A growly sound of indignation flew from my throat. He must have sensed I was seconds away from ripping his balls off. In the blink of an eye, he let me go with an infuriating pat on my ass and then quickly exited the room, switching from smooth English to Italian.
I watched him pull the door shut behind him, trying to make sense of everything he’d just said. I’d been here less than twelve hours and was already being pulled in a million different directions. I had answers that I didn’t know I wanted or needed, along with just as many questions. The faulty foundation I’d managed to get beneath my feet these past few years was beginning to erode and split into pieces all because of the natural disaster that was Judas.
Hit with the urgent need to relieve my bladder and do something with my teeth, I headed for the only other door in the vicinity hoping it led to a bathroom.
Once I had it open it took me a second to realize it was exactly what I was looking for. I traveled down a short hall that had two more doors on either side of it and flowed into a luxurious master suite. There was no toilet in plain sight. Okay, so, thinking logically the doors I just passed were more than likely closets which meant there should be another…
Found it!
I raced clear to the other side of the room and pulled open a solid stone-like door that concealed the porcelain throne. It was ridiculous having to travel a whole three minutes from the bedroom to here. That wouldn’t be fun drunk or when your bladder woke you at two in the morning.
I quickly did my business and then re-entered the main portion of the bathroom to wash my hands and hopefully find a toothbrush.
No longer feeling as if I was going to piss my pants, I could fully take in the space.
Corinthian pillars with gold trim and pedestals held up an extravagantly painted ceiling. A circular Jacuzzi was centered beneath it. A massive, golden chandelier hung directly above. On either side of the tub just a few feet away, a pair of leather benches sat before a large, recessed vanity countertop with candelabra lamps.
The walls were textured with off-white paint. It paired well with all the gold trim and bronze mosaic tiles that made up the back wall of a free-standing shower. As much as I loathed Judas, the luxury he was afforded hadn’t failed to impress me. The sheer size of this room alone made the fancy apartment I paid an astronomical amount of money for, look like a cracker box.
I went to one of the double sinks and waved beneath the odd-looking faucet to trigger the motion sensors.
It kicked on immediately, raining lukewarm water onto my hands. That was neat. Despite my awe of rich-folk luxuries, this seemed a bit much even for Judas. It was more along the lines of what I would do if I were to personally select décor for a home of this magnitude.
That thought gave me pause.
I knew from firsthand experience that Judas planned everything he did down to the most irrelevant details most people wouldn’t think of. He was dangerously astute with a razor-sharp mind that always seemed to be calculating his next move. And that was the case back when we were teens.
He'd had years to strengthen and grow the weapon that was his mind. It almost scared me to think what it would be like inside his head right now. Things had fallen into place too easily for him to not have been planning this for some time, longer than I initially would have assumed.
After washing my hands, I did a thorough search of the bathroom and discovered even more of Judas’ pre-planned chaos. As if I’d packed up my personal hygiene items and brought them along, all my usuals were stocked and waiting to be used. Right down to the electric toothbrush I’d splurged on a few months ago.
I wasn’t sure what bothered me more, Judas having these things in his home or the fact that Audrey was the only one who purchased some of these products for me whenever I ran out. I closed my eyes and drew in a deep breath, slowly exhaling.
It wasn’t wise to jump to conclusions, but things weren’t looking to be in my best-friends favor right now. If I was ready to be completely honest with myself for entirely different reasons, I would admit that I didn’t seem to be faring much better.
CHAPTER SEVEN
He hadn’t called me this frequently in months. It wasn’t that we didn’t speak often. Certain business dealings and personal matters sometimes called for us to do so daily.
This situation particularly meant more to us than outsiders could ever speculate. For the time being that was for the best. I’d learned from my famiglia that every move we decided to make after weighing the pros and cons, needed to be executed with flawless finesse. It kept us and our various ventures safe.