“Whatever you like. I have a selection that outclasses any liquor store, believe me.”
I do believe him. I have no doubt he’s stocked up and ready to party.
“Prosecco?” I ask him. “Do you have that?”
He walks ahead of me, shooting me a smirk over his shoulder.
“Fuck Prosecco. Don’t sell yourself short. Let’s go champagne.”
His dining room has another low hanging chandelier, settling the room alight. The dining suite is black marble, with another roaring lion as a centrepiece. The chairs are black brocade and the walls are a deep forest green.
“Voila,” he says when we reach the far end.
There’s a bar set up in the corner of the room, like a traditional London style pub. Spirits on racks, ready to pour shots. Fridges filled with bottles of beer, and cider, another full of fizz. And there’s a wine rack as tall as he is off to the side of them.
I check out his tight ass in his black leather pants as he reaches down into one of the fridges for a bottle. De Chante, of course. He grabs a bucket from under the bar and of coursethere’s a push-button ice dispenser and he soon has the bucket filled.
“I’ll share a toast with you,” he says, setting two glasses on the bar top before he pops the cork. His eyes are on me as he pours, his horny soul calling mine. I’m in awe of his tattoos as he raises his glass in the air, they look even better in the flesh than they do on pictures.
One arm has snakes, music bars and a lion on his shoulder. Skulls, chains and stars on the other.
“To the slutty goddess and her sterling career. So glad I found you, Ella.”
I reach over the bar to clink his glass. “I’m glad you found me, too.”
“You must have expected it, right? That kind of recognition is gonna have all the big names calling. I bet you were singing Connor’s praises, even though he’s a prize jackass.”
I shake my head, eyes wide. Even the idea is bizarre to me.
“No, for real. The thought didn’t even cross my mind.”
HIs eyebrows pit as he tips his rock god head to one side.
“You gotta be fucking kidding me. Everyone dreams of their big break.”
We are on different planets, him and me. The months of being holed up, terrified, flit through my mind. The shakes, and the tears, and the horror at the thought of being recognised. All the people online speculating, trying to track me down.
“Fuck me, you’re serious, aren’t you?” Vinnie says.
“Deadly.” I put my champagne down, my eyes locking on his.
“Are you crazy?”
“I felt it. I felt like the whole world was going mad.”
“Like Alice exploring the rabbit hole?”
“More like Dorothy, caught up in the tornado. It was horrific.”
His eyes are as shocked as mine, open wide.
“Jeez, what the fuck? We must come from very different sides of the world. Figuratively as well as literally.”
“Yeah, we must.”
“Tell me about it. What went down?”
I think about it for a moment. Sipping on my champagne, with all thoughts of a sex toy suitcase out of the window right now.
