A hint of a smile on the corners of his mouth was his approval, his agreement. Yes, we could, and we'd look good doing it.
If I didn't pee my panties first.
We stepped across the sidewalk and up the front steps.
A few people lingered outside. They glanced at us, most of their gazes on me, before we stepped inside.
"This place is making me nervous," I whispered near his ear.
I might have to try harder to fake it than either of us knew. Being raised in this lifestyle and embracing it were different things. I'd never wanted any of it. Never felt at home amongst the so-called elite. It wasn't just about the obscene wealth. Plenty of rich people were good people. They gave back to the world any way they could.
No, this was about those who didn't. People who let power go to their heads. Those were the people I despised. The ones I wanted to burn down.
Forrest chuckled and put an arm around me. "I've got you, remember? Later, we can carve out their eyeballs."
"That's something to look forward to," I said with a touch of sarcasm. Was that something he did often? I got the impression it was something he'd donebefore, possibly more than once.There was more to this man than he appeared at first glance. So much more.
"Of course it is." He smiled and led me into the foyer, over hand-painted patterned tile. The timber paneling on the walls was at least a hundred years old, scarred here and there, but still shining.
We stepped under an antique chandelier dripping with crystals. Expensive but well cared for. A speck of dust wouldn't dare to land on it. If it did, it would be swept away quickly.
The whole place whispered class. Screaming it would be frowned upon.
We made our way toward the back of the hotel, to the small, intimate restaurant and elegant bar. A handful of people dined, or stood at the bar drinking and chatting. They exchanged plastic peals of laughter like the soundtrack of a pre-recorded sitcom.
Forrest nodded toward a man I recognized as a recently retired athlete. If only his sponsors knew what he got up to after hours.
He nodded back and returned to his conversation without giving me half a glance.
"Down here." Forrest led me deeper into the hotel, to the kind of room men gathered in to smoke cigars, drink brandy and make plans to dominate the world.
"If the walls could talk," I said under my breath.
"The walls would tell horror stories." Forrest's expression didn't change, but his tone was quietly disapproving. Irritated at the existence of spaces like this and the men who occupied them.
Women too. Of the few people who gathered here, a couple were women I knew on sight. Both as rich and powerful as any of the men.
Women who, I thought, should know better than to take part in something like this.
Leif and Woody stood to either side of the room. Woody observing. Leif holding a conversation with a couple of other men.
Both of them laughed at something he said. He looked right at home here. His dark blue suit blended with the rest; perfectly fitted and expensive. He even shared the same expression with the men he was talking to. Superior, like somehow they were better than the average person.
If I didn't know what he was really like, I'd hate him on sight. Instead, I reserved that for the people whose company he was in. Chances were, he wanted to stab them in the eyeball. Right now, he was showing great restraint.
Woody too.
He sipped on a glass of something clear, bored, like he had so much money, so much time, and yet he couldn't entertain himself anymore. Couldn'tbeentertained. Too jaded, too hard to impress.
Okay, some of that was accurate. He was definitely difficult to impress.
Once it might have annoyed me, but now? It was part of his charm. He wouldn't be as easily coerced as some of the people in this room.
"Judge Cross." An older man greeted Forrest with an insincere smile. Forced. Greasy.
Forrest responded with one of his own. "Good evening, Senator. This should be an…interesting event," he said meaningfully.
"Aren't they always?" the senator said with a laugh. "I never come away from these things disappointed."