Page 101 of House of Scarlett
Of all thetimes not to have enough cash on hand to do what I need to do ...Fuck.It kills me that Harlow and her husband are over there bidding on something for my woman, but I’ll owe them a huge debt of gratitude if they can manage to snag it from beneath that rich bitch’s nose.
“That’s Lucy,” Harlow whispers to me as a black-haired woman sits at a table next to ours after the waitstaff start moving through the room with salads. “Just in case you need to know who to kill.”
Harlow’s humorless suggestion knocks an idea loose in my head halfway through dinner. It’s not a good one. Scarlett would fucking kill me for even thinking about it. But ... if it works and no one ever finds out, what’s the harm?
I wait for my chance while trying to pay attention to the conversations happening around the table. Scarlett’s not too talkative, so no one really notices when I’m not either.
When Lucy gets up and makes her way across the ballroom in the direction of the restroom, I seize the opportunity.
“I’ll be right back,” I tell Scarlett as I rise and excuse myself from the table.
Before she can ask where I’m going, I’m moving on the same path Lucy Byers took.
Outside the ballroom doors, there are several people talking on cell phones and socializing in the lobby area. I scan around for Lucy, but she’s not there.
Fuck.
I spot the bathrooms and slip around the corner to wait. It only takes a few minutes before the black-haired woman emerges.
I charge forward, like I’m heading back to the ballroom, and deliberately knock into her side. “Oh shit. I’m so sorry, ma’am. I wasn’t watching where I was going. Forgive me for plowing you over.”
Her expression is pinched and bitchy until she gets a look at my face. Then it’s a completely different story, just like I was banking on. From the unconcealed hunger in her gaze, Lucy Byers is one of those rich bitches who gets a charge from walking on the wild side with a man they consider dangerous. Her words confirm it.
“Oh no, no need to apologize. I wasn’t paying attention either. If I had been, then how could I have possibly missed seeing the infamous Gabriel Legend?”
I flash her a smile that takes every bit of my energy to make it seem real. “I’m afraid you have me at a disadvantage, Miss ...”
“I would never be at your disadvantage, Mr. Legend.” She holds out her hand. “I’m Lucy, and I’ve been meaning to get out to your club to meet you.”
“I don’t spend much time on the floor, Lucy. So it’d be a long shot. Better we’re meeting here where no one will think twice about you talking to a guy in a suit.”
Her gaze drops to my toes and drags up my body, and I feel fucking disgusting letting her look.This is for Scarlett, I remind myself.
“This is a little too public for what I have in mind, Mr. Legend.”
“Damn, you’re direct.”
She flashes me another smile that makes my skin crawl. “I know what I want, and what I want isyou.I can give you things that Scarlett doesn’t even know exist. She’s a Goody Two-shoes. Everyone knows it.”
“Then what are you?”
Lucy plumps her lips into a pout and leans forward until I’m enveloped by a cloud of her sickly sweet perfume. It reminds me of the time a working girl in Biloxi told me I could make a fortune standing on the corner with her, and I ran the other way as fast as humanly fucking possible. I was fourteen.
“I’ll be whatever you want me to be. Scarlett never has to know.”
With everything in me screaming in protest, I wink at her. “I like the sound of that, but you gotta do something for me.”
“I’ll doanythingfor you.”
She brushes her tits up against my chest, and I fight the urge to gag as I take her hand and lift it to my mouth like I’m going to press a kiss to the back of it, but I can’t make myself do it. Instead, I lower it carefully as I speak.
“Good. Then you’ll let that necklace of Scarlett’s mom’s go, or you and I will never see each other again.”
Her eyes narrow. “Are you serious? That’s your price?”
I nod slowly, waiting for this to blow up in my face. But it doesn’t.
“Fine. I won’t bid on it again, but I want your promise that you’re going to make mescreamyour name next time we’re together.”
