UNTOUCHED (Midwest Alphas) (Book 1) (36 page)

“Let’s go, Gabby,” I say as I lay a hand on her arm.

She sighs. “Fine.”

We continue walking down the street. Gabby’s heels click the pavement harder than mine. “This is such bullshit!” she growls. “Five clubs and not one of them will let us in.”

“Well, can you blame them?” I ask. “You still have baby fat in your cheeks.”

“This isn’t funny, Alice,” she seethes as she jerks her face in my direction. “God, this is so humiliating! And I’m
freaking freezing
!” She wraps her bare arms around her chest and I feel vindicated in taking the dress with sleeves.

I shrug my shoulders. “There are plenty of places we can get into,” I point out. “And it’s only ten.”

“I don’t want
to go to one of
those
places. I want to go to one of
these
places.”

“Then what do you suggest?”

She pauses and takes a deep breath. Her toe taps lightly against the sidewalk while she chews her bottom lip in concentration. I can see the wheel spinning inside her head, a look I’ve become all to familiar with as she concocts her rebellious schemes.

And just as suddenly as it began, her eyebrow flicks up like a light switch.

“I know…” she mutters.

She keeps me waiting as her eyes scan the street around us.

“What?” I ask, the suspense tickling my toes.

“I think we’ve been thinking a little too
inside
the box on this one,” she muses. “Bars and clubs aren’t the only place to go when you want to party.”

“Okay…” I say, “and…?”

She bobs her head, gesturing upward with her eyes. I follow her gaze and crane my neck as my eyes travel higher and higher, stopping only when they reach the top of the skyscraper. I read the name silently to myself: Botsford Plaza.

“A hotel?” I ask.

Her smile splits from ear-to-ear. “My cousin used to tell me about all the
crazy shit
she used to do at fancy hotels like this one.”

“Like… order room service at three in the morning?”

She rolls her eyes. “Follow me,” she says as she wraps her arm around mine, locking us together as she struts towards the entrance.

The doorman stares at us with a raised nose, but eventually grips the door handle and lets us through without uttering a single word. It’s the first victory of the night and a surge of adrenaline courses through me.

“Oh, my…” Gabby moans as our eyes study our new and exquisite surroundings.

The hotel lobby shines with walls plated with gold trim and sleek, black leather furniture arranged purposefully about the room. The elevators glow as golden boxes in each corner. The staff don elegant black suits and dresses, embroidered with a shade of gold along every seam. Luxury is the word and it’s not a word I’ve had the pleasure of experiencing in my brief lifetime.

I glance at Gabby. Her mouth sits open in awe while her brown eyes reflect specks of gold. I wonder whether or not I appear just as silly.

“Looks like they’re having a party,” Gabby says as she points a finger. I stare straight ahead. Just after the reception desk, far away from the groups of people in cocktail gowns and tuxedos drinking champagne, lies a large set of black doors at the far side of the lobby.

Three doormen stand guard in front of them with perfect posture. The man in the center carries a golden clipboard. All of them scan the crowd, frowning, no doubt taking their jobs very, very seriously.

“Let’s go!” Gabby whispers at me as she pulls me through the lobby.

My heart races more and more with each step. There’s no way we’ll get through those doors, but I don’t have the heart to crush her dreams. It will be the same story as before. And yet, this time, as the black doors travel closer to me, and the eyes of those passing by flick in our direction, a keen sense of dread grows inside of me.

We’re not welcome here.

“I’m sorry, ladies,” the man with the clipboard says. He holds up his hand to stop us in our tracks before we even make it to the doors. He’s much shorter than the other men, who were obviously hired as muscle to stop exactly what Gabby and I are attempting to do. “It’s a private party. Please return to the main lobby.”

Gabby licks her lips and sticks her chest out. “Well, I’m sure there’s been some kind of mistake. We were invited.”

“By whom?” he asks with a raised eyebrow.

My eyes bounce between him and the two other men. They’re all twitchy, as if we are the first bit of action they’d had all night. Their fingers dance against their thighs, just hoping for us to cause a scene so they can bounce us out onto the street.

“Wow, you have
no idea
who we are, do you?” Gabby raises her little voice, drawing the eyes of those around us. “This is
ridiculous
. I have
never
been treated this badly here before!”

I dig my nails into her arm as I watch the guards crack their knuckles. The celebrity routine didn’t work at the last two places she tried it and it certainly isn’t working now.

“Please,” the man sighs. “Turn around and exit the building now, or I will have you removed.” His voice is stiff, like he’s rehearsed the line in front of the mirror countless times. But it’s no joke to him. His eyes show every bit of his intent to cast us out.

“There you two are!”

A new voice carries above the dull hum of the lobby. It scratches down my back, sending deep shivers across my skin. A hand falls onto my shoulder. I look up to find out who it is.

He’s older than us by a decade, possibly two. And handsome.
Extremely
handsome, with features I’ve only ever seen before on statues carved out in Ancient Greece. Black hair. Forest green eyes. A sleek, black suit. His eyes bounce from Gabby’s face, then over to mine. “I’ve been looking
everywhere
for you two!” He flashes me a subtle wink that shoots a sudden tremor through my knees. “You’re missing the party!”

“You know these girls, sir?” He asks it with a ludicrous tone, as if he already knows the answer.

“Of course I do!” He shifts behind our backs, his height towering above us, and reaches over to set his other hand on Gabby’s shoulder while keeping a firm hold on mine. “These are my guests!”

“They are not on the guest list, sir, nor are there any free slots,” the clipboard man states with rolling eyes. “They were not invited and unless I hear otherwise from
the owner
, I can’t let them in.”

“Well, I just so happen to have
the owner
right over here—” He turns and his hand drops off Gabby’s shoulder, but he keeps his grip on me. “Oh, Ian!”

He shouts across the lobby towards the sitting area next to the reception desk. Another man leans over a leather chair with one foot propped against an ottoman. His attentions lie on the woman in a green dress sitting before him, locked on her youthful face. He’s tall, clad in a deep blue suit, with blond hair brushed back over his eyes. His cheeks are pink and I get the feeling the drink in his hand is not his first of the night.

“What?” he asks without even a glance in our direction.

“There’s room for two more, right?”

“Sure, why not?”

He squeezes my shoulder as he turns back around to grin at the clipboard man. “Well, there you have it,” he smirks. “Straight from
the owner’s
lips.”

The clipboard man cocks his head and turns to the side. “Have a good night,” he mutters without emotion. He gives a nod to the muscle behind him and they open the black doors.

“Let’s go, ladies,” he whispers into our ears. “The night is still as young as you are.”

Gabby beams and immediately takes a step forward into the black doors, but I stand frozen in place. I want to move, but I can’t bring my muscles to function. I feel trapped, unable to budge without his strict instruction to do so.

“After you, my darling.”

I glance up at him again with shaking eyes. A smile sits on his lips. I take control of my feet and follow Gabby inside.

Just as we enter, the doors slam closed behind us. The golden safety of the lobby abandons me as I’m lead into perfect darkness.

I shudder with fear as my eyes adjust.

“Gabby?”

She doesn’t answer. I can’t see her.

I feel a strong hand on my back. It pushes me forward through the dark curtains and onto the main floor.

I had expected champagne and caviar. Maybe a string quartet. Or men in suits chatting about the stock market while the women admire each other’s shoes.

Twelve cages in total line the walls of the room. Young women sit inside ten of them. A beam of light shoots down from the ceiling above each cage, providing the only illumination for the entire room. The girls are young, not much older than myself, each one wearing nothing but a red bikini made of silk and a blindfold to match.

A few dozen men stand around the room. They drink and admire the girls, none of them talking above a whisper to each other.

My eyes land on the fishbowls, one sitting on a pedestal before each cage, filled to the brim with folded up slips of paper.

I finally lock eyes with Gabby.

“We have to leave,” I say to her. I wrap my shaking fingers around her elbow. “We shouldn’t be here.”

She looks at me with wide eyes, like a child in a candy store.

“What’s the matter, ladies?” He slinks in behind me, his body cloaked in shadows.

I flinch at the sound of his voice. “I… uh…” My voice shakes and fades off into the thick, warm air.

“It’s called the Blind Girl Party,” he explains. He rests his hand against my back once more and slowly pushes me towards the first cage. As he steps back in front of us, his hand slips into his pocket and he withdraws a rather expensive looking pen.

We come to a stop in front of the fish bowl. The light strikes his face, sending shadows down one side of him.

“If you want to take the girl home, you write your name on a slip of paper and toss it into her bowl.” He slides the lid off the pen and jots his name down on the notepad at the pedestal. “At the end of the night,” he continues as he tears the paper free, “she reaches inside and lets fate decide the victor.” He pauses for effect, his green eyes jumping between us at the right moments. “You can enter your name into as many bowls as you please.”

He takes the freshly folded paper and tosses it into the bowl. His hand lingers inside and he swishes the papers about, burying his own deep down.

“What happens if more than one girl chooses your name?” Gabby asks.

He smiles. “Then you go home one very,
very
lucky man.”

Gabby nods her head and looks around the room. “Sounds like fun,” she says.

I, on the other hand, taste bile in my throat. “Why would they do this to themselves?” I ask.

“What do you mean?” he asks with curious eyes. I flinch as he reaches out and snatches a glass from waiter’s tray as it passes by in the darkness.

“Isn’t it a bit… degrading?”

Gabby scoffs at me and crosses her arms. “Madame Killjoy strikes again.”

“No, she has a point…” His eyes never stray from mine. “I assure you, every girl is here because they chose to be. They find their own pleasures in it — even if it is simply to be taken home by a millionaire.”

Gabby leans in with wide eyes. “Is everyone here a millionaire?” she asks quickly.

“Gabby
…
”
I mutter at her.

“No,” he answers her, smirking. “Some are billionaires. Like me.”

Her eyes dance around the room. She can’t contain her excitement any more than I can hide my disgust.

“Why are they blindfolded?” I ask.

He steps closer to the cage and I follow him without thinking. “Have you ever been blindfolded?” He questions me as he reaches between the bars. His fingers glide along the girl’s thigh. She twitches at his touch and her blonde hair slides over her shoulders as she jerks her head in his direction. He continues his trek along her milky skin and she coos in excitement, her body shaking.

“No,” I answer truthfully.

“There are great pleasures to be found everywhere in this world…” He continues to admire the girl in the cage. “But the best of them can be found in the most unexpected of ways… when you’re completely in the dark.” He withdraws his hand, but keeps his eyes on the girl’s face as she contorts with desire.

“Wouldn’t that be more frightening than sexy?” I ask.

He looks down at me with amusement. “Some people
like
to be scared,” he replies. “Don’t you?”

“No.”

“Well…” He takes a sip of his drink. “I guess this will all boil down to that old saying of
‘don’t knock it ‘til you try it.’
”

I tear my eyes away from him and turn to look at Gabby. My heart skips. She’s gone.

“Gabby?” My eyes dart in all directions. “Where did she go?” I ask him, thinking that he may have seen her walk away.

“What’s your name?” he asks me, ignoring my question.

I shake my head. “Gabby?” I call again.

“What’s your name?” he repeats.

“It’s Alice—” I say, panic rising in my breast. “Where’s Gabby?”

“She went to have some fun.” He reaches down and places a hand on my wrist. “Maybe you should, too.”

I pull my arm away. “I have to find her.” I break free of him and attempt to navigate the crowd alone. It’s a room full of men. It shouldn’t be too difficult to locate one girl.

After a minute of searching, I let out a deep sigh.

“Alice…”

My body reacts to his voice with a chill that bleeds down my spine, teasing me to lose control. I long to hear him say it again, relishing in the way he keeps it on his tongue for longer than necessary.

I squint up at him to find his green eyes bearing down on me from nearly a foot higher. Once he has my eyes, he gestures behind me and points my attentions higher than the floor.

“Gabby!” I shout.

She stands in the center of a cage at the far side of the room. Her short, black dress has vanished, leaving behind nothing but her strapless bra and panties. I rush over to her, searching the floor around the cage for her dress, which is nowhere to be found.