Free Descent From Grace: A Luxe Novella Book 1.5 by H.Q. Frost

just feel hopeless in life. And it’s not because I dropped school.”
  “Well what is it? Is it Ian?”
  “Partially.” Lilith regrettably nodded. “I feel like I’m not enough for him. You know? Did you have that with dad?”
  “Did I think your father would cheat?” She chuckled. “He wasn’t sober enough to know the difference between a man or a woman, honey. I knew he’d never look for another woman.”
  “I just never thought Sloan would do anything like he did. He betrayed me in other ways than cheating and I think that’s causing my apprehension with Ian.” She looked at Peachey, who was frowning.
      “Lily honey, if you think he would cheat, this is not who you should be with.”
  “I don’t think he’d cheat, I think he has a lot of options. I think I hate myself,” she blubbered, putting her face in her arm on the table.
      “You need to see a doctor, Lilith. You need to be evaluated for depression. It wouldn’t surprise me. Your father was depressed.” She casually shrugged. “You may be bipolar. Have it looked into.” A caring hand pressed onto Lilith’s arm.
  “Yeah,” Lilith huffed, standing. “I’m going to take a nap,” she mumbled while walking to the stairs.
      “Honey, it’s four in the afternoon,” Peachey called to her, but that didn’t stop her.
    ***
    A big client from Germany needed a girl to fly home with him and play maid for the month while also sexually satisfying him.
  “That’s completely feasible,” Ian agreed, not sure who he’d send.
    Luxe was down three girls, well technically two because he had Lilith, but she was least available out of all the girls and he wanted to keep it that way.
      “What features are you looking for?” Ian pulled at his tie when his phone beeped for the third time. The itch in his fingers to check if it was Lilith taunted him, but he was in a meeting, he absolutely wouldn’t check.
    It wasn’t Lilith, it was Ashley and she was threatening to show up at his apartment.
    BABY BROTHER: I will fucking meet you! Chill the fuck out Ashley. I just got out of the meeting. It’s only ten
    With the intention of only staying an hour or two, he went directly to the club. The main reason Ashley insisted he go was because the owner was a client and Ian could get them all in without the wait in the cold Chicago air, or the exorbitant entrance fee.
    After getting a drink, he sat in their booth, strongly expressing his annoyance with being at the club.
      “Don’t fucking bother me,” he said, loosening his tie, then yanked his phone from his pocket.
Caesar sat next to him. “What’s got you pissy?”
    His response was simple. “I don’t want to be here.”
  “You want to be home with the wicked witch? How’s that working anyway? Can she like move and talk?”
    Ian glared at him; Caesar scooted away.
    Lowering his voice a little, he asked, “What happened to you and Lily?”
Keeping his eyes locked on his phone screen, Ian replied, “Nothing,” with a shrug.
  “So Karen’s the one then? You let hot lips just run off with another man in Barbados—”
Ian interrupted him, snapping, “Don’t fuckin’ call her that. She didn’t run off with another man.”
  “Like hell!” Caesar boasted. “I saw that fucking rock. Who the hell is Shaun anyway? You meet him? He’s a fuckin’ cop?”
Ian’s glare somehow turned colder as infuriation filled him.
      “She told you about him? She told you he proposed to her?”
Sensing he may have said too much, Caesar bumbled, “Uh.”
    During his tantrum, Ian stomped away to find a quiet spot to call Lilith, but she didn’t answer. She was sleeping away her winter depression. Drawing in a few breaths, he was grateful she didn’t answer. It would have been a futile fight.
     
    His finger on the pulse
    I don’t fucking want to be here so I start pounding drinks. I haven’t talked to Lily since yesterday. I don’t know if she’s okay. I don’t