There are moments in life when we come to a crossroads and must decide which path is the best option for the next part of our journey. Overhearing Enzo’s conversation with Augusta Abramovitz is one of those times.
I should run from this place and never look back.
However, I’m still picking my jaw off the floor when the glamorous blonde enters the corridor where I’m clutching my chest. The edges of her eyes crease with a smirk, and she pauses.
“A little advice: you have all the power in the world nestled right there.” She points at my legs. “Use it. Make that man eat out of your hand. Trust me.”
“I don’t even know you. Why the hell would I trust you?”
She sweeps aside a luminescent lock of hair and steps closer. “Because I’m a woman with the most influential men in this city asking how high they should jump when I snap my fingers. I didn’t gain this power by being a meek little mouse shivering in a corner.”
“I’m not a meek little mouse,” I say as she continues past me. So, I grab her arm. “Stay away from my brother.”
She glances at my fingers curled around her flesh and sucks in a breath of disgust through her teeth. “Remove your hand.”
But I don’t.
Instead, I grip tighter and lean in with a growl, “Stay away from him.”
“Learn your place!” she yanks free with a snarl. “Don’t you ever put your hands on me again, you stupid girl.”
It isn’t until I pull the pepper spray out of my purse, aim it at her face, and press the button that I realize what I'm doing. A stream shoots out like a snake spitting venom, and Augusta immediately withdraws with a shriek, her hands going to her eyes. She screams every nasty insult in the dictionary at me, but I’m coughing too much to care as the acidic burn of the spray fills the air.
Someone barrels past me, almost knocking me over, but I steady myself using the wall. A large man who could crush my skull like a watermelon runs to Augusta's aid. So, I take this opportunity to flee but bump into Enzo.
“Mara?” His hands go to my sides, but he begins coughing, too.
"We should go!"
“What the hell is going on?”
“Grab her, Bernard!” Augusta shouts and continues gagging as snot flows from her nose.
Her large bodyguard isn't immune to the burn of the pepper spray, either. Yet, he stomps forward like King Kong, ready to toss me over his shoulder while rubbing his eyes and coughing.
"Get behind me," Enzo shouts. A gun slingshots from his sleeve and into his palm as he aims. “You’re not laying a finger on her!”
The bodyguard freezes, allowing us to back up slowly until we leave the hallway. Guests at the charity event become a blur when Enzo hooks his arm around my waist and hauls me toward the nearest exit. I trip over my heels as we crash into the stairwell, but Enzo keeps moving while dragging me with him down two flights of stairs.
“What the hell happened back there?” he says.
“I overheard your conversation with that woman. So, I pepper sprayed her.”
“What!?” Enzo comes to a dead stop and whirls around. “Mara, no.”
“Yes.”
“Fuck. Me…” He facepalms himself. “Augusta Abramovitz is not a woman you want to mess with. She is very powerful. I don’t know what she has on your brother or why he’s involved with her, but you need to steer clear. Understand?”
YOU ARE READING
Sugar Daddy Season
Romance𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐚 | 𝐌𝐮𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐇𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 When Mara Santiago is laid off from work and dumped by her boyfriend, she moves in with her parents. Struggling to find another job as a ballerina, she begins go-go dan...
