I watched her walk out of the closet, chin held high, back straight, a little disbelieving she could push everything aside that easily. But then she was out the door and closing it quietly, and I was left standing in a closet, alone.

"Well, fuck."

What the hell just happened?

She'd been feeling everything we did together, yet she could walk away just like that, barely five minutes after I made her orgasm a second time. I hadn't forgotten where we were, and I knew I could potentially get in trouble for it, but that concern seemed to have flown out the window.

Because having her turn her nose up at me, at what we'd just done, only made me want her more.

I wanted to follow her into that room full of guests that would be a little too curious for their own good, find her and drag her away for some more fun. It wouldn’t get me into trouble, I wasn’t exactly Greco's security, the work I did for him wasn’t nearly so simple, but as far as I cared, any time he dragged me along with him, I was on the clock. That was the mentality I always held, and I was serious about business.

At least I had been until this woman.

"What the fuck is wrong with me." I murmured out loud.

The behavior I was exuding right then wasn’t normal for me. I wasn’t celibate, but when I went for a woman, it was to scratch an itch, because they were nothing more than a needed distraction. Elda, as beautiful as she was, was an unwelcome one, but I wanted her, and I didn’t think I could stop myself.

We were on my island—technically, not mine, it belonged to the boss, but it was certainly my territory more than it was hers.

There was no way I was leaving it—or her—for that matter. Not without having more of Elda.

I smoothed down my clothes, hoping everything was in place. I didn’t want to go looking for a mirror. I smoothed down my hair, combing it back with my fingers, and decided I was presentable. I reached for the closet door and opened it, sliding out as I glanced around.

There was no one in the vicinity, no one even watching the area, which was why she dragged me there in the first place. It hadn't been quite appropriate for what we ended up doing, but it was private. I took a breath, and walked back into the crowd and mingled like I hadn't been away and had a sexual encounter very recently.

No one bothered paying attention to me. These parties were all about who had the most influence, the most cash; it was like a contest to them. I had none of the things they were looking for, and I didn’t try to talk to anyone and brag about things that I didn’t have, so I didn’t stand out.

The people that had seen me before would let their eyes slide off me in disinterest, and there were very few people present, save the staff, that I hadn't met already. Greco didn’t have so wide a group of friends, after all. I'd been told I was good looking, but I was still generic, tall, brown haired and brown eyed with a constant shadow on my jaw, not quite enough to count as a full beard.

I glanced around again, this time looking for Elda. I found her at the edge of the crowd, taking a glass from a tray a waiter had brought to her. I expected him to leave after that, but he stuck around and they chatted. She was smiling, and I thought she looked amused, but from this distance, I couldn’t be sure.

The purse that was there under her arm hadn't been before was also particularly suspicious. I couldn’t drag her off for another body search, we were lucky not to have been caught the first time, but twice would be pushing my luck.

Not that I even cared. If she did come here with intentions other than to suffer through the party, she wouldn’t get the chance to do it, not with my full attention focused on her.

"Luke."

I didn’t let the voice distract me, waiting until I felt a presence beside me before taking my eye off her, but not for long. The guy that called me was another one of Greco's men. I knew every single one on sight and by name, but I never let them know that. I knew a lot about the people my boss decided to associate himself with.

"What is it?"

"I was looking around for you before and I didn’t find you. Where did you go?"

I bit then inside of my cheek so I wouldn’t laugh. The suspicion was obvious in his eyes, and he didn’t hide it in his voice. The few of Greco's men I encountered didn’t particularly like me. It was annoying, at first, but then it grew amusing.

"Where I was, and what I was doing, is none of your business. If you wanted to see the boss, you didn’t need my permission."

I was seen as something of a pet, for some reason. A cat, to be more precise. Coming and going as I pleased, bringing trophies back for my master only to disappear. The metaphor was disturbingly accurate, save where I carried back dead rats to him. I just did the deed and gave him the reports. But he was happy with my work, and that meant the others walked carefully around me because they didn’t want to risk angering him.

I could see the guy pale, eyes glancing around as he straightened. "I just wanted to tell you there was an issue in the kitchen."

I felt my back straighten as well, checking in my peripheral vision to keep track of Elda, then turning to the man in front of me, becoming serious. If something even remotely went wrong and I was too busy having fun to be there, I really would get in trouble, part of the security or no.

"What happened and why do I need to step in?" I mostly just killed, so it was bad when I was needed in situations like these.

"It's fine. I found Travers and he took care of it, no one noticed anything. I just thought you should know about it. Talk to Travers if you want the details."

I could feel the surprise on my face as I watched him walk away. It was an understatement to say the people I worked with didn’t like me, even those that had only heard of me. They positively hated my guts, and wouldn't hesitate to try to off me if they thought they had the slightest chance. He didn’t have to warn me, they could have used it as an excuse to make the boss mad and point the finger at me.

Still, the surprise couldn’t hold my attention long. It strayed back to Elda. She had gone back to the same dance as before, walking around from group to group, pretending to drink and have a conversation and mingle in the crowd. There was no waiter around chatting her up, and I felt something I hadn't realized tightened, loosen in my chest.

Well, if she was going to play this game, I would, too. I walked further into the room after a quick glance around, melting into the crowd. I did what she did, but since people were barely paying me any attention, I could move easier, keeping my eyes on the only two people that mattered in the room.