Evening Star (Star Quartet 1)

“It—he was disgusting,” Giana whispered, still trembling.

“Don’t be a fool. Do you think gentlemen come here only for conversation?” She saw that Giana would still protest, and said sharply, “Do you see that gentleman over there? The one with his arm about Lucia? Go stand near them and listen to Lucia. Perhaps you will learn how to hold your tongue and behave. Here,” she added, grabbing a glass of champagne from Draco’s silver tray, “drink this. It will help relax you.”

Giana clutched the slender glass stem between her fingers as she walked over to the davenport where Lucia sat. There was a marble statue of a naked woman behind the davenport, and she slipped quietly behind it. She saw the man openly fondling Lucia’s breasts, and Lucia was giggling and pressing herself toward his hands. The man gave a quick yank at the material over her breasts, and a large dusky nipple came free. To Giana’s horror, the man leaned over and closed his mouth over it. She saw his tongue circling the nipple, his teeth nipping.

Giana was so surprised that she stared.

She heard Lucia say in a drawling, intimate voice, “Now, signore, you cannot take me here. Let us go upstairs.”

The man gave a groan, but rose quickly. Giana saw Lucia’s hand lightly brush over the bulge in his trousers.

She tossed down the champagne, scarcely tasting it.

She managed to stay hidden behind the statue as they walked from the salon, their bodies pressing against each other. “Well, Giana,” she heard Daniele say softly to her, “what do you think of our house of pleasure?”

“Why, it is charming, to be sure,” she said with vicious brightness.

“It pleases me that you have not lost your sense of humor.”

She looked at him as if she would have liked to wring his neck, but he only smiled.

He continued easily, “It took me a while to recognize you. The blond wig makes quite a difference, as does all the makeup. Have you spoken to Signore Salvado?”

“Oh yes.” She sneered. “He was all that is gracious. He touched me, Uncle. Here.”

He saw her hand steal protectively over her bosom. “Signore Salvado is usually quite generous with girls who please him. Did he ask for you?”

“I said I was thirsty, and he said it was a pity that I wasn’t hungry, then laughed with that other man.”

“He also thinks himself a wit. I trust you laughed.”

“It is difficult to laugh, Uncle, when one doesn’t understand the joke.”

“Well, it is only your first evening, is it not? Doubtless understanding will come in good time. Lucienne provides very pleasant surroundings, don’t you think? All her girls are lovely, well dressed, and skilled. Come now, my dear, it is time that you learn what goes on upstairs.”

Giana allowed him to take her arm, and walked stiffly beside him as he led her from the room. She heard Signore Salvado call after them, over the laughing conversation, “You old devil, Daniele. So it is you who will enjoy the little blond morsel.”

Daniele merely smiled and waved a languid hand.

“For those gentlemen who do not wish to partake of Lucienne’s girls, there are other pleasures.” He walked beside her down the long upstairs hallway, past the closed doors, to a narrow door at the end of the corridor, hidden behind a purple velvet drapery. He shoved the drapery aside, opened the door, and nudged Giana ahead of him.

The room was sma

ll, with but one sofa and two papier-mâché chairs, both set on a kind of dais, facing the far wall. There was a ceiling-to-floor brocade tapestry covering the wall, displaying nude figures at a Roman banquet.

“Come sit down, my dear,” Daniele said, waving her to one of the chairs. “I selected Lucienne’s house for several reasons, one of them this room.” He pulled a golden brocade cord and the tapestry parted in the middle. Giana found herself staring through a wide glass into the next room.

“This is the Golden Chamber. The gentlemen within know that they are being viewed, of course. From inside the room, this glass appears only as a mirror. One of science’s marvels.”

Giana forced her eyes to focus into the room. She saw that its walls were covered with heavy gold brocade draperies, the huge bed in the center of the room with heavy golden coverlets. Even the carpeting was a deep lush gold. She drew in her breath when Señor Alfredo suddenly came into view. The fat old man was naked, and beside him, smiling sweetly up at him, was an equally naked Emilie. Giana had never before seen a naked man, and her revulsion brought bitter bile into her throat. Her eyes fell from his huge belly to the limp shaft of flesh at his groin, surrounded by thick black hair.

“He is not a particularly sterling specimen of manhood,” Daniele said dryly, “but not unlike many men who grow older and have a taste for their food.”

“I cannot stand it,” Giana cried, lurching up from her chair. “It is disgusting.”

Daniele grabbed her shoulders and gently pushed her back down into her chair. “You will please sit down, Giana, and watch. Emilie is very skilled with a man such as Señor Alfredo. And open your eyes, child.”

When Giana saw Emilie again, she had moved from the bed and was kneeling in front of Señor Alfredo. She was smiling up at him, caressing his fat legs lightly, her slender hands moving slowly upward until they stroked the flesh at his groin. To Giana’s horror, Señor Alfredo pressed his hands against Emilie’s head and began to slowly sway his hips toward her in a rocking motion. Giana watched, mesmerized with shock. That was what he had meant about her mouth. Giana gagged, unable to believe that Emilie did not. She could see Señor Alfredo’s face turning florid, his mouth splitting over his clenched teeth. He tensed suddenly, and she could hear him cry out through the nearly soundless wall.