“Mackenzie’s a piece of work, but could she steal an entire shipment of drugs from her father and get them onto the market without the Triumvirate coming down on her ass, without yourcousinnoticing? I doubt it, even if she was working with Brutus.” Noah rasps his words as he dry-fucks me, his hands pinning mine. I’ve no hope of escaping from him, even if I wanted to. But why escape when everything I want is right here?
“It’s the strongest lead we have,” I huff as he lets go of my wrist to slide his hand down my body, pushing down my jeans. He rams his cock inside me, grinding my pelvis into the mats. Talk about hurting so good; I’m going to be sore tomorrow. “We need to find my sister. And Cleo’s going to help us.”
41
Claudia
Cleo’s NYE party is masquerade-themed, which is perfect for what we plan to do. Gabriel’s the only one of us actually invited, but Mackenzie Malloy would never let a little fact like that get in her way, and neither will I.
Eli looks worried as he pulls on his outfit – a black suit with a Roman centurion helmet, complete with towering red plume. “Nero’s going to notice I’m not at Vault tonight.”
“Fuck Nero,” Gabriel says from the bed, where he’s lazing half-naked with Queen Boudica curled up asleep in his hair. “He should know by now that Captain America doesn’t support him exploiting vulnerable people and animals for entertainment.”
“What did he do for women in the end?” I ask as I watch Yara try on one of Ainsley Malloy’s cocktail dresses. She could have been having a very different NYE.
“Livvie paid through the nose to ship in every sex worker from Los Angeles for the night.” Eli adjusts his tie. At his wrist, I glimpse the edge of his tattoo – my mark.Because he’s mine, no matter what Nero wants to believe.“She’s been working non-stop on their routines and getting them used to working with the animals. But at least they’re getting paid. It’s Casper I’m worried about. Now that he’s no longer going to Constantine, Nero’s decided to make him a star attraction. He’ll be charging his guests through the nose to hold and pet and feed him and pose for photographs, all night long. All those bright lights and strange faces… Casper will be so scared.” He shudders.
I place a hand on his shoulder. “We will save him. I promise you.”
Eli nods miserably, tugging his helmet over his head. I know he’s still thinking about a tiny white tiger trapped by Nero’s greed.
We pile into a station wagon Noah found in the Malloy’s garage – Noah drives, Gabriel takes the passenger seat so he can control the music, and Eli, George, Yara, and I squeeze in back. It’s only the six of us tonight – Tiberius has taken Madeline out on a date, and I assume Antony needs to show his face at Vault if he wants to keep the Colosseum running with Nero’s blessing after we get the girls out of there. I’m a little nervous going into this without Antony backing me up, but I know all of my princes can be just as ruthless as my cousin when one of our family is in danger.
Cleo St. James won’t see us coming.
We park a few blocks from the party and pull on our helmets and masks. Noah carries the bag of tools. Gabriel goes on ahead of us – he’ll find Cleo and lead her to her bedroom. The rest of us sneak around the rear of the clout house. I wore boots because I expected to climb a fence and hike through a garden of cacti because that’s how my life works, but it turns out there’s a group of mask-clad teens smoking weed in an open doorway leading to a narrow staircase circling around behind the pool. They let us through and even give George a few tokes as we pass.
We skirt the edges of the party, not wanting to risk being recognized. It’s a pointless worry – wasted kids in masks dance with abandon and fuck in the breakfast nook. There are at least twenty people naked and writhing in the pool. Pipes and rocks of Grey Death are passed around in full view. No one gives a shit that the Roman legionnaires have arrived.
We slink upstairs, find Cleo’s room, and hide in her giant walk-in closet. I pull off my helmet and wipe the sweat from my brow. We might have a long wait.
Noah and I press our backs to the door, listening for voices in the room. George starts pulling down boxes from the higher shelves. “You never know what secrets she’s hiding in here. Like this.” She holds up a shoebox. Inside I see neat rows of Grey Death rocks, sorted into small baggies for sale. George snaps a few photographs of the box, then replaces it.
Yara hunts through the racks of clothing, pulling out dresses and holding them against herself. She seems completely unperturbed about what we’re here to do. After everything she’s been through, I’m not surprised a little B&E doesn’t faze her.
There’s a crash outside. My heart flutters. It sounded like Cleo’s door hitting the wall. I strain to hear what’s going on outside. The bed creaks.
“Cleo… Cleo… I’ve wanted this for so long,” Gabriel’s husky voice reaches my ears. “Since the first day I came back to Stonehurst, I knew I had to make you mine.”
Even though I know the game, his words make me see red. I grip Noah’s shoulder, reassuring myself that this isn’t real, that it’s part of our plan.
“Then why did you waste so much time being with that crazy bitch Mackenzie?” Cleo murmurs back, her voice thick with lust.
“Because she threw herself at me, and I’m not one to overlook free pussy, especially not from the famous Mackenzie Malloy. It’s a fact of life that mad women go off in the sack, and she was no exception. But it was just sex, just a bit of fun. She’s not like you. I had to work for you. I had toearnyou. It makes having you that much sweeter. And I intend to have you in every way imaginable.”
Damn, he talks so good.
“Oh, Gabriel, you kinky boy,” Cleo giggles. “What’s that rope for? You want to tie me up?”
“Only if you allow it. Consent is very important to me. I trained with a shibari rope master in Berlin. I’m skilled with rope play. I think you’ll like how I make you feel, Cleo.”
Gag me with a hot-pink dildo. I don’t know how much more of this I can listen to.
Also, why has Gabe never told me he’s trained in rope play? That sounds like fun…
Focus, Claudia.
“Of course, anything you want to do to me, Gabriel,” Cleo moans. “Let me see that piercing I’ve heard so much about.”
