Pleasure Extraordinaire 2 (PURSUIT) (3 page)

“As if it’s slightly possible. He won’t let me be free. I’m the equivalent of a slave
to him. When I finished college and told him I wanted to found my own company, do
my own business, he told me he’d use everything in his power for me to fail and end
up on the streets if I don’t follow his steps and do as he orders. You might be under
contract with him for a year; I’m signed up for a lifetime.”

“I’d like to form my own opinion about people,” I finally say, hoping this weird conversation
will end. Now I really want his girlfriend to come and rescue me from him.

He arches an eyebrow, sizing me up and down with a critical expression playing in
his eyes and nods. “Sure, but be very careful. Make sure to not do anything beyond
what’s written on your contract, because once he sees you cave in to one thing, he
won’t stop demanding more.”

What is he talking about now? What can Michael demand from me beyond the contract?
It’s not like he’ll serve me to his business partners for their sexual pleasures.
He might have lots of money, but not that kind of power to break the laws at his will.
“I’ll keep that in mind,” I snap and turn ahead to continue watching Michael.

He’s talking about a humorous memory of him together with Chloe when she was six,
and both Chloe and Dylan are laughing at his words. That memory can’t be a lie. Chloe’s
laughter can’t be fake. Or? I thought I was good at catching when a person lies, but
I might have to reconsider my ability.

Edric appears and bows down between me and Zane to whisper something into his ear.
I can make out only the: “You’re expected on the stage,” part and look up at Zane
as he stands, pushing his chair back.

He reaches for my shoulder and not so gently squeezes it before saying, “work is waiting,”
to my ear. I watch him idly as he slowly walks away and makes it to the stage, next
to his father, his sister, his soon-to-be in-law and ... Mr. Ice.

Wait! What’s Mr. Ice doing on the stage?

He doesn’t have any place there with Michael’s family unless he’s a bodyguard or some
sort of personnel responsible for the stage equipment. Which I highly doubt, considering
the millions he must be making with his brothel business.

“Taylor, do you know the blond guy next to Michael?” I ask.

“Don’t you know? That’s Chris Hawkins. Michael’s youngest child,” Taylor informs,
and I barely tear my eyes from Mr. Ice to face Taylor.

“Are we talking about the same guy? I thought his name was Ace Preston.”

“Oh, yeah. Ace is his middle name. Preston is his deceased mother’s maiden name. According
to the rumors, Michael disowned him when he turned eighteen. That’s why Chris changed
his name to Preston. But according to the other rumors, Michael is a gay, but that
can’t be true since you’re dating him. I think Ace uses his mother’s last name to
honor her.”

“Seriously?” My head swivels back and forth between Taylor and the stage, but I can’t
find it in me to look up at Ace and Zane, the two brothers whose penises I got too
intimate with. Nothing can take away the feeling of dirtiness taking me over right
now, for sleeping with two men who came out of the same womb. It’s wrong on so many
levels, I can’t even wrap my head around how I couldn’t see it.

Watching them on the stage while they’re patting each other’s shoulders, laughing
together, and exchanging words of brotherly love in front of hundreds of people makes
my stomach revolt with disgust for letting them play with me like a fool. What kind
of sick game have they pulled me into?

Especially Ace.

He knew his brother was the escort I’d spend my Saturday afternoon with, yet still,
he didn’t refrain from massaging and fingering my privates. Now I’m sure it was all
Ace’s idea to use coconut oil on me. As Zane’s brother, he must have known about his
allergies and still smeared it all over my vagina. Deliberately lying to me about
the oil being Zane’s choice.

I have no idea why he’d do such a horrible thing to his own brother. For all I know,
they’re a bunch of spoiled brats, getting a kick out of dirty tricks, the more dangerous
the better.

Ace nearly came to killing his brother, yet now he looks at him with love and respect,
as if Zane is his best friend, his idol, his everything. The same goes for Zane and
every other member of the family. Zane was right. They’re brilliant actors, the kind
you can only see among Oscar award winners.

I feel my stomach rolling over with disgust. Perhaps lying is a common practice, even
expected in this world of money and power. Phony bodies can host phony souls only.
No one would want to see a family fighting with each other. Even if it’s just pretending,
a happy-looking group of people must be what’s required among these people. Perhaps
that’s the only thing they’re capable of perceiving. Hatred is ugly, especially against
a family member, and god forbid if the precious eyes of these wealthy and powerful
mass get exposed to the ugliness of the world.

What am I doing here? I have no place among them, yet, as if being part of their wicked
show isn’t enough, I’m pulling Taylor with me into their repulsive lives.

I want to jump up from my chair and run as fast as I can, but I shift and straighten
my dress slowly, before getting on my feet.

“Where are you going?” Taylor asks, eyeing me curiously.

“I don’t feel good,” which is true. “I think I’ll go home.”

“What do you have?” She stands with me.

“I don’t know. My stomach feels weird.”

“Oh, okay. I’ll go with you.”

I don’t decline her offer, because the faster she’s out of here with me, the less
she’ll be exposed to the poisonous air these children of evil breathe out. Adam joins
us too, and we pass among tables under the curious eyes of the guests and head to
the door.

Before we can reach the door, though, Edric shows up, grabbing my elbow. “Hey, girl.
Where are you going?” he asks with a hint of worry in his voice.

“Home. I’m not feeling good.”

“What is it? If it’s headache or stomachache, I have boxes of painkillers in the car.”

I sigh, trying to think of a credible yet honest way to convince Edric that I won’t
be able to stay for the rest of the party, but such a way is impossible to find unless
I tell him the truth. “I’ll be right back,” I say to Taylor and Adam and walk to an
isolated corner with Edric.

Edric glances around, his eyebrows pulled together, and then turns to me. “You’re
making me worried. Is it Zane? I saw you two chatting. What’d he say?”

“What didn’t he say?” I face him with frustration, biting my lower lip with anger.

“Will you finally tell me what’s going on?”

“Lots of things, but it all boils down to what a liar Michael is, that he’s just a
show, doesn’t actually care about Chloe or his other kids.”

Edric’s expression softens visibly as he glances at me. “You should take Zane’s words
about his father with grain of salt, because he’s mad at him for not retiring this
year and leaving the control of all his companies to Zane as he’d promised. Michael
might be a workaholic, but he loves his children just like any other father and would
do anything to protect them and give them the lives that only a few can afford. He
came from poverty. Because of that, I guess, he fears he or his family will go back
to those difficult days in his past. He sleeps only four hours daily. The rest of
the time is dedicated to work so his family is well off. I’ve worked for Michael for
fifteen years, and if I’d come across any misbehavior or unethical conduct from his
side, I’d resign without blinking an eye. He’s just a driven man with fantastic instincts
about money and investment. Nothing else.”

“I don’t know.” I shrug my irritation away. “You might be right. I haven’t observed
anything unusual or malicious from Michael. He has been nothing but sweet and supportive
since the day I met him.”

On the other hand, Zane took advantage of me sexually the minute he figured out I
was a client at Pleasure Extraordinaire. He’s the real poison here, not Michael. And
if it’s true that he was planning to take over Michael’s companies, he must be mightily
pissed off for having to wait longer to hold the reins of one of the most profitable
enterprises of the nation. I shouldn’t let people get into me so easily, especially
people with ulterior motives, like Zane. I’ll be better off keeping my contact with
him and his brother to a bare minimum if I want to stay sane.

“Exactly. Michael is an old soul,” Edric continues. “He has seen the world at its
worst. However, Zane grew up having everything he could think of and not having to
worry about a damn thing in his life. He can be very manipulative when he doesn’t
get what he wants. Just be very careful around him, don’t let him fill your mind with
lies, and you’ll be fine.”

“Thanks, Edric. I was feeling really down. I guess I’ll have to improve my people
skills to weed out liars.”

“It’s not an easy task, but you’ll get there eventually.”

Even though talking with Edric calms my agitated nerves, I still don’t want to stay
at the party for the rest of the evening. But I guess, in the eyes of other guests,
if I disappear before the party officially starts, that won’t look good for me as
Michael’s date, and I did promise him I’ll be his date for tonight.

When I try and explain to Taylor that I changed my mind about leaving, she looks up
at Adam, and just like that, they walk back to our table with me. It feels good to
have people who won’t complain about my ups and downs.

A few minutes after we settle back into our chairs, the servers begin bustling around
to serve our plates and drinks. The sight of the exquisite food makes me feel glad
to have changed my mind about staying.

Michael remains at the table with his children and Dylan’s parents, while an elderly
couple accompanies us at our table. I nearly come to crying when I see Taylor’s face
beam with hope as the lady with bright white hair talks about her fair share of miscarriages
before bringing five healthy kids into the world.

After the dessert, Michael spends a few minutes at our table, discussing some work-related
things about the construction project with Taylor and Adam, proving Edric correct
about his workaholic attitude for talking about work during a party dedicated to his
daughter. Then he takes me for a couple of rounds of dancing.

I let myself relax in his arms as we swirl on the dance floor, marveling at his energy
and enthusiasm. I wonder about his lover, whether he’s here among the guests, perhaps
eyeing us with jealousy and resentment for not being able to dance with the man he
loves and instead watching him in the arms of another person. Despite my curiosity,
I don’t ask Michael about his lover, not wanting to deepen his wounds. It’s his night
as a father; he should enjoy it to the full and not be reminded of what he’s missing
in his life.

I catch both Zane and Ace glaring at us more than a couple of times, but ignore their
glowers. They’re nothing but two lost souls, taking extra pleasure from using people
for their satisfaction without caring about if they hurt them in the process or not.

I figure the best way to take revenge on egotistical brats is to behave as if they
don’t exist and that their presence is no more significant than that of nonliving
things. So, I just do exactly that. Whenever my eyes get caught with Zane’s, I laugh
loudly at something Michael says and turn my gaze back to Michael, brushing off my
thrumming heartbeats. If I accidentally encounter Ace’s death glint on me, I make
it my purpose to not spend more than a few seconds before I land my eyes on something
more interesting, say the empty glasses on a table or even the creamy texture of the
walls, making sure to not display any emotion on my face.

Yet, my ploy seems to have its limits, because when Ace comes forth and requests the
next dance from Michael—and Michael happily complies—I can’t keep my regard emotionless
and distant. Not when he’s so close and exhaling his hot breath on my face. Not when
he’s holding my hand so tightly as if promising me he’ll never let me go. Not when
the grip of his fingers on my hip sends jolts of electricity all over my body.

Ahh, fuck the Hawkins brothers. I was more satisfied with my life before them, without
having any man in my life, than now with two men attempting to get me on all fours
at the first opportunity.

“Have you sworn off talking to me?” Ace asks after a long minute of silence.

“I usually keep my interaction with liars to the bare minimum,” I retort, scowling
to channel my loathing to him, and it seems it’s working because his usually blank
face is beaming with a hint of uneasiness. Good.

“I didn’t lie to you.”

I roll my eyes in effect, dropping my gaze to his chest to keep my boiling anger in
control, for if I continue looking at his hypocritical face, I might just throw up.

“I deserve some benefit of doubt,” he claims.

“Not when someone came close to getting hurt because of you.”

“What can I do to make you believe that it wasn’t my idea to apply coconut on you,
and I just did what was requested?”

I shake my head and shrug my shoulders. “It’s a hopeless case for you because there’s
nothing you can do to make me believe you unless you prove it. If you can’t, I suggest
you not tire yourself with empty words.”

“Look at me. Look at my eyes.” He pulls his hand that’s holding my hip and reaches
for my chin to lift my gaze up at his face. “It’s not the first time Zane had a client
over at PE. In fact, he’s been working as an external contractor for longer than three
months, and I’ve done nothing to sabotage his work or his health. I’d never do anything
dangerous to my employees, not even if he’s the brother I have and hate.” His eyebrows
rise and his eyes grow with sadness, or something that resembles it, and I wish my
instincts are correct and he’s being honest with me. But how can I trust my hunch
about him or his family anymore, now that I know they’re better than professional
actors when it comes to deceiving others?