After a long day of decision-making and overseeing improvements, I felt terrible. This entire week my Greed scratched at my skin, burning in my fingers.

I came into the condo and flung my folders on the counter before making my way to the master as fast as possible, trying to avoid all the men. Well, not all of them. Lorcan I’d be happy to bump into but he seemed to be avoiding me.

I looked in the mirror in my personal bathroom. I could feel the jittery threat of Greed Sickness greening my mind. My eyes were glowing and the green on my skin was crawling around the edges of my face and wrapping around my neck. I went back to my room’s door and locked it before going over to a new wall I'd had built. I flung open what looked like a closet door and was faced with a safe’s steel door.

My fingers shook as I twisted the lock, hearing it click as I stopped at the right numbers. The door unlocked and drifted open slightly. I pulled off my clothes, fumbling with the buttons of my shirt. I was too jittery. I couldn’t sit still at all, my fingers were constantly shaking, and my mind was frequently trying to come up with schemes.

My Greed was chomping and snarling but the men didn’t let me leave Plutus except for small trips with them in tow. They insisted Remington would be back, that he was likely watching and waiting for us to split up and become easier targets.

It was driving me mad. I needed to burn off energy. I needed thrills.

I pulled open the safe door entirely and sighed in awe at the sight. It was essentially a swimming pool filled with gold coins instead of water. The soft light made it glitter and sparkle. It called to me as I walked forward, sinking into my gold with a groan of relief as I buried my body in the treasure. I lay on my back, letting my naked skin be surrounded and submerged by gold. I stretched my arms above my head and relaxed.

Calm washed over me. My fingers stopped shaking. It didn’t appease the Greed. It was a salve, a brief moment of relief that would end the moment I got back out.

I blew out a breath and looked at the steel ceiling with the bucket lighting. A pale pastel rainbow of colors sparkled from the lights. I just needed to keep my head until the renovations were done. Then Plutus would open back up and all my Greed could be satisfied endlessly.

Tower of Sin had always been my end goal. It was the solution I’d been waiting on. Except I was struggling to make it to the finish line. It was so close but every morning I woke up and saw more green.

After a while, I sighed and got out of my bath of gold. I pulled a forest green silk robe around my body as I picked up my phone and stared at the locked screen. I wanted to call Shen and get more fae vapor. I knew it would make me worse. My Greed came back fiercer than ever after I used it. If I started on vapor now, I’d have to streamline it until Plutus re-opened and that was a very bad idea. That stuff was toxic.