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‘Hmmm.’
She sobers and the mood shifts. ‘I really am sorry.’
I turn away, somehow irritated at how often she apologizes. ‘I’m fine.’
‘Are you dizzy at all?’
Eyeing the row of shot glasses surrounding a double-ended dildo, I wonder just how much the bridal party plans on drinking. ‘Not anymore.’ It may be an afternoon party, but consuming too much alcohol before the wedding can’t be good. Getting drunk at all is never a good choice. But a group of people hours before a carefully structured and planned event? I shudder at the thought of such an overwhelming loss of control.
‘But even if you aren’t dizzy now, just the fact that you were means you could have a concussion.’ Her flats tap across the floor, coming closer. ‘Are you sure you shouldn’t see a doctor?’
I nearly laugh. ‘Positive.’ Having to explain to a medical practitioner that I was made nearly unconscious by an eighteen-inch vibrator, which was wielded by my petite female employee in my hotel suite, is something I refuse to experience.
In the silence, I chance looking at her, wondering how much of her concern is for me and how much is for her boss. Which is ridiculous. I am one and the same. There is no difference. I am her boss just as she is my employee – no matter how distracting I find her.
‘Knock, knock!’
Alice and I start, heads swiveling toward the foyer where Chase holds the door open with one hand, his other cradling his sphynx.
He pulls up short when he sees the ice pack I’m holding. ‘What happened to you?’
Surprised by the emotion rushing through me, I advance on Chase whose eyebrows jump to his hairline. ‘Why did you send Alice to my room?’
Chase takes a step back, nearly colliding with the hotel staff arriving with trays and trollies of food and beverage. ‘Dude, I came here as soon as I realized I forgot to tell you about the location change.’
When I don’t pull back, Chase lifts the cat between us like a shield. ‘I couldn’t get here earlier because I was keeping Bell occupied until her massage appointment.’
The aluminum can crinkles under my grip as fight to retain control of myself. Especially in front of staff.
Our father had far too little control – of himself and his actions.
I refuse to follow in his footsteps.
‘Sending an employee to my hotel room unannounced is inexcusable. Remember who you are and where you came from, for God’s sake.’ One of us needs to remember whose blood flows through our veins. I lower the can from my face before it bursts open.
A collective gasp resounds.
Well. That’s never a good sign.
‘Holy fuck.’ Chase’s jaw drops. ‘What the hell happened to your face?’
Having dressed in a hurry and then kept the cold can pressed to my face since, I haven’t looked at the damage inflicted by the comically sized dildo. Pivoting to face the mirror, I’m oddly calm as I take in the dark purple slash of bruising that runs from the middle of my engorged brow bone diagonally down and past the corner of my eye. Without having to squint, which I couldn’t do if I tried, I make out the veining detail from Trusty Thrusty etched on my skin like pillow creases after a hard night’s sleep.
Alice’s complexion pales. ‘I’m so sorry.’
‘You’re sorry?’ Chase gapes at her then back to me. ‘Alice did this?’
My reflection and the horde of sex toys easily visible inside my suite make my previous attempt at professionalism moot. Agitated once more, I level a look at my brother that promises future retribution.
For my eye, the airport and mostly for Alice.
7
ALICE
‘You turned an extremely poor-taste penis-party paraphernalia into a Pinterest-worthy affair.’ Leslie pauses for breath after that tongue twister, staring around in wonder.
A minute earlier, as planned, Leslie had escorted Bell to Thomas’s suite after their massage appointments where Bell thought she was retrieving her fiancé’s cufflinks before heading back to her honeymoon suite to relax. Instead, the bridal party surprised her at the door and engulfed her in a swarm of glittering penis confetti.
