I thanked River for the ride as I slid out. The two doormen at the front nodded a hello to me and I smiled in response. As soon as I walked in under the brilliant light of the glittering crystal chandeliers, I was accosted by Darcy, who grabbed my upper arm. He sneered, and I dazzled him with a charming grin I knew would annoy him, and like I expected, the twist of his mouth grew.
“Mother wants to see you.”
I slapped a hand over my chest. “Of course, Darcy darling, that’s why I’m here.”
“Don’t be a smart-ass.” He slapped on that fake smile he used for guests and guided me up the stairs. We passed a few clients I knew, and I made a point of stopping to talk with them, which only made Darcy’s grip tighten on my arm. I ignored him just to frustrate him even more. He wouldn’t complain, though, because if Darcy cared about anything, it was appeasing the guests.
By the time we got to Madam Winters’s room he was ready to strangle me. I grinned teasingly as he knocked on the door and the madam told us to enter. She was waiting for me on her favorite reading couch, legs folded under her and a book in her hands. As always, she looked regal, a mistress who liked the finer things in life. She was wearing a silk robe today, which was light purple with bright red roses patterned across it. It wasn’t often I got to see her like this, and I always enjoyed it when I did.
She beckoned me forward with a movement of her index finger, and I shifted toward her, leaning down to give her a kiss on the cheek as she angled her face toward me. “Hello, sugar. How are you feeling?”
“Okay.” I took a seat on the floor beside her, crossing my legs underneath me as I leaned against the couch. “Did River tell you that Ross is taking a two-month prison sentence?”
“He did,” she said gently, reaching forward to run her long red fingernails through my hair.
Darcy pursed his lips from where he stood near the door, arms crossed. “We knew they’d get him for something. They had a bone to pick.”
Madam Winters hummed as her nails scraped across my scalp. I sighed, leaning into her touch. Even though I had my dad and papa, I never had a mother figure, and she’d quickly fit into that slot. She cared for me as a mom would, and even my parents trusted her. “Honey, you listen to me real good, okay? You know I love you and that you’re one of my favorites.”
My lungs burned as I held my breath for what was to come, which couldn’t be anything good. Her lips were pressed together tightly, much like Darcy always did, and there was a furrow to her blonde eyebrows, as though she was about to do something she didn’t like.
“You’re connected with Ross now, and that’s not good for our business. I love you, and I’m doing this because I love you—and all the other Courtesans here. I need you to keep some distance for a while.”
“For how long?” I asked with a shaky breath. While whoring had started out because I was bored, the people here had become my adopted family.
“Until it’s safe to return.” She grabbed my face between her hands and laid a kiss on my forehead. “I need to take care of everyone here. You understand, don’t you?”
I nodded even though my chest hurt.Fuck. Not only was Ross going to prison for two months, but I didn’t have the Courtesan, either. “What am I going to do?”
“You don’t need the money, sugar,” she whispered in the soothing voice she used to calm someone down. “Maybe go visit your parents for a little while? By the time you get back, this might all be over.”
“Maybe.” I leaned into her touch and raised my eyes. “I’ll miss this place.”
She shushed me gently, stroking her fingers across my chin. “It’s only until the cops find someone better to focus on. Then you’ll come back to me. Your room will stay vacant until you come home.”
I smiled, even though my heart hurt. My stars definitely hadn’t warned me this was going to happen. “Okay.”
She kissed me on the forehead again, and my eyes slipped closed as I soaked in her warmth and comfort.
7
Ross
“This way, Your Highness.”The guard laughed like a jackal as he directed me out of the solid steel door into the gravel parking lot of the minimum-security prison that had been my home for the last two months. I took a deep breath of fresh air and let it out slowly. I’d expected freedom to feel better, but my situation wasn’t significantly improved by being outside.
“Har de fucking har,” I grumbled under my breath, but I’d gotten out of the habit of antagonizing people—especially the guards. I’d learned really fucking fast that in minimum being a dick might not lead to any of the prison horror stories I’d dreamed about—no dropped-soap pornographic-orgy scenarios with handcuffs, for one—but the guards took any chance they could to knock me down a peg or two. My first three weeks I hadn’t gotten any of my mail because I’d pissed them off by talking back. By the time I did get my mail, I was dealing with a forwarded eviction notice and a car repo and no way to fix anything.
So that wasfun.
And I’d started keeping my mouth shut around everyone else inside. The other white-collar felonious asshats who were in for crimes equivalent to mine were snotty fuckers, too, so it wasn’t like I wanted to have any conversations with them anyway. I glanced back at the low white-brick building and shook my head. The guard at the door waved, and I spun back around to keep walking.
There weren’t any tall fences with armed guards here. Stretching away from me were rolling green hills that were beautiful, actually, because wildflowers had burst into bloom in the last few weeks of sunshine and warm nights. The brilliant green leaves on the trees ringing the parking lot swayed gently in the breeze. My father’s red Lexus was parked near the edge of the lot, right next to River Demchenko’s black Maserati. I slowed to a snail’s pace because my father was standing there talking to River, whose body language screamed he was ready to rip his hair out. Somehow he’d managed to slap a smile on his face for dear old Dad.
Catching a whiff of myself, I winced. The suit I’d been arrested in smelled exactly like I’d worn it boozing and was turning my stomach, but I took a deep breath and picked up my pace. Why was Demchenko here? Fuck, I hoped I wasn’t being charged with something new.
“Dad?” I called.
He stopped and looked up. My shoes crunched the gravel, and the world seemed too bright and loud as I approached. The singing of the birds in a nearby tree took on mocking notes and reminded me of the fucking guards. I just wanted to get under cover and away from everyone who might be looking at me. I wanted to be away from everyone’s judgement.
