Tristian (The Doherty Mafia Book 5), стр. 26

If I kept my head down, even Aldo and his men wouldn’t find me. And maybe Libby was the only person I could trust now.

She was more than just a little surprised when she opened the door of her loft and found me standing on the other side. I held my breath, waiting to see who’d open the door. If anyone was even home.

I hadn’t seen Libby in person in years, but I would’ve recognized her anywhere. Frizzy red hair and narrow green eyes to match her narrow nose and freckles. She looked even taller now than I remembered her.

“Elsie Harlow! What the hell are you even doing here?” She pounced on me, pulling me into her bony arms.

“I’m really glad to see you, Libby, and I hoped I’d be able to crash here for a few days. Not very long I hope. I just…need a place to stay. I promise I won’t be a bother.” I was breathless trying to get all the words out.

She smiled at me and gave me a tighter hug.

“Of course you can stay here with me, hon! Oh my God, we’re going to have so much fun!” she squealed, clapping her hands excitedly.

I smiled as I was led into her apartment, but I wished I could also explain the truth to her. I wasn’t here to have fun. In fact, I didn’t know if I was even capable of it. I was just here because I needed to hide out and nobody in the mafia world would know to look for me here.

But I didn’t say any of that to her because I didn’t want to scare her. Instead, I just smiled and nodded. I was glad I managed to get away.

“It’s my night off, hon, and we should go out and party!” Libby declared when I came out of the shower.

I’d spent a long time in there, trying my best to get rid of Tristian’s touch and smell off me. But no matter how hard I scrubbed, trying to wash him off me, I still felt him there. Everywhere around me.

“I’m pretty tired, so maybe not tonight,” I said, to which Libby pouted her lips.

“Oh come on, Elsie! We haven’t seen each other since we were teenagers. And now we’re independent and adults, we have to make good use of this time.”

Libby was already pulling clothes out of her narrow wardrobe.

I wasn’t sure what more I could tell her to throw her off the idea.

“I’m unprepared. I don’t have any clothes to wear for a night like that.”

“Well, it looks like you don’t have any clothes to wear at all. Are you sure this was a planned trip?” She didn’t sound suspicious even though it was definitely a curious situation for me to be in.

It didn’t seem like Libby cared.

“Didn’t I tell you? I lost my bag. Left it on the bus. It had my wallet and phone, everything. Which was why I couldn’t call you or anything. I’m glad I at least remembered your address,” I said.

Libby pulled two flashy looking cocktail dresses out of her wardrobe. She almost seemed too lost in her own thoughts to care about what I said.

“I’m sure you’ll get a hold of your bags. What do you think of these? You can have the black one,” she offered, holding one of the dresses out towards me.

I’d never been a ‘partier’. I rarely ever wore clothes like this one. I knew I wouldn’t enjoy myself if I went out with Libby tonight, but I didn’t want to disappoint her. I felt indebted to her for welcoming me into her home, out of the blue.

“Thanks. It’ll fit. It’s lovely,” I mumbled.

Libby smiled, looking pretty proud of herself.

“Good. You can use my makeup and stuff if you want to. I’m going to get dressed and then we’re going to go.”

“Where?”

“Somewhere we can get shitfaced and meet some guys. I’m so excited we get to hang out like this, hon.”

I felt guilty.

I couldn’t help but flush red with embarrassment and sadness to see how excited Libby genuinely was to see me—when all I was doing was using her as a resource. Was that who I had become now? Someone who used well meaning people to their advantage?

“I’m excited too, yeah, let’s go get shitfaced,” I said. But I wasn’t sure if I meant it.

I couldn’t afford to get shitfaced because it could cost me my life.

I didn’t know how easily Libby got drunk.

It didn’t take much for her to get shitfaced. Exactly the way she wanted to.

We hadn’t been at the club even half an hour before Libby was all over the place.

I was already self-conscious. I wore a ridiculously shiny black dress, the kind I never would’ve picked out for myself. The last thing I wanted was to draw any attention to myself, and it wasn’t just the dress but Libby too, who drew eyes towards us.

She wanted to dance, and not just with me, but with every guy who looked in our direction. I tried to keep her in control and close to me, but she barely even registered my presence anymore.

She threw herself at men who came up to us, or those she bumped into on the dance floor.

I didn’t know whether to be embarrassed, angry or genuinely afraid. There could be Aldo Baron’s men around. Or even Doherty eyes. The mafia ran businesses everywhere in the state. I’d learned the hard way, and now I was suspicious of everyone and everything, and increasingly wary of Libby’s behavior.

“Come on, hon, loosen up a little!” she exclaimed, pulling my arms up and jerking them around, forcibly trying to get me to dance when I didn’t want to.

“Maybe it’s time for us to head back now,” I suggested. My eyes darted everywhere as I scanned the crowd for anyone or anything suspicious.

“We just got here. Why are you being such a bore?” she snapped.

It wasn’t the fact she just