[ENG] VICIOUS SINS

Hardly have I stepped through the door before the loud music thunders in my ears. Granted, it’s completely idiotic to show up here alone. But who on earth would go to a party like this with me? All my friends live in Jersey City, not here in Manhattan. Besides, they wouldn’t even be able to get into this party since they didn’t receive an invitation. I don’t even know why I got one.

It’s not like I approach these people with any friendliness. Quite the contrary. If it were up to me, I’d avoid these rich snobs as much as humanly possible. I simply can’t stand them. Yet they are the only lead I have to get answers. At least, I’m hoping to get answers tonight. Unlike the past few months. It feels as though they’re all in cahoots and forbidden from telling me anything.

The mansion is huge, that much is obvious from the foyer alone. In the back of the entrance area, a sweeping staircase leads to the floor above. Just as I lift my head, I am nearly struck dumb.

This cannot be.

Those ice-blue eyes lock directly onto mine. Completely transfixed, I am utterly incapable of looking away from him.

With absolute nonchalance, he leans his forearms against the railing of the pale marble balustrade. His upper body is adorned by a midnight-blue shirt, its buttons unfastened just enough to reveal his muscles. I should look away anyway. This man is also one of the people I have learned to hate. He leads the list, right at the top. He and his twin brother. Both belong to one of the wealthiest families in all of New York City.

My teeth clamp together. God, I have to force myself to look away, to escape his damn aura. But that is far easier said than done.

What is this?

Everything inside me is boiling. With rage. Rage at myself for not being able to resist him. For not being able to flee that gaze.

Damn Blackwood.

He simply won’t stop staring at me, and my fury builds by the second. The worst part is, I don’t even know which of the Blackwood twins is standing before me. It is impossible to tell the identical twins apart.

Yet suddenly, he jerks his head to the side. Another person appears beside him.

Oh, my god.

This young man looks painfully familiar to me, too. Not because I associate him with Manhattan’s elite, but because I’ve seen his face several times before. Always when I was wandering the streets of New York alone, however. This man kept popping up behind me, again and again. I’d recognize his distinct beard growth anywhere. He doesn’t look unkempt with it, quite the opposite. The beard is styled to absolute perfection.

He is wearing a shirt as well, though unlike Blackwood’s, it’s black, and the buttons are left open too. But his muscles aren’t as pronounced as Blackwood’s.

I never thought twice about spotting this man behind me, but now that he turns up next to Blackwood, I seriously wonder if there’s more to it than pure coincidence.

Since he apparently knows Blackwood, he must belong to his inner circle as well. That also means he could potentially have something to do with his disappearance.

He exchanges a few words with Blackwood until he turns his gaze toward me. Surprise is written all over his face. In that instant, the inner rage inside me evaporates, replaced by a brand-new emotion. Even though I’ve crossed paths with him multiple times, I can’t help feeling a wave of relief. Out of all the people at this party, this man is by far the only one I can consider familiar, even though I don’t know him at all.

After a few seconds, he regains control of his features. Then his lips form a few words that I can barely make out over the loud music and the conversations of the party guests.

Right after that, Blackwood replies with a slight smile, claps him on the back, and sets off a moment later. The trustworthy-looking man glances down at me and follows the dark-haired man down the stairs a few seconds later.

This is the exact moment I should run away. Yet I can’t move. My feet refuse to budge.

And so it happens that both of them approach me until they finally come to a halt right in front of me. One on the right, one on the left. I don’t know who to look at first. The multi-billionaire whose gaze I surely won’t be able to tear myself away from, or the stranger who feels so hauntingly familiar?

“Camille,” the stranger speaks up out of nowhere.

“What?” I ask, visibly shocked. “How do you...? How do you know my name?”

The feeling intensifies. But can I really trust him just like that? He belongs to Blackwood. He belongs to Manhattan’s elite. That makes him my enemy, in a way.

With a dark laugh, he replies: “I know quite a bit about you, Camille.”

“You’ve been following me,” I tell him, my eyebrows narrowing. “Over and over again, I’ve seen you. Why did you keep showing up everywhere I was?”

This surprises Blackwood too, as he immediately turns to the bearded man. “Seriously, Lu? You’ve been stalking her?”

Annoyed, the other rolls his eyes: “I merely observed her, Damien. Nothing else.”

“Lucien! All those womanizing escapades of yours…”

“Our womanizing escapades...” he corrects Blackwood. So they’ve known each other for quite a while.

Womanizing escapades? Do they share women, perhaps? Am I their next object of desire? Judging by the way Blackwood was looking at me, that is entirely possible.

Damien continues: “You’re stalking women now? Call it whatever you like, it doesn’t change the fact that you’ve been secretly spying on this girl.”

“I had my reasons,” Lucien replies firmly.

They talk as if I’m not even here. I believe they wouldn’t even notice if I walked away from them. I really ought to do just that, otherwise I might actually end up as their next target.

“The reasons being? Spit it out!” Damien snaps at Lucien all of a sudden. That sounds like anything but friendship. But what else could the two of them be?

The brown-haired man remains silent.

“Fine, then explain it to me later,” Blackwood turns back to me. “Right now, I have other things on my mind than dealing with your convoluted schemes.”

A chill runs straight down my spine. Damien’s eyes light up even brighter than a few minutes ago. Almost unsettlingly so.

“That’s obvious,” Lucien states. “We need to talk about this. So, come along.”

“Pardon?” the dark-haired man asks, confused. “Talk? Because you’ve been watching her? You think that means I shouldn’t amuse myself with her?”

My jaw drops. That rich bastard. I knew it. The moment he laid eyes on me, he thinks he’s bought the right to fuck me?

Damn Blackwood.

As if I’m only here to provide amusement for some rich jerk.

That is the deciding factor I use the moment the two young men have stepped away a bit. I turn around and run through the large living room. Past the guests chatting among themselves, straight into the next hallway. After a few steps, I reach a door looming on the right side.

As I close the door, I lean against the wood for a moment and let out a breath of relief.

I am guaranteed not to be food for some rich snob like that. Just because he has plenty of prestige, he thinks he can get away with anything. Does he really think I’ll jump when he snaps his fingers? Absolutely not.

I should get out of here as fast as possible. Before Blackwood or this Lucien finds me again. Even though Lucien doesn’t seem quite as stuck-up, I have to admit to myself that even now, I still feel this strange familiarity toward him.

Ugh, I shouldn’t be feeling that. I’m not here because of any men. Especially not for shagging. I just want to get answers. Answers I can’t get anywhere else. That is precisely what I’m going to tackle right now.

Carefully, I open the door again and peek my head out. No sign of Blackwood and that Lucien. Thank goodness. Reassuringly, I step out into the hallway and keep going to reach the back part of the house. Far away from the foyer, so Blackwood and Lucien won’t discover me immediately.

After a short while, I reach a spacious living area. Ivory-colored furniture dominates the atmosphere. The walls are kept in the same shade. The back wall is made entirely of glass, offering a view of the terrace and the gigantic garden brightly lit by the house lights. A breathtaking sight.

Even as I’m taking in the view, the door behind me opens. I jerk around. My face contorts instantly. There he is again – Blackwood.

“Leave me alone!” I snap at him. “I am guaranteed not to hop into bed with you.”

He slowly approaches me. I automatically take a step back. Because of that, he stops with plenty of distance between us.

“That would be one of the last things I’d consider,” he says completely coldly. He sounds entirely different than he did a few minutes ago. It’s the same voice, but the tone is completely changed.

My eyebrows shoot up anyway. Did I misunderstand something? He implied it, after all. Blackwood literally said he wanted to amuse himself with me. Meaning he wants to sleep with me.

“I’m supposed to believe that?” I ask straight out. “Did you lie? You made it crystal clear to me.”

Blackwood doesn’t take his eyes off me. I have to be careful not to lose myself in his eyes all over again. However, the longer I stare into that glowing blue, the less I can maintain my control.

The blue-eyed man in front of me, on the other hand, remains entirely unfazed by it.

“Sweetheart,” his tone hasn’t changed – still emotionless, as if the incident in the foyer had never happened, or as if he’s intentionally blocking it out. “You’re not the first one to wish for that, and you certainly won’t be the last.”

Seriously, right now? Did that bastard actually just say that? He’s literally twisting my words around. He wants to make it look like I’m the one who desires nothing more than to end up in bed with a Blackwood.

“Don’t flatter yourself, fucking Blackwood!” I retort sharply. “I’m not here to experience a damn night with one of you puffed-up, rich snobs where I completely surrender my willpower to you just so you can further boost your ego and your power over a human soul.” Agitated, I walk right past him. “I’m no whore for you arrogant assholes!”

They’re all the same. They all look down on people who don’t belong to the elite. They all think they can subjugate the nouveau riche. Because that’s exactly who hangs out here at the rich kids’ party. The highest of the high, like the Blackwood twins, other well-known upper-class heirs, and those who have only joined Manhattan’s high society in recent years. Who do the top of the food chain target first? Naturally, those who haven’t been mingling in this circle for long. They’re sitting ducks for them.

“Do me a favor and leave me alone for the rest of the evening. I have more important things to do than worry about your well-being. Go find another victim!” With that, I open the door.

Just as I cross the threshold, I gasp in sheer disbelief. “Oh, fuck.”