Chapter seven

GERALD'S POV 

I loved the way they marveled at my penthouse. When we left the school, they were all skeptical about picking my place to do our project. The looks on their faces when we pulled up at the club were hilarious. Jessica was the first to speak when Silvia put her car in park.

"I knew it, you are just plain crazy! Do you think this is funny? We can’t do our project in a strip club!" She yelled, and all I wanted to do was put tape over her mouth. Why was she screaming? We were all in the same damn car, and it didn’t help that she was right behind me.

I twisted my torso to get a look at Jessica’s scowling face. I shot her a smile because annoying her was one of the very few things I found joy in doing. "Why not?" I asked, and she looked at me as though I was crazy. I could feel Silvia’s eyes on me, and if the circumstances were different, we probably would be making out right now. If only these three nuisances at the back weren’t there.

"What do you mean why not? You know what? I don’t even have the strength to explain to you." She hissed before shifting her attention to Silvia. "Sil, let’s just go to my house. This douche obviously thinks we have all the time in the world."

Damn, this girl was so annoying.

I rolled my eyes before releasing an annoyed sigh: "Chill, buttercup. I live here."

The car fell silent, and I could feel everyone’s eyes on me. They were obviously taken aback by what I had said. The silence was broken by Jessica’s snort. "Wow, that explains why you said you live alone. The rich kid is not as rich as everyone thought. What do you do? Clean the stalls? Serve the drinks or do you mop the floors? Let me guess, you live in the storage room, and once they pay you, you buy luxury items like that fucking Cuban on your neck."

I would sign over my entire inheritance just to get that girl to shut up.

"Jes, calm down. That's enough," I heard Mason say. My eyes remained ahead, staring at the familiar alley that was surprisingly empty. It was to be expected given that it was only four o'clock in the evening; by seven o'clock, the entire place would be packed.

"No, it’s not enough, Mas. Look at him, he’s a fraud!" She screeched, and I have decided that I have had enough.

"If you are done screaming like some fucking banshee, you are welcomed to come in. The faster we get started, the faster I can get rid of you." Thanks to the side mirror, I was able to catch Jessica’s jaw dropping from my words before I opened the car and left.

I heard their doors open, and they quickly followed me. The club might as well have been empty; the only person present was Casey, the owner of the club, and my best friend. He sat in one of the booths, his feet perched on the table, and his eyes focused on his phone. He looked up after hearing the opening and shutting of the door, and he smiled when his hazel eyes met my blue ones.

"What’s up, boy?" Casey said, kicking his feet off the table and getting up to give me a one-sided hug. We gave each other a brief pat on the back before letting go. I saw his eyes slide to the others standing behind me before returning to me.

"Nothing much. Got a school project with these guys," I explained, and I saw his eyes move to Silvia. They lingered on her a lot longer than I liked. He didn’t even care that he was openly checking her out. Then again, I am like that myself. "Is Paula around?" I asked, even though I already knew the answer to it. I just wanted him to take his damn eyes off her.

"Yeah…" Casey dragged, and I grimaced at the sight of his tongue sliding over his bottom lip. Something must have happened within the brief second I blinked because the next thing I knew, Casey’s face had suddenly gone pale, and he tore his eyes away from her. He cleared his throat before saying, "Alright, y’all have fun now." And then he walked away; he almost ran.

I returned my gaze to Silvia, but she had nothing but a blank look on her face. 

Weird.

I led the team to the back room and revealed the set of stairs hidden behind the door in the corner. They looked hesitant before following me up the narrow stairwell, but they did anyway. We got to the familiar golden door, and I took out my card before sliding it across the keypad. The familiar click signaling the unlocking of the door filled my ears, and I pushed the door open.

The gasp I heard brought a smile to my lips.

Not the storage room they expected to see, huh?

My sitting room area might as well have been bigger than two classrooms put together. My kitchenette was the size of a normal-sized living room. The floor-to-ceiling windows gave a magnificent view of the city, and every piece of furniture and wall was either white or gold. The large flat screen took up almost half the wall, and my mini chandelier stationed at the center of the room displayed little golden lights that looked like stars on every corner of the room.

"Wow," Abel said, speaking for the first time since I came to know of his existence.

I shut the door and watched them gawk with an overconfident grin. "Like my storage room?" I asked and reveled at the sight of Jessica’s body stiffening. "You guys sit anywhere you want. There are drinks and some snacks in the kitchen. Help yourselves out."

"Where are you going?" I heard Jessica ask as I made my way towards the bedrooms. I obviously ignored her because I was still annoyed by what she had said to me earlier.

I pushed open Paula's door to find the woman in charge of protecting and guarding my life with her face planted into the pillow and her hair strewn across it. My head shook with disbelief. I found it funny how she was hardly around but always showed up when I was in trouble or about to get my throat slit wide open. It was like she had some tracker implanted into her head; she never made me feel like I was being watched or smothered. Paula always showed up when she was needed. She was the perfect bodyguard.

I dragged my feet towards the foot of her bed and grabbed her ankles before shaking them furiously. Her annoyed groan brought a smile to my face. I laughed when I heard her grunt, "Go away." She whined.

"Ouch," I said, feigning pain with my other hand above my chest. "I thought you loved me."

"You’re a nuisance," She slurred into the pillow, and I was not at all hurt by that. We always spoke to each other in this manner; it was our love language.

"Aww, thanks," I said with a small chuckle before dropping her ankle. "I have some friends over; we are working on a school project."

"Go away," she groaned, and I jogged backwards.

"Love you!" I was quick, shutting the door before the flying pillow could make contact with my face. Making my way to my room, I tossed my bag on the bed and proceeded to take off my shirt. My torso was bare when I heard the door to my room open.

"Hey, where’s the..." Silvia’s voice filled my ears, and I twisted my torso to find her eyes trailing up and down my exposed skin.

A proud smile lifted my lips and I said, "Like what you see?"

She rolled her hypnotizing silver eyes before saying, "You wish. I wanted to ask where the bathroom is."

"You can use mine," I said, tilting my chin towards the door situated at the corner of my room. I watched her eyes narrow to slits, and a chuckle left my lips. "Don’t worry, I won’t try anything. You can lock it if you want."

"Thanks," she said before walking past me. Her vanilla perfume hit my nose, and I had to resist the urge to grab her by the waist and hold her to my chest. I wanted to dip my nose in her hair. Her scent was one I wanted to get lost in forever.

Wait, what?

Why am I thinking like this? I need to get laid tonight. I’ll let Casey know I need one of his strippers once everyone is gone.

I made my way to the living room to find Abel inspecting a painting Paula was so obsessed with. It was a painting of a woman crying; while one eye produced tears, the other produced blood. What I always found creepy about the piece of art was the fact that the woman was smiling, her eyes were distant, and she appeared mentally ill. I always thought whoever painted her was a lunatic.

My eyes fell on Mason, who was going through my video game collection. His eyes were as wide as saucers and filled with excitement. He looked like a child on a Christmas morning, opening presents and getting everything he wanted. When his gaze met mine, his smile was at its brightest. "I’m sorry, dude. But I’m going to be here every Saturday, and I am going to play every fucking thing on here," he said before caressing the top of my Play Station as though it were an egg.

"Sure, man. That’s cool." 

No, it wasn’t. It was weird.

I furrowed my brows when I didn’t catch sight of Jessica. I found her in the kitchen opening different cupboards and drawers. Her eyes were narrowed into slits, and something told me she wasn’t looking for something to eat.

Leaning against the wall, I watched her in silence before saying, "Looking for something?"

I watched with amusement as her body jolted with surprise, she turned to face me with wide eyes, and I almost laughed at the way her mouth fell open and shut. "I-I was looking for towels," she stuttered, and we both knew that was a blatant lie.

My eyes rolled in my sockets, and I pushed myself off the wall. "Well, whenever you all are done snooping around, I really think we should get started before it gets late."

Everyone gathered in the living room, and we encircled the small table stationed at the center. I planted my ass on the lush red carpeted floor, and my eyes often went to my bedroom door, expecting Silvia to walk out.

"Where’s Sil?" Mason asked, and my phone had chosen that moment to ring out. I excused myself before walking out of the living room. I stood in the lobby, checking my phone, to find it was an unknown caller.

"Hello?" There was no response at the other end, and I was starting to wonder if this was yet another prank call. What happened next was all a blur; one moment I was ending the call on my phone, and the next I was being tackled to the floor. My body slammed against the tiles, shooting an arrow of pain through it. Before I could blink, a thin rope encircled my neck, and in a matter of seconds I was gasping for air.

Panic rushed into my heart and I struggled against my attacker. The door to my penthouse opened, and I immediately knew who it was. The weight on my back disappeared, and the rope that could have ended my life fell to the floor. Grunts filled my ears, and my eyes fell on Paula straddling my attacker with her hands around his throat. He wore a mask to hide his face, and I didn't have time to warn Paula before he took out something from his pants and slammed it against her head.

Paula’s grip on the attacker loosened, and he used the opportunity to push Paula off him. He shot to his feet and bolted for the stairwell, but Paula was quick to grab his ankle, sending him to the floor once again. She got on top of him and grabbed the back of his head before slamming it against the floor repeatedly.

"What’s going on?!" All heads turned to find Jessica and Mason standing at the entrance with shocked expressions on their faces. The next thing I knew, Paula’s screams were filling my ears and my attacker was making a run for it.