Georgiou jumps in front of me to shield me, an act that’s thrown me for a loop. I push to my feet, standing behind him.
“Pa what the fuck! Fucking drop your guns,” he orders. I try to move from behind him to stand my ground, but he clamps a hand on me, holding me back like he did when we were kids and anyone dared picked on me. “Stand down Christian,” he says glowering at me.
“Both of you stand down,” Pa snarls. “Or the two of you are out.”
On that threat, of course Georgiou drops his hands.
Pa lowers his guns and fixes his stare on me again.
“You… you fucker, you better get those guns back. I don’t care what you do, or whether you come back to me in a box with a fucking tag on your foot, get them back.” He shouts. “You are the fucking black sheep of this family. Everybody else pulls their weight but you drag us down. I’m not going to allow you to destroy an empire we worked so hard to build. You fix the problem, or you’ll have me to deal with and believe me you don’t want that to happen. I will make sure you lose every fucking thing.”
He’s never threatened me like this before. I actually believe he would really kill me, or he’s hoping I’ll die so he won’t have to do it.
“Do you hear me Christian!” He roars,
“I got it,” I answer and walk out.
I walk right out of the house feeling my whole body burn with rage. I don’t know how I’m supposed to feel after my own father telling me I should get this shit back even if it kills me.
I rush to my bike, my head a mess. Before I can get on it, Georgiou runs out calling me. I have half a mind to ride away and leave him, but I stop. If I did that, he’d come after me and I don’t want that.
“Christian—”
“Don’t,” I cut him off. I don’t want to hear it. Whatever it is, I don’t want to hear it.
“Don’t do anything stupid,” he states, fisting his hands at his side.
“Isn’t that all I seem to do,” I throw back.
“You fucking listen to me. Don’t do anything stupid just to prove a point.”
“Georgiou just leave me alone. Go back to licking Pa’s ass. wouldn’t want you to end up in the shit like me.”
He grabs my t-shirt ready to fight and I sneer. He’s good with a gun, but he can’t fight me. I’ve clocked as much field time as he has in the office.
“You motherfucker, I’m fucking serious.”
“Me too. Georgiou, Pa is serious. He controls everything. That’s what matters isn’t it. Money and power.”
“Christian, this is your fault. I can’t save your ass when you’ve done shit that should have been tended to months ago.”
“Not once did I try to evade blame. It is my fucking fault, but fuck, brother, we both know that if the situation was reversed and it was you who fucked up, this wouldn’t be happening. No one would treat you like this. Leaving a man in charge who knows a job so you can find a replacement is not a bad move. But I accept blame for his actions.”
He releases his hold on me. “Christian, please, don’t go out there guns blazing and get yourself killed.”
“You heard the orders. Get the guns back, how do you think I’m going to do that? Pa was serious. He’d prefer I died and get the guns back, than for us to lose business.”
He doesn’t answer. What can he say?
It’s the truth and to me he’s the same.
I just shake my head, jump on my bike and ride away.
Pa can threaten me all he wants. It’s not the worry over losing everything that has me riding away with the plan to do what I have to get the guns back. What makes me do it is I don’t want to be the cause of shit happening to everyone else when it comes to the company. I don’t want the others to suffer for my actions and I care enough to put my life on the line to fix this.
Doing so, however, might very well get me killed.
Chapter Nine
Lilly
Christian wants me to wear a mask tonight.
At the end of my performance Louise had everything ready for me to change into. All at Tristan’s request. He wanted me in red so I’m wearing a red negligee with matching shoes. The mask is red too and has the same lace and diamante adornments as the negligee.
As I make my way out of the dressing room, I feel like a doll you dress up.
He paid ten thousand again for the night. Ten thousand dollars. It’s money I never imagined. Money I should be happy to add to my estimate but like last night I feel the same uneasiness.
That what-the-hell-am-I-doing moment has come into my mind several times today and by default I think of my goal and why I’m doing this.
Three more months. And this is another night down. But then… there is the matter of Christian as a whole that’s screwed with my mind.
Being with him has caused an internal conflict that I’m not sure how to handle. I’ve been on edge all day, but I would be a liar if I didn’t admit that the part of me, he reached last night wasn’t looking forward to seeing him again. And… there’s a definite sense of relief in knowing that it’s him I’ll be with tonight. Not someone else.
I catch a glimpse of myself in the reflection of the patent wall as I come down the wide diamond encrusted stairs and step on to the marble flooring. The red and gold venetian mask I’m wearing is striking against my pale skin. The negligee is very pretty but it’s definitely something best reserved for the bedroom. Because the material is as see-through as the gown, I wore in the crystal ball, I look like I’m here for sex.
I walk on to the dance floor, joining the sea of bodies clashing together, grinding against each other. The bar is at the end. Sex isn’t allowed on the dance floor, but from the way the people move, I’d have a hard time believing that some of them aren’t doing it under wraps. I haven’t been down here before when there were people here. So, it’s going to be the first time I see all the sexual fantasies come to life.
Eyes land on me as I move, and I glance over my shoulder to see a group of men looking at me. The way they look at me is obvious in regard to what they want to do to me. I keep moving however but freeze midstride when I see exactly why people come to the Dark Odyssey. The vision before me is like something you’d see on a porn channel and have to question if what you saw was actually real.
There’s a row of cubicles and the people inside are fucking like they need to survive. It’s like watching animals during mating season gone wild.
There are four people in the cubicle to my left. Two men and two women. All are naked with just masks on, all having sex. Watching them makes my skin flush with ravenous heat.
They were about to switch the women over when one of the guys looks at me and crooks his finger, beckoning me to join them. Mortification flies through me snapping me out of the trance of shock. It makes me want to flee, but I force myself not to. Managing a polite smile instead, I decline the invite and resume my procession through the crowd.
Jesus, I have to get my act together. I need to remember that sex is the norm here. It’s a sex club. That is what it is and angel or not, I’m part of the sexual attractions here.
As I walk on, I see so much more than I ever have and ever imagined seeing in one lifetime. Enough to take my shock to astonishment. So, I keep my focus straight ahead and look to the bar in hope to find Christian.