Chapter 8
Chapter
Eight
ANABELLE
The next few days are more of the same. First thing in the morning, I bring Mr. Voss his disgusting green drink, and he sends me back at least two times to remake it.
I manage to somehow keep my temper in check—maybe because I know what to expect from him now. But on Friday morning, Mrs. Potter tells me that I’ll be serving breakfast to the Voss brothers in the dining room.
My eyes widen, and I still at her words.
“C’mon now, don’t be frightened. Their bark is worse than their bite for the most part.”
It doesn’t escape me the way a few of the kitchen staff look at her with disbelief when she says that.
It’s been almost a month since I got here, and I have yet to see any of the Voss brothers other than Asher. He’s enough to deal with. I can’t imagine being relegated to the abuse of four of them at once.
Mrs. Potter instructs me how to properly serve everyone and in which order everything should come out.
She tells me where to place what on the table based on what each of the men prefers for breakfast. Then she explains where I’m to stand in the room in case they need anything, and she makes it clear that I am not to react to anything I see or hear. I am to be invisible.
When I enter the dining room to put out the coffee, cream, and sugar, the room is empty of people. I’m thankful, since it allows me to get the lay of the land without their intimidating presences.
The dining room, like all the rest in this house, is huge and has a large, ornate crystal chandelier hanging over the middle of the dark wood table.
Each side must have eight or ten chairs.
The walls are painted a deep royal blue that almost looks black depending on where the dim light hits it.
Paintings in intricate gold frames dot the walls, and a large mirror hangs over the huge fireplace.
I set the coffee service on the end of the table closest to the oversized picture of a pretty woman with long, flowing dark hair and deep blue eyes, as Mrs. Potter told me to.
When I return with the eggs and scones, there are two men there seated side by side. I’ve seen one in town before, so I know that the one with his dark hair cut shorter on the sides and slicked back on top is Obsidian Voss.
“Morning.” I stand on the opposite side of the table and place the items in front of them.
The one I’m not sure about looks up at me with malice, and my heart stutters. “You must be Ash’s new plaything.”
My eyes widen. I’m not sure what to say to that, but I’m saved from having to respond as I straighten up because Obsidian speaks.
“You’ll have to forgive my brother. He’s not used to having new people at Midnight Manor. I’m Sid, the best-looking Voss brother, which you’re probably figuring out now, and this is Kol.”
“Stop flirting with the help.” Asher’s voice startles me.
“You’re frightening the poor girl, Ash. Ease up,” Sid, as I now know him, says.
I feel Asher’s presence behind me, and I’m afraid of what I’ll find, but I raise my chin and turn around. It’s been hard to look at him without thinking about the size of his dick since that day I saw the magnificent outline in his Speedo.
Our eyes meet and neither of us says a word for a moment, until his expression becomes more lethal. “You’re standing in front of my seat.”
Embarrassment floods me like water rushing past a broken dam, and my cheeks heat. Here I thought we were locked in some power play when really the man wanted to sit and eat his breakfast. “Oh.”
I sidestep and hurry from the dining room to bring in the rest of breakfast. For the most part, the three brothers ignore me as I come in and out, continuing with their conversation. Once I’ve brought everything in, I go stand in the spot where Mrs. Potter said I should.
Things are going well, and after a couple of minutes, I don’t find it so difficult to stand with my hands behind my back, facing forward and pretending I don’t even exist. I prefer it to the alternative of being the center of attention in this room.
But then the dick Asher Voss says, “Where’s my honey?”
Shit. I picture the small bowl of honey where I left it on the counter. I must have forgotten to put it on the tray and bring it in. “I’ll go grab it.”
“Is it really that hard to remember I need honey every morning? I’m sure Mrs. Potter would have told you.”
“I’m sorry. I’ll go get it.”
Before I can turn, he reaches for me. I look down at the ferocious bear tattoo on the top of his hand as his fingers easily wrap around my wrist. His hands are so large compared to mine that they’re like bear paws.
“Is this going to be another smoothie incident?” He arches a brow.
My body tenses and is on high alert, but damned if I know whether that’s because I’m afraid or if it’s because his skin is touching mine. I shake my head. “No, sir.”
There’s a snicker from the other side of the table, but I don’t dare look away from Asher Voss.
He nods and releases me. I twist around and leave the room, trying to look as if I’m not running away like a scared little rabbit.
When I return with the honey, Asher doesn’t thank me or acknowledge my presence, and it’s then I realize that the energy in the room shifted in my short absence. I don’t know what was said, but it feels heightened in here now.
“Where’s Nero?” Asher asks his brothers once I’ve returned to my spot in the corner where I will hopefully be forgotten.
“Probably with that girl he’s been seeing,” Sid says.
“Can’t seem to pull his dick from her pussy long enough to come up for air,” Kol grumbles.
My eyes widen, and I resist the urge to look at them.
Asher doesn’t say anything, but there must be something on his face because Sid says, “What, you don’t approve?”
“He needs to be careful, that’s all.”
I chance a quick glance at Asher. He’s seated facing my direction. His jaw is set, then he shoves a piece of his toast into his mouth. When he glances over and catches my gaze, I stiffen and look straight ahead.
“He will be. He knows the drill,” Sid says. “Maybe we need to get you laid, lighten you up a bit.”
I wonder how a man like Asher Voss gets laid.
Because there’s no doubt he has to be getting laid somewhere.
He’s too hot and too full of sexual charisma not to be.
But from what I know, he rarely leaves the house.
Does he have women brought in for him? Does he have a girlfriend?
I’m guessing no, from what Sid just said. Jesus, why do I care?
“I think we all know that’s not a problem for me.” Asher’s voice is smug.
“Have you fucked your new pet yet?” Kol says with such distaste, I stiffen.
“I don’t fuck the help,” Asher says, as though I’m not standing here listening.
“Maybe I will then,” Kol says, and Sid chuckles under his breath.
The sound of cutlery being dropped onto a plate sounds, but I don’t dare look anywhere except straight ahead, my breathing picking up and sounding loud in my own ears.
“Ash’s plaything, come on over here.” It’s Kol’s voice.
I don’t move my head, but I do let my gaze flicker over to Asher Voss’s. His jaw is set, his expression is thunderous.
“Don’t look at him for permission,” Kol spits out. “You work at Midnight Manor, do you not? I’m just as much a part of it as he is.”
I walk over to Kol. He slides his chair out at an angle and motions for me to stand between him and Sid, across from their eldest brother.
“Pour me some more coffee.”
It sounds like an easy enough task, but I can’t help but feel as if there’s some kind of catch to his request. Regardless, I lean forward to grab the coffee in the tall silver pot, and I pour it into his empty cup.
A hand skims up my leg past my knee. I falter and spill on the tablecloth. A sound comes out of the back of my throat, and I hastily set down the pot to clean up my mess.
“I-I’m sorry.”
“Cut the shit, Kol,” Asher says with malice.
I straighten, ignoring the mess for now.
“What? I’m just getting to know your pet better. If you’re not going to make use of her obvious assets, why can’t I? Don’t tell me you haven’t already thought about what those full lips of hers would feel like wrapped around the base of your cock.”
I suck in a gasp.
“That’s enough!” Asher stands so quickly, his chair falls back onto the carpeted floor. He sets his hands on the table and leans in our direction. “Get over here now, Miss Boudreaux.”
I do as he says, happy to be away from Kol, and rush to his side of the table.
“Miss Boudreaux is not here to become one of your playthings, Kol. She works for me. Don’t forget it again.” Though Asher’s not shouting anymore, there’s an eerie sort of calm about the way he delivers his words that makes them sound even more lethal.
It’s apparent Kol wants to say something back. His jaw is set like stone, and his hands are in fists on the table, knuckles a stark white against his olive skin.
Asher Voss turns to me with a look of putrid disgust. “As for you, come with me.”
He latches his hand around my upper arm and drags me out of the dining room and down the hall. He’s holding me tightly, but not so tightly that he’ll leave any marks. He seems to be barely holding it together, so I don’t say anything as he drags me to his office.
With every step, I grow more and more enraged at the way he’s manhandling me. Once he closes the office door, I rip my arm from his grasp and whirl on him, but my words die on my tongue from the fury on his face.
“What the fuck was that?” he seethes.
“What was what?” I step back, but he matches it with a step forward.
“That shit you pulled with my brother?”
“I didn’t pull any shit with your brother. He was being an asshole. That’s not my fault.”
His hands fist at his sides. “I told you to stay away from him.”
My hands fly up at my sides. “I was in there doing the job you assigned me. If you didn’t want me near him, then you shouldn’t have told Mrs. Potter I was to serve breakfast.”
“Are you blaming me for the way you were flaunting yourself in there?”
I open my mouth, close it, and open it once more. “Are you serious? Flaunting? I couldn’t even if I tried. I’m wearing something fit for a senior citizen, thanks to you.”
“And that’s how it will stay since I obviously can’t trust you not to fuck one of my brothers to get in their good graces. Believe me, if you sleep with any of them, it will only make me more determined to make your life a living hell.”
He’s delusional, and I’ve had enough of this. I step forward. “And why exactly is it that you want to make my life a living hell when you don’t even know me?”
He doesn’t say anything, just glares down at me, teeth bared.
At some point in our stand-off, our breathing falls into sync, and I go from agitated and enraged to feeling as if my skin is stretched taut over my body.
I’m hyperaware of every place where my uniform touches me, of the way his breath fans over the top of my head, of the musky scent of his expensive cologne.
The small amount of space between us feels fraught with things that neither of us should be feeling—until he speaks again.
“You can shovel shit out of the stables today as a consequence of your actions.”
I open my mouth to argue but think better of it. I’ve embarrassed myself enough here. I’m sure my desire was plain as day on my face, and clearly, I was making things up in my head as far as what he was feeling.
He’ll probably laugh about it with his brothers later—the silly little girl lusting after the older man.
Without another word, I push past Asher and whip the heavy door of his office open without a backward glance, but I feel his eyes on me the entire time I walk down the hallway.