Derrial tapped his card to the door lock and opened it for me, staring at me with the widest grin.
I rushed past him and into a room three times the size of my entire apartment. More rooms stretched out in every direction. Sunlight flooded the penthouse through the enormous windows, reminding me of the kind on store-fronts, so high I felt as if I floated on air.
A bird flew past the window almost as a reminder that we were almost in the clouds. Expensive looking beige couches adorned one end of the room, near the biggest television I’d seen. Bowls of fruit and chocolate, along with more champagne filled the tables. I wasn’t sure where to look first, but I ran to the window, pressed up against the glass and looked down. The city lay so far away as if it were another world, the people looked like ants on the sidewalks below.
“We need to get ready quickly,” Derrial said.
I turned to him, noting how he studied me with a grin despite his words. “You’ll have time to admire the room later.”
“Can’t I stay here while you go to the Summit?” I’d watch television and eat everything in sight.
He shook his head. “Get dressed in the skirt and jacket suit you packed and bring the black cocktail dress and heels with you. We leave in ten. And if anyone asks, you’re my assistant.” Without another word, he marched into one of the other rooms, so well versed in the penthouse’s layout that it was obvious he’d been here before.
I nodded, even though only the guards watched me, and headed into the hallway where I found my bag sitting on a queen poster bed. If I needed to play the part of assistant or girlfriend for a few days while living here, well, I’d have to find a way to get through it. Either way I couldn’t wipe the smile from my face that I was in a freaking penthouse.
Today would be a day of sitting back and looking pretty, playing eye candy on the Vepar’s arm, which I could do if it proved to him I was happy to be theirs. A few days could be enough to get him to let his guard down and give me a chance to escape.
Hours later, and the day dragged. Holding back my yawns grew harder and harder. Here I assumed I’d sit in on the World Summit and learn who exactly Derrial was and what the Vepar were doing on Earth, but instead, Derrial hardly had said a word. He sat in a room amid a large circular table, joined by heads from around the world, listening to their concerns and how they intended to work with the Vepar. I almost choked on laughter as each of them tried to appease Derrial. I sat behind him in a wooden chair that numbed my entire body, attempting to play the role of an assistant by sitting there doing nothing.
Being disappointed was an understatement. Why did he want me to attend the Summit anyway?
Once the event ended, I was on my feet, ready for the cocktail party, but that was an even bigger let down. I spent the night with guards surrounding me, and I ate every hors d'oeuvres that was brought my way as I watched Derrial talk to everyone in the hall decorated with overelaborate vases of flower bouquets. Inconsequential polite conversation, wine, and a light orchestra filled the room. This wasn’t what I would call a party.
I stepped toward Derrial but a guard grabbed my arm and shook his head when I turned to face him. Right. My place was to sit. Or stand quietly by myself. To be invisible.
Derrial glanced my way and smiled, raising his glass to me. I raised my brow.
On the inside I was ready to scream. Especially since the black stilettos I wore pinched my toes.
After the party, Derrial led me out to the street, what felt like a thousand eyes watching us as we walked out of the ballroom where the cocktail party was being held. We got to the curb as our driver pulled up in the black town car we were using for the week. Derrial opened the door for me but didn’t follow me in.
“You’re not coming?” I asked, looking up at him and feeling strangely lonely at the thought.
“I have another meeting to attend. I thought you would want the break,” he answered, taking a step back from the car and beginning to close the door. He stopped for a second and leaned back in, an irrational part of me thought he might kiss me goodbye.
“Don’t bother trying to get away,” he said. “Our driver is highly trained and will be walking you back to our rooms and there will be guards stationed outside.” With that ugly pronouncement he closed the door, not bothering to look back as he strode away in that smooth, predatory way of his.
As we drove away, I thought for a second of at least trying to get away, but I was so tired after the day of meetings that I immediately abandoned the idea. Especially when it meant dealing with the muscle heads guarding me. Once we arrived at the hotel, where I was indeed marched up to my room by the driver whose name I found out was Dan, I found myself on the news channels watching their interpretation of the Summit proceedings. There was a lot that I had apparently missed. One thing was for sure, all eyes were on Derrial. His face flashed across the screen repeatedly and I wondered how I had stuck my head in the sand so much these past years to not realize he was someone big for the Vepar. I fell asleep watching the news, barely realizing when a strong pair of arms that I vaguely recognized as belonging to Derrial, picked me up and took me to bed.
* * *
I woketo someone nuzzling my hair. I sat up in bed with a start, looking around frantically for who had been touching me. Looking behind me, I saw Derrial lounging near me in nothing but a pair of tight fitting briefs that left little to the imagination. He had a sleepy look on his face that still somehow managed to make him insanely gorgeous.
“Did you sleep in here last night?” I asked, quickly taking a peek at my body to be sure I remained dressed.
“Do you really care if I did?” he asked, an insolent grin on his face. For a brief moment I allowed myself to remember that minute before I had fully woken up, what it had felt like to be enveloped in his arms. And then I quickly pushed the thought away.
“I didn’t give you permission to do that,” I snapped, getting out of bed. His grin only grew wider.
“I’m pretty sure we’ve established I never ask for permission,” he replied, also getting out of bed. I averted my eyes from all of his perfect golden skin and rushed out of the room. “Be ready in twenty minutes,” he called after me. “I have an important meeting this morning.”
Twenty minutes later we were in the car driving back to the Summit. Today I was dressed in a sleek black sheath dress with shiny black shoes. I couldn’t help but feel a little bit like Audrey Hepburn, and the fact that the soles of my heels were red made me feel even classier. Who would have thought wearing such expensive clothes would make me feel different? Not in an arrogant kind of way, but with my confidence. Most of the time, I wore baggy clothes, putting comfort first, but I’d never experienced this feeling of satisfaction as I did now.
Derrial was dressed to intimidate today. He wore a dark suit with a shiny black shirt underneath and no tie. As we approached the venue of the Summit, the softness in his features faded, replaced by a man who looked ready to rule the universe. My stomach tightened, and the car seemed to close in around me almost as if a menacing, black cloud had descended. Maybe it was the Vepar’s version of a “game face” but his serious expression was extremely intimidating even though I had watched the change happen.
Derrial didn’t say a word as we strolled into the enormous building. Guards stood everywhere, along with paparazzi.
Inside, Vepar and humans stood clumped in groups, but everyone seemed to take a collective breath as we entered the room. Derrial didn’t stop to say hello to anyone, instead he strode in the room where the meeting was to be held, not looking back to see if I followed.