Another harrumph hit her ear.
She let out a deep sigh. “I’ll be home when I can, Alonso.” This time it wasn’t a lie. “I just need some time. I just need more time to grieve papa in my way. I’m safe. That's all you need to know.”
She cupped her hand over the mouthpiece. “I love you all. Now stop calling already.” Before the phone could be passed around and she got an earful from the overly protective men in her life, Rhia hit the end button.
Phone in hand, she stared at the now blank screen.
Names, details, connections all jumbled in her head. What did they all mean? She wished she hadn’t agreed to a girls’ night. She itched to comb over the pages she’d taken from Sevastyan’s office. A measured risk she hoped paid off.
She had to go back, dig deeper, get better proof no matter the cost. But one thing became evident. She needed help.
Maya banged again. “You’re not having phone sex in there, are you?” The knob rattled.
She flicked her tongue out to wet her lips and found the faint taste of vodka still lingered on her lips.
Matteo.
Not hardly,” she quipped. “I’ll be right there. Promise.” She laughed for Maya’s sake. The last thing she needed was to tip her or Indigo off that something was wrong. She’d never hear the end of it. “I’ll be right out, just washing off the night.”
But nothing could clear her memory of how he felt taking her. His hand gripping her ass. Her body still hummed hours later.
“Well, hurry. Or I might be the one that drinks your share.”
Rhia took a few more minutes and with one last glance in the mirror, she swung the door open, a smile she didn’t exactly feel plastered on her face. Maybe margaritas were a good idea, after all. A whole freaking bathtub full of them and then maybe she could get some sleep and lock out visions of what Sevastyan would look like undressed or what Matteo’s tats would taste like on her tongue.
God, she was a walking contradiction, and she feared there wasn’t enough tequila in the world that could help that fact.
Warm air greeted her from the hallway that led to the quaint living room backed up against a modest-sized kitchen. She followed the sound of her blender crushing a mountain of ice cubes. Summertime in Chicago wasn’t all that different from the heat waves that overpowered the Big Apple from late spring through the last days of summer and sometimes early fall. Only whoever built this old-timer left central air for the high-end condos and luxury houses across town.
She’d opted for something a bit more modest, she liked to call it, and definitely less flashy than what her alter ego preferred. A place her cover as Seraphina Carmichael could afford on her hostess salary. The apartments in this neighborhood were extremely small and shared walls with at least two neighbors. The entire area had a grayness to it like a cloud of hopelessness. Yards went unkept, but at least the roads were paved. After this, she hoped never to come back. Then again, if more people reached out maybe this part of town wouldn’t be the smudge mark on the city everyone considered it to be.
As she came to the end of the hall, Rhia caught the tail end of a conversation and her front door closing, Indigo slipping out.
“Where did Indigo go?”
Maya turned; her expression flustered. A quick smile slipped over her lips and she fluttered her fake lashes at her.
“She got a text and had to leave. Some hot date probably. Nothing to worry about.”
Worry, no, but she did feel bad that she’d missed her all the same. Rhia had hoped to use tonight to get a little friendlier and maybe find out the next time their bosses would be out of the office for a more thorough search.
Rhia brushed the awkward moment away. “I forgot to give her the note. By the time I was in the dressing room, I managed to lose the slip of paper you gave me. I’m sorry.” They didn’t need to know how or where it slipped out. She was only happy they hadn’t noticed the other papers she had tucked away under her bodice.
Might as well pile that lie on top of the rest she’d already fed them. Her insides ached at the thought. Maya and Indigo, she had to admit, had been nothing but kind and open-hearted with her and she’d only lied to them time and time again. Truth was, that piece of paper Maya asked her to deliver to Indigo probably saved her life. But she could never tell them that.
“You worry too much. Stop paying attention to too many details and small things.” Maya grabbed her hand and whirled them back to what served as her kitchen.
Rhia sighed and followed with little choice in the matter.
“I saw Maddox walk you onto the floor last night. Whatever did you do to get the hunk’s hands on you? He won’t give me the time of day.” Maya’s quick shift of topic gave Rhia whiplash. “And Matteo.”
Rhia considered Maddox more of a gladiator pulled through the centuries to modern times than some hunk. Thick arms, thicker legs, and she was pretty sure he thought the silent treatment was the best form of communication. She liked a set of broad shoulders and capable hands as much as the next girl, but she didn’t understand the attraction to that brute.
“Well, he’s definitely more alpha than your last date,” Rhia added to the conversation.
Maya plopped down on the cool linoleum. “Mm-mm. A man like that makes my insides quiver.” She gave an exaggerated shudder and pressed the back of her hand against her forehead.
Rhia snorted and tossed one of the million tiny pillows lying around at her friend. In front of them was a pitcher of fresh margaritas and glasses rimmed with salt. “Your insides are always quivering.” she teased with a wicked grin, pouring them each a glass.