Chapter 184: Undercity Business

I had just made a turn toward the next hallway when I saw Candy leaning against the wall admiring her nails, which I might add were ridiculously long like she wanted to claw someone’s face off or something.

"What are you still doing here?" I asked, my irritation clear in my voice. "Shouldn’t you be on your way back to your gentlemen’s club? I heard the place’s booming lately."

She laughed lightly. "It is; you should come sometime. There are still whispers of Scarlet. They say every man who looked at her on her debut is missing a body part."

I shivered. She’s joking, right?

"Business was so slow. Good thing we’re back now. Hurt the reputation a little bit, but nothing Candy’s girls can’t bring back on track."

Doesn’t seem like she was joking. Zade definitely had something to do with that.

"Don’t mind me dearie, just waiting around in case I’m needed. I do that all the time, and lunch will be ready soon so... I’m gonna stick around. The cook here is fabulous by the way."

"Excuse me?"

"Right... I haven’t come here since..." She eyed the ring on my finger. "Since he put a ring on that finger, though that doesn’t mean we don’t see each other every once in a while. The location doesn’t have to be the Salvero’s estate."

"Meaning?" I asked through my teeth.

"Take a wild guess," she replied smoothly. "I’m the Serpent’s network, a very reliable one."

"I can see that, which is the only reason why you’re useful."

"A girl gotta dream, right?"

"Anastasia."

We both turned our heads to Caleb.

"There you are, been looking for you. Remember our chess game?" he asked before looking over to Candy. "And who might you be? I haven’t seen you here before. Are you the new maid?"

"Just leaving. I lost my appetite."

Her nine-inch heel clicked sharply as she left.

Caleb wheeled close. "Sorry I had to interrupt. I just thought you needed the save there."

"And you came right in time. Trust me, I was so close to punching her in the face."

He chuckled. "You’re joking, right?"

"I wish I were..."

"I’m guessing she’s not someone you like."

"Obviously. We have a history."

He tilted his head. "Care to share?"

My mouth hung for a while. "Um, I don’t think that’s a good idea."

"Why?" he shrugged. "We can talk, right? We’ll have tea and maybe that chess game. Dante’s been busy, and I haven’t seen him for a while."

I felt instant guilt wash over me, knowing I had to turn him down due to the circumstances. "That sounds like something nice for a change. I haven’t played chess for a while. I’d certainly feel good to stretch my skills if they aren’t rusty already."

"I’m sure you’d do well. However... I’m sensing a... but from you."

"Yeah, the game would have been nice but not the talk."

"I think I can handle whatever you throw at me. And that woman over there is a story I’m quite interested in talking about since she got so frustrated enough to punch her."

I chewed the inside of my mouth. "It concerns the undercity, and I know how you don’t like that."

His smile faltered before it dropped and a foul expression took over. "I see... Thanks for the heads-up. Maybe some other time then, when it has nothing to do with..."

He couldn’t finish as he shook his head and wheeled away.

"Caleb..." I called, but he didn’t stop.

Maybe I should have just agreed for the chess game and talked about something else, but I just had to drop the undercity bomb, didn’t I?

Real smooth, Anastasia. Real smooth.

~☆~

I took off my sunglasses, and my eyes swept around the gallery. Numerous artworks were displayed, and I anticipated a lot of people lingering, but there weren’t.

I spotted Julius at the end of the hall, viewing a very large, detailed painting. Exhaling, I steeled myself for what to come as I walked closer.

The rhythmic noise of my heels clicking against the polished floor echoed through the air, until I came to a halt.

"A gallery," I said as I stood beside him.

"Much better than the hospital, don’t you think?" he said, amused.

"Would have been much better. Since I had to come up with a better excuse this time."

"Pray tell. How do you convince your husband?"

"Told him I was meeting with a close friend for coffee."

"And he let you drive alone?" He asked curiously.

He was still guarded, and I’m not sure why he wanted details. Hopefully he wasn’t suspicious.

"I did go to the café, but I took a detour." I checked my silver watch. "We have one hour."

"Smart girl," he praised before looking back at the painting. "Do you love art, Anastasia?"

I smiled softly when I recalled the paintings Zade had done of me.

"I recently acquired a taste for it."

"Hmm... and what do you think of this?"

I cleared my throat and got down to business. "I’ll attend the ball."

"Excellent decision."

"Under one condition."

He faced me with curiosity in those dark eyes.

"You swear fealty to me."

I expected hesitancy or something, but I got nothing except that smile on his lips. If anything, he looked overjoyed.

"I’ll give you that and more," he murmured. "I have a confession to make."

"C-Confession?" I questioned, hoping he was gonna finally reveal something about himself.

"I’ve been in Hightower for a while, before your father’s funeral."

I knew that much already, but I guess this is the point where I act surprised.

"Y-You were?" I blinked, sounding a bit hurt, and then showed my anger. "You forgot to mention that."

Maybe I should have been an actress.

"I am now. Which is why when I say this you know I have already looked into it."

"What are you—"

"I know about your car accident two years ago. I know what caused it."