Gifted Connections 4

She grabbed a dress and threw it over her shoulders. Then she grabbed another one and contemplated it for several moments before she threw it in another direction. “Yes!” she squealed.

She came over to me with a seafoam-green dress that was just a wisp of fabric. “You have to wear this.” When I stared at her in stunned silence, she put her hands on her hips. “Off with it. I’ve seen plenty of titties and ass. You don’t have anything I haven’t seen before.”

“I like my dress,” I said slightly affronted.

“Come now,” she eyed me. “I know Jeeves gave you guys a pretty penny and you signed a contract. I want you to be my muse tonight.”

I sighed heavily. I didn’t really believe that she could fire Troy’s team, especially this close to her party but was it really worth causing waves over it? I started to slip off my dress.

She gasped as she eyed my gun. “I thought you were just eye candy for the men. You work with them?” Her eyes narrowed. “You can’t be more than twenty. How did you get in with such a reputable company? Do you even know how to use that thing?”

I didn’t bother correcting her about my age, instead I laughed. “I assure you, I am more than capable of using it, and I’m more than just a window dressing. I got in with my…talent.”

“Badass!” she smiled. “Now, on with it.”

I slipped on the dress, and the stretchy fabric fit me like a second skin across my breasts. The top was made of a lacy material, and was nearly see-through and as whimsical as the woman who created it. The dress was sleeveless with a gold clasp on my shoulders connecting the front and back. The front cut low to the top of my waist, and the back cut all the way down to my hips. The skirt was a gossamer fabric that twirled around my legs, ending at mid-thigh, and as I walked, it shimmered and changed colors like a mermaid’s tail.

I looked at myself in the mirror, and I had to admit I liked it—loved it, even. I didn’t feel like I was dressing in my mother’s gown. It felt younger yet elegant. The fabric revealed my form almost perfectly, and the lace bodice covered all the right places while still showing enough skin to entice.

The guys were going to go wild. I smiled.

“Did your pops abuse you, or your man?” she asked bluntly as she adjusted the back of my dress.

I stiffened. “Neither.”

“My real dad did.” She snorted. “You can’t fool another damaged girl,” she stated as she went over to one of her workstations and withdrew a tube. “This is costume make up. It can cover all your cigarette burns like magic.”

She began to rub it over the scars on my back.

“It was my stepmom and some of her boyfriends,” I murmured as I saw the same shadows in her eyes that I carried at times. That explained her over-the-top behavior. People like us were either withdrawn or cautious, and sometimes, we were overly outgoing so no one could see the demons that lurked below. No one suspected the funny, outgoing one to ever battle the darkness. Darkness didn’t have a face. It had many faces.

“My dad pimped

me out. Did your stepmom?” she asked.

I wanted to tell her it was none of her business, but I sensed her need to relate to someone. “No, but she looked the other way when her boyfriends showed me too much interest.”

“I made sure to gather all my evidence, and I turned his ass in when I was fourteen. I was placed with Ma and Da. Best people ever.” She twirled around her workspace. “I wouldn’t have this if it wasn’t for them pushing me. I paid off their house last year, and when they’re ready to retire they can live well above comfortable for the rest of their lives.”

I smiled at her. “My story is a bit more complicated, but I wasn’t rescued until I was seventeen.” She didn’t need to know that it was less than three months ago (not counting the jump back in time) that I was seventeen.

She gaped at me. “Why did you stick around for so long?”

“I have a sister,” I defended myself.

She nodded. “The system would have failed her too. You did the right thing, by protecting her.”

“I wish I could have protected her more,” I murmured.

We found the guys walking around the building. Aaron, one of the other guys, had his dog Jake running around, casing the perimeter.

“I said no dogs, Jeeves!” Anna cried plaintively.

“You won’t even know we’re here when your guest arrives,” Aaron hastily reassured her. “We just want to make sure everything is safe for you and your guests.”

“It’s New Year’s Eve! Everyone is happy. I had a few threatening phone calls, that’s it. And this person won’t have the balls to attack me at my own party,” Anna insisted.

“Your father and mother requested it,” Jeeves stated with a patient look.