I silently opened the door and gestured for Sebastian to follow. We hurried in the opposite directionof therequests to hear about how everyone’s soul could be saved. We didn’t stop, I’m pretty sure my soul was beyond saving. I had to give her credit though; I wish I was that passionate about anything.
We stopped when we were finally in sight of a darkly tintedvintage Porschewith a muscular man helming it.
Sebastian leaned against the car.
“So what are you going to do now?” he asked.
“You mean now that you lost me my house?”
He shrugged his expression unchanging.
“You know,no big deal. It’s not like I was planning on staying in this one for another week,” I rolled my eyes as I said it. But honestly,Sebastian had done me a favor. It was time for me to re-enter the real world.
“I know how I can make it up to you,”hesaidwith a salacious smile.
“I’m not interested.”
“Iseriouslydoubt that,” he said, his voice deepening in a way that made my stomach tighten. His eyes flicked to that exact spot, and a lazy smile spread across his lips. “In fact, I have a feeling you’ll be begging me to-”
“In your fucking dreams,” I spit out, but my sharp intake of breath undermined it.
Before he could respond,Istartedwalking to a nearby park.Sebastian’slaughter echoed behind me.
Chapter 9
As I placed my hand on the clear, perfectly polished door, I wished I’dhad the foresight to take some shots beforehand. Although, the last thing I needed to do wascut intothe money I’d collected for Rayoverthe last two days.
Ihobbledtowards the doorman of Piper’s building and absent-mindedly smoothed over the completely unwrinkled dressthat I shouldn’t have bought. These heelless shoes would be the death of me. Not only could I barely walk in them, if I had to fight for my life I couldn't even lean my weight backwards without falling on my ass.
The doorman nodded at me as I dropped the Chanel duffel bag with my entire life inside on the lobby counter. Part of me was hesitant to leave the cash I’d collected for Ray.ButI couldn’t afford to buy a purse, and I couldn’t exactly shove a couple grand into my bra.
To the doorman I probably looked like an impeccably mannered socialite whose only thought onherbrain was where the cokewas located. He’d never guess that I’d packed my entire livelihood into that duffel. Anddrawing attention to the value of the contents would only make it more vulnerable.
Maybe it was stupid to be here. The elevator door binged. No, it wasdefinitelystupid. I’d made a good amount of money in the last few days, but I should be out there stealing more.
Despite that thought I stepped inside the elevator. I seemed to be getting better and better at ignoring common sense.
I leaned against the mirrored wall and stroked the tiny knife strapped around the top of my thigh. That had been another stupid thing I’d done:I’d left everything inside of that duffel bag, including most of my weapons. If the collectors came after me now…I shook my head, interrupting the thought. The idea of Ray coming after me should make me feel terrified, yet somehow I couldn’t force myself to feel anything.
Ever since I’d put on this outfit and headed into Manhattan, I’d felt a sense of detachment. This might be my last hurrah before Ray knocked me off — who knew if the amount I’d give him would be enough to get him off my back — and yet I couldn’t even bring myself to feel excited about Piper’s party.
The door binged open and thankfully interrupted that train of thought. I grabbed a flute of champagne off a waiting server’s tray and chugged it. Piper’s excited eyesflickedmy way.
“Selene,” Piper squealed in her familiarly high-pitched voice.
She flounced forward, amanwith dusty brown hair only a few steps behind her. I blinked asmy ex’sface came intoview.
“Hey,” Mark said, nodding at me.
I nodded back as he ran a hand down Piper’s arm. Shemoved away from him and began talking about last night’s drama. ButI couldn't focus on the story about some D-List actor trying to steal her VIP table at Electric Room. Instead, I zeroed in on the way Mark seemed to be enraptured by her words. As if her story was about the miracle of life rather than the miracle of security guards getting her table back.
Was there something going on between himand Piper? I shouldn’t feel jealous since it’d been years since Mark had broken my heart. Junior year he’d told me I didn’t have enough time for him after school, and that I couldn’t be open enough with him. Yeah, no shit.When I was in high school, it’d beena little difficult to find time to hook up in his parents’ wine cellar when my bigger priority was checking that the local dry cleaner was laundering more than clothes.
When he’d broken up with me,I’d blown off Mark’swords and kept my face perfectly emotionless whileI walkedout of Serafina. Butthe secondI reached Piper’sparents’ penthouse, I’d fallen into her arms while sobbing.
Presently, Piper didn’t seem to reciprocate any ofMark’scome ons, butthat couldbe because I was standing there. I would have thought the idea of Piper and Mark getting together would have made me feel sad or even jealous. Instead I just felt the numbness continue to bubble up inside me. It pushed me to drink more of my champagne. The moreMarktalked aboutvying to become a junior partner,the greater the distance felt betweenmy world andtheirs.
“I’m going to die if I have tolisten to one more asshole talk about the good old days of corporate law. I know what it was like when they started: the dinosaurs were still alive,” Mark said.When I didn’t bother to give him a fake laugh, he turned his attention to me.
