The Holy Ghost - M.E. Clayton Page 0,23

years the more time I spent in Phoenix’s proximity.

It didn’t help that he knew my body better than I did either.

However, the silent ride to Phoenix’s gave me time to think. It was crazy how the past few years I’ve been relatively easy-going and my life had been so bland and uneventful, I hadn’t needed to raise my voice in forever. But in the matter of a few minutes in Phoenix’s company, I had turned into a raving banshee. My blood had run hot and my anger had been real and deep. I had lost my mind and my temper, and I had been ready to beat Phoenix with my fists. That hotheaded girl I used to be came out in full force and I realized I missed her some. I’d gotten use to boring and had forgotten what it was to feel passionate about anything.

I knew Morgan City fairly well, so I didn’t sightsee or question where we were going. But once Phoenix turned off Grant Avenue, I was slightly confused. The last time I was here, there was nothing here, but driving around block fence towards the back, I finally saw a tall building that looked like it belonged in the middle of New York City or somewhere like that.

Phoenix drove towards an underground garage, and I watched as he rolled down the window and placed his hand on scanner of some sort. The scanner flashed green and the garage door began to rise. I sat in the car thinking what the actual fuck.

Someone got fancy all of a sudden.

Of course, maybe it wasn’t all of a sudden. Not knowing what’s transpired in the past six years, this new Phoenix might have been around for a while already.

Phoenix pulled into an empty parking stall and I noticed quite a few cars in attendance. I figured we must be in an apartment complex of some sort and the cars must belong to the other tenants.

I was wrong.

Much like Luca had done at the hospital, Phoenix commanded I wait until he opened the door for me. Once we were both out of the car, he escorted me to an elevator where the same type of scanner was set up for access to the elevator. Once we were inside, Phoenix gave me a rundown of the building.

“Even though we have other condos scattered throughout Morgan City, this is our primary residence,” he told me.

“We?”

He pushed the button to his floor. “Me, Ciro, and Luca,” he clarified. “However, the building consists of eight floors. The first floor is the lobby and extra apartments for some of the Benetti soldiers assigned to Luca. The second floor is the gym, swimming pool, and all that. The third floor is a common area where a lot of…us sometimes get together to discuss shit. The fourth and fifth floors are completely empty.”

“Empty apartments?”

“No. Empty of anything. They look like unfinished floors with only support beams visible.” I thought that strange, but I didn’t question it. “The sixth floor is our armory. The seventh floor belongs to me and Ciro, while the top entire floor belongs to Luca.”

“All this and, yet, you still need other apartments throughout the city?” I hated the girl in me who wondered if one of those apartments were Phoenix’s fuck pads.

The elevator came to a stop, and Phoenix placed his hand on the small of my back as he led me out of the metal box. “We very rarely like to be in the same place at once, Frankie. It’s too easy to take us all out in one shot that way.” His very candid answer left me speechless. “Besides, with the kind of…uh, work we do, it saves time to have easy access to a place where we can crash.”

I wasn’t sure if the entire building was designed the same, but the hallway was decorated in dark blues and greens. It was very vivid and very masculine. It wasn’t until we stopped in front of a bright white door that I noticed there was only one other white door in the entire hallway. It was located a few feet away instead of right across from Phoenix’s door. “Why are there only two doors?”

Phoenix unlocked his front door the same way he had entered the building and the elevator. He pressed his palm against another scanner located on the door frame. “Because, as I’ve already mentioned, only Ciro and I live up here. The floor is made up of just two apartments.”