Chapter 15 #4
“Jasper?” Her soft voice curled in my ear with the comforting lilt of a lullaby as she grabbed the phone.
“What?”
“Are you sure—” She stopped herself and then started again.
“I’m terrified of heights, mostly of falling to my death, but sometimes I feel like I’m missing out on seeing the view…
you know?” she said. “I always wish I could face my fear for a few minutes. I think the sight I’m afraid of would be so beautiful and impactful that it might be worth it even if I fell.
But I’ll never know because I’m too terrified to look.
I wish I could look.” Her eyes melted into mine as she kept her expression slightly guarded.
“Well, you’re missing out. Your balcony has the best view of the entire manor,” I answered, knowing what she spoke about had little to do with the view. The conversation was getting a bit too poetic for my taste. If she wanted someone to talk with her about feelings, I was not going to be it.
The corner of her mouth lifted. “Says you.”
“Are you asking for a different room, Eliza?” I asked sarcastically. “Sowerby said the addition’s finished, and the men won’t start modernizing the inside of the original manor until after your party, so there’s plenty of rooms to choose from now.”
Her smile brightened, and mischief glittered in her blue eyes. She seemed more comfortable than I’d seen her before. Huh. Maybe she was less afraid of me than I had originally thought. “You look like you’re about to cosplay Miami Vice with your shirt unbuttoned like that.”
I held back a snort of laughter and schooled my features.
“If you mean to insult me by comparing me to eighties Don Johnson, you’ve failed.
” She laughed, and the sound left the speaker and poured into my body like hot honey.
A notification from Blackwood Manor’s security system pinged in a gray box over her face. Someone was at the gate.
A rush of irrational anger and protectiveness jolted through me.
I only got notifications from security if someone wouldn’t take no for an answer and they wanted to double-check with me.
I was sure it was nothing. With the latest leak in the news, it was inevitable the media would be back outside, pounding on the gates for a comment, but this time, it felt different.
Eliza was involved, and I had left her there alone. I hated that.
“Eliza, someone’s giving security issues. Stay where you are, okay? As you’re aware, John from JV Plastics leaked photos of you in the conservatory, and it’s all over the news. Hang on a second,” I said before opening the live footage as fast as my fingers could.
“What a snake. I’m sure it’ll blow over. No one cares about me.”
Poor naive girl. The media would have a field day with her. She was easy to push around and get the responses you wanted.
The feed opened to show a woman who looked to be in her mid-sixties trying to physically pry the iron gate open while news crews snapped photos of three of my guards blocking her attempts. I sent a quick text to the head of my security team and swiped back to Eliza.
“Your mother is outside, quite literally trying to gnaw through the bars of my enclosure to get to you,” I said in disbelief.
I watched as the liveliness left her eyes, and they grew round with surprise and panic. She looked off into the distance, then completely deadpan, said, “She knows I drank wine and ate fish.”
I burst out laughing, unable to control myself even though I couldn’t tell if she was joking or not. “If you want to see her, I’ll get someone to bring her in, but don’t go out there; it’s not safe with the media waiting. Ask her to stay for dinner; I’ll text Katya and she’ll serve salmon.”
“You would let my mom come in? To the manor?” she asked, sounding surprised.
I shrugged, setting the phone on the kitchen counter to grab an apple from the basket. “Sure, why not? I’m sure she’d love to see all of your work in the conservatory. That is, if you want to see her. If you don’t, she will be kept out.”
She rubbed her temples. “It sounds crazy, especially with all the stuff that happens here at night and all the exhausting work I’m doing, but this place has been the first place I’ve ever felt like I could breathe without her trying to move my lungs for me.
” She looked off into the distance, deep in thought.
Stuff that happens there at night? What was she getting into at night?
I itched to tell her mother to fuck off, but I would keep that to myself. I didn’t care for mothers very much, obviously.
“The choice is entirely yours, but I should text Victor so that he knows what to do before she gets too out of hand,” I said.
“I feel like such a coward if I say no and such a pushover if I say yes,” she said as she nibbled the inside of her lower lip like a little blue-eyed chipmunk.
I poured a glass of water. “If it’s helpful, I could draft a ransom note and have it sent out to her.”
Eliza smiled. “And what would the ransom be for? You’re already a millionaire.”
“For you, of course.” I had a drink.
The light had come back into her sky-colored eyes. “She already thinks we’re fucking, so that might have legs.”
I sprayed my mouthful of water across the counter. Hearing Eliza say the words “we’re fucking” made my mind go crazy. “Now why would she think that?” I grinned wickedly. Had innocent little Eliza told her mother we were sleeping together?
“Because, silly man, that’s the only reason a single millionaire would hire me and force me to move into his mansion, duh,” she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. “Honestly, though, that’s the least crazy thought she’s had. I kind of get that one.”
“Damn. It’s a good thing I left when I did, what with you wanting to fuck me so badly,” I said with a wink. “That definitely would have gotten messy.”
She scrunched her face and forced a laugh. “I do not want you; you’re the one who ran to another state the second you let me in,” she challenged.
“No? You don’t want me?” I lowered my voice. “’Cause it sounds like you might want to fuck me a little bit. I’m not sure you could handle what I like, Eliza.” I’m not sure I could handle what I liked with Eliza.
She rolled her eyes, ignoring my words even though her pink cheeks brightened a shade. “Tell Victor to keep her out, please. I’m not sure I can mentally handle her right now. It’s no wonder why you hide out here and no one sees you. Gates are pretty amazing; I get it now.”
I moved the phone to the bathroom counter and propped it up against the mirror and began to unbutton my dress shirt the rest of the way.
“Okay, I’ll let him know to keep her out. I’m going to jump in the shower. Your nipples have antagonized me enough for one phone call,” I said as I continued to remove my shirt.
“Oh my god,” she said, moving her arm up to cover her perky, hard nipples. I watched her eyes hover over my chest. She didn’t hang up.
“Now,” I added, stepping back, half naked, to flick on the shower.
She nodded but still didn’t hang up. Her eyes trailed down my body like fingernails. My cock pulsed.
“Eliza,” I rasped, picking up the phone.
“Yeah?” she said, her own voice a little lower and breathier than normal.
“Quit looking at me like that if you still want us to be friends,” I stated.
She feigned shock. “I’m not looking at you any type of way, and I think we are friends, whether you try and fight it or not.”
I rolled my eyes and undid my belt buckle. She really had no idea the fucking fire she was playing with. “Go on and say it, Eliza. Say you want me. Or I swear I’ll keep teasing you till you’re soaking through those pretty little panties. Or are you not wearing those either?”
Her mouth fell open. “Bye, friend. Oh, I have to send you a picture of the naked man orchid I found in one of the beds. It’s hilarious, and yes, that’s its actual name. Okay, geez, bye.” She hung up, flustered.
The next morning, I awoke to an obscene flower photo that Eliza had sent at three thirty that morning.
Why were you in the conservatory at three in the morning? Is everything okay? I texted.
Hey, friend. Yeah…my balcony door kept blowing open.
I thought you had a couch in front of it? Don’t call me friend, it’s weird, I replied before immediately shooting a text to Sowerby to check the latches on her door.
I did, but the…couch keeps moving, she said before adding, best friend.
I sent her a very annoyed-looking selfie, hoping my frustrated face would make her stop with the stupid names. I couldn’t hide my concern about what was happening in her room. I had a lot of enemies. Do you sleepwalk?
She responded a minute later. No, at least not that I know of?
I would call and ask my mom, but she texted me this morning saying that she is so stressed out over not being able to get to me that she wished she’d never had me and that if I don’t meet her at my apartment today, she is going to bag up and donate everything I own.
Jesus.
Do you need someone to drive you back into town? I know you said you hated the drive because of the whole ledges and heights thing. Victor is going with you. She was lucky I wasn’t in town, or I would have made certain her mother quit causing problems.
I’m not going. I don’t have time before the corpse flower blooms, she answered. Everything I have is stuff she made me get anyway. After I get these corpse flower corms to the botanical gardens and get a big, fat raise, I’m going to buy some stuff I like for once…extra nylon and polyester clothes.
You’re a wild woman.
By the middle of the week, we were talking for hours a day; I don’t even know what we talked about—everything, nothing.
It just came naturally and easily. Stupidly, it still seemed like a safer idea that I stayed away; at least that had been the plan until the following week.
Before I’d left the manor, I was a little interested in Eliza and really wanted to fuck her—now I was really interested in Eliza and absolutely feral to be inside of her.
My phone had been going crazy, vibrating in my pocket while I finished a meeting with my employees.
By the time I checked, I had a swarm of missed calls from Sowerby, Katya, Eliza, Leah, and Victor.
Pure panic set in. Something awful had happened.
I got the familiar feeling of barbed wire in my gut.
Just as I was about to check the thirty-some texts, Sowerby called. I snatched the phone to my ear. “Sowerby, what the fuck is going on? Are you all right?” My heart raced. I felt doom sinking into my chest as I waited to find out what had happened.
“Jasper, you have to come home this minute—immediately. Get to the airport now.” His voice was rattled with fury and panic.
“Is she okay? Is Eliza okay?” My chest tightened. I should never have left. Was it her mother? Had she hurt her? I would destroy them.
“Your father’s here, Jasper. He’s here, and he’s trying to take back the estate.”