Chapter 21: The Thick of It, Part 1

NINE

After my nap on Kade's leather lounge, I spend the rest of the afternoon helping Portia move things around the manor. We empty a bathroom that needs plumbing work and re-arrange an entire laundry cupboard. It isn't until the sun sinks below the horizon that I head back to my quarters.

I breeze through the manor as if it were my own, enjoying the bare soles of my feet glide along the delicate, polished tiles. Ambrosial wafts of meat and roasting vegetables hang in the air and make my stomach rumble. I close my eyes. I'll never get to taste the food, but for a moment, I imagine it melting on my tongue, its juices mixing with my saliva and just—

"Look what the wind blew in."

I open my eyes and turn my head toward the voice. I stand before an elaborate drawing room scattered with Fortunates. They drape their bodies over mahogany lounges and armchairs, a drink in one hand and a cigar in the other for most. In the front left portion of the room, three men sit around a rounded table. T