“Well…anyway. Hunter came to see me for a while, and after some time I learned his ways. I talked to the other girls and you know, we compared stories. And here's something I figured out: He likes us all to shut our eyes. We have to."
I'm confused. "Is that uncommon?" I think about that song—the one about closing your eyes during a kiss. "I would think leaving them open would be unromantic."
"You don’t get much romance here at Love Incorporated. When he wants our eyes shut, it's because that's the only way he can cum."
I feel like I've been hit in the heart. I nod.
"I think he's using that instead of tying us up or holding us down. He likes to have control. A lot of them do. But he doesn't like us to look at him—ever. And when we sleep he never does." She shrugs. “I'm not saying this is big news around here. I'm just giving you some background.”
I digest this. He's always kept his eyes open with me. "Maybe it's a privacy thing..." They are prostitutes, after all. He doesn't know them.
"No. He doesn't feel safe. It's kind of frenzied, how he acts. Trust me girl. I've been with a lot of men.”
"So that's your story.”
“That's not all of it. But now that I've seen the look on your face, I want to hear about you and him. If you don't mind going into it."
And, strangely, I don't. I haven't been totally open all the time with Suri, and even if I had, she's had so much of her own stuff going on; she hasn't been as interested in my details as she normally would be. Loveless knows Hunter, too, and I can tell she's affected by him. That she cares about him. Even if it's just escort-to-client.
So I spill. The whole dirty affair, from house party to the sauna in the bathroom at the fight.
When I'm done, her eyes are wide. "You and him have got a thing. A real thing. If he's letting you look at him, that's something, honey. And let me tell you something else. Something private that I want you to keep just to yourself."
"What is it?"
"That night. The night it happened with him and Sarabelle. I walked into the room that night because I noticed that the cameras had gone down and I was checking on everybody. Sarabelle wasn't there and he was out of it. Lying on the bed. He had gotten sick. And he was crying. He was holding onto his face, like he'd been bitch-slapped, and he was saying, "Please don't look at me. Please don't look at me like that."
I frown, confused. "What do you think that means?"
“I don't know.” She shakes her head. “I told the cops Sarabelle was gone when I found him, and he was sleeping. It didn't look like he had hurt anybody. He didn't seem in any shape to. I didn’t mention what he said. I guess it kind of struck me as his business. And I don't see Hunter West as any kidnapper. But I've wondered about it since then. And I've thought about it. How he looked. It bothered me. I was just thinking maybe you could figure it out. Someone who knows him in his real life should know. Someone should care."
Chapter Twenty-Four
~ELIZABETH~
I try to tell myself that I'm not obsessed, but it's a lie. Suri calls Friday morning before I go down for breakfast, and I spill all—starting with the rendezvous at Hunter's house party and going all the way through the tryst in the women's sauna at the Joseph Club two nights ago.
I'm eagerly awaiting her response when I hear violent sobbing on the other end of the line.
"Oh my God." My stomach does a back-flip. "Is it something with Cross?"
"New York," she wails. "He's staying in New York—" She sobs some more. "We're not getting married anymore!"
I sit down on my bed, clutching my stomach and feeling shell-shocked. "Suri, oh my God, what happened?"
"And Cross has his eyes open!"
"Whoa. Holy shit! How is he?!"
"He's good!" She's still sobbing; I'm up and pacing the pale pink carpet.
"Suri, do you want to come here? Can you come here for like a day? An hour?" All I want is to be with her, but I know that I can't leave right now.
"No." I hear her cry some more, and then she pulls it together, although she's still speaking in her sobbing voice. "Cross is doing...really good. Nanette is stunned. The doctors are surprised. He's had his eyes open for a long time now, but he's not really responsive." She sniffs. "I just wish he would talk."
And then she's crying again—and so am I.
"They pulled him off some of the medicine yesterday. They think that might be why he's a little more alert. I think he's coming off some more today." Suri still sounds sniffly, and even though we're talking about Cross, I haven't forgotten what she told me about Adam.
"Holy cow, that's incredible. I want to see him so much. I just want to talk to him." My voice cracks a little and she says, "Why don't we call you? He and I? I'll give him my cell this afternoon and you can talk to him.”
"Would you really? I would love that. I'll quit whatever I'm doing—promise."
"Don't worry, Lizzy. I'll take care of him."
"But you..."
She sniffs again. "I'll tell you all about it, but not right now. You're missing breakfast, aren't you?"
"Don't hold back on me because of this. I want all the details."
"I'm not," she pauses, still sounding teary, "I'm just not sure I want to go into it quite yet."
I hesitate before asking my next question, because I don't want to press her if she doesn't want to talk—but I want to know: "Do you think it's something that will last?"
Her voice breaks. "I think so. Yeah."
"Oh, Suri, I'm so sorry."
"I know." She's crying softly again, and I would give anything to zap myself to where she is. "I wish I was there," I say.
"I know." She takes a deep breath and I can practically see her steadying herself. Wiping her eyes. "How are you, Lizzy? Are you doing okay? Cold feet, warm feet?"
"Same as the day before yesterday." Suri and I talk almost every day, so she knows what this means. "I'm nervous, but I can do this. It's for Cross."
"Lizzy, he's going to flip if he ever finds out. You do know that."
"Let him," I say. "He can hunt me down. I hope he does."
"He might. Remember if you back out, I'll come get you."
"I won't, but thank you for the offer." I thumb the tiny framed snapshot of Suri and I that's sitting on my night stand. "I'm going to be thinking of you all day, okay?"