Page 12 of Corrupted Pleasure

“What?” Ivy and Juliette asked at the same time. I wasn’t surprised. She has been glancing at her watch since we arrived.

“This is a girls’ night,” Juliette protested. “Stay.”

“I know, but I need to take every hour I can to practice,” Wynter explained matter-of-factly. I had never met another woman who was that determined. She knew what she wanted and nobody would deter her from it. Not an intense class load, not Yale faculty, not her cousin nor a friend. Nobody.

“Well, you heard my dad,” Juliette replied, smugly. “We can’t roam the house.”

Wynter shrugged her shoulders, pulling on her shoes. She wore black tights, with leg warmers over the top of it and a large white sweater that came down to her mid thighs.

“Which is the reason, I’ll be going over the balcony,” she replied calmly. “Someone just throw me the bag when I’m down.”

Ivy blinked, then blinked again. “Is that wise? You could break your legs.”

Wynter just waved her hand, like she wasn’t even worried about it.

Onto the balcony she went, as Juliette poured herself another shot, berating her and assigning her the title of the worst cousin ever. I kept my eyes and ears on the balcony, standing right on the edge so I could jump in and help since I was the only relatively sober one left. Too bad I was scared to death of heights. A lot of good I’d be.

“Throw my bag.” Wynter’s voice traveled up, and before I could get to her bag, Juliette strode over to it, picked up, and strutted to the balcony. Barely setting a foot onto the balcony, she threw the bag over the rail without even glancing down.

It landed with a loud thud.

“What. The. Fuck?” Was that a man’s voice?

I tried to peek over the rail, but from my spot, I couldn’t see anything, not even Wynter.

“Damn drunks,” I heard Wynter mutter. “Trying to kill us.” she spat out.

“Us?” I asked her, confused.

Two heartbeats passed before she answered, “Me and my fabulous self. Us.”

I shook my head. Wynter would forever be a mystery to me.

“Are you okay, Wyn?” I choked out, curing my fear of heights. The familiar angst crept up my spine, and I forced myself to take another step, but it was as far as I made it. My palms pressed against the stonewall of the manor, and I leaned my forehead against it.

I was such a freak, unable to check on my friend because this fear paralyzed me. I could barely glance toward the marble rail, but it was pointless. From this spot, I couldn’t see anything.

“Yes, I’m fine,” she assured me. I heard some shuffling going on down there and I swore I heard a man’s grumble, but she said it was just her down there. “Let me guess. She’s pissed off and threw my precious cargo, hoping it would land on my head.”

“Nah,” I protested weakly, though I couldn’t quite deny it. “Be careful,” I told her. “And keep your phone on.”

CHAPTER3

Liam

“What the fuck,” I grumbled to myself as I took steps down my hallway and down the stairs. The timing of the girls’ visit sucked. I didn’t want Italians in the same city as them, never mind the same house. “Fuck!”

Juliette was drunk -- again. Wynter was stone cold sober, but I wasn’t sure about the other two. At least Davina, that dark-haired beauty, wasn’t as far gone as the others, but I doubted she would have said that stuff about me out loud if alcohol hadn’t at least loosened her tongue. God, thinking about her tongue and what she could do with it was making me hard.

She was gorgeous. An exotic type of beauty, with long ebony hair that fell down in a silky curtain past her breasts. I knew Juliette and Wynter shared a dorm with her and Ivy. It was my job to keep my family safe. But beyond the basics about her, and to ensure she was safe, I never looked into her further. Though now I found myself regretting it.

Shaking my head, I focused on the task at hand. This meeting tonight.

I had to focus on the threats coming from the Italians and the Russians. A college-aged girl had no business in my life. Besides, the raven haired beauty was my daughter’s friend. I couldn’t cross that line.

The purpose of the meeting tonight was to come to agreeable terms with the DiLustros about the New York territory. I was tired of fighting everyone for turf. I wanted my family safe. The warning of the latest attack was clear. The Russians wouldn’t go away.

So eliminating war with the Italians was a necessity. It just burned me that I had to deal with these scumbags, the DiLustros. After everything that had happened twenty years ago. The world would be a better place without the DiLustros. At least one of them… Gio DiLustro.