16. Don’t Touch Her
DON’T TOUCH HER
Wes
I watch Fable leave and walk across the stretch of grass with her hood pulled over her gorgeous hair.
I told her last night she could only be mine, and she was just flirting with another man—Lord!
Flirting might be extreme, but she was turned on.
I saw it when her thighs squeezed together the same way they did last night.
At the time, I was talking dirty to her.
What on earth could have turned her on a moment ago?
If another Lord or staff member advances on her, I will beat them to a pulp and then do it again for good measure. As much as I wanted to avoid this, I’ll have to make an announcement to the Lords that she’s mine.
It will stir shit up because I’ve never done it.
They’ll want to know if Camila is fair game now.
I’ll have to say yes. She’ll need a distraction while I’m occupied.
If things don’t go well with Fable, naturally I’ll want Camila back.
She might not like being tossed aside for another staff member.
I’ve never done it before. That could cause friction between them.
I don’t want that for Fable. I talked her into working here full-time, planning to keep her a secret from Camila.
But since I won’t be sleeping with her anymore, the truth will have to come out.
If I don’t handle this carefully, it will turn into a damn mess.
I kick a pebble as I leave the west wing to make sure Fable returns inside.
It was an arsehole move to force her back to her room, but my anger got the best of me, and I reacted.
She has more control over me than I’d like, especially after tasting her and seeing how greedy she is, starved for sex, and so responsive.
She came so quickly and passionately. I can’t wait to get her to that point again.
I want my tongue in her and my cock. I want to do things to her that she couldn’t imagine.
And I want bloody answers about her life.
I stomp more than walk. With Fable inside, I slip through an entrance much closer to the front of the mansion and text Felix as I head for the basement gym.
Me: Anything on William or Fable?
I understand there’s a lot of digging, and neither is easy to get information on, but my patience is wearing extremely thin.
So much so, I’m thinking about tying Fable up and using sex to coax the answers out of her.
That could give my identity away, though, and end things between us before they’ve started. I won’t risk it.
I turn down the servants’ staircase and send a group text to the Lords.
Me: I’m taking a new bed partner. She’s a staff member. Fable. Don’t touch her, and don’t ask me any questions. I’ll talk to Camila about the changes. Once I have, I’ll let you know if she’s interested in a new partner.
Someone replies at once.
Hayden: Cool.
A moment later, another text comes in.
Sinclair: Just summoned her to my room. Should I send her back?
Me: Depends on how much you value your cock.
Threatening his life wouldn’t do shit. His dick, on the other hand…
Sinclair: Consider me withdrawn.
I laugh.
Brooks: The new server, yeah?
Me: Yeah.
Brooks: Bollocks.
Of course, she was on Brooks radar given his kink for petite beauties. We don’t get many here. But he’s not territorial like me, so he’ll happily find another partner.
Cruz: No problem.
Unlike Brooks, Cruz is only attracted to women with legs like a Victoria’s Secret model. He’s always been hard for Camila and fucks her when I’m not around. I’ve no doubt she’ll end up in his bed.
I hate that it bothers me. She’s free to sleep with whomever she wants when I’m not here, and I’m sure she does. It’s the control I’m losing and the disruption of my carefully orchestrated sex life that I don’t like.
I’m so unhinged, I considered fucking Fable against the wall in that dilapidated wing.
It’s partly why I went in there, but she looked so utterly happy gawking at the decay like it was the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen.
It reminded me of when she saved me and confessed how she liked abandoned things, and how some masochistic part of me bought this with her in mind, the little angel who betrayed me.
All I wanted to do was punch the wall. I haven’t been able to fight here like I did in the UK.
I had more connections to that world. Here, it’s different.
Here, I want to take my anger out on Fable.
Not to hurt her, never that, but to get the release my demon so badly needs. I fear only she can give it to me.
Two of the morning servers pass me in the hallway, their faces covered with silver generic masks, the elaborate ones saved for the parties.
Amelia, according to the name etched on her pin, stops. “Morning, sir. We’re serving breakfast if you’re interested.”
“Thank you, Amelia.” I nod and catch the hushed sigh she lets out when I say her name as I walk on.
Protein shakes are my preferred breakfast. I’m certain it has everything to do with my coldhearted mother and the rigid formal breakfasts she forced Tessa and me to endure.
As soon as I reach the gym, I wrap my knuckles with tape and head for the bag. Within twenty minutes, I’ve exhausted myself from pounding on it fiercely and have to shake my hands to get the blood flow back.
“Damn.” Cruz walks over wearing a white robe that pulls tight across his muscular chest. He always hits the sauna after a night of partying to detox. “Who pissed in your Cheerios?”
A five-foot-nothing brunette who I want to tie up and fuck until I pass out. I give him half a laugh.
“Seriously. Whatever caused that explosion, you need to either fuck it or fight it out. I won’t mess with you after the last time you broke some ribs.” He rubs his right side in memory.
“Sorry about that.” I am. For how big he is, I thought he’d be a worthy opponent. Not that he wasn’t, he just wasn’t a match for me. A bit slow, even though he’s shorter, which isn’t usually the case.
“It’s all good.” He rubs his short-cropped black hair. “But if you want to fight, I met a guy last night who says he has an in with a promoter running a new underground circuit. Just say the word.” He points at me as he walks backward to the sauna.
“Get me a name, if you can.” I go back to pummeling the bag.
Any new fight scene needs to be checked out first. I don’t want to get busted in the US for doing anything illegal.
Lachlan and I need to maintain a clean image here.
He hasn’t stepped foot in a ring since Emery.
The dynamic changed greatly between us when she came into the picture.
I hated her for it at first and hated the change more.
He’s so damn happy now though. I can’t imagine him without her.
She’s good for him. With Tessa dating a co-worker at the distillery and thriving without me, I feel a bit useless—and with no one to look after.
I don’t know if Fable deserves my care after what she did, but I sure as hell want to give it to her.
I want to give her my cock several different ways too.
That will take time. I don’t only want her to consent because these are the rules here.
I want it because I want to know she trusts me enough to give me what she cherishes most. Her body.
Women who have been hurt or abused covet that the most. Even if they give it freely, it’s on their terms. If you take it from them, they will never trust you with anything.
I should punish her for selling me out. My dad tracked me for years, trying to sabotage several business ventures when I got started.
It made it that much harder to get ahead and succeed.
He even ruined a few opportunities for me—something that wouldn’t have happened had he thought I was dead.
Lachlan suffered too. As my best friend for years, it wasn’t hard for my dad to figure out he was involved in my escape. We had to fight and work harder than we should have. Despite him, we still made it, even if part of that success had to happen in America.
My phone dings in my pocket. I pull it from my joggers and read the text.
Felix: I got more info on Fable. I’ll email it to you.
My pulse jumps with the need to read what he sent, but I won’t do that here. Any of the Lords could come in and get nosey. Everything about Fable is private for me only. She was in my life long before any of these men. She’s seen me at my absolute worst. Sod it! Why can’t I hate her?
I punch the bag one last time and head upstairs to my room to shower. The demon in me has a new craving—Fable. Oddly enough, learning about her pacifies it.
I settle into the chair by the window, warmed by the late morning sunlight, and read the email, shocked by its contents.
Fable and her mother arrived back in America a month after Fable saved me.
Son of a bitch. William was lying from the beginning.
My jaw clamps. There are no legal trails leading to their whereabouts, meaning they lived and worked under the radar.
In hiding. From her father, I can only assume.
This is on me for not killing the fucker.
My hand balls into a tight fist as I continue reading.
Kip Farrington was released from jail after serving a year. He returned to his home in Martha’s Vineyard and to his old ways, partying and public intoxication at times. He harassed a housekeeper in the area named Amara Thomas, who lives in Martha’s Vineyard.
There’s information on her too. She worked with Lola at one time and for my family’s summer home. She also has a daughter. Noah Thomas. We have a Noah here.
I only know the housekeepers by their name tags when they wear them, but I know of Noah from Brooks, who hooked up with her once and said if she weren’t staff, he’d bed her again.
Quite the compliment from a man who favors petite women.
He’s smart to keep his distance. Seconds with staff gets too complicated.
I was screwing Camila before hiring her, so we’re different.
My plan was to stay for one night this weekend, fuck Camila until I was satiated, then leave.
Fable being here has my past and present colliding in ways I can’t ignore.
I want answers, and I don’t want to leave her until I get them.
More than that, I want to kiss her again, every inch of her tiny body, which is exactly why I should leave now.
The last part of the report steals my breath.
Lola was found by her daughter after she’d been beaten, strangled, and burned to death. Kip thought he could hide the evidence of his estranged wife’s body. Smoke in her lungs shows she wasn’t dead when he set her on fire.
My stomach rolls, but the sensation is quickly eclipsed by rage. No wonder Fable hates me. I promised her I’d kill her dad, and this atrocity happened.
I shoot to my feet and read the rest, pacing and ready to kill everyone.
My father never deposited money into their account, nor did his staff receive any notice that they’d be hosting Lola or Fable anywhere in Europe.
Felix is looking into Amara more and trying to figure out if my father set up Fable and her mum somewhere else in America. He’s also still digging up anything he can on William and what he knew, but after learning William died under shady circumstances, it’s a lot harder.
I can infer enough. My father fucked us all, and somehow William was a part of it.
William’s reasons don’t matter, although I’d bet it came down to money.
My father did it to hurt me and anyone who helped me.
The man was diabolical. I need answers from Fable.
I can’t get them from her as one of the Lords if I want to bed her.
I need to talk to Noah and find out what she knows.
I would have Camila handle this, but I don’t want her to know anything about Fable.
She’s already bothered that I went after Fable and spent an hour with her.
She’s more than irritated that we didn’t fuck like we usually do, either.
I visited her after Fable, desperate to douse the fire Fable lit within me, but Camila felt wrong after touching my little angel.
I groan and stab my fingers through my hair. Everything feels wrong now because of her. She’s all I can think about, dream about, obsess about. On Monday, I fly to London, but I doubt it will be far enough to get her out of my mind.