Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 66909 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 335(@200wpm)___ 268(@250wpm)___ 223(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 66909 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 335(@200wpm)___ 268(@250wpm)___ 223(@300wpm)
Even though her family has enough money to bail me out of my current situation, I can’t allow myself to stoop to the level of asking for it. I refuse to even crash in one of her empty guest rooms. I just can’t. Besides, even she doesn’t have that kind of money sitting around on her nightstand. She’d have to ask her parents, and then they’d want to know why.
Sasha darts her eyes at the dress and smiles. “It looks like it was made for you. Silver really is your color.”
I turn my attention to the high-rise Fortune 500 buildings we pass by. Bright lights from marquees reflect off the window, and I shift in my seat as our car maneuvers through the New York City traffic. “Where are we going?”
Sasha laughs. “I don’t know. Your guess is as good as mine. All we know right now is we’re headed toward Soho.”
“But you received an invite.” At least that is what Sasha told me when she asked me to attend Wonderland with her at the last minute. “How do you not know where we’re going?”
She shrugs. “It’s Wonderland.” Her words are casual. “No one ever knows the exact location. It changes every time.” Her eyes light up as she pulls the invite from her purse to look at it again. “It just has the first address on the invite. Wonderland’s location is always a secret. There’s a scavenger hunt to find the final address. It adds to the mystery, and most certainly the fun. Nick Hudson makes us all work for it.”
Yes, Nick Hudson is definitely a mystery. Ever since the Morelli party, I waited for him to hunt me down. I was certain that after our night together, he’d come and find me immediately. He’d demand payment for his help in getting me out of the mansion unharmed. I thought for sure he’d expect my debt to be paid by now.
I waited. And waited.
But he never came, and my disappointment took over.
So, it’s now time for me to take action. To put myself in front of him. Make him face me and remind him that I still owe him… a debt.
“Why does he move Wonderland around?”
“Why not?” Sasha answers as she studies the street signs and landmarks we drive by as if it will give her a clue as to where we’ll end up. “I’ve been to Wonderland a couple of times, and every single time, the genius of a man is able to turn some abandoned warehouse or vacant building into the hottest, most decadent, and exclusive night club around.”
“What’s the plan to get me through the door?” I ask, doubting if simply being Sasha’s plus one is strong enough to get access into the exclusive party. “I didn’t get the invite.”
“You’re a Morelli. It’s about time you start acting like one.”
“I’m not a Morelli.”
She rolls her eyes. “And Morellis have the power to get into pretty much any invite only event we choose. Trust me. Nick Hudson wants us at his Wonderland just as much as we want to attend.” She pats my thigh. “Don’t worry. I’ve met Nick a couple of times. He’s sexy as fuck, and just as crazy. But he’s harmless for the most part… unless you’re his enemy. But one thing about the man is he knows how to throw one hell of a party.”
My chest tightens as I take a steeling breath to prepare myself for revealing a secret I’ve been keeping from her. I need to tell Sasha that I’ve already met Nick—intimately—but I’m not sure how to just blurt out that information.
Before I come up with a way to tell her my secret and hot-as-hell truth, Sasha leans forward to hand the invite to the driver. “Take us to this address, please.” She then turns to me. “It’s time you come off that exiled island you’ve been hiding on. Bryant Morelli is your father. That makes you a Morelli just as much as me.”
“But I wasn’t raised as one. My mother was his mistress, and—”
“So what?” she interrupts. “And don’t you dare call yourself a bastard again. Your mother isn’t Sarah Morelli, but that doesn’t change your bloodline. Not every Morelli is full blood. Take my word on that. And for tonight, it serves us to have you be a Morelli. Trust me, you want to go to Wonderland. It’s going to be an amazing party. They always are.”
Sasha is right about that. I do want to go to Wonderland. I’ll do whatever it takes to make it happen.
Even if it means me acting like a Morelli in order to get through the doors of Wonderland.
We finally pull up in front of a bakery in Soho. It appears closed. Windows dark. Neon sign off. All the businesses along the street are closed, so I’m not sure why we’ve stopped.