Chapter 252: The Naked Rally.
The car rolled to a stop a short distance from the wrought-iron gate. The gateman stood in his usual spot—entirely naked except for a pair of scuffed black shoes—his skin glistening faintly under the harsh afternoon sun. Behind the high wall, the heavy thump of bass and overlapping laughter spilled out like an invitation.
"Does she always host parties?" Melissa asked from the back seat, her voice tight.
"There wasn’t one when I came with Becky," I said.
"Then why would she agree to meet us today, at her house, on a day she has a full gathering?" Melissa’s tone sharpened, the calm director reasserting herself. Her eyes narrowed slightly as she scanned the gate. "That’s not a coincidence."
The gateman started walking toward the car, his stride unhurried and professional.
"Here comes Mr. Pinky Dick," Mercury announced cheerfully.
My mind was already several steps ahead. A large gathering just days after the government collapsed. Influential people tucked away in one place, hosted by a woman who had been personally loyal to CGI. Sinn and Melissa had been right to worry about the families—they’d simply been too slow to act.
The gateman knocked on the glass. Mercury lowered the window.
"You’re here for Mrs. Rivers?" He peered inside, his eyes landing on me with a spark of recognition.
"Yes," Mercury said.
"Okay." He offered a polite, practiced smile. "Leave the car here. Someone will park it. The ground’s hot today—keep your shoes on."
He turned and walked back to his post, leaving us to it.
Mercury burst into laughter. "So the three of us are walking in there completely naked except for our shoes." She was already unbuttoning her shirt with quick, efficient fingers. "I’m genuinely fine with this."
"These people are insane," Melissa muttered. "There is no version of this where I go into that building."
I twisted around in my seat to face her.
"This has to be a political gathering," I said. "A lot of important people in one place, right after CGI fell. We need to be inside."
She held my gaze for a long beat. I couldn’t tell whether she was reading my thoughts or simply weighing the situation, but for once our goals aligned.
"Okay," she said at last. "Okay."
Mercury leaned across the console, completely bare, her breasts brushing the dashboard as she grabbed her makeup box. I reached down and pulled my shirt up and over my head, the fabric brushing against my skin before I tossed it onto the seat. The warm air hit my bare chest immediately. I worked on my belt next.
"I really want to see the thing that drives Sherry so crazy," Mercury muttered, carefully applying a fresh coat of deep red lipstick while checking herself in the mirror.
"Done," Melissa said from behind me as I adjusted my shoes. Her voice carried reluctant resolve. "And I still say something is wrong inside that mansion."
"If anything’s fishy," Mercury replied, snapping the makeup box shut, "it’s in this car."
We stepped out into the blistering sunlight.
The afternoon sun hammered down without mercy. Mercury walked ahead without the slightest hint of embarrassment. Melissa walked tall beside me in her heels, shoulders squared, the elegant line of her back and the curve of her hips impossible to ignore.
"The sun is ridiculous," Mercury muttered.
The music swelled as we approached the gate—deep bass, shouting voices, wild laughter. Mercury tossed the keys to the gateman.
We crossed the threshold.
The compound was full. Hundreds of naked bodies filled the space from the gate all the way to the grand house.
Some held umbrellas or makeshift shade against the brutal sun, standing in the focused, shoulder-to-shoulder arrangement of people who had come to listen rather than party. Sweat glistened on bare skin. Breasts rose and fell with breathing. Cocks and hips shifted as the crowd adjusted weight. The air smelled of sun-warmed skin, sunscreen, and faint perfume.
"What the hell." Mercury stopped short ahead of us and turned around, eyes wide.
"We find Mrs. Rivers," Melissa said as the music suddenly cut out. She glanced at Mercury. "Watch where they take our car. Note the exact spot."
"Alright."
Then Melissa’s hand slipped into mine, fingers lacing firmly.
"Come on." She started forward, pulling me with her through the crowd and leaving Mercury behind near the gate. She moved with the same calm authority she carried in her office, our joined hands swinging slightly between them, the whole scene reading as if we belonged.
A strong voice rose from the front, near the house. Every head in the compound turned toward it at once.
A raised wooden platform stood there. A large, powerfully built naked man occupied it, backlit by the glaring sun so his face remained in shadow from this distance.
"You were right," Melissa whispered close to my ear, her bare breast brushing my arm. "This is political. And I don’t think Mrs. Rivers invited us here to discuss an alliance."
"Then why here?" I asked. "Why today?"
We stopped, blocked by a wall of warm bodies pressing in from all sides.
"This is why we’re here." The man’s voice boomed across the compound. "These walls belong to the people who live in them. We worked with a government that never cared about us, and now we’re being asked to work with another one. A worse one."
The crowd roared in approval, the sound rolling over us like thunder. Bare skin brushed against my back and sides. The heat of dozens of bodies pressed close amplified the sun’s burn.
We pushed forward through narrow gaps, weaving deeper toward the house. Melissa’s grip on my hand stayed tight.
"Is Mrs. Rivers expecting you?" I asked, raising my voice to be heard over the noise, our bare hips occasionally bumping as we squeezed through.
"What do you mean?" Melissa shouted back into my ear, her breath warm against my skin.
"You specifically. Does she know you’re coming?"
A suspicion had begun forming in the back of my mind about why this meeting had been scheduled for this exact afternoon.
"Yes," she answered.
We pressed closer. The man on the platform finally came into sharp focus.
Mr. Kim.
"Mrs. Rivers is the name we stand behind," Kim bellowed, his broad chest heaving, cock swaying slightly with his emphatic gestures, "if we want a government that belongs to the people."
The crowd answered with another deafening roar.
I spotted a gap and pulled Melissa through it. The house opened up before us, its grand doors clearly visible now.
Mrs. Rivers wasn’t standing beside Kim.
And if I knew her at all, she’d been watching us since we walked through the gate.