r's

the same knot in my stomach, the kind that never fully loosened. The house was beautiful in the daylight, su

ny polite smiles that never reached anyone's faces. Instead I slipped into the kitchen hoping fo

stood around the island. One of them, the older woman who always wore her h

. Not a question

some coffee," I

exchanged a glance with the others. "Breakfast is

mouth thinned. "This isn't the staff kitchen, darling. And eve

slap. Charity case. H

m n

he master, but blood doesn't change overnight. We've seen girls like you

No one spoke after that. The silence was worse th

elf it didn't matter. Words from strangers never should. But they did. They always had. I could

s and a woman pinning her hem. She looked like a maga

he glanced up, irritation flicker

w. We're final

import

sigh

e seamstress stepped out. The doo

e wedding."

use

y into this. That you're marrying him for money. They are laugh

serve this. After every

r m

u're an adult now. Act lik

I said im

once, short

es nar

ways talk.

'm part of the joke. Like I don't belong here. And I don'

st thing that's ever happened to me b

ng to pro

re selfish, Greer. You always have been. I finally got something go

s not

ting more than your father could give. Well, guess what? He'

r asked

existence was enough rem

ere else. I ha

My chest hurts. My father had been poor, yes. A security guard who worked nights so we could eat. Veda had hated it. H

numb, then pushed myself up. Wandering was easier than thinking. I moved through the house l

nized the hallway. Wells's suite was somewhere here. My heart gave a stupid, hopeful lurch. Maybe

just enough. I pushed it wider, ready to smile, r

oulders, water still beading along the muscles of his spine from a shower I hadn't heard. Dark h

the ridged abdomen, lower. Eight inches. Thick. Veined. Heavy, even soft. Heat exploded through me. Shame and something darker, wetter, curling low

at felt like

ce low. Rough around

ht this was W

isn'

c. He took one step forward. Not

he didn't sound like he mean

insistent. This was wrong. I knew it was wrong. And yet my feet stayed planted. His gaze flicked down, slowly taking i

llway, heart slamming against my ribs. I didn't stop until I reached my room, locked the door and lean