Page 15 of Ruin Me With Lies
I don’t care about the contract, but I lean back and pretend to peruse.It’s pointless.Vivienne already went over the rules and made sure we agreed before presenting us to the Castellos.
In short summary:
To live with the Castellos is to belong to the Castellos.
Food, shelter, and medical care are provided.
You cannot leave the villa without permission.
When allowed off the premises, you will be chaperoned.
Visitors of any kind are prohibited.
You work wherever assigned, without a salary.
A stipend is deposited into your savings each month.
You will respect and submit to the house manager’s authority.
The list goes on, but I make a mental snapshot and scrawl my signature.“Can I go brush my teeth now?”
“Just a minute.”
She checks my signature against a photocopy of my ID, then sets it aside.Straightening, she crosses to a tall cabinet, pulls out a black-and-gold monogrammed gift bag, and hands it to me.
“In here, you’ll find your new phone, preloaded with all relevant contacts.An informational booklet on the villa, your house keys, and a security card for restricted areas.”
Her desk phone rings.She holds up a finger and answers.Thirty seconds later, she hangs up.“Luca will be here to collect you in fifteen minutes.”
“Fifteen minutes?Oof, tight squeeze.Let’s hope I don’t get lost in this castle.Can’t have me earning a ‘breath smells like ass’ reputation on my first day, now can I?”
Eleni snickers.
Tazi is not amused.
“One more thing,” she says as I start for the door.“If you decide to fuck any of the men here, keep it drama-free.Just like the outfits in The Pink Closet, they’re communal.No one belongs to anyone.”
I let my gaze trail slowly up and down her body.“What about the women?”
Tazi falters, lips parting, then pressing shut.
“She’staken,” Eleni snaps, shoving up from her seat and planting herself possessively at her wife’s side.
Right where I want them.
I toss them a wink, pull open the door, and walk out.
~
SHOWERED AND DRESSEDinjeans and tee, I make it downstairs just as Luca steps through the front door.
He gives me a quick once-over.“Slept well?”
“Well enough.You?”
His perfunctory grunt says he wasn’t looking for small talk.“Let’s go.”
Outside, we hop into the golf cart parked at the bottom of the steps.Luca steers west, toward the sleek, six-bedroom contemporary where Stefano, Lorenzo, and their uncle Gio live.Aptly named “Lions House.”
