The Arrangement (unenhanced Edition) by AnnaRCase (books to read now .txt) 📖

“Miss Dubois, you have not yet been introduced to my parents, Mrs. Viola Eisenhower Godwin and Mr. Cole Bertrand Godwin. This is Leo’s new girlfriend I was just telling you both about,” said Grayson.

                “A pleasure Miss Dubois,” said Mr. Godwin dryly.

                “The pleasure is all mine I assure you,” said Amberleigh.

                Mr. Godwin kissed her gloved hand, though his grip was firmer than it needed to be. No doubt a warning for her to fall in line. He knew about the arrangement, it had probably been this man’s idea to begin with. And the patriarch had just walked into Leo and Amberleigh about five seconds away from ripping each other’s clothes off.

                “You look so beautiful my dear. It is so wonderful to meet you,” said Mrs. Godwin as she gave Amberleigh a kiss on the cheek, then the woman had one for Leo too, “Leo you look so dashing!”

                Leo grinned like a little boy on Christmas morning, “You look ravishing yourself V. I’ve been keeping our boy here in line.”

It was clear the two were close, perhaps Viola had been more of a mother to Leo than his own had been. Though Amberleigh wasn’t entirely sure of the Clemonte family dynamics, it was clear, Leo had been at the Godwin’s dinner table a lot growing up. Leo and Grayson seemed more like brothers, truth be told.

                Viola chuckled, “I’m sure you have darling. Cole, do not be uncivilized, say hello to Leonardo!”

Amberleigh liked this woman even better already. It seemed she was capable of keeping these men in line. The CEO and owner of the second most profitable company in the country took orders from a petite woman who obviously wore the pants. Well not literally at the moment, but symbolically.

“Leonardo, nice to see you again. How are your family?” said Mr. Godwin.

He gave Leo a handshake and they spent a few moments getting caught up. Grayson was in a broody silence and Amberleigh kept catching him staring her down. He was clearly still pissed by what he’d seen. And she was sure she would hear about it later no fuckin’ doubt about that.

Amberleigh excused herself citing the need to use the powder room to make her escape. She’d be a liar if it wasn’t hella tempting to steal a bottle of liquor and hole up in her room for the rest of the night.  Great, all she had to do was avoid Courtney, Jackson, Cole, and Grayson for the next several hours. Piece of fuckin cake right.

As she made her way through the crowd, the smoke curled around the guests feet, and buffet line opened. People herded towards the food like addicts to a crack house. Many were also getting horny as fuck, as most of the alcoves were tied shut. The free bar flowed like the old faithful geyser showing no signs of stopping. The band played on, though most of the dancer kept it tasteful for appearance sake. At least for now anyway.

It was clear the party was a huge fuckin hit, especially the dragon fountain which both delighted and gave guests quite a fright. This masquerade was going to be the talk of the fuckin town no doubt. And the best half of the town seemed to be in attendance. Therein seemed to lie the problem. Because everyone in this penthouse had fuckin money and lots of it.

Because even beneath those masks. Amberleigh recognized several faces and voices in that room, people she had serviced at the club personally, or at the very least had seen around. A couple were even loyal regulars of hers. Not that she was in any danger of being outed by any of them in that room. They had their own reputations to protect and she was damn good too. Most of them probably didn’t remember her anyway, as one they were often intoxicated during such encounters, two many of them were intoxicated now or well on their way to it, and three she looked vastly different in her designer get-up while rubbing elbows with the elite. So she was probably fine, nothing to get her panties all in a twist about. Not that she was wearing any anyway.

She spent so long in the bathroom someone was most likely speculating she was taking a shit. When she finally left the bathroom, she was on a mission to make a beeline back to the bar, no stops, no eye contact, etc. She needed her blood to turn to alcohol to survive this night. She opened the bathroom door and was startled to see a young man in the doorway. He wore a silver mask which looked like a knight’s visor with a mass of oiled and tamed black curls peeking out the back. His wheelchair had been enclosed by a frame to make it look like a black horse, and he had a fake lance resting on the side of his chair

“Oh sorry, I didn’t realize the bathroom was occupied,” he said with a smile.

She knew that voice, that smile. It would probably drawl more attention to her if she just ignored the young man and walked away. He probably didn’t remember her anyway. He’d had been nice and liquored up that night.

“No harm done, it’s all yours,” she said returning his smile, “Lovely party isn’t it.”

“Thank you. The Godwin’s know how to throw great parties. They never disappoint. Can you get past? This thing is cumbersome, but my friend thought it’d be hilarious,” he explained

“I don’t think hilarious is the right word. More like kick ass. Have a nice evening.”

She went to make her way past him as the young man watched her. She had almost made it too, back to the hustle and bustle of the sitting room, when he swiveled his wheelchair around to face her.

“Excuse me miss, but you look familiar? I think we’ve met before.”

Fuck. The icing on this fuck cake was the man standing at the end of the hall watching. Grayson had come looking for her. Probably to give her the fuckin riot act for crossing the line with Leo earlier. He probably blamed her for seducing his friend as women were the devil and all that jazz. He didn’t look happy evident by his rapid breathing and white knuckled grip on his flute of champagne. The glass seemed about to crack beneath his fingertips.