Page 61 of Lake
God, I hoped Lake had heard all of that. Or at least the six guys part because I was sure he’d figured something wasn’t right with just that. If not, well I was up shit creek without a paddle, raft, or even a life vest.
Not one of them said a word as they surrounded me and began to move as one to the building I’d been parked in front of. The one with the frosted windows and the newish door. Hmmm. Yeah, I should have seen that something was up with that building.
I was not-so-nicely urged through that door.
My jaw hung open as I took in the surroundings.
Polished, white granite floor tiles. The big ones, surrounded by thin lines of grout and still perfectly white. Like it’d never been stepped on before. Which kind of had me subconsciously doing my best to make sure my feet landed in the middle of the big squares, though none of the men around me seemed to have the same care in their heads.
The steel elevators on the far side were free of scratches and signs of wear. The walls were white but etched with a light gold floral design. I wanted to get a closer look to see if it was wallpaper or painted on, but I got the feeling that now was not the time.
“In,” one of them grunted at me the moment the elevator doors opened.
The steel box had more of a darker feel to it. It could have been the low lighting and the fact that the walls were all mirrored. And those mirrors, not a speck of dust or anything else on them.
What the hell was this place?
My head started to throb as the elevator began to ascend into the unknown.
Well, unknown for me. I was sure the guys knew what the hell was coming.
The doors opened again on the fourth floor where I was not-so-nicely urged out. No fucking surprise there.
We walked down a long hall, the deep red carpet was plush under my feet. The place was dark and lit only by dim sconces on the walls every few feet.
At the end of the hall was an excessive door. Wider than the standard house door and painted gold. I wasn’t talking about some tacky gold either.
I tried to hold back the eye roll but just couldn’t.
Who the hell would…
Well, I had a feeling I was about to find out.
The door opened to reveal an office. A huge, dark wood desk sat in the middle with a deep red, high backed office chair behind it. There was a wall of screens behind the desk and I tried to make out what I was seeing.
“Are they… oh, God,” I said, my eyes wide with shock even though I really shouldn’t have been so surprised. Hell, I’d seen shit like this on some of my cases. Still, I had not expected that right now. “What the fuck have I gotten myself into?” I mumbled mostly to myself.
“Sit,” one of the big lugs said as his hand clamped down on my shoulder and with a push, I had no choice but to comply.
The seat was comfy enough but that didn’t help the butterflies that were causing a ruckus in my stomach.
“Why am I here?” I asked… someone and not too nicely.
“Because,” a female voice replied and my head whipped to the left to lay eyes on her. “You are sitting outside of my business and I need to know why.”
There was a slight accent there. I could hear it in the vowels and then oddly enough, the way the Ts seemed to come off her tongue with a sharpness.
She walked from the corner of the room, a door behind her and I wondered if that was where she’d come from. Or was she hiding in the corner like a creepy freak trying to scare me with her wannabe evil villain shit? It wasn’t going to work on me.
Nope.
But as this woman walked towards me on her sky-scraper heels and tight red dress that looked like it would have cost more than I’d made in my lifetime, I couldn’t help but swallow hard. Her almost white blonde hair hung down past her breasts and was stick straight and shiny as hell. Her face was, well, flawless. Lips a perfect Cupid’s bow and painted sin-red. Eyes ice blue and lined in black. The smudging of the shadow that dusted her lids was immaculate. I would have placed her in her late thirties but that was only a guess because she clearly took care of herself, and not in that injections sort of way. It was the look in her eyes that tipped me off, a kind of dark knowing wiseness that made me see the truth behind the tight body and creamy face. Like yeah, maybe she was the queen of her empire now but it had been a hard and grueling climb to get there.
This woman screamed power and oozed sexuality with a strange kind of edge to it.
I wanted to hate her.
She was everything I’d never be.
