The security guard at the stairs to the club’s VIP section let them through with just a glance at Adam—no surprise to Trevor. They walked up to a platform resembling a runway, raised above the dance floor, with bars serving endless drinks, handrails lit by black lights, and a crowd of stylish people enjoying their time.

  “Hey, here comes Loud cover boy!” a woman announced, raising her glass of champagne.

  Around her, about ten people crowded around a table with drinks. Lisandro Carinae was among them—a young man with an athlete’s body and the handsome face of a teen movie star; gray eyes, an almost wicked smile, and the kind of financial power no one else in the room could even begin to grasp.

  No one except Trevor, of course.

  As soon as Lisandro saw him arrive, he stood up at once.

  “Well, what am I seeing here?” he said with a smile of disbelief. “Have I stumbled into a board meeting without realizing it? It’s none other than Mr. Homam himself—in a nightclub!”

  “Come on, Lisandro,” Adam laughed. “Don’t make him uncomfortable—I finally managed to get him to come out.”

  Trevor, a little shy and blushing, greeted everyone from a slight distance but shook young Carinae’s hand. “How’s it going, Lisandro? Long time.”

  “You… Always so serious, huh?” said Lisandro. “When was the last time we saw each other, Trevor?”

  “About three years ago, at the inauguration ceremony for the Carinae IV Tower.”

  “Oh, right! I think we’re up to the eighth one now, so it’s been a while.” Lisandro poured a glass of champagne and handed it to Trevor, then took a sip from his own. “That gala was a turning point for me, y’know? I was so bored that night I decided never to attend another one; now I let my siblings handle those things for me.”

  “It seems like being your family’s poster child for excess is a role you take very seriously,” Trevor said, without taking a sip of his drink.

  Lisandro forced a laugh that seemed to greenlight his group of friends to join in with one just like it.

  “Of course I am!” he replied, proudly. “Can you imagine my stuck-up brother admitting to being the owner of these sinful nightclubs? Never, baby! In my family, I'm the one who adds the fun to the business!”

  “You and your two cousins,” added someone, and the group burst into cheers and whistles, which thankfully broke the tension between Trevor and Lisandro.

  Adam, who had witnessed the whole exchange with his face burning, was now starting to think that maybe dragging his friend here hadn’t been such a great idea after all.

  “And speaking of your cousins,” a woman said, “when are they coming?”

  Lisandro set his glass down and checked his phone. “Rebecca and Cassandra should be here any minute,” he announced.

  The group received the news with excitement—everyone except Adam, who offered a forced smile. He didn’t particularly like either of them. Still, he used the opportunity to introduce his female companions to Lisandro, casually forming a kind of human barrier between him and Trevor.

  “Hey, Lisandro, brought a couple of friends. Meet Strawberry and Mint,” he introduced them. “They used to model for another brand and are now looking to…”

  Trevor Homam set down the drink Lisandro had poured for him and used the distraction of Adam’s friends drawing everyone’s attention to slip off to the side, waiting for the right moment to quietly make his exit. But a voluptuous brunette from Carinae’s group walked up to him.

  “I know I might sound nosy, handsome, but let me give you a free tip,” she said.

  Trevor looked at her with obvious disinterest, but she didn’t take the hint. Nodding toward Adam, she continued, “I’m guessing you know that this egotistical little flea’s real last name is White O22, and it has nothing to do with the White family. It comes from the color of the district, right? If you're an unremarkable orphan no one adopts, they assign you the color of the Proxima district where you were found, plus a code. You know that, don’t you?”

  Trevor didn’t bother hiding his dislike for her. If he hadn’t done it with Lisandro, why would he with one of his little groupies?

  “I see,” he replied. “I thought it was to identify which part of the city the abandoned kid was found in, in case someone came looking for them. Didn’t realize it was the consolation prize in some orphanage popularity contest.”

  “Yeah, yeah, and they also say the code’s just bureaucracy, which is why people don’t usually mention it,” she said, too wrapped up in her own narrative to catch the sarcasm in Trevor’s voice. “If you ask me, sweetheart, they don’t mention it because they’re ashamed to let people know where they come from. Anyway, he’s got no real family backing him, not like you or me. I’m telling you, guys like that—you give them an inch, and they’ll climb their way into your company. I’ve seen it happen.”

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  Trevor adjusted his glasses, visibly annoyed.

  “Lisandro is a total sweetheart,” the woman went on. “He loves being surrounded by clowns just for fun. And I’m sure this O22 kid here thinks he’s already earned his spot just because he once modeled for the brand. But give it time—Lis will get tired of him, and he’ll kick him right back into whatever hole he crawled out of.”

  “Hi there,” Adam cut in, stepping between them. The woman smiled at him. He smiled back. Then she turned to find someone else to talk to.

  “These people aren’t your friends,” Trevor told Adam.

  “Oh, of course not. They’re not even friends with themselves,” Adam replied, disturbingly calm. “So, what’d she hit you with? The last name thing? The theory that I supposedly dropped the code to hide my past? Or was it the one where I only get into places like this because I’m Lisandro’s pet?”

  Trevor shook his head, signaling him to drop it.

  “Well, that last part is… kinda true,” Adam admitted. “Lisandro doesn’t have friends, he has followers. No one’s here out of genuine friendship. Mint and Strawberry… I’ve always kept things cool with them, but we were never real friends. They hang around me because I can get into places they can’t. And yeah, also because there was a time we shared more than just a photo shoot… if you know what I mean.”

  “Of course I know what you mean—you’re not exactly a mystery. But I know you, you’re not like them. Why are you hanging out with this crowd?”

  Adam shrugged.

  “Making the most of the moment, what can I say?”

  That answer caught Trevor off guard.

  “Adam… You’re playing their game, don’t you see? All these people are caught up in this…” He pressed his lips together; he hated to curse. “…this shitshow. Everyone here’s just waiting for their turn to latch onto someone’s ass, just so they can… grab a slice of the cake.”

  “Whoa, two curse words in one sentence, man. That’s a record for you!”

  “What makes you any different from them?” Trevor pressed. “Now I get what they told you today—that thing about patching emotional gaps. How can you expect them to see it any other way, when as far as they’re concerned, you’re nothing but a…?”

  “Poor orphan kid just looking to have a good time?” Adam finished for him, and Trevor looked away. “Who cares? Look, Trevor, maybe you don’t need to keep up social ties because you’ve got someone like me who does it for you. In a way, you pay me to deal with people like this.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “It means this is the part of my past I’m still clinging to, Trevor. And if I haven’t let go of it yet, it’s because I still need it. I didn’t come here to hang out with friends—I came to close a deal for those two girls. And I thought it’d be fun to have you, my real friend, along for the ride. That’s all. Geez.”

  “Sorry, Adam, I didn’t mean to…” Trevor sighed. “I think I’ll head home.”

  “Alright. Hold on, I’ll grab the girls and…”

  “No, that’s fine,” Trevor stopped him, attempting a smile. “Stay with them and… well, make sure they get that job they need. I’ll grab a cab; don’t worry. See you Monday at the office.”

  And with that, Adam let Trevor leave, a strange feeling of defeat settling like a lump in his throat.

  “Too much noise for Mr. Homam?” Lisandro asked.

  “I think so,” replied Adam, grabbing a half-filled glass of champagne from the table and downing it in one gulp to wash away the bitter taste of the moment.

  Then, he heard a cheer from one of the young women—the same one who’d introduced him as ‘Loud cover boy’—and looked up to see two figures entering the VIP area. Just what he needed.

  Sisters Cassandra and Rebecca, Lisandro’s cousins; two of the most attractive women Adam had ever met, and also two of the most spoiled and insufferable. One had light blonde hair, the other jet-black, but both wore it long, loose, and curly. The blonde dressed in black, and the other in white.

  “Am I seeing things? Did I just run into Trevor Homam at a nightclub?” asked the one with black hair, managing to get a few laughs.

  The blonde saw Adam and broke away from her sister, walking straight toward him and grabbing him by the arm. “Adam, adorable Adam! It’s been so long! When are you coming to visit my ranch? I’ve asked you a thousand times! I want you to meet Horacio, my pet. He’s as adorable as you; you’ll see!”

  Adam forced a smile.

  “Cassandra, hi… Yeah, we’ll find a chance.”

  “Oh, c’mon, adorable Adam! I’ve never begged anyone as much as I beg you! It’d be wonderful if you granted me this one wish. I could use the company, especially now that I’m… feeling so sensitive, y’know?”

  Her black-haired sister laughed. “Her silly pet got into a fight and ended up hurt!” she explained.

  “No one asked you, Rebecca!” the blonde snapped.

  “Ladies, please,” Lisandro intervened. “You’re both old enough not to stick your tongues out at each other.”

  Adam wasn’t in the mood to indulge a spoiled girl’s whining, especially with that tense exchange with Trevor still weighing on him, so he slipped out of Cassandra’s grip.

  “I’ll be right back,” he announced.

  “Where are you going?” Cassandra asked, though her tone was more like, ‘I’m ordering you to stay.’

  “Sorry, I need to take a piss,” he replied, achieving his goal as she let him go with a look of scandalized shock.

  It was true that he needed the restroom, but it was also the perfect excuse to take a break from the night and get some space.

  On his way to the restroom, Adam avoided as many familiar faces as possible. He didn’t want to greet or chat with anyone, so he rushed ahead, enduring a couple of foot stomps along the way.

  He entered the men’s room and squeezed past the guys fixing their hair in the mirrors. All the urinals were taken, so he headed for the stalls. He knocked on each door and finally found one that didn’t respond with an annoyed ‘Occupied!’

  There, he was finally able to relieve the pressure in his bladder.

  ‘What makes you any different from them?’ Trevor’s question echoed in his mind, and his eyes began to sting.

  All the talk about his origin as an orphan, all the insistence that he reevaluate his lifestyle and his current stance on the past—it had finally struck a nerve.

  Cursing under his breath, he zipped up his pants, that knot of emotion rising and falling in his throat.

  Then, out of nowhere—Wham! Someone trying to enter the stall had slammed the door against his back.

  Why the hell do people never knock first?!

  He shoved the door back with his shoulder and pivoted, a sharp ‘Occupied!’ on the tip of his tongue—

  But when he saw who had interrupted him, a rush of adrenaline swallowed the protest back down, slammed his soul to the floor, and turned his eyes into wells of sheer astonishment.

  In front of him, inside the stall, stood someone… with his face.