Total pages in book: 28
Estimated words: 26865 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 134(@200wpm)___ 107(@250wpm)___ 90(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 26865 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 134(@200wpm)___ 107(@250wpm)___ 90(@300wpm)
Before his passing, my father used to say that Dominic Black was the unluckiest man in the world. If Dominic bet that the sun would rise in the morning, you could be certain the sky would be black and the planet would freeze over.
I’ve heard of situations in the seedier, less civilized times when my family would allow a debtor to sell his child as payment. Dominic, an old-school scumbag, must have reached his deadline to pay and sent me his daughter instead. I told my brother I had contacted a service to hire a new housekeeper. I guess this was his way of killing two birds with one stone.
Under any other circumstances, I’d be furious, but this time is different. My brother sent me the girl of my dreams, and who could be angry about that? Besides, I have no intention of putting her on the street or abusing her in any way. She’s better off with me than she would be with her father. That’s for sure.
She stares intently at me while I put the pieces together in my mind. I try to hide my smile as I tell her what’s happened. I have two distinct sets of emotions battling inside me.
On the one hand, I like to smash her father’s skull for putting her in danger. She got lucky and ended up at my door. Other men with my kind of history would have pounced on her the moment they realized they owned her. On the other hand, if her father did his duty and protected his child, she wouldn’t be here with me now, and seeing her is the first thing I’ve had to smile about in a long time.
“Your father sold your services to pay off his debts. Welcome home, sweetheart. Let me show you to your room.”
“Sold me? What do you mean, sold me? I’m not a used car. I’m a person!” Her face goes white, her bottom lip trembling. “Welcome home? This isn’t my home.”
“I know that sounds terrible. It is terrible. Believe me, I don’t condone it one bit, but your father didn’t do his business with me. He was in debt to my brother and let’s just say, he and I don’t live by the same moral code. You’re lucky you ended up here with me and not at one of the strip clubs he owns.”
Just the thought of her taking her clothes off for a room full of pigs makes me want to spit.
“What happens when your brother comes home?”
I shake my head. “You don’t need to worry about that. He’s in prison and will be for a long time.”
“Then what are you going to do with me?”
So many thoughts accost me. I don’t know if I want to fuck her or marry her. Well, I want to do both. I just don’t know which one I want to do first. I’ve been to every continent and seen people from all walks of life, but in all of my travels, no woman has had this kind of effect on me.
“You can do what you came here to do. You can be my new housekeeper. Let’s just give that a try and see how it works out. Alright?”
“I’m not sure what to do. Do you want me to begin working?” She looks down at her feet and my heart breaks as I see how truly lost and alone she feels.
I open the door to the servant's quarters and escort her through. “I’ll tell you what. I have some work to attend to today but it can wait. Get settled then come to the gardens. I’ll show you around the property while we get to know each other a little better.”
“Okay.” She nods as tears begin to well up in her eyes.
“Look at me.” I step toward her until we’re just inches apart. “Nothing bad is going to happen to you here. You’re safe with me. I promise.”
She nods her head and sighs as the tears spill over her lids and down her cheeks. She wipes them away and says, “Thank you. I’m sorry. I just feel like this is some sort of terrible nightmare.”
“I’m sure you do. So let me help you make it a good dream instead.”
Her lips lift in a smile, and she nods her head.
“Good. Take your time settling in, and then come and see me. I’ll be on the veranda.”
The gardener, Jack, is busy trimming the topiary and stops to wave as I sit down. I lean back on the patio chair and close my eyes, feeling the warm sun on my face. Since the start of my brother's incarceration and the loss of our childhood housekeeper to cancer, I’ve been alone in this palace. Until now, echoes of the past have been my only company, and I’ve buried myself in my work trying to restore the once pristine reputation held by my family name.