Bend Me, Daddy

Serafina

The fundraiser was in The Eleanor, an upscale event venue in the middle of downtown Austin. My Uber driver pulled up in front of the two-story

black building squeezed between two multi-story buildings on 5th street. There was a small round sign jutting out from the building with the name of the venue. I thanked him and carefully got out of the car, then walked up to the double glass doors.

I stood on the sidewalk, staring at my reflection as the Uber pulled away behind me. My heart was beating so hard I thought it was going to burst right through my rib cage, and again, I wondered what the hell was wrong with me and what I was doing there. But before I could change my mind, the door was opened from the inside and I was greeted by a doorman in a black tuxedo.

"Welcome, madam. Do you have your invitation to the party?"

Shit. I should've grabbed Luca and Veda's. Would he have known it wasn't mine? Probably. I made a show of looking in my clutch purse. "Oh, no," I murmured. One hand still in my clutch, I looked off in the direction my driver went. "I must've left it in the Uber." I gave the doorman an apologetic glance. "Let me see if I can call him back."

He seemed content to wait, but fate was on my side because it chose that moment to start raining. Just a few fat drops here and there at first, but anyone who'd lived in Texas for any amount of time knows that those drops were your one and only warning that you have about ten seconds to find some shelter before the near hurricane level downpour hits you, soaking you through in a matter of point five seconds. And there was no awning or anything on the front of this building. It was only about forty degrees, and if he turned me away, I wasn't looking forward to freezing my ass off out here.

It only took one look of supplication from me for him to glance at the sky- even though it was too dark to see any rain clouds-and to wave me inside. "Don't worry about it," he told me. "I'm sure a lovely lady like you wouldn't have gotten all dressed up for nothing. May I take your coat?"

I glanced around. The room was made up entirely of shades of dark umber -the cement floors, the wood slat walls, and even the ceiling-lit up by sparkling pendant lights over the bar and large sconces along the walls. Even the benches and tables were a rich, dark brown, but from what I could see of the bar between the crowd, it was a creamy white with a dark top. I turned my back to the room and allowed him to help me remove my coat. He gave it to a younger man who'd been waiting behind him and then handed me a ticket, which I put in my clutch purse. "When you're ready to leave, just come back here and I'll fetch your coat for you."

"Thank you," I told him with a smile. We both glanced out the doors as the rain began to come down in earnest.

He turned back to me with a smile. "You're very welcome. Enjoy your evening."

I could feel the high testosterone level in the room. It hung in the air like a heavy fog. Apparently, you could take the man out of Italy, but you couldn't take the Italian out of the man. Letting one side of my straight blonde wig fall partially over my face, I turned to face the lions and walked into the room with long, sure strides. I felt numerous sets of eyes upon me, some of male interest, even more of female envy, but I didn't stop as I worked my way through the crowd, brushing past more men in tuxedos and women in their fanciest gowns. I just kept walking as though I knew exactly where I was going...

Because Enzo and Jade were standing at the bar in the front lounge.

Jade's back was to me, but even from this angle, I could see how stunning she looked in her backless, shimmery gold dress that fell just above her knees and showed off her gorgeous golden skin. The silky material clung to her perfect figure in all the right places, and I suddenly felt like a stuffed sausage the way my plump curves filled out my own dress. Her legs were bare, and her feet were in scrappy gold heels.

Enzo stood beside her, his head bent down to hers, one hand on her lower back above the material of her dress. I watched from the corner of my eye as his thumb caressed her bare skin. My stomach knotted as fire flashed through my blood, heating my face. I wanted to grab my friend by her shiny black hair and rip her away from him, then smash his damn sunglasses with my fist hitting his face.

But I did neither of those things. I did no more than give them a passing glance as I continued down the hallway and into the main room, where a small orchestra was playing pretty instrumental music. I kept walking until I reached the stairs at the back of the building and climbed them to find myself on the mezzanine level. Stopping at the bar, I ordered something in a martini glass made mostly of tequila and walked out onto the balcony. The couches were occupied, so I found an empty corner by the railing where I could look down over the main room. A few couples had started dancing to a version of a Halsey song and I sipped my drink as I watched them and tried to calm myself down.

But the longer I stood there, the more I wondered what I'd hoped to accomplish with this stunt. Why I was torturing myself like this. Standing here all night and watching Enzo with another woman, even if that woman was the only real friend I'd had in this town, would accomplish nothing but make me feel like shit about myself.

And what was I going to do when they left? Follow them like some kind of crazy girlfriend? Bust in after them and then freak out when I caught them in bed together? How many times had he brought her back to his hotel before he'd met me? I had no claims on Enzo. I didn't want to have any claims on him. The only thing I wanted was to get away from him and this world of fucking men who thought women were nothing but bargaining tools or playthings. Men who thought they could blackmail you and get away with it. So, what the hell was I still doing here? I'd seen what I'd come to see.

That was a good question.