But I know, even as I try to come up with plausible excuses in my head, that she won’t knock on my door; that she wouldn’t want to know why I didn’t show up at work today, and it’s because she simply doesn’t care. I can bet everything I have that she must’ve not even noticed my absence during the day. She’s just that ignorant, that cruel.
I have my own office and social media team atLure. I’d messaged them to take over for me today, and they’d agreed without question. So, while they worked, I’d slept all afternoon in an attempt to pass the time until Dorran showed up to collect the money I owed him.
The smell of rain hits my nose, seconds before it starts drizzling outside.
Mom’s footsteps start to fade, and it’s clear that she’s climbing up to her floor already. I don’t know why, but I scoff and shake my head.
The only times she comes to me is when she wants to use me as her personal punching bag. Otherwise, she’s either always bossing her employees around at theLureHQ, or fucking random elites in her bed at ungodly hours.
I tighten my hold on my phone and hug myself as another bout of icy wind rushes by me. I look around my room – at the grey walls and white furniture and the mellow lights – and try not to let the screaming silence deafen me.
The estate stands two stories high, starting with the foyer, dining room, and living room at the bottom, my bedroom and personal library on the first floor, and ending with Mom’s office and bedroom on the second floor.
With how extravagant it looks on the outside, the estate feels just as lonely and daunting on the inside. I’ve had nightmares about being pulled into the walls of the massive hallways, of being ripped to shreds by its long, unforgiving claws as pieces of me fall apart and bare me to the demons that lurk in them.
I reach the balcony, place my forearms on the slightly wet railing, and look out at the vast garden in front of me.
It’s excessive, to be sure, but I’m still grateful for its presence because it gives me something to get lost into. I feel like the tall, grass-made figurines that surround the expanse hold more secrets than I’d care to list, and every time I walk through the gardens, I feel a sense of liberation that I only feel when I’m driving through the streets of Riverside.
The rain starts falling faster now. Thick droplets pelt the ground, and some even touch my face as the wind blows them in my direction.
I glance at the gates. I can’t see them fully because of the direction my balcony is in, but I can still make out the 8 guards that are stationed in front of it, all of them clad in hooded black ponchos.
They’re the night-shift team – far deadlier than the guards who man the gates during the day.
The rest of the morning shift guards – Mave’s team – along with Mom’s personal bodyguard, Steven, file out of the estate and head for the gates.
Time for them to go home.
The routine is pretty simple: guards are stationed both inside the estate, and at its gates, up until 11:30p.m., and then the night shift comes in, and they only manage the entrance gates. They are, after all, trained very differently than Mave and his team. They are ruthless and unforgiving, and can probably end a life with their eyes closed.
A soft, familiar knock sounds against my door.
I smile, turn toward it, and walk over to it before pulling the door open.
Mave is standing on the other side, and when he sees me, he grins, glances around the hallway once, then leans in and presses a long kiss on my forehead.
We’d had sex once – last year. It was after one of Mom’sLureparties. I was drunk; I was upset. She’d humiliated me in front of her “girlfriends” by making snark comments on my lack of work ethic. Mave had escorted me out of the club, into the limo, all the way to the estate, and up to my bedroom. I’d been crying, and all I’d wanted was to get lost in someone, and he’d just been…there.
But God, was hegood. He was rough, brutal, all but painful, and that’s exactly what I’d needed.
In the end, though, we’d agreed that as good as the experience was, continuing on that path would only get him fired, and I couldn’t, for the life of me, lose him. He was kind of my constant; my ‘I’ll always be there for you’ in a world full of egocentric hostility.
Occasionally, when we’re out alone, or when he’s about to head home for the night, he’ll kiss me till I lose every ounce of my breath, but that’s as far as we go. For both of our sakes, of course.
When I’d returned to the estate earlier, he’d been more than upset with me for having left without informing him. I know he starts his shift at 9 in the morning, so I’d purposefully snuck out an hour prior to that.
We’d argued, he’d frowned, and I’d ended up slamming the door in his face. I realize now that I’d acted immaturely, but I’m a damn human being, and I’m allowed to behave irrationally whenever I want.
See? Now that statementitselfis immature. Whatever, I guess.
“I’m clocking out,” Mave says, then stealthily wraps an arm around my waist. “But I’m going to get here early tomorrow so that I can avoid failing at doing my job.Again.”
Before Dorran, his touch would thrill the fuck out of me; make me so wet that I’d have to touch myself just to get the edge off. But now – after what happened today – I can’t find it in me to lie to my body and mind.
That brief encounter with Dorran has left me mentally disheveled, and the only thing I can think of right now, is him. His eyes, his smell, his stupidly beautiful smile.
I try to keep my expression neutral as I slowly move out of Mave’s grasp.
