“All inclusive?” Rachel asks as she sits back. “What…does that…mean, exactly?”
“Exactly the way it sounds,” I admit. “When I got hired, he made it very clear, contractually clear actually, that part of my job was to…be available…to him.”
Rachel stares at me without blinking for long enough that I’m tempted to snap my fingers in her face for some kind of reaction. But then she laughs.
“You’re joking,” she says. “Please tell me you are joking. Sex? Part of your job is to go to gentlemen’s clubs–”
“Club. Singular. The Opal Room.”
“And do whatever he wants?”
“Yeah,” I admit.
“Jesus,” she shakes her head and covers her face with her hands. “What in the world made you agree to this, El? I mean, I know you wanted back into the hotel business, but what could have possibly made you sign a contract of employment that includes a sex clause with your boss? I mean, how much is the man actually–oh.” She peels her hands from her face and reveals a look of mortification. “No. El? Please tell me that you did not accept this job because he paid you enough to help me.”
“No,” I shake my head, reaching for my sister. “I mean…” I stop. Fuck. How do I go about this? “At first…the money was…very persuasive.”
“But you didn’t have to prostitute yourself out so that I could have a baby!” she cries out, then covers her mouth. We both peek out the window to see Luca playing with chalk.
“My electricity was turned off, Rache. I have spent the last five years of my life struggling just to hit the poverty line. I am tired of boxed mac and cheese and working at seedy bars and diners where hung over college kids smack me on the ass and ladies with fanny packs snap at me for not bringing them enough ranch dressing for their french fries. And if helping you have the one thing you have always wanted is also possible now? That’s icing on the cake.”
“So, you’re just doing it for money,” she says, shoving off the couch and pacing.
“No,” I say.
“No?” she asks, still pacing. Then she stops. “Of course not.” Rachel turns to face me, and I can feel it coming. She has it figured out. All of it. “You would never do something like that only for money. Because Damien…is the Phantom. Damien is the man you haven’t been able to stop thinking about for six years. He’s Luca’s father…”
I nod, and as my cheeks begin to burn, I realize that I am crying again. “It’s so complicated.”
“Not really,” she says, and her tone has changed. “You’ve been sleeping with your boss as part of your job while I watch your son. If you were simply dating your boss, it would be different. You haven’t been honest with me.”
“How could I tell you?” I ask. “It’s crazy.”
“It is crazy. But what’s even crazier is you couldn’t tell me. And you couldn’t tell him the truth either about Luca. Now it’s all blowing up, and you’re acting like the victim.”
I open my mouth to say something when Luca rushes back in. “Mommy, can we have mac and cheese for dinner?”
I look at Rachel, but she just stares, and I swallow hard.
“Sure honey. We can do that,” I say softly.
I help Luca get buckled before getting in the car. Just as I am about to put the car in drive, he asks, “Can we have Damien’s mac and cheese? It’s the best.”
“Not tonight,” I answer, barely above a whisper.
“When?” he asks.
“I don’t know…”
Chapter 40
Damien
It doesn’t look good, showing up at a gentlemen’s club,mygentlemen’s club, alone. But that is what I want right now. It is what I fucking need right now. To be alone.
I am a mess. Shirt unbuttoned halfway, untucked from my slacks. Hair mussed. Two empty glasses on the table and another one almost finished off. Why the fuck are there empty glasses on the table? Oh that’s right. Another waitress quit today. Because someone convinced them to go work for Decker.
“Hey!” I snap over at the bartender, who drops what she’s doing and rushes over. “Clean this up.”
