Wife (Betrothed 1)

I sat in the armchair once more and sipped the scotch I’d been enjoying the night before. The sun would rise in a few hours and I was exhausted, but after the night I’d had, I didn’t want it to end.

There had been only one time in my life when I didn’t wear a condom…and it was with her.

How could I ever go back?

My phone started to ring from my pants on the floor. I fished it out, saw Damien’s name on the screen, and answered it. It was four in the morning, so he would only call me at this hour if it was important. “What?”

“You sound wide awake.”

“I’m always awake.”

“Really?” he countered. “Because you didn’t show up to work a couple days ago because—”

“What do you want, Damien?”

He dropped the argument and turned serious. “Maddox wants a meeting.”

“Why?”

“He wants to renegotiate territory.”

Maddox was my biggest competitor. His product was similar to mine but not quite as pure. If he had the chance to take me out, he would. I’d do the same to him. We were enemies, bloodthirsty for each other’s corpse. He was a decade older than me, and when I came into the game, he didn’t take me seriously. Considered me to be a child. But I rose in power overnight and pulled territory from directly under his feet. It started a war, battles lost on both sides, and there was no end in sight. “Not gonna happen.”

“Just passing along the message. Do I deny his request?”

“I have nothing to say to him. This is my territory. He can take his business elsewhere.”

Damien accepted my decision. “Alright…but there will be consequences.”

“I’d judge him if there weren’t.”

8

Sofia

I stood at the counter in the lobby of the hotel, waiting for time to pass so my shift would end. I was grateful I had a job because it paid my bills and got me an apartment a few blocks away. After I moved in, I’d finally get some independence back.

Wouldn’t have to do the walk of shame right in front of my mother.

It was just another receptionist and me since it was late at night. After seven in the evening, people didn’t enter the lobby unless it was the weekend and they’d spent the night out on the town. So when I saw a group of men walk in, all wearing suits, it was odd.

There was one clearly in the lead, wearing a dark blue suit. With a rigid back and a cold demeanor, he entered the hotel with a clear purpose, marching across the lobby under the chandeliers, and heading toward the lounge. I didn’t know every single guest staying at the hotel, but I usually could surmise their purpose. Businessmen were there during the day, sometimes meeting a client for lunch. Businessmen in the evening were usually having an affair with a woman half their age while their pregnant wife waited for them to come home.

These men didn’t fit into either category.

They entered the lounge then disappeared.

Since this was my hotel, I was naturally nosy, so I took a break from my desk to see what they were up to. The lounge was down the hall and in the corner, where there were huge windows that showed the entire street. I stepped inside and noticed similarly dressed men already sitting at a table in the center of the lounge—and no one was around.

The air felt heavy, like I’d stepped into a meeting I wasn’t part of.

I lingered there for a moment but couldn’t make out the conversation. They were speaking too quietly.

The bartender wasn’t even there.

What was going on?

One man in the corner noticed me. He stared at me for a while, his eyes narrowed as if he was the school bully and I was his next target. “Can we help you?”

All heads turned my way. Smoke from their cigars drifted to the ceiling, and their glasses of booze rested next to their hands. They must have helped themselves to the bar as if they could do whatever they wanted. My first impulse was to say something sassy, like usual, but my gut told me that wasn’t a good idea.

That my life depended on it.

“I noticed there wasn’t a bartender. Do you guys need anything?”

The guy who interrogated me dropped his guard slightly. “We’re good, honey. Run along now.”

Honey?

Run along now?

It took all my strength to turn around and walk away. But I knew I was making the right call.

The second I walked in the door, I slipped off my heels so I wouldn’t have to wear them a moment longer. Heels and stairs didn’t go together, so that was a problem I wanted to avoid. If my feet had lips, they’d be screaming in relief right now.

My mother appeared out of the shadows…because she was a damn gargoyle. “Home at a reasonable hour… That’s a nice change.”