KNOX
Megan has been talking to me about the music she likes while Cristiano and Levi went to get more drinks.
Tonight we’ve taken our party of four out to the club floor in one of the VIP lounges. The guys and I are wearing masks and Megan looks like our porcelain doll.
From where we’re sitting, we can see the people below on the dance floor partying away and those on the sidelines having wild sex.
Megan’s knees brush against mine as her chatter about the Kings of Leon becomes more animated. I like that band too, but I’m more of a heavy metal kind of guy. For her, though, I’ll listen to her talk about anything.
It’s been a while since any woman has had this effect on me. I know Cristiano and Levi feel the same way. Having Megan around has helped take the stress off this marriage shit.
It’s been nearly two weeks since we’ve been working on finding a suitable Evelina. The whole thing has stressed me out because I’m not sure if we can find the right woman. I think it’s going to take a lot of work to outsmart an old fox like Cristiano’s grandfather, who's been in the game longer than we have. We’ve all been on edge because the time is drawing closer for his return.
Megan smiles and looks at me as if she’s waiting for me to answer a question. A question I haven’t heard.
“You didn’t hear me did you?” She giggles, tucking a lock of her shiny black hair behind her ear.
“Sorry, babe, I’m a little distracted tonight.” I shouldn’t be. Not with her. She’s beautiful and with her lips painted red like that, she looks like a work of art.
“Are you okay?”
I’ve wanted to ask her the same thing since I met her, but I held back. “I’m fine.”
We’ve all sensed she needed the money and hoped that what she gets from us would be enough to fix whatever situation she’s in. We still haven’t checked her out. We promised we wouldn’t even though we’ve wanted to.
There are enough rules about boundaries and privacy to keep the fantasy alive, but there comes a time when human emotion takes over and opens the door to curiosity.
“So, I’m guessing if you zoned out, Kings of Leon might not be your thing.”
I lean forward and lift a lock of her hair. “Not so much, but I like that you like it.”
She laughs and it’s a pretty, innocent sound. When you come from a world as dark as mine, you notice differences like that.
“Well, I guess that’s good.” She rests her hands on her lap.
“What else do you like, Goddess?”
She thinks for a moment. “I like…helping people.”
“In what ways, baby?”
“Talking through their problems.”
“You sound like a shrink.” It was meant to be a joke, but the coy look on her face suggests that idea might not be so farfetched for her.
“Shrinks aren’t that bad.”
“No, I suppose not. Is that what you want to do?”
She nods and there’s a sadness in her eyes I haven’t seen before. The guard she places up when she’s with us drops and I can see the pain in her soul.
“I was a year away from qualifying as a therapist.”
I digest this new piece of information about her, taking note of the way she spoke in the past tense. Of course, now I want to know why she’s not pursuing her career.
“What happened, baby?”
“I had some things happen that set me back.”