Eve sighed, knowing there was no way she’d be able to hide where she’d been last night. Genni already knew she’d been with someone.
That someone just happened to be one of Madame Allegria’s Krave.
“I, um,waswith someone last night,” Eve told her softly, confirming her friend’s suspicions. “And I didn’t bring my Nu device, so I didn’t realize you were trying to reach me.”
“I just saw you a couple days ago,” Genni pointed out. “You didn’t tell me you’d met anyone.”
“Because I didn’t meet him exactly,” Eve said softly, squirming a bit in her armchair. When she moved, she caught a whiff of Khiva’s scent. He was on her skin, permeated through her hair, in the silk threads of her dress. Everywhere.
“Will the cut the bullshit and just tell me who it is?” Genni asked, annoyed once again.
Eve bit her tongue again, but decided to just get it over with.
“I booked a visit with one of Madame Allegria’s Krave.”
Genni’s mouth dropped open almost comically, but no sound emerged.
“I, uh, first went to him last week, but we didn’t have sex,” Eve said, swallowing. “And then I saw him again last night…and we did.”
Genni stared at her, those bright blue eyes piercing what felt like every pore of her skin.
“Who the hell are you?” Genni asked slowly.
Eve’s eyebrows rose. “What?”
“The Eve Tesler I know wouldneverdo something like that. She would never visit a brothel to lose her ‘V.’ To an alien whore no less,” Genni stated, crossing her arms over her ample chest. She hadn’t yet taken a seat so Eve felt like she was towering over her.
Fierce anger consumed her and Eve couldn’t believe the words that were coming out of her friend’s mouth.
“How dare you say that,” Eve said, standing from the armchair, “when you were the one saying that you’d give anything to spend a night with one of them. Don’t be such a hypocrite, Genni!”
Genni looked taken aback at Eve’s raised voice, but then the blonde’s scowl deepened. “I was joking! I would never visit one of them. Do you know how many women they fuck a week? That place is probably crawling with diseases.”
“Oh really?” Eve asked, so angry that her hands were shaking. “You think that the women who pay 900 credits a night go there for the diseases? Get real, Genni. That establishment is so clean you could lick the floor.”
“You didn’t even think about it, did you?” Genni questioned, lips tightening at Eve’s surprising retort. “You’re having sex with an alien whore and did you even ask what they do for disease or I don’t know,if you got pregnant?”
It angered Eve even more that she couldn’t give her friend an answer. Because no, frankly, she hadn’t been thinking about it. Because she’d never had sex, she’d never needed a contraceptive. She’d never needed to worry about it.
And it was no secret that human women tended to be biologically compatible with many alien species. There were hybrids spread across the Quadrants, though Everton and the other Earth colonies liked to deny it.
“Again…” Eve said quietly, trying to calm down because screaming at her friend would get her nowhere. Genni had a mean streakanda temper. “Do you honestly believe that Madame Allegria wouldn’t address those possibilities, given her clientele?”
Genni sneered but only said, “The richies have good doctors.”
Eve raised her brow and even though it was a dig, she replied, “And so do I.”
That dig hit home. Genni had always been obsessed with marrying rich, though she’d often made Eve feel guilty for having an inheritance.
Genni huffed out a short breath, her hands going to her hips. “Then I hope for your sake you don’t need them, after your night with your whore.”
“Stopcalling him that,” Eve said quietly.
Genni sprung on her words like the bloodhounds bred for hunting. A deceptively sweet, pitying smile crossed her full, pink lips. “Oh, Evelyn. Please don’t tell me you have feelings for him.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Eve said through slightly clenched teeth. “I’ve only visited him twice.”
Genni studied her and sometimes Eve hated how well her friend could read her. Although at that moment, Genni didn’t truly feel like a friend.
