Lady Night

Chapter six

Part of me thought that the apartment would be average. Normal. Nothing crazy. That part of me was stupid and she was no longer allowed to make decisions.

My new room at Elysium was insane. Granted, it was smaller than Gio's, but still the term 'room' seemed a little under inclusive. There were two bedrooms, three bathrooms, an office-style reading room with bookcases lining the walls, a large living room with floor to ceiling windows, an open kitchen with marble countertops and forest green cabinets accented with gold. And a balcony with a view that... that made me contemplate how much money the Russo's really had. Because if they were all looking out at views like this, they probably felt like they owned the city. And they probably did.

Audrey, however, refused to move in with me claiming that she liked our old space. It was closer to her work, all of her friends, her new boyfriend. Blah blah blah. The moment she came to visit she would change her mind, I'm sure.

I spent the next two days unpacking because although Gio was invasive enough to pack and move my things over to the resort, he- or, rather, his people- had left the unpacking to me. Though I wouldn't admit it to him or anybody else, I preferred it that way. If I didn't have a choice of who I spent time with or where I worked or where I lived, the least I could do was choose where I put my coffee mugs.

It seemed that somebody had taken inventory of my things, because anytime I thought I might need to go out and buy something I found it in one of the drawers or a closet. Some of the larger furniture items like the couches, beds, and TVs were already here. And definitely out of my price range.

I was unloading my toiletries, and wondering how the hell Gio's people knew the difference between my shampoo and my sister's.

Hopefully, Audrey had been there to direct them otherwise I didn't even know what to think. My phone buzzed in my pocket from an incoming work email.

From: Giovanni D. Russo

GRusso@RCorp.net

To: Sabina Night SNight@Elysium.com

Re: Settling in?

Miss Night,

I hope you're finding everything to your liking.

Please send your availability this week to schedule a time to meet. Evenings after 6 work best for me.

Best,

Gio

I snorted, rolling my eyes at the formal email.

Whatever he wanted to meet about could have easily been scheduled in person tomorrow when I went back to work. Ignoring the email, I put my phone on the sink and started blasting music from my speaker instead.

After about another hour of unpacking, I was all unpacked other than the few boxes of books that I would save for a day when I wasn't already exhausted and sweaty.

Proud of myself for tackling a move I hadn't expected to make, I decided to break in the apartment with a little soak in the tub. The bathtub, like most of the apartment, was well out of my price range. I mean- it wasn't even attached to the shower.

What was a bath without a glass of wine?

Fortunately, and a little bit suspiciously, there were a few bottles in the wine fridge. Yes. Wine fridge. I grabbed one with a fancy-ish name and a glass from the counter.

The water was steaming, soothing my aching muscles the moment I sank lower. The bubbles I added, the soft hum of music playing from my speaker, and the lavender scented soap all lulled me into a state of peace. That is, until my phone buzzed again.

From: Giovanni D. Russo

GRusso@RCorp.net

To: Sabina Night SNight@Elysium.com

Re: Settling in?

Miss Night,

I require a response this evening as I am attempting to arrange my schedule for the week.

If it is easier for you, you can reach me on my phone. Number attached below.

Best,

Gio

(702)-555-0115

I knocked back the last of the glass of wine before filling it back up again, typed the number and held the phone against my cheek.

"Miss Night," was the response I received on the second ring.

"You emailed?" I drawled.

A low throaty chuckle from his end. I could almost picture him at his desk, shirt pushed up to his elbows as he read over something or other.

"Did you read them?"

I set my phone down on the side of the tub, wrapping my newly freed hand around my glass.

"I glanced," I said, "you know it's my day off, right?"

"Must have escaped my notice."

I doubted anything escaped his notice. Though, if he kept trying to pretend as though he wasn't interested in me then my plan was going to take a lot longer than was to be desired. Or worse- if he wasn't pretending.

"Well, other than work, I don't have anything planned this week until Friday."

"What's Friday?" he pressed and I wondered why exactly he was asking.

"I'm going out with some friends."

"Where?"

"Does it matter?"

"Am I on speaker?"

I choked a little on my wine, surprised at the sudden shift in conversation and feeling a little awkward. Then, the awkwardness subsided and I realized that this was an opportunity.

"Ah, yes," I said, dipping my pinky in the warm water, "I'm in the bath right now."

There was silence on the other end of the phone for a few beats—too long to be normal.

Internally, I snickered. Giovanni Russo was not a man who was surprised easily, but I think that maybe I just did it.

"Interesting," he finally said and I rolled my eyes.

"What's so interesting about it, Mr. Russo?"

The question itself was innocent enough, but the way that I asked it wasn't. Perhaps it was inappropriate to speak to my boss while I was in the bath tub, but he wasn't really my boss. He was my target. My ticket to freedom.

Gio sighed and somehow I knew that he was rolling his eyes. A little hit to my ego, but fine.

He could play that all he wanted, he still arranged for me to live two floors under him all because he watched me getting harassed on public transportation.

"I take it you're finding the facilities to your liking?"

I hummed. "Sure, I'd probably even leave it a four star yelp review."

"Four?" he demanded. "Where are we lacking?"

His response made me laugh. Anybody who described this apartment as 'lacking' needed to seriously reevaluate their opinion on life. And needed to let me punch them in the face. Still, I found that it was difficult to restrain myself from teasing him.

"There's too many bookshelves. Now I need to buy more books to fill them," I tapped my finger on my chin as if he could see my thoughtful expression through the phone. "The rolling ladder is a nice touch."

He breathed a laugh. A short, surprised sound.

"I made a calculated risk in choosing that one for you. Though, if you'd like to move to the apartment directly beneath me there is considerably less bookshelf space. However, you would have a direct line of contact to me."

"Is that so?"

"Of course," he said, "we would have to learn Morse code for the broom stick banging, but still."

This time, I was the one surprised into a laugh.

Gio was usually so serious and a joke from him felt like a rare occasion. One that I enjoyed.

"So, does Thursday evening work to meet?" he asked, back to business.

I was set to work the bar at D&D anyways and he seemed to work out of the resort most days.

He was able to come and go from Elysium when he pleased. Now that I lived here, he always knew where to find me. All of that begged the question of why he needed to schedule a formal time to meet with me.

"What's the purpose of this meeting?"

"Miss Night, I believe you just answered my question with one of your own. Most unhelpful." °

"Yes," I rolled my eyes now, "Thursday is fine.

I'm scheduled behind the bar, but Darius can cover while I step away."

"Find someone else to cover the bar. You'll likely be indisposed for most of the evening."

"Doing what?"

I picked at my nail, sinking a little lower in the tub while I waited for his response. The warm water skimmed over my skin and left trails of soap bubbles smelling like lavender. My sister would pass out if she ever saw this tub. If she ever saw this entire apartment.

Two warring urges wrestled within me: the first wanted Audrey as close as possible so I could watch out for her and the second wanted her as far away from the Russo and Marafi families as she could get. Unfortunately, the second option meant that she needed to stay far away from me too.

"Well," Gio began in that smooth, cool tone that he'd perfected by now. "I figure that would be a good time to start convincing my brother of my attachment to you."

My brow furrowed. "Your attachment?" I asked slowly.

"Yes," he said, "to mark my claim over you."

Oh, that.

Great.