Chapter 10
Ten
Istill can’t figure out why Rapsody didn’t run last night. It doesn’t make any sense. She could have left, and I wouldn’t have known until morning. She would have gotten so far ahead of me, it might have taken another four years to find her.
But she came to sit by me. Why, after everything I’ve done to her?
My mind is a jumbled mess, assuming she’s got some bigger scheme on the horizon. I don’t see how it could be. What would be the point? What would she have to gain?
Which leaves me thinking that maybe she’s telling the truth and doesn’t want to return home to her mother and the prick.
It’s fine. It all plays into my plan anyway. And now it was her idea, so she won’t be suspicious of my motives as I get her to fall back in love with me.
She won’t just fall in love with me—she’ll fall in love with Midnight Manor. I’ll steal her innocence, then I’ll cut her off at the knees and kick her the fuck out. Then she’ll have a semblance of an idea of what she did to me. To know what it feels like for the person you care most about to pull a one-eighty on you.
I rub my palms together. Today is the first day of my plan’s execution, and it begins with having her join the family at breakfast. No doubt Anabelle will take Rapsody under her wing and become her new long-lost friend.
Good. It will be one more thing to miss when she’s no longer welcome here.
I didn’t lock Rapsody’s door when I returned her to the spire last night, so I knock on it and wait until she invites me in. I’ll have Marcel move her to the guest room directly beside my bedroom today.
The door swings open, and she stands in the frame, looking bright-eyed and fresh-faced. There’s little trace of the morose woman who resided in this room yesterday.
“You look like you’re in a good mood,” I say.
She smiles, and I hate the way my stomach swoops. She always had the best smile. It lights up her entire face with innocence and joy. Two foreign qualities to a man like me, and it makes me covet those pieces of her.
“For the first time in a long time, I feel like I’m free. Like I don’t know what the day is going to bring.”
“Breakfast first. Go get changed, and we’ll head to the dining room.”
Her smile grows, which I wouldn’t have thought possible. “Not in my room?”
I shake my head. “No.”
Her eyes flare with excitement.
“Now go, or we’ll be late.”
Her head cocks to the side. “Who else will be there?”
“My brothers and perhaps Anabelle, my eldest brother’s wife.” Her head tilts.
“Anabelle is your sister-in-law?”
I nod.
Rapsody smiles as if she’s put the last puzzle piece in place.
She brings her fingers together in front of her and fidgets. “What should I wear? I’m not prepared to meet a bunch of people. I always get so nervous around others. When I first started going to church, I would almost have a panic attack because I didn’t know how to be around so many people at once. Sometimes I think I?—”
“Rapsody.” I grip her shoulders, lowering my chin to look into her eyes. “There’s nothing to be nervous about. It doesn’t matter what anyone at that table thinks. You’re here because I invited you.”
While I’m speaking the truth, reassuring her grates on me. Still, it’s the role I have to play to accomplish my goal.
Her body relaxes a bit under my hands. “Okay. Come on in. I’ll just be a minute.”
I follow her into the room and sit on the chair in the sitting area that faces away from the doors to the balcony. Rapsody hurries around the room collecting her clothes and heads into the bathroom to change, but she’s in such a rush, she doesn’t completely close the bathroom door. Through the crack, I catch a glimpse of bare skin, and my cock twitches.
It’s a natural physical reaction, I tell myself. Nothing to do with her specifically.
She walks out wearing a pale purple summer dress with a floral pattern that reaches down to her ankles, paired with gold sandals. Her long blond hair is pulled back into a braid that rests against the column of her spine. Her green eyes sparkle like dew crystals on blades of grass in the morning.
“Is this okay to meet your family?” Rapsody looks at me expectantly, smoothing down the front of her modest dress.
It’s amazing how much her demeanor has changed with the opportunity to have a little bit of interaction with others, and it’s hard to ignore the swell in my chest at being the one responsible for her happiness. I have to tread carefully. This feeling could become addictive, and I’d be a fool to forget the endgame. Then I’m the one heartbroken, and that will never happen again.
“Let’s go.” I stand from the chair.
I can’t bring myself to tell her what I really think—that she reminds me of the woman I met that first day. So full of sunshine and light that she was blinding.
She follows me down the stairs and walks quietly beside me, but her steps almost skip as we make our way down the cavernous hallway. Her gaze pings along the walls, her eyes widening with each new item. She doesn’t even speak until we leave the north wing.
“How old is this place?” Her voice is full of awe as though she’s never seen anything as ancient as this manor.
I suppose she likely hasn’t, given that she was a prisoner in her own home.
“Old.” I pick up my pace, not trusting myself to be alone with her for longer than I have to be.
Jesus, if I can’t even handle walking down a hallway with her, how am I going to feign falling in love with her?
“Was it always your family’s home?” She seems particularly interested in the art on the walls as we pass through the rooms. If Rapsody had any idea how much it was all worth, she’d probably have another one of her anxiety attacks.
“My ancestors built it many generations ago. The Voss family has resided here ever since.”
She must sense from my tone that I don’t particularly want to talk about my family’s past, and she purses her lips, remaining quiet the rest of the walk to the dining room.
I didn’t tell anyone she would be joining us this morning. Wasn’t sure if I could go through with my plan. So it’s no surprise when we walk in side by side, the conversation comes to an abrupt halt, silverware clanking on plates as four sets of eyes stare at us in shock.
If things go according to my plan, then Rapsody will be intimidated and frightened by the three men sitting at the table and will seek comfort and safety from me, the only person she really knows here. Anabelle might be a challenge for me, with her nurturing side, but I trust that Rapsody will find solace with me.
It’s just another puzzle piece sliding into place and sealing her fate for destruction.