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Valentine turns on his heel without another word and drags me back toward the elevator, Dante keeping step close behind.
I close my eyes the moment the elevator doors close behind us, in an effort to keep myself from passing out.
“What the bloody hell do you think you’re doing?” Dante growls, forcing me to open my eyes as he steps threateningly toward Valentine.
“Whatever do you mean?”
It doesn’t take a genius to tell by the way Valentine says this that he’s trying to egg Dante on.
“Bringing Evi to a place like this, and then refusing the VIP room. What are you playing at?”
“I’m simply proving to you, and everyone else, that Evelyn ismineto do with as I please,” Valentine says.
The elevator lurches, and I’m forced to close my eyes to keep myself from passing out as we begin the long ascent. Though, my mind does an excellent job trying to scare me as I imagine myself falling through the glass floor to my death far below.
“By gambling with her life?” Dante hisses.
I don’t have a chance to hear what Dante means by this as the elevator slows, and the doors slide open before Valentine can respond. I peek through my lashes, careful not to let myself look down into the depths below.
“Welcome back,” Horatio says with a small bow and wave of his hand. “Please, right this way.”
Valentine steps out of the elevator and I follow after him as quickly as I can in the teetering heels. We’re led up the spiral staircase to the second floor where other guests have settled on chairs and lounges around a large empty area in the center of the room.
Horatio leads us to the back of the room where a huge leather armchair has been set against the back wall, two smaller chairs placed on either side of it.
“Watch this,” Horatio says excitedly, signaling to one of his men across the room.
Panels suddenly pull back from the wall behind the armchair and all along the sides and dome of the room, as the room lights up with a soft blue glow.
I can’t help the gasp that escapes me as I take in the underwater scene surrounding the room from nearly all sides.
Just like that, a new fear has been unlocked. My chest tightens as I struggle to maintain control of my breathing.
I guess I’m not one for heights or depths.
Keep it together, Evelyn. The room’s design is the least of your worries right now.
I know this is true, but I can’t stop the panic from threatening to make me pass out on the floor.
“I’ve never seen an aquarium quite like this,” Dante says, breaking the silence as he draws Valentine’s attention toward the glass walls, interrupting my spiraling train of thought.
Aquarium.
It’s just an aquarium.
I don’t know if this is true or not, but the idea that we’re not trapped beneath an unfathomable amount of ocean suddenly has my panic subsiding, slightly. I wish I could thank him, but I know that would be a bad idea.
Valentine seems unimpressed by the room, turning back to face me as he moves to sit in the large armchair.
“Sit, Evelyn,” Valentine orders, pointing to the floor between his legs.
My cheeks flush hot with fury and embarrassment at this, but I do as he says, and Dante reluctantly takes a seat on the smaller chair to his left.
“Now, let the real fun begin.”
18
Dante
