry ass to my feet, I made my way back upstairs, went into Enzo’s room, and started the shower. I washed quickly and even blew dry my hair. Then I stared at myself in the mirror for a long time, contemplating what I was about to do. I needed to leave. And I would. But would it be so terrible if I saw him one more time before I did? And maybe by seeing him with Jade, it would give me enough of a shove to actually do it.
Lifting my chin, and wrapped only in a towel, I left the bedroom and went to the opposite end of the hall where Luca and Veda’s room was.
I didn’t even hesitate as I walked past the bed and into the en suite bathroom. I started opening drawers until I found Veda’s makeup bag in the top right drawer next to the sink. Pulling it out, I found some colors that would look good on me and proceeded to make myself look like I hadn’t been crying for the last few hours.
Once I was done, I went into the large walk-in closet. Veda’s clothes hung on one side and Luca’s on the other. A dresser with both of their things in it took up a part of one wall and their shoes took up the other. I stood there, staring at what that closet represented. Two lives coming together. Shared love. Acceptance.
An envelope lying on top of the dresser caught my eye. It looked like an invitation. Picking it up, I opened the envelope and slid out the piece of thick stock paper from inside. It was the invitation to the fundraiser tonight. Taking a deep breath, I put it back in the envelope and placed it back on the dresser, then walked in deeper and dug around in the back for a dress Veda most likely hadn’t worn in a while. She had a lot of dresses. Apparently, Luca liked to take her shopping.
I found one that looked like it might fit my larger breasts, a gorgeous crimson gown that was little more than a full-length, satiny slip with tiny spaghetti straps, a low cut back, and a high slit in the skirt. I don’t know why it was in the back. The dress was gorgeous and probably cost more than I’d made in a month.
The red would clash horribly with my pink hair, and that was the exact reason I’d chosen it. First, I’d be wearing a blonde wig, and I knew just the place to get one on my way to the fundraiser. Second, no one would expect a girl in hiding to show up at party wearing something as eye-catching as this.
Especially not a party full of the very people she was trying so hard to avoid.
Twenty minutes later, I was back in Enzo’s room. I double-checked my appearance in the mirror behind the bedroom door. I’d taken the nose ring out of my nose and left it on the bathroom sink. Between that, the wig I’d use to cover my hair, and the heavy makeup I was wearing, I thought I’d succeeded in at least making it so no one would recognize me right off. And by the time they figured it out, hopefully I’d be gone, and they would be left wondering if it had really been me before blowing it off as a trick of the lighting.
I slipped into a pair of black heels, grabbed Veda’s nice black jacket and clutch purse, and made my way downstairs.
This was the tricky part.
I had no phone. It was still at Luigi’s with the rest of my things. So sneaking down the drive and calling an Uber was out of the question. Not that I would make it that far without someone spotting me anyway. So my only choice was to fake it until I made it. Enzo had told me when he’d first brought me here that no one knew I was here except the people inside the house. Not even the guards who patrolled the grounds. And I was going to use that to my advantage.
Throwing my shoulders back, I opened the front door and walked outside, shutting the door behind me and looking around. There was a guard standing at the bottom of the steps holding an automatic weapon, and he immediately turned around when he heard me come out, gun pointed at the center of my chest. Upon seeing it was me, he lowered it.
“Where’s my car?” I asked him before he could question me. “It’s supposed to be waiting for me.”
He narrowed his eyes. “I wasn’t told you were here, or anything about a car.”
“Well, please have one brought around. Or call me an Uber, or whatever. Enzo is waiting for me at the fundraiser.”
“Why wouldn’t you have left with him?”
I tilted my head at him and pulled on my haughtiest mafia princess attitude. “Because I wasn’t ready yet and I told him I would meet him there. Now are you going to get a car for me, or should I go back in that house and call Enzo and explain to him why I’m not coming?”
He stood in silence for a minute, chewing on the inside of his cheek, until finally he pulled his phone out of his inside jacket pocket. “I’ll just call Enzo and see what’s going on.”
Fuck.
I kept the look of annoyed impatience on my face as he tapped the screen of his phone, then brought it to his ear. After a few seconds, he hung up without saying anything and went back to tapping, I assume to send him a text.
After another few minutes and no reply from Enzo, he finally called for a car. I didn’t want to think about why he wouldn’t be answering his phone, and firmly pushed it from my mind.
As soon as the Uber pulled up, I ran down the steps and hopped inside. “Drive. NOW!”
The driver, a young guy with black hair and a blue coat, took one look at the guard heading toward his car and stomped on the gas. “What the fuck?” he yelled, looking at me in the rearview mirror.
“That was just my brother,” I told him with a roll of my eyes. “Don’t worry about it.”
He didn’t seem too sure as he sped out of the open gate and onto the road, but he relaxed when it closed behind us, and he saw no one was following. It was what I had bet on. The guard wouldn’t have called me an Uber if there were any vehicles left at the house.
It took us about fifty minutes and one stop at the club where I used to work to get there. One of the other girls who worked there often wore a blonde wig as part of her getup, and she always had a few stashed in her cubby in the break room. I was able to walk right in through the back door and out again with the wig without anyone being the wiser, since my security guy no longer had any need to be there. Within four minutes, I was back in the Uber and on my way to the fundraiser as I pinned up my pink hair with the bobby-pins in my clutch and put on the wig.
I almost had the driver turn around at least eight times. What I was doing was dangerous and stupid and would probably end with me back at Luca’s. Or possibly with a bullet through my head if someone else recognized me first.
Even knowing all of this, I couldn’t bring myself to stop the chain of events I was about to unfold. Because the one thing that was worse than any of that would be to just sit back at Luca’s house wondering if he was fucking Jade yet.
