Page 23 of Inside the Maelstrom: Part One
I swallowed hard. “No.”
He pulled back and smiled. A real one, not that cocky half-grin. “Yeah, you do. You aren’t beige anymore. No, Good Girl. You’re going to be so much more.” He spun away from me, and I sucked in oxygen like I’d been immersed underwater. “Let’s head back and get room service. I’m fucking starving.”
Hendrick made some manly grunt of agreement and came over, slinging his arm across my shoulders. “Aren’t we having fun already?”
Hendrick had nearly bought one of everything from the room service menu, and then they’d all watched me eat it. Have you tried lobster and truffle mac’n’cheese? I was generally a purist; I believed that good, wholesome food was just as nice as fancy fine dining.
But combine the two? I moaned. It was heaven.
The pulled crab ravioli? Like a divine revelation.
Hendrick kept feeding me bites of different things, watching my face as I ate them. At first, it was weird, but if he wanted to watch me make an O face while eating German chocolate cheesecake, who was I to deprive him—or myself—of the experience? Finally, I was stuffed, and Sampson handed me a small glass of cognac. I sipped it warily, surprised at how smooth it was.
“You guys finished playing ‘feed the country mouse?’” he asked Otto and Hendrick, and I scowled at him. He grinned at me again, and I was glad he couldn’t see my heart rate. “Don’t be like that, Good Girl. It's interesting watching someone who still has firsts.”
“What he means is that it's been a long time since someone moaned like that when I fed something to them. Usually it’s my cock, but a spoon will do,” Hendrick teased.
I flushed pink. “What, like a week? Poor baby.”
Hendrick laughed. “Exactly.” He sighed. “We should go out. I haven’t been in town for ages and if I don’t go out, people will think I got a lobotomy this time.”
I gasped, looking down at my food baby. “I can’t fit in that dress now—I just ate half my weight in luxury foods.”
Sampson sighed. “You’ll be fine. We’ll go somewhere lowkey. Just wear the sequined shirt dress. It’ll hide all your sins. Or the tabloids will think Hendrick knocked you up and you’ll be on the front cover of every trash magazine by next week.”
They all laughed like it was a joke but I was horrified. I was quickly coming to understand that Otto was the empathetic one. “Don’t worry, Aviva. You can borrow my anti-flash jacket. It’s like a shiny material that reflects the photographers’ flashes. I like to protect my privacy too, and there's very little around these two assholes.”
I was still frowning when the alarm on his phone went off. He flicked it off and gave Hendrick a pointed look.
“Going, Mom,” Hendrick sighed, unfolding from the couch and heading into the bathroom.
Otto watched him go, his jaw tense, and then he turned his gaze to me. “This might sound… insensitive, but did the psychiatrist release you with any medical instructions? Prescriptions you need filled, that kind of thing?” I sucked in an offended breath, but he continued on before I could tell him it was none of his business. “I set reminders on my phone so Hendrick remembers to take his meds. Otherwise, he gets caught up in whatever he’s doing and forgets. I’m, uh, happy to remind you too? No pressure though, of course. It’s just easy to lose track of time and days when you’re traveling.”
His cheeks had gone pink, and I wasn’t sure which one of us was more embarrassed. But considering I’d forgotten to take my morning meds already… “Uh, thanks. That would be helpful.”
He looked relieved that I hadn’t taken offense, and I couldn’t help but smile. We sat there, just staring at each other until Sampson made a rude sound.
“Stop eyefucking. Good Girl, go get changed and take your meds. The dress and all the crap that goes with it are in the bags in the foyer. Might be some makeup in there too; told the rep to get you the basics.” He pointed at Otto. “Go get ready too. I know it takes you twenty fucking minutes to do your hair.”
Otto saluted him, then gave him the finger. I did as I was told, but when I saw the absolute mass of designer bags in the foyer, I winced.
Maybe Sampson really was the devil, and if that was the case, I was pretty sure I’d just sold him my soul.
Chapter13
Otto
“Hendrick! Over here!”
“Sampson, who’s the girl?”
“Over here! Hendrick, what do you think of your father’s campaign?”
The paparazzi were intense tonight, and I could feel Aviva shrinking away. I was glad I’d given her my flash jacket, and I pulled her closer to me. Security kept the paparazzi away from the doors but they were still full on. We’d have to wait for Hendrick or Sampson to rock up to have enough clout to get in, but they were only a few steps behind us. The bouncer pulled back the velvet rope, and the low thumping beat of techno music poured out. I pressed a hand to Aviva’s spine and guided her inside.
She looked so fucking beautiful. She’d taken care with her makeup, obviously as a giant ‘fuck you’ to Sampson, but I appreciated the way the heavy liner made her eyes pop, and how instead of calming her wild curls, she’d made them crazier, like she had a golden halo framing her face.
Hendrick had almost swallowed his tongue when he’d seen her, and Sampson had looked smugly satisfied. The man had taste, I’d give him that, but Aviva hadn’t exactly been an ugly duckling before, either. Now she just shimmered, and it wasn’t just the sequins on her dress catching the strobe lights.
