I went over to Charlotte’s side. She was sitting on her bed in a white dress, her blonde hair was messy, and mascara was running down her face. Alice was sitting next to her with her arm around her with a concerned look on her face. Charlotte began crying again and put her head in her hands. I looked at Alice, silently asking her if she knew what was wrong with Charlotte. But Alice just shrugged. I placed a hand on her shoulder and spoke in a gentle tone. “Charlotte, I’m going to make you a cup of tea, alright? Then you can tell me what’s wrong.” She didn’t respond, she just kept crying. I ran to the kitchen and made three cups of chamomile tea. I brought them back on a tray. Thankfully, Charlotte was a little more calm when I came back. Since I usually buried my own emotions, I didn’t really know what to do or how to comfort people when they cried. I thought that was why I got along better with Alice than with Charlotte. Charlotte was sweet and kind, but she wo
I looked in the mirror, studying my appearance. I didn’t look anything like the real Gabrielle and that was what I was going for. Bernard’s type of escort was the exact opposite of the true me and I had to change into what he wanted in order for him to get to notice me. Alice helped me dye my hair back to its original color, blonde. My hair was starting to become damaged from dyeing it so much, but that was the price I had to pay when I was undercover. I was wearing the lowest-cut dress I could find in the closet. It was hot pink and short, barely covering my ass. I was wearing a pair of white kitten heels because I didn’t think Bernard would find it very sexy if I could barely walk. Yesterday, I found Tamara again, asking her where I could find Bernard. She said that every Tuesday at ten in the morning, he had coffee with Valerie on the backyard patio. It was now ten-thirty and I wanted to catch them at the tail end of their date. I walked down the stairs and m
Before I went to find Tamara to see what she wanted to trade for my necklace, I went back to my room. This outfit didn’t feel like me and I wanted to get it off my body immediately. No one was in the room when I got there. I took a quick shower and wiped off all my makeup. I threw on a loose pair of jeans, a white tank top, and brushed out my blonde hair. When I stepped out of the bathroom, I was shocked to find Charlotte standing right outside the door. “Hey,” I muttered, stepping to the side of her. Immediately, I noticed that she had an expression on her face that I’d never seen her wearing before. I’d only ever seen Charlotte happy, sad, and worried. But I’d never seen her looking angry. No, not just angry. With Charlotte’s dark blue eyes and tense jaw, she was beyond pissed. “Um, is everything okay?” I asked her. Charlotte laughed once without humor. She walked closer to me. I never really realized how tall she was, but she towered over me. She put he
After I talked to Tamara, I went to the dining room to have dinner, which was a tiny piece of salmon and unseasoned asparagus. When I got back to my room, Charlotte’s stuff was already gone. I stared at her empty bed for a while. The loss of her friendship affected me more than I would have ever guessed. Usually, I didn’t let people in enough, especially when I was on a mission, but somehow, Charlotte, Alice, and especially Dante had gotten past all my walls and made me care for them. It scared me to realize that I was letting people in without making the conscious decision to do so. I grabbed onto the aquamarine gemstone that Tamara, thankfully, had given back to me. I really hoped Dante wouldn't discard me as easily as Charlotte did. But he didn’t come the next day. Or the next one. I knew it wasn’t a big deal, especially because it was during the week and sponsors usually only visited during the weekend, but my anxiety grew with each passing day. I was
Dante led me over to the couch and put his arm around me. It reminded me of the last time I broke down in front of him, which was, embarrassingly, not that long ago. However, like last time, he let me cry it out. When I was finished, he raised my chin and stared into my eyes. He traced my eyebrow. “When you’re upset, your eyebrows turn pink. It’s one of the many adorable things about you,” Dante whispered. “Now, would you like to tell me what’s bothering you?” I nodded. Then, I told him what I learned about Sara. He listened without interrupting. At first, his expression was concerned, but after I explained how corrupt the governor was, he looked increasingly angry. “That asshole,” Dante exclaimed. He looked down at me and his expression switched to concern again. “I’m sorry, Gabrielle. I’m sorry you found out like that.” Dante pulled me into the circle of his arms and pressed me against his hard body. We sat in silence and it was exactly what I needed. He
“Guess what the theme for tonight’s party is?” Alice asked me excitedly. We were in our room getting ready for the day. I admired how Alice didn’t seem like she was getting sick of all the parties The Golden Hive put on. I, on the other hand, was sick of dressing up and pretending like I enjoyed talking to the rich and mostly old men. But that was Alice’s forte, that was when she found out most of her information. “Hmm, all the men are farmers and we’re barn animals because they think they own us?” I replied sarcastically as I put my hair up in a high ponytail. “No, stop being silly,” Alice said, and rolled her eyes. “If you’re not going to play along with my guessing game, I’ll just tell you. It’s casino night!” she cheered. The joy was evident in her face. “How cool is that?” I sprayed myself with a little perfume. “Well, it’s not like they will let us have any fun anyway. We just have to watch the men have fun,” I noted glumly. Alice shook h
His presence only made me pause for a moment, but I recovered quickly. “Oh, hello, Bernard. I didn’t know that you were the one requesting my company,” I noted with a smile. I closed the door, even though what I really wanted to do was lock him inside this room to ensure he couldn’t hurt anyone else. I wished I could lock him inside this room forever. I went to sit by him on the couch. Bernard was sitting there with his legs crossed and a drink in his hand. He had a pleasant smile on his wrinkled face, a black suit on, and his white hair slicked back. “Good evening, Gabrielle. I was wondering if you would like to have a drink with me before casino night?” Bernard asked, and pointed to a glass that was sweating on the table. I picked it up, but I sure as hell wasn’t going to swallow any of that. He could have laced it with roofies. I put the drink to my mouth and pretended to sip it, but I kept my lips firmly closed. “Thank you, Bernard. That is very
I never got a chance to tell Dante about Bernard’s cryptic warning. He had to leave soon after our kiss and I left the party because I wasn’t in the mood for it. I got ready for bed and just as I was about to turn off the light, Alice walked in. She shut the door and sat on her bed, not even bothering to take her heels off. “What’s wrong? I could tell from your expression down there that something happened,” Alice said, her brown eyes on mine. For a moment, I was stunned that she and Dante knew me so well to realize that something was wrong. “Bernard knows something’s up,” I told her flatly. I didn’t want to beat around the bush, preferring to just get it out there. Alice’s eyes widened in fear. “What? How do you know? Did he tell you?” Alice asked, placing her hands on her knees and leaning forward. “Not in so many words…and I don’t think he knows everything, but he’s suspicious of Dante and me,” I explained. “The only thing I can think of is that Valerie