Page 50 of Chandelier Sin
A one-in-a-million chance meeting.
That’s not whatthismeeting was about, obviously. Even if seeing her again sent a surge of exhilaration through me.
I had to steel my emotions when it came to seeing this mysterious stranger again. Meeting with Eve was my due diligence—I needed to hear what she had to say. If she provided access to the secretive corners of Pendulum, we’d get this done quicker.
Seeing Jake manipulated by them using an innocent like Stella was hard to witness.
None of us wanted the stain of Pendulum to touch us before we’d had the chance to turn things around.
Even before all this we’d felt its sinister ethos, sensing the darkest shadows of that Manhattan club. Withdrawing our offer was apossibility, but now that we knew the truth, we couldn’t give up on those coerced to be there.
Transferring this over to the authorities wasn’t the best plan, either. These men would lawyer up. The dire situation would be lost to history, the women disappeared off to a new location. We couldn’t be so heavy-handed that we lost the ones we could potentially save.
It was a delicate operation.
That’s why I was navigating these rolling hills to get to her, the woman who kept Pendulum’s secrets.
Steering through mountains, I followed the winding ribbon of cement, climbing higher above the sprawling city below, a vast metropolis of shimmering steel. Light refracted off the skyscrapers, reminding me that one of those high-rises belonged to the Cole family. And I’d just had lunch with a son from that impressive empire. Cameron and I shared a code of ethics, but we also clashed at times, each vying for control—neither of us willing to relent.
He’d hate this, me going rogue.
The canyons closed in around me as I drove by properties that were worth a fortune. The higher I went, the bigger the houses.
I drew closer to my destination and reduced my speed, finally reaching the address.
A colossal iron gate opened automatically, as though someone had been waiting for me to arrive.
A thrill rushed through me.
Soon I’d be seeingher.
I only hoped it wasn’t a trap.
I followed a private road, the driveway leading to a tall mansion surrounded by lofty palms and lush foliage. The house was an immense three-story affair with an imposing façade and shaded windows making it impossible to see inside.
I suddenly had a gut feeling this meeting was a bad idea. An undefinable dread filled me as I parked to the right of the property. There were no other cars around.
Don’t get out.
Yet I did, standing beside my McLaren, taking in my impressive surroundings, inhaling the heavy scent of jasmine and honeysuckle. There was an unnatural silence as I approached the front door.
Perhaps Eve had summoned me on behalf of her husband. We needed more information on him. Hopefully, I’d soon have something tangible to offer my friends.
“Sir!”
To my left, a maid frantically motioned for me to follow. With no time to second guess my decision, I followed the housekeeper around the left side of the house.
Was she sneaking me in around the back? It sure as hell seemed like it.
“Hi,” I said, making polite conversation. “How are you?”
She ignored me.
We continued to stroll across a manicured lawn. The grass appeared fake for a second, but then I realized what I was walking on was real. This place had sucked up a lot of water, illegal at this time in Cali. The incredibly rich got around such rules, unlike the rest of us.
I admired the Italian fountain in the center of the garden. My heritage hailed from Lido di Venezia, going back generations. That cultural privilege had given me my black hair and deep brown eyes.
I’d grown tall like my dad. Luckily, I’d also inherited more of my mom’s personality, with her love of literature. Pasadena’s local library had become my home away from home back then. To this day, I knew it was access to all those free books that set me towards a career in medicine.
