“Thank you, God.”
“No need to call me God. Sage will do.”
Ignoring him, I set them on my bedside table and look around for my lighter, but I must have left it on the balcony at the other place after my run-in with Penelope. A clicking sound has me turning back to Sage.
“Is this what you need?” he asks, and I sigh.
“Yes, thank you.”
“Come on.” He moves over to the large drapes and pushes them aside, exposing a set of double doors before turning the handle. It opens onto a good-sized balcony.
I walk over to the edge, and I can see out over the back of the property. A huge swimming pool, tennis court, and croquet field are surrounded by well-groomed hedges and manicured lawns. There is also a large outdoor dining area complete with a firepit and grill. It’s really cool. The firepit is built into the swimming pool with a walkway to get out to it and surrounded by a comfy seating area.
“Wow, this is nice.” I lean against the wall and breathe in the early morning air.
A click sounds, and the fresh morning air takes on the pungent smell of weed. I turn back to see Sage blowing out a thick plume of smoke before offering it to me. I take it and wrap my lips around the roach, breathing in a deep lungful.
“How are you this morning, apart from your early morning wakeup call?” he inquires, and when my eyes meet his, all the playfulness is gone, and it’s replaced with what I think is concern.
“Gio told you what happened?” I ask him flatly, and he shrugs.
“A little. He didn’t go into details, just that your best friend betrayed you.”
I snort. The weed is working already, as I feel slightly amused at how much he downplayed it. “Yup, if you can call drugging me, fooling around but not being happy about me saying I didn’t want to go any further so she raped me once I was unconscious, filming it, and showing it to the entire student body betrayal, then yeah, I guess she did.” The words spew out of my mouth, and I look down at the joint in my hand. “Huh, this shit is almost like a truth serum. I clearly wasn’t planning on saying all that.”
I look up at him, and he’s gaping at me with his mouth wide open. Shrugging, I take another deep draw and then pass it back to him. He still hasn’t said anything, so I stand up and brush the imaginary dirt off me just so I don’t have to look at him again.
“Alright, thanks for that, I better get going so the wicked bitch doesn’t have something to complain to Dad about.” I take a step, but before I can go any farther, he drops the joint on the table and wraps his arms around me, pulling me in for a hug.
“I’m so sorry that happened to you, and by your best friend no less.” His words are but a whisper in my ear, and I shudder.
I’m not sure if it’s from what he just said or the fact that I’m now pressed up against all that golden, muscly skin and feeling slightly turned on. God, my head is fucked up. I kind of want to stick my tongue out and lick the pec I’m pressed against.
“Did you just lick me?” He sounds incredulous.
Oh fuck, did I? “Um, no?”
He pulls back and looks me in the eye, a smirk on his face.
“Fuck, that is some really good weed.” I pull away and hurry into my bedroom, his chuckles echoing behind me.
Without saying goodbye, I tuck my phone into my pocket and grab my gun, shoving it into the waistband of my pants and pulling my T-shirt over the top. I picked one that was long enough to conceal it. I need to get Penelope to take me to a sporting goods store so I can get a holster. I wonder if I need a license for it. Probably not, considering all our other illegal activities, but I’ll ask Gio tonight.
“Tori,” Sage calls as I hurry out of my bedroom door, but I don’t turn around. I can’t face him after doing that. What is wrong with me? I’m a badass mafia princess, I don’t go around licking men’s bodies. They should be licking mine.
I stop. Do I want that? I mean, I guess I kind of do. Huh. Nope, not thinking about it now. I don’t have time for flings, because that’s all it will ever be. There is no way I’ll ever trust anyone again. Not after what Stacey did.
ChapterEighteen
When I get to the bottom of the stairs, Penelope is in the hallway in a straight cut dress with some kind of floral pattern on it, and it goes to just above her knees. Seriously, the woman is probably in her thirties, and she dresses like she’s in her fifties. I can’t believe Dad wants me to take fashion advice from her. Her arms are crossed, and she’s tapping her toe. When she looks me up and down, I can tell by the expression on her face she is not impressed.
“Well, it’s about time. I have better things to do than spend the day with you. Hurry up, let’s go.”
Instead of going to the elevator and going down to the garage, she walks out the front door, her heels clicking on the tiles. Rolling my eyes, I follow after her. In front of the steps to the house is a limo. Long, sleek, and black, it has an air of classy elegance.
A man wearing a uniform jumps out and runs around to open the back door for Penelope. “Good morning, Mrs. Russo,” he says as he opens the door for her. She ignores him and climbs in, and he turns to me with a smile. “Good morning, Ms. Russo.” He must be the escort Dad said he’d send with us, because when he turned, I could see a gun holster inside his suit jacket. I return his smile and climb in behind Penelope, looking around the luxurious vehicle. It smells like leather and expensive cologne.
“Wow, this is nice.” I run my hand over the leather interior while Penelope sniffs but ignores me. I guess that’s for the best. I don’t think either of us have anything to say to each other, at least not anything nice. The pretend air of civility we’ve always maintained for Dad’s sake is definitely gone and the gloves are off.
