Total pages in book: 20
Estimated words: 18326 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 92(@200wpm)___ 73(@250wpm)___ 61(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 18326 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 92(@200wpm)___ 73(@250wpm)___ 61(@300wpm)
Zander slams his palms into the table. “You want to go with him? Abandon your home on the day of your brother’s birth?”
Penelope nods and stands from her seat. “I’ll pack my things.”
And then she’s gone, and I’m left basking in the glow of her perfection as she wades through the crowd.
3
PENELOPE
This is crazy, right? Yeah, it’s definitely crazy. Giving up the only life I’ve ever known to run away with a man I practically met a few hours ago. But that isn’t true. I’ve known Harker for most of my life. The ominous shadow working in the dead of night to keep the empire afloat. But I was merely a girl when I last saw him. A child no taller than his knee, and now we’re pulling onto his mansion’s driveway.
The mansion’s surroundings are an overgrown mess. Vines crawl up tall trees and the grass lays in a shaggy mess. All but the west wing of his home looks as dilapidated as the grounds. There aren’t any lights, no servers or servants awaiting Harker’s return, and the bright lights from his BMW illuminate the grotesque scenery in an eerie way.
I’ve never been here before, but whispers of Harker’s mansion have traveled through my circle. They called it the underworld. The place where life and love come to die. And yet, as I approach, I feel more alive than I ever have before.
I’m finally taking my life into my own hands. And it feels damn good.
“Are you nervous?” he asks, his eyes turning to me while his head remains fixed in the direction of the water feature at the end of the cobblestone stretch.
“No. Yes. I don’t know.” An honest answer is hard to find amid the indecision in my mind.
“You shouldn’t be.” A smile trickles along the corner of Harker’s mouth. “It’s a big step, but I couldn’t stand to see him treat you like that. You deserve so much more.”
It’s just the way Father is. Five daughters, each one a bigger disappointment than the last. I wonder if things would’ve been different if he had a son years before and the daughters came later. If he had the ability to train and teach a boy, would my four sisters and I have received the love and affection any child should receive from their parent?
I’ve often wondered this and always came to the conclusion that Father is rotten to the core. He’s the monster he wanted me to believe Harker is.
“Like what, exactly?” I feel a sheepish grin growing on my face.
“You deserve the world,” Harker says. “Handmaidens bathing you in milk while choirs sing of your beauty. Men worshiping the earth upon which you walk. You…” He trails off and brings the car to a stop in front of his home. “I’m getting ahead of myself. Let me get your things and show you inside.”
My heart skips a beat. Did he really just say all that? And what more did he have to say? I knew I made the right call inviting him over tonight, but God knows I never thought the night would end like this. The man I’ve been fawning over, firm stature and all, is a big softy who melts my heart and wants me to be happy?
“Queen of the Dead,” I say, joining him at the trunk. A grin flickers across his face, but it’s gone as quickly as it comes.
“Yes.” Harker hoists my bag full of clothes over his shoulder. “Look, I don’t have much social interaction from this place. I understand if I’m getting ahead of myself. But—”
“You wear your heart on your sleeve and you don’t care who sees it,” I finish his sentence for him. If Harker’s anything like my father, he’d have tried to deflect and change the subject. I’m not going to let him.
“You could say that.” He leads me up the steps to the front door.
It’s eerily quiet, with only our voices breaking the noise of chirping crickets in the distance. A far stretch from Father’s place. If there wasn’t music playing somewhere in the house, there was shouting. The only peace I managed to get was walking through the garden alone.
“Or maybe I’m just blinded by lust,” he adds.
I hear my own gulp. A wave of butterflies explodes in my stomach. If it were anyone else but this giant beast of a man standing in front of me, those words might have come off as terrifying. Instead, my heart’s beating in my throat, and an excited ball twists in my core.
Somehow, the crassness of his admittance is more alluring than his worshiping in the car. The thought of his tree trunk arms wrapped around my body while he hoists me up to meet his mouth. Strong hands feeling every inch of my skin while our tongues dance the samba. Christ, if he’s this big, I can’t imagine the size of the rod dangling between his legs.