Page 28 of Laila Manning (Shadeport Crew #3)
“I’d have to be moving to keep up.” I challenged, “And right now I’m so lost I can’t even stand.”
She sighed and stopped assaulting my granny panties and shut the drawer before turning to me.
“The dresses will be here in twenty minutes. Shoes, accessories, and jewels come after that. Then there’s the hair and makeup trial since I’m sure you’ll want to try a couple of different styles of both before deciding for sure. ”
“Stop.” I held my hand up, shaking my head. “English, Carly. Or take your Greek out of my place because you’re giving me a headache.”
“God, it’s no wonder you and he get along so well. You’re both so boringly dramatic when I get excited.”
I deadpanned, “Get out.”
“Zeke arranged for you to be spoiled like the perfect little princess you are to him, and we have to go.”
“Zeke did what?”
She groaned and threw her head back as she stopped by the couch, tossing my shoes down on the floor, just stopping short of touching me and lifting me off the couch herself. Thank God even in her dramatic underwear snooping tirade, she remembered my boundaries .
I’d be sure to add my panties to that hard limit list in the future, though.
“Come on, I’ll explain on the way.”
“But where?” I slid my feet into my shoes but crossed my arms before following her like she so desperately wanted me to. “Triggers, Carly.” I reminded. “I don’t follow people anywhere, let alone blindly.”
“Oh, right.” She paused and took a deep breath.
“Sometimes I forget, especially lately, because you don’t seem so skittish all the time.
” She offered a small smile. “Ellie’s house.
To find a dress and all the fixings for the charity gala tomorrow.
Zeke called and said he wanted you pampered and completely armored up for the event.
” She scrunched her nose at the description.
“I’m not sure what armor has to do with lingerie—” She shrugged, “But whatever.”
I smiled at the description, knowing exactly what he meant. He wanted me to feel like I looked the part of a gala guest to alleviate some of my anxiety and fear of falling short.
That man.
“I think I’m happy for you,” She said, drawing my attention back to her standing there staring at me, catching my love drunk stargazing smile, “But I’m trying to gauge my reaction on yours, and I’ve never seen you so—” She tilted her head to the side like she was studying me, “Giddy.”
“I’m not giddy.” I rolled my eyes.
“Are too.” She shrugged her shoulders as she motioned for me to walk out first. “And you have every fucking right to be, believe me. It’s just uncharted territory for me.” She closed the door behind us as I walked us out to the exit.
“Yeah, me too.” I whispered under my breath.
“Oh my God,” Elora clapped excitedly before sighing and staring at me like a blushing bride on her wedding day in a small country chapel.
“Stop it.” I turned back to the mirror, ignoring her and Carly both as the stylist pulled the skirt of the dress out in a dramatic fan, letting it billow out around my legs.
The legs that were only actually covered by the fabric when I stood completely still and straight. Heaven forbid I moved my hips in one direction or the other without causing the wild and daring slit to open up completely to the revealing spot directly under my right hip bone.
Right next to my hoo-ha.
“How do you feel?” Carly asked cautiously from her spot behind me, more in check than she had been in my apartment earlier after seeing the myriads of emotions that had assaulted me all afternoon.
“Like a stripper.” I groaned, “No offense.”
“None taken,” She shrugged nonchalantly. “I never wore that much fabric on stage.”
“Me neither.” I whispered, taking in my reflection as I blocked out all those nights, walking the stage for men to view me before they purchased.
“Give us a few.” Elora shooed the stylist and the glam team out, closing the ornate double doors behind them, enclosing us in her lavish dressing room alone. “What’s on your mind?”
I shook my head as my hands slid down the beaded bodice covering my stomach. “Unfamiliarity.” I swallowed and flicked a glance at the two women, who had quickly become the only friends I had in the world. “I don’t recognize that girl.” I nodded to my reflection in the mirror.
“Who does she look like?” Carly asked, standing at my side, watching me close.
“Like a goddess.” I shook my head. “See why I’m failing to find the similarities?”
“You know who she looks like to me?” Elora asked, taking her place on my other side.
“Hmm?” I hummed speculatively.
“Like a butterfly who just broke free from that small, confined space that held her down while she grew her wings.”
“Ach,” I scoffed.
“She’s right.” Carly gently took my hand in hers and stared at me in the mirror, waiting for me to gaze back at her.
“This is who you were meant to be all along, Laila.” She smiled sadly, tightening her hand in mine.
“It just took you far longer than you needed to be able to stretch those wings and feel that freedom.”
“I don’t know her.” I stared back at the dark-lined brown eyes that used to look so plain and lifeless before today. Now, they looked fierce.
Strong.
“That’s okay.” Carly reassured me. “We all have to find ourselves once we finally have the strength to walk away from what we used to know.”
“It was like that when I reconnected with Ryker.” Ellie smiled wistfully. “I was just a kid the last time I knew him, and life was not kind to me between then and when we ran back into each other.”
Carly scoffed, bugging her eyes out. “That’s putting it lightly.” She said and then paused. “You know, you both kind of had similar shitty introductions to the real world, if you think about it. ”
“How so?” I asked, not believing that the Queen of Shadeport ever really struggled like I did, but at the same time, she had darkness in her eyes now and then that seemed familiar.
Elora chuckled humorlessly. “Well, it started when my dad, who was my very best friend, was assassinated and died in my arms in the middle of his own turf.” My stomach cramped at the information and the dead look in her eyes as she said it.
“And then my drug-addicted mother stole me away from Ryker and any bit of stability I had left in the wake of my father’s death.
Only so she could steal the money he sent her for my care to spend on drugs and men.
” She raised her eyebrows as I turned to face her.
“Oh, and then there was the time she locked me in a motel room and had a line of men outside, paying her for a go with me when I was sixteen. One even paid an extra few bucks to take my virginity.”
“Jesus.” I hissed. “I had no idea.”
She shrugged her shoulders and then stiffened her spine. “I was luckier than you were, Laila, because I escaped before any of them touched me.” She said firmly, “But then I was homeless and starving, working a dozen dead-end jobs, just trying to survive.”
“And that’s when I found her.” Carly smiled sadly at her, pulling her into her arms. “And I nursed this little birdy back to health and kept her fed when she’d let me until she found Ryker again.”
“Now look at me.” Elora winked at her best friend. “The Queen. Married to the dark and dangerous King, with a perfect little prince.”
“It’s like a fairytale.” I smiled dreamily at her as she took my hand and squeezed.
“The specifics may be different, but there are a lot of similarities to our lives. Which means you can get your happily ever after too. Even if you don’t think so. ”
I felt the familiar prickles of doubt trying to shut down the tingles of excitement and hope building from her testimony.
“You mean I can have my turn with the dark and dangerous King now?” I winked at her and then turned back to the mirror as she glared at me good-heartedly.
“Careful.” She warned. “You may be Carly’s sister-in-law, but I’ll still kill you for that man.”
“Don’t doubt her,” Carly added with a laugh. “She watched Zeke kill her mother while she fucked Ry in the next room.”
My eyes bugged out as an icy chill bloomed over my spine, and I could tell from the nonchalant shrug Elora gave she was telling the truth.
“I’m not exactly proud of it.” Elora chirped, “But I’m not ashamed either.” She pointed her finger at me with a pointed glare. “So don’t get any ideas.”
Raising my hands, I shook my head. “I’m apparently more interested in the man who did the killing than the fucking.” I shrugged. “Who knew?”
Carly snorted, “This conversation got weird, quick.”
“But hey,” Elora pointed out, “You forgot all your worries pretty quickly, didn’t you?”
I chuckled and glanced back at the reflection of the done-up woman staring back at me. “Yeah, I did. For now, at least.”