“I’m sure everything is fine, Calli. Why don’t you both follow me? We’ll get you set up and then I’ll call you both through once we’re ready.”
“Sounds great, Ellie. Thank you.”
We both follow her through a set of double doors and my eyes almost bug out of my head when the room behind emerges.
“Oh wow,” I breathe, taking in the glistening blue pool, the waterfall and the bubbling jacuzzis. But best of all, it’s empty, and aside from the water, it’s blissfully silent.
Ripping my eyes from the piece of heaven in front of me, I look at Calli.
“You booked this entire place for us, didn’t you?”
She shrugs as if it’s nothing. “Come on, I want a dip.”
“You know where everything is. I’ll ensure drinks and snacks are ready and let the therapists know you’ve arrived.”
Calli thanks the perfectly-styled woman who showed us in, and she disappears back through the door.
“Calli, this is insane.”
“I never said everything about my life sucked,” she deadpans. “Having one of the most dangerous men in the city as your father allows you certain privileges.”
“Not to mention the money that comes with it.”
“Mom owns this place. A whole chain of them, actually. Pretty sure it’s just a way for Dad to launder his dirty money, but whatever. It works for me.”
I want to be shocked by her words, but the truth is, while I might have been surprised at her revelation of this whole mafia situation, I’m not naïve enough not to know the kinds of things they might be up to in order to fund their extravagant lifestyle.
It certainly helps to explain the kinds of houses we’ve always lived in.
My stomach sinks as I consider all the things my dad could actually do for a living. Has my life not only been a lie but totally illegal too?
Calli’s hand slips into mine, pulling me from my thoughts.
“Come on, pure relaxation awaits.”
She drags me toward the locker rooms where we find two swimsuits waiting for us in exactly the right sizes.
“How’d you—”
“I have my ways.” She winks, pulling her suit from the hanger and making quick work of stripping out of her clothes.
I hesitate for a beat, knowing exactly what this tiny suit is going to expose on my thigh that I didn’t confess to earlier.
“What’s wrong?”
“Um… There’s something else I need to tell you about what happened last night.”
“R-right?” she says, lifting a brow.
Undoing my pants, I pull them off before twisting my leg to show her.
“Oh my fucking God, Stella,” she squeals. “Y-you let him brand you?”
“I don’t remember letting him, as such.”
“Well, it seems you didn’t stop him.”
My lips part to argue, but I soon find I have no words. She’s right. I did absolutely nothing to even try to stop him.