Layla POV
It’s finally the weekend, and I can’t wait but to relax. I am wearing my most comfortable yoga pants with an oversized t-shirt that hits me almost on my knees. I am lazily lying down on the couch watching tv when Jo comes out of her room with tears in her eyes.
“That bastard,” she curses, sitting on the end of the couch, moving my feet and resting them on her legs. I raise an eyebrow, looking at her, and she takes a deep breath, cleaning her tears with the back of her sleeve.
“We’re going out,” she says, and I can’t help but laugh out loud. She must be on drugs or something. There’s no way in hell I am going out tonight. She looks at me, and it seems like she is reading my mind.
“Come on, Layla, I need this,” she says, and I sit up on the couch, moving my knees against my chest and hugging my legs as I look at her.
“And why is that?” I ask, and she bites her lower lip, looking at me. I keep looking at her, waiting for the bomb to drop. And fuck me, and it does drop.
“I caught Leo cheating on me,” she says, and I go wide-eyed, and I even stop breathing. I can’t believe he would do such a thing.
“Are you sure?” I ask, and she nods her head. They had plans for today. I knew he would propose to her, so the fact she saw him cheating sent me spiraling into my past. I close my eyes for a few moments, trying to push away the memory of finding Edward in bed with my sister. It was the worst day of my life, but that made me move out of the house I shared with her and to New York.
“I saw the messages. He is messaging a girl named Lauren”, she says, and I bite my tongue so I don’t say anything stupid. Shit. Lauren is the girl organizing the proposal party. He hired an event planner to get everything ready, so he wouldn’t have to worry about it.
“I think you might be overreacting. What did Leo say?” I ask, and she shrugs. I look at her, and she looks at me through her lashes.
“I haven’t really asked him,” she says, and I look at her wide-eyed and with my mouth open. What the hell is wrong with her?
“So, you think your boyfriend is cheating on you, and by the way, I think that is completely insane. The guy only has eyes for you, and you don’t even confront him? Ask him what is going on and who is the girl he is talking to?” I let out, and she stands up, crossing her arms in front of her chest.
“Are you taking his side?” she asks, and I shake my head, getting up after her.
“I am Switzerland,” I say, grabbing my phone and looking at the time. It’s past nine at night, and I am so ready to go to sleep.
“Yeah, we’re going out, we’re going clubbing, and I am going to meet someone richer and cuter than him, and I am going to shive his face all over the new guy,” she says, and I can’t help but roll my eyes and watch as she walks back into her room. Quickly I call Leo.
He answers almost straight away, “I don’t know what you know, but Jo thinks you’re cheating on her,” I blurt it out, looking at the empty corridor to make sure she is not listening to the conversation.
“She what now? I am not”, he says, and I roll my eyes. I know he is not. I just needed to make sure he knew this was happening.
“I know, she is taking me out, she is going all out on a revenge night out, she wants to get some guy,” I let out, and he laughs.
“Fuck my life sideways,” he says.
“How about a masquerade party? Do you think she will go for it? My boss is throwing it, and I will meet you both there. It’s a sinner’s party”, he tells me, and I can’t believe I am going to something like this.
“Fucking great,” I let out, and I could hear Leo laughing on the other side.
“Come on. You guys can get the masks at the entrance. I’ll leave your names at the door, and no phones will be allowed inside,” he tells me, and I agree. I need to go tell her about the party that somehow I was invited to.
I walk down the corridor and knock on her door, and when she opens it, she is completely naked. “Geez,” I let out, turning around as I don’t really want to see her completely naked. She is so confident about her body, and it makes me realize I am not about mine.
“What’s up? You need a dress?” she asks, and I shake my head.
“Can you cover yourself?” I ask, and she laughs before she closes the door. When she returns, she has a towel wrapped around her body, and she smiles at me.
“Okay, so I got invited to this party tonight, and I managed to get both our names on the list,” I say, and she looks at me with a smile on her lips. “It’s a sinner’s party and masquerade,” I let out, and she clapped her hands as she jumped up and down.
“I know exactly what I will be wearing,” she says, and I can’t help but smile at her excitement. I walk down the corridor towards my room, and I start grabbing all my dresses and shoving them on the bed. I look at each of them and decide to wear the red one. If it is a sinner’s party, red is the sexiest color I can think of. I decide to have a shower and curl my hair. My platinum hair falls down my back as my blue eyes shine in the mirror with the excessive amount of black eyeliner and mascara.
I put my red lipstick on, and when I am done, I can see all my tattoos decorating my arms and legs. The colors complement the dress, and I smile when I hear Jo knocking on the door before she opens it.
“Wow, you look sexy as fuck,” she says, and I smile.
“Why don’t we wear wigs tonight?” she asks as she passes me a black one and puts on a bright pink one. I laugh and put it on. I look at my image in the mirror, and I don’t even recognize myself. It’s been years since I had my hair a different color than platinum.
“Where are we getting the masks?” she asks, and I tell her that they will have some there that we can use. She is so excited that she opens a bottle of wine before our Uber arrives to take us to the most exclusive and sinner party in New York City.
Richard POV“Come on, we have to go,” Dylan says, and I put my glass back down on the coffee table in front of me, “Jude is already there, and Fred should be arriving soon,” he says as I roll my eyes. If it weren’t for Dylan, I wouldn’t be going. Today is his birthday, and as the bohemian playboy he is, he decided to have a masquerade sex dungeon kind of party. I shake my head mentally. When is he going to fucking grow up?“Who thought that a sinners’ party was a good idea?” I ask dryly, and Dylan laughs.“It’s fucking genius. There’s nothing better than sex, brother”, he says as he puts a hand on my shoulder before he starts walking out.“You need to chill and get fucking laid,” Dylan says, and I shake my head. The thought of a random woman touching me makes my entire body shiver. I push away the idea and follow him out of my house. We walk straight to Nando, who is waiting for us by the car with the back door already opened.“Nando, my man, how are you?” Dylan asks, shaking his hand
Layla POVOnce inside, I look around. This is the craziest place I have ever been to. I look at the entrance wall, and it has a map with all the different rooms and what happens in them. I smile, realizing that quickly this is becoming a sex party and not just an ordinary party. Whoever came up with this party is a freaking genius. I have never done anything like this before. People might think I am outgoing because of my looks, but I am kind of an introvert. I like staying home cuddled up with a pleasant set of comfy pajamas and watching TV. “This is insane,” Jo whispers in my ear, and I nod in agreement. It really is. She holds my hand, and we walk inside. I can feel the butterflies dancing in my stomach. “Ladies,” a man dressed all in black with beautiful green eyes approaches us and smiles, “There are some rules I need to explain,” he says, and we both nod. “Rule #1, your phones need to be turned off, and a sticker will be placed in front of your cameras.”“Rule #2, Masks need
Layla POV“That is something I have never been called before,” he whispers, and I smile as his hands keep moving up and down my body, exploring every inch of it.I gather the courage and move my hands down his arms and then up again, moving them to his chest and undoing the buttons from his shirt, exposing his tanned skin covered in a small layer of chest hair. I can’t help but pass my fingers over them. His skin is hot, and his chest is hard. I move my hands to his shoulder and peel his shirt off, leaving him completely exposed to me. His skin is clear of tattoos, and I can’t help but kiss his shoulder.His hand moves further along my pussy. He can feel how wet I am because slowly, he slides one finger inside of me, making me squirm, while with another finger, he plays with my clit. I close my eyes, moaning, and he covers my mouth with his hand. I can’t help but lick him, and he smiles. Too bad it is so dark I can barely see his facial features. But let’s be honest, and I don’t need
Richard POV "Good morning," I hear Mrs. Nichols say as I walk into the kitchen. I smile at her as I grab a cup from the cabinet. "Good morning," I reply as she pours me coffee. It smells amazing. I grab my cup and walk to my office. I put the cup on the coaster, sit on my chair, and turn on my laptop. I open my email and immediately regret doing so, I have already thirty-two, and it's only six thirty in the morning. There's one from Dylan and another from Jude. I decide to open those first and regret immediately opening Dylan's. "Hey bro, I thought you would like to have a look at these pictures that I got my hands on. Don't worry; I took care of them, and no one got to see them, but damn…." I open the attachments to find two pictures of me and the mysterious brunette at the party. The first photo is of her pressed against the wall while I fucked her from behind, and the second one is of
Layla POV He's a dick. I shake my head as I walk to the elevator. I press the button and realize I have no idea what floor IT is. I walk back to the desk to ask Esther, but she is not there. I looked all around the floor, and I couldn't find her. Is she in there with him? I take a deep breath and walk to the door stopping a few inches away, my shoes almost touching the door. As I raise my hand to knock, the door slams open, and a big Richard Ashford slams his massive body against mine, making me take a few steps back. His fist grips my arm, keeping me in place, and the warmth of his hand irradiates through my arm. My eyes lock on his deep blue eyes, and he is very serious. "Where have you been?" he asks, and I blink a couple of times, trying to make my brain function again. I open and close my mouth like a fish out of water, and when I realize he is looking at me with a death stare, I take one step back, making his hand fall on his side.
Layla POV It's almost eight o'clock when I finish everything I have to do at work. I had to stay a few extra hours to sort everything out and get all the paperwork into the appropriate folders on the iPad. I have a banging headache, and I am starving. I didn't have time to eat. The phone kept ringing non-stop with the people I canceled the meetings with complaining they waited months for the appointment. Well, they were lucky I managed to squeeze them where I did. Ricard will be finishing work later every day for the next three weeks. It was that or made everyone wait months again. I sit back on my chair, stretching my arms above my head and moving my neck from side to side. I turn my iMac off, and as I place the iPad on the charge, the elevator door opens, and Richard walks in. He is holding his jacket in his hand, and on the other hand, he has his phone while he scrolls through.&nb
Richard POV "How is Esther doing?" dad asks, and I put my fork down and look at him. He hasn't been to the hospital to see her yet. The man hates that place, and I can't really blame him. She worked for him for so many years that you would think he would have the consideration of going to visit her. But no, his fear of hospitals is more significant than his affection for Esther. "She's doing better, but she can't go home on her own, so I have my secretary looking at somewhere good for Esther to go live," I say, and dad nods. I can't have Esther struggling, and she will not be able to care for herself, so I am looking into an assisted living situation. Somewhere she can rest and enjoy painting as she loves. "She's a good woman," Mom says, and I agree with her. I grab my fork again and bring a piece of roast beef to my mouth. She really is, but at work, she was bec
Richard POV I stop my car in front of the townhouse and take a deep breath as I grip the steering wheel. I get out of the car, and as I reach the door, it bursts open, and a man walks out of the house while he is shouting inside. “Get out,” I hear Pamela shouting from inside the house, and as soon as I reach the door, it flies open, and a man walks out shouting inside. I don’t think he saw me. “You are fucking crazy,” he shouts, and I raise an eyebrow trying to look inside, but he faces me, and then Pamela appears at the door. Her face is bright red, and her eyes are puffy. I might not get along with my ex-wife, but I sure as hell won’t allow a man to shout at her, especially in front of me or near my daughter. “She told you to leave,” I say, stepping between them, and I can hear the soft cry coming from Pamela’s mouth. I get really uncomfortable with women crying, especially if it is my child's mother, a woman I learned to hate.