Part I. Reunion
Present
September 2016
If there was one thing I had learned in the years I had been living in New York, it was that fall weather could be the most treacherous of all. It could start as a cool day, but then, without warning, the temperature could drop so rapidly that New Yorkers had no choice but to always carry a coat with them.
That's why I rummaged through my closet for a Chanel coat that a client had given me on a trip to Italy. I found it at the bottom, next to items that had never left their packaging, and I smiled with delight because it was in perfect condition.
"This will look good on you over that magnificent dress," I told Alice, and she looked at me mockingly.
"I don't need a coat for a gala; I have to show off."
"I'm not talking about that, smarty. You know perfectly well that Dr. Koch will take you to a bistro after the gala. He likes to show you off, and if you put him in a good mood, he's sure to leave a generous tip."
She crossed her arms and sighed deeply, causing one of her red curls to easily move away from her face.
"Fine, but this will be the last favor I do for Dr. Koch. He gets too clingy and overly sentimental," she said with disgust because she didn't like public displays of affection. "I want new clients, and I also want you to call Guido. I don't know what's going on, but he hasn't canceled the last four services."
I furrowed my brow at that detail.
"Don't worry, I'll take care of it. It's not in his best interest to lose his stars."
We both raised our eyebrows before bursting into laughter at the absurdity of the situation.
As escorts, we knew perfectly well how replaceable we could be. Beauty always needed to be maintained, but time passed and younger ones arrived.
The limousine's horn sounded, and I hurried my friend to leave immediately. There was no time to lose, so when she left, I didn't hesitate to send a message to Guido.
My phone rang immediately.
"What do you want?" he asked sarcastically.
"Alice just told me that you haven't paid for the last services, and since you haven't paid for mine either, I'm going to cut to the chase: what are you doing?"
"The payments haven't been processed..."
"Don't treat me like a fool," I interrupted him, fed up with his excuses. "I'm not here to play games, so you pay up, or I'm going straight to old man Rocco."
"Don't threaten me..."
I couldn't help but laugh.
"I'm not threatening you; I'm notifying you that you have twenty-four hours from this moment to make the payment," I announced with all the seriousness in the world. "From now on, don't count on us."
I hung up before calling the only person who could help me.
While I didn't like calling the man who essentially forced me into the underworld of companions as a result of my past misfortune, he was the only one who could bring order to this situation.
I was tired of Guido being the middleman.
The only good thing about dealing with him was meeting Alice and Lilly, my best friends, whom I was thinking of for the drastic change I needed.
I waited for the phone to ring several times before the gruff voice of old Rocco answered:
"Look at the surprises life has given me today..."
"Sorry to bother you, Rocco, but I have a problem with Guido, and I'd like to know if it's possible to change the intermediary or deal directly with you for everything related to my services and Alice's."
"What did that human scum do for you to want that?" he asked, amused.
It was well known that I always avoided dealing with him, but desperate times called for desperate measures. However, I had a card to play.
"He hasn't paid us our percentages for the last services, and I'm afraid he's robbing us and using it for something," I told him, simulating seriousness. "According to the girls, he's been very distracted since the drug supplier threatened him the last time in front of the clients."
"What the hell are you talking about?"
I smiled when he took the bait.
"Don't you have a new supplier? From what I understood, from what he told us at the last wild party, you hired a new supplier, and he was assigned as the one in charge of distributing the product to the clients."
I heard a curse on the other end of the phone.
"How many unpaid services does he have with you?"
"Four from Alice and two from me."
"The last four services from Alice without her percentage add up to about fifteen thousand, and the last ones of yours amount to about eight thousand. He didn't give you a single dollar?"
"No."
"I'll make the full payments tonight, and if he contacts you, let me know," he snapped with determination. "For now, would you like to earn a good payout? I have some exclusive clients who want good service."
"If there's good money involved, count me in."
"Good. They are some Arabs who will be arriving in the city for an opening gala this coming Saturday at the new Basciano conglomerate hotel."
"Are there many of them? I can bring Alice."
"You can handle a group and more, but it would be good to offer a two-for-one deal," Rocco said with humor, making me suppress my disgust. "Get organized, and I'll be passing you all the details."
"How much are we talking about this time?"
"Forty thousand cash," he said calmly. "If you bring Alice, they'll have to cough up another ten thousand."
The figure was too good to pass up.
"Perfect, we'll be there without fail."
Saturday came quickly.
Alice and I were ready to leave, just waiting for Lilly, who would be our designated driver and emergency bodyguard for the night. When the doorbell rang, Alice didn't hesitate to open it, and the voluptuous but lethal brunette entered with a less-than-friendly expression but hiding a mischievous little smile.
"Why do you have that look like you've eaten something rotten?" I asked curiously. God knew what Lilly did as an enforcer for Rocco, making her part of the mafia.
"Let's just say I didn't have a good day... But that doesn't matter." She downplayed the issue. "Are you ready?"
"Yes, I'll grab my purse, and we can go."
Half an hour later, we were near the new Basciano conglomerate hotel, and Lilly threw one of her typical odd questions.
"Will they have a group party? Because if they do, I want pictures of these guys if they have nice packages. If not, please, don't show me a damn thing... I just want to verify that they're well-endowed, enough to compete with the ones around here."
Alice and I laughed because despite our friend being the most misandrist person we knew, she had a hidden fascination for male members.
"If they cooperate, trust me, I'll make you a whole album," Alice told her, and I shook my head.
In a few minutes, we arrived outside the venue, and we could see that it was an architectural beauty, a place where no expense had been spared, and its importance for the city was beyond doubt.
"This is incredible... This family is swimming in money."
Alice was right. According to what I had read, the Basciano family was one of the most powerful in the world, with wealth capable of topping the global Forbes and Fortune 500 lists for decades.
"I'll keep an eye on you; stick to your clients and don't get into any fights," Lilly said, giving us event invitations. A cover story Rocco had created for us to enter without any problems; on them, we were architects from a prestigious Oklahoma architecture firm.
"I can't even believe this myself."
I laughed because it was ridiculous. However, when we presented them at the entrance and they verified them, we realized they were solid. One of the guards escorted us to some impressive marble stairs.
"At the end of the right hallway is the event hall. Enjoy the evening."
Alice and I entered gracefully, wearing forced smiles. The gala was nothing more than a cover for the conglomerate to make deals, which made me think that the CEO was a brilliant man. There was nothing about him on the web; his face wasn't known, only the fact that he was the brilliant son of the Basciano family, a cunning young man who had taken charge of everything at just twenty-two.
"We're not the only ones here," Alice said. I saw a few ladies Rocco managed, and I had no doubt that he must have very good connections to get them into a place like this. We greeted a few, then hurried to our clients' table, the Haddad brothers, Adib, Haid, and Yusuf, Arab heirs who wanted to have a great time.
What surprised Alice was how Rocco had managed to get many of the most sought-after ladies into the room. As there were too many, and they often played dirty to steal clients from each other, she decided to identify the Arabs who had requested her, the Haddad brothers: Adib, Haid, and Yusuf.
"There's Kim, but she's with that disgusting Raymond Graham."
I felt sorry for her and wondered how desperate she was to accept services from a man who not only could be a bad payer but was one of the most perverted in the world.
"Our clients look handsome."
Alice was right, as we got closer, I realized they were divine. However, something on the back of the man talking to them seemed familiar.
"Dear Basciano! This is the lovely lady we told you about," one of the brothers said with satisfaction.
Then he turned, and my world collapsed. I stopped breathing instantly. Luc, the man who deceived me and left me at the worst moment of my life, was looking at me in a way that sent chills down my spine.
I couldn't believe it.
Present September 2016 Freezing in my tracks wasn't good, but I had turned to stone when I realized that Luc was not only in front of me, but he looked impeccable, radiating a mature beauty that his face had acquired over the years. It had been seven years since the last time we saw each other. It had been seven years since we said "I love you" for the last time. It had been seven years since he lied to my face before leaving without looking back. "Are you okay, Emma?" Alice asked when she noticed my condition. That snapped me out of my stupor, and I nodded, forcing a smile in an attempt not to show how much it was affecting me. "You have to stay focused," I told myself to give the right impression. "You're as beautiful as Rocco told us,” One of the brothers commented, and I smiled with enthusiasm. "I'm Adib, the eldest. These are my brothers Haid and Yusuf, and this gentleman is none other than Luciano Basciano, the CEO of the Basciano conglomerate." I couldn't help but rai
Present September 2016"At that moment, I couldn't tell you who I was, Emma...""I'm not interested in hearing your cheap lies, Mr. Basciano," I interrupted, "I'm only here because I'm fulfilling a service."With that, I got into the limousine, trying to hold back the anger that made me want to cry. He followed me immediately."Why did you become this?"If someone had told me that Luc would show up and question me about why I had become an escort, it would undoubtedly have been the epitome of comedy, so I couldn't help but laugh."What are you laughing at? I'm asking you something serious. How the hell did you end up being one of Rocco's girls?"The urgency in his voice, the veiled disappointment, stopped my laughter immediately. How could he even ask that?I didn't hesitate to respond gracefully before telling him to go to hell."What I was doesn't concern him; what I am now is what matters. I'm here to work, so I don't intend to talk about the past when I have a job to do. Just tel
PresentSeptember 2016His hoarse voice made my body come alive.It was as if I activated the muscle memory that had been dormant, waiting for the only man who could make me vibrate. So, I took all the muster of my willpower not to give in to it, to remind myself that what Luc was doing to me was a humiliation.That's why I didn't hesitate to turn things around."As you like, Mr. Basciano.He sat up in bed, with a cretino's expression to watch the spectacle.I smiled with amusement, took off my jacket and then his expression changed to an indecipherable one that I couldn't understand clearly. That made me almost faint before his gray eyes, before his perfect features that reflected expressions of longing that I instantly hated.I let go of the garment with some anger, pulled down my skirt gently, so blatantly that I could see a trace of annoyance in Luc. That prompted me to be more daring, I opened my top freeing my breasts and seeing that Luc's interest shamelessly I threw it in his
PresentSeptember 2016I gave boldness to my desire to make him swallow his words.I set out to make the same journey with greater ease and seduction than the night before, with an optimism based on driving him crazy, and I noticed that he liked what he saw, that, in spite of everything, he was as attracted to me as he had been in the past.I smiled slyly, crouched down like a panther, and walked over to the corner of the bed to turn it on more than it already was.He appreciated me with a different look, a raw, naked look and I could feel the growing bulge in his pants that gave me the answers I was looking for. I licked my lips to tease him more than usual.It was a delight to see him like that.I sat on my knees as I reached him and ran my hands down his legs to stimulate him, giving an alluring touch to the moment that he couldn't help. I didn't take my eyes off his face for anything in the world, I unzipped his pants and put my hand in to stimulate what he had caused.He let his
Present September 2016 I didn't see him coming, so I took a deep breath and answered him with annoyance. "That's none of my clients' business.” "I'm glad I'm no longer your customer!" He replied, handing me an envelope. “Here's your payment. Thank you for your service!” He bowed theatrically, a clear mockery that infuriated me. "You're welcome," I replied sharply, grabbed my things and left the room without looking back. What the hell did the think he was? It was too much for me at the time. I walked down the hall and down the stairs in a hurry that surprised me. I wasn't the fastest woman in the world, so you could tell I wanted to fly to the farthest place ever. I felt like I was a hallucination and that damn night was just a bad dream, some kind of nightmare that got the hang of it all when the realization of it all hit me hard. I had seen the only man who can love become a filthy rich billionaire capable of fulfilling his damn whims at my expense; He was a man I didn't
PresentSeptember 2016I didn't get rid of the check like I thought I would.The desire to break it into pieces was what was left over, however, I used it in something that really needed it: the women's shelter.This was my secret, my hidden place to help all the women like me who had difficult times, had to flee far away and had to stop being themselves to become someone else.The girls helped me with the shelter, so when I collected the money on Monday and sent it to the association, not only was there a party and happiness, but the green light was given to the project to expand it."I'm so grateful, Emma, you've been an angel to these women," Principal Chan told me."Just pretend it was someone else.”"It will be impossible, but I think I can help you with something.”She turned to look for some papers, so I frowned."What would it be?""I heard you're really into photography and were looking to specialize in photography, so I think you might be interested in this," he said before
PresentSeptember 2016Friday had arrived faster than I wanted and by the end of the night my phone rang for a message from an unknown number.I'm outside, get out before I'm forced to go in and get you. "You bastard," I blurted out as I read.It was obvious that he went to make sure that I wouldn't play one of my games to leave him standing, which not only spoke to the twistedness of the matter, but the control he had over me.He can't stop me from feeling bad."It's just another customer”.I said to myself like a mantra to remind myself that Luc couldn't affect me any more than I let him, so before I opened the door I put on a fake smile.He was leaning back in his spectacular car, and I couldn't help but catch a glimpse of how those dark jeans looked, how well the white shirt with the top buttons open and showing some of his tanned skin fitted, as well as the jacket that clung to his arms in a way that highlighted his worked muscles. The whole bearing was of a mature man, of a man
PresentSeptember 2016What started at the table made its way through the living room, the stairs and the furniture.Luc marked me wherever he wanted, as much as he wanted and he always did it looking me in the face, without letting go of the fact that he was the one who did it and that, whether I liked it or not, I wasn't enjoying it like I had ever until we had dinner."I never imagined we'd be this unstoppable, Emma." I stopped chewing as I listened to him talk. “My fantasies fall short.”"Well, are you pleased with the service, or are there more fantasies you want to explore? After all, it was your money that bought me.”At my monotone response, he looked at me as if he understood for the first time, since our reunion, that I was a different person and that I wasn't going to give in, so he was smart enough to keep his mouth shut after that.He didn't say anything else; he didn't want to go on, he just guided me to his room.The surprising thing when I walked in was that it bore a