Scorned (18 page)

I was going to go down in history as the ignoramus woman who let something so amazing go—setting it free without realizing what she’d had. Entranced and clearly out of focus, it was too late when I realized that Callum was right next to me, staring at his friend before looking at me.

“Huh.” His dark eyes narrowed, as if solving a puzzle. “It was you, wasn’t it? Four days.
That was you?
”

I stood still, not responding at all.

Callum cupped my elbow, pushing me forward. “Come on, he won’t bite—much.”

I knew he was teasing, but seriously, this wasn’t the time to joke about such subjects. “He has a girlfriend now. Why would he bite my head off?”

Callum halted, stopping us from walking before he faced me. “A man could shag hundreds of women and may never remember their names and faces, but ask a man who broke his heart and he’d tell you all about it in grave detail. A man
always
remembers.”

He and I paved our way towards our friends when I felt
his
gaze train on me. Gathering courage, I made a small effort to smile and greet him. “Hi.”

Dimitris just looked me up and down, continued to drink and looked away as if I wasn’t there at all.

I see how it is
, I thought with seething anger.

“Let’s go dance!” Trista pulled Emma and me aside before she whistled at Jacques. “Frenchie! We need you for a bit.” Ha! They’d only met a day and Trista had the audacity to whistle at Jacques. She was the boss!

Jacques led the way towards the ballroom that was apparently turned into a nightclub for the occasion. I was beyond awed as I scrutinized the Frescoes that were painted all over the hallways from wall to ceiling. It was magnificently awe-inspiring.

The sexy Frenchman nodded his head. “The regular party is through here.
This one
.” Jacques pointed towards the velvet red double doors. “Never go in there unless you want to participate in an orgy,
me comprenez-vous?
”

“We have boyfriends, Jacques,” Trista answered Jacques before guiding us towards a large hubbub of partygoers.

Emma and Trista were busy on their phones while Jacques was pulled away towards the other side of the room. “What are you smiling about?” I yelled into Emma’s ear loud enough for her to hear me since the house music was thumping loudly around us.

She showed me the screen, a message from Bass.
Don’t party too hard and forget you have a man waiting for you back home. Please be safe. I’ll see you in a few days. Love you.

Freaking Bass, I bet he was pissing on himself with worry, but I had to hand it to him, even though it was obvious that he’d rather lock Emma somewhere, he was at least trying to let her have a life without him, without demanding her give up everything to be with him. I liked that.

“Remember Golden BC amongst the hot Italian men,
capisce?
” I wiggled my brows at her. “I’m going to get some drinks. Oh, lookie—Jacques is on his way here. I’ll scan for you folks later, k?” I asked Trista and Emma, who agreed without ado.

I liked how Italians partied. It was very lavish, outrageously extravagant, yet done with class. Most of all, they enjoyed sex without apology for their blatant love of sexuality.

I wasn’t really aiming for a drink. Instead, I headed towards that velvet door. Heck yes, I was curious and what better way to go than being in a room amongst the creative folks, hmm?

Now, about that red door…

~Dimitris~

Athens

“I heard you weren’t coming? Are you too good for us now, Kosta?” Luca de Medici asked without even greeting me when he answered the telephone.

Life’s changed for me since my father wanted to retire in a year, so that meant lots of travelling, meetings, late night dinners, galas and being constantly on my feet. It was not a joke and frankly, it was a nice distraction. “Pure and utter bull. I have to go to Malaysia. Life is not about fun and games anymore, my friend.”

Luca snorted, thinking that I was full of it. “We’re going to have The Velvet Door open. Since the guests are only by invitation, it should go off without a hitch. Emma and her friends are coming. You sure you don’t want to join us?”

Velvet room… I think my heart had lodged in my throat when I managed to croak out, “What friends?”

“I believe Trista and Lindsey. I invited them to stay at the palazzo, but they insisted on staying at a hotel. I’m meeting them in Malpensa in an hour.”

I grunted, knowing how those girls were. They were probably curious and would venture out around the area.

Luca laughed, irritating me further. “Are they as hot as Emma?”

Dammit
, fuck no. “I don’t remember. Listen, I’ve got to go. I’ll see what I can do about Malaysia.” I bid him goodbye before cutting the call. My mind had left me in complete and utter disorder.

She was going to be in Milan in an hour… a quick, three-hour ride, give or take…

I pressed on my temples, trying to calm myself. “No, don’t even think about it!” I muttered, talking to myself.

Something about hearing Lindsey’s name reminded me of the file that was in my computer. It was her cellphone videos and pictures. I had never seen what was inside the files, but now, I was curious. Call it an act of needing persuasion to stomp the meddling thoughts my heart was provoking, however I was hoping that there might be something in there that would make me hate her some more, so I could just go to Malaysia without hesitation.

Looking through them, there were a lot of pictures of her and the girls—nothing of Brody. I was about to go back and browse through her videos when one picture stood out, freezing me for a second. Leaning over my laptop screen, I saw a picture of me—looking at something, distracted. Maybe that’s why I never saw her take it. What really took my absolute attention, though, was the name she had on the picture,
o sýzygós mou
. My husband.

I found an answer to my earlier predicament, but now, more questions had arisen.

~D~

It was irrational and irresponsible of me to bow out and suspend my trip to Malaysia until next week, but who said a fallen man had a rational way of thinking? At first, I was mostly convinced that I could drop by, get a glimpse of her and then leave. That, of course, didn’t last long after I found her, still looking gorgeously breathtaking. What caught me off guard was when I saw Callum whispering into her ear. Of all the men to get her claws into, she had to choose a friend of mine?

When she finally greeted me, I couldn’t even utter a word because I was fuming inside. Dismissing her was rude, but at the same time, could she blame me? Even though I was talking and engaging with other people, I knew where she was at all times. With the way she was dressed and the fact that she was drunk, I wouldn’t be surprised if she did something crazy.

I was beyond furious with her, but at the same time, I wanted to drag her to the nearest flat surface and have my way with her body.

Nothing had changed, it seemed.

Chapter 24

I entered a darkened room; velvet everywhere except for the black marbled flooring. The hallway was lined with large ceramic bowls with rose petals, candles and small torches as the hallway opened up to a large four-rectangular grotto with women bathing each other in a pool, slowly caressing their breasts as they washed each other.

I could already hear moans of pleasure echoing everywhere. Jacques wasn’t kidding when he warned us about this place.

Mother hell, where am I? I definitely wasn’t in America
, I thought, aroused as I saw a woman against a bench, bending over as the guy pummeled her while she snorted a line of coke, past caring about anything else.

Drugs around? Hell, I need to score some weed
, I declared silently as I scanned for the place to get them. When I got to another corner, I found what I needed.

There were a lot of drugs around. I saw them on a table, like giveaway candy. BUT, I couldn’t find weed. “What kind of a kinky party is this without weed?” I complained out loud to no one in particular. Fuck, I needed to calm down before I went crazy. Weed used to help once in a blue moon.

“Is this the place where you really want to be…
fucked?
” Dimitris growled into my ear.

Ah, fuck. What was he doing here, anyway?

What a double standard douche. What did he know? Maybe I just wanted to watch people do it. “Why ask when you already know?” I arched my brow at him before looking away, dismissing him.

“I see. Once a slut, always a slut, isn’t that what they say?” Dimitris grit the question out, his angry tone made me want to prove to him that maybe I was.

Maybe I was just like my mother, just like what Uncle Brandon had said. When it came to me, drunk and thinking about the past wasn’t a great combo, but something about what Dimitris said simply made me feel like I was a slut. A lot of people thought I’d slept with a ton of men—okay, maybe five men—but who cared? I flirt and kiss a lot of men—tons—I suppose I was an oral slut more than anything.

“Watch me be a slut before your very eyes. Do you want me to suck another man in front of you? Or better yet, do you want me to suck him while you fuck me? Take your pick; I’m giving you sixty seconds to decide.” I knew I was daring him, but I had so much anger in me, I just wanted it to disappear while I rutted something good—even if it’d only last for a few minutes.

“You wouldn’t fucking dare! I’m going to kill you if you do something stupid like that!” Dimitris’s words were ringing in my ear. It was sad that I could still get turned on by this man, even if he was spouting the meanest, ugliest things to me.

It wasn’t the words that pushed me really. It was the way he sounded… possessive; almost as if I was still his. He had Claudine. I had no one because the guy I had chosen pricked into my ex-best friend’s virginity a year after he took Cece’s and then never owned up to it. Everyone could just go to hell. I didn’t care anymore.

Steeling myself, I yanked my arm from his strong hold. “Watch me.”

Not looking back, I strutted with shaky legs yet with steel determination. “Everyone can just go fuck themselves!” I muttered under my breath, eyes scanning the throng of people getting their groove on.

There’s my meat
, I thought as I found the guy who I wanted to mess around with. He definitely was Italian and I needed to get my fix as soon as I saw him light a nice roll, dressed from head to foot in designer clothes. “Feel like sharing?” I came onto him, my palm on his chest, slowly sliding it down with my eyes trained on him. I knew when my powers were working and I could see that this man was going to be putty in my hands.

“
Sí
… I’d like to share…” the Italian whispered, eyes glued to my lips, entranced. “You’re very beautiful, carina.” He then put the rolled up ganja to my lips, watching me in fascination as I sucked on it, inhaling the smoke, holding it before blowing it into his face. “Do you want more?” he asked in a husky voice.

Biting my lip, I nodded. “Yes, I want more.” The Italian let me take a few hits of his prime blunt before getting his hands on me. At that point, the weed worked its way into my system, making me feel deliriously good, so good that I hadn’t cared if Dimitris was around here, probably watching me from afar.

The thought of him in here at all got me furious again. Focusing on the Italian man, my hand slowly went further south, feeling his hardened groin as I gradually lowered the zipper down. I heard him hiss above my forehead when he knew I was about to take his shaft out.

In the blink of an eye, I felt my arm being yanked incredibly hard, I thought it was being torn from my body. “If you want to live, you had better get the fuck out of here before I get someone to kill you. Get the fuck out!” Dimitris screamed at the guy before he saw him scram towards a group of people, heading towards the exit.

Dimitris was cursing in Greek as he grabbed onto the back of my neck and my arm, pushing me towards somewhere, probably to give me a lecture about indecency. He made a left turn and took me to a room full of couples watching a woman on her knees with a man plowing her from behind while another man’s dick was in her mouth. The woman was in a frenzied state, wild like a pure nympho.