Chapter 6
CORMAC
Two weeks of living with this woman.
The trees have already started to change. The air is getting colder. Everything is changing and I hate it.
In the two weeks since Brenna has been here, I’ve felt more like a prisoner than I ever have in this place.
The ghosts that haunt me point out every last thing I’m doing wrong.
And all the pleasures I should be taking part in.
Brenna told me that she would be out of sight. That if I let her wander around the property it would be just as it’s always been but that was a lie.
On several occasions, I’ve found her in random rooms and places. Most of the time, she was either lighting more candles or examining pieces of my past.
I did my best to stay in the shadows and away from her but instead of just walking away, I’ve found myself examining her the same way she would examine the artifacts in the house.
I watch her expressions when she finds something that piques her curiosity. The way her eyebrows furrow in when she doesn’t understand something. The way she gasps and bites her lip when she’s lost herself in one of the many books I have scattered through the mansion.
Instead of getting more pissed that she’s invading my space I find myself curious about what she’s thinking, wanting to strike up a conversation with her, wanting to know how she feels about certain things.
One sleepless night, I found her wandering around the kitchen, listening to an iPod I didn’t know she had. She was busy making herself something to eat, not paying attention to her surroundings at all. The smell was enticing.
Only then did it dawn on me that I hadn’t even been making sure she had everything she needed to survive here. I stuck her in that room and basically told her to make do. She’d been taking it upon herself to eat when she thought I was asleep.
That’s worse than how I treat my dogs. At least I remember to feed them twice a day. How pathetic of a man am I that I can’t even remember to make sure my wife eats.
I watched her from the doorway as she cooked.
She was wearing a long T-shirt. I assume what she wears to sleep.
Her legs peeked out from under the hem and before I could stop myself a wave of lust washed over me.
I’ve had sex a whopping two times in my life.
Both times the experience was paid for. Once when I was fifteen before my father scarred me and he found out I was still a virgin.
The second at twenty because I was determined to do anything I could to silence the whispering in my head. It didn’t work.
In fact, the woman I paid to pleasure me could barely look at my face. She spent the entire time with her eyes closed. After that experience I promised myself I’d never do it again. I had no need.
At least I thought I didn’t. With Brenna dressed like that I started to feel desire I hadn’t known.
Since that night, I’ve done my hardest to stay away from her. That’s just not the kind of relationship she and I have and I don’t ever see us creating one.
Still, her presence is becoming a distraction. Exactly what I told my father would happen.
It’s nearly ten in the morning and I’ve yet to finish my daily check-ins.
Just as I send off an email correspondence, my cell phone rings.
I pick it up and look down at the screen. My father’s number and face pops up on the screen. I really don’t have time for him right now but I know if I don’t answer he’ll just call back, or worse call one of the security to demand that I speak with him.
Sliding the indicator to accept, I press the phone to my ear. “Yes, Father.”
“Cormac, don’t tell me you’re still in bed?”
“No, of course not.”
“That’s good.” He quiets for a second. Unusual for him. There must be a request coming with this call. What more can he ask of me?
“Did you need something, Father? I have a few calls to make,” I say, trying to get him to hurry up and get to the point.
“Yes, Brenna’s father has made his way to the States to check up on some of his businesses. I, honestly, believe that he’s there to check on his daughter. You’re going to put his mind at ease. We have to make sure that the alliance is solidified.”
My head falls and I pinch the bridge of my nose trying to fight off the migraine I can already feel starting to grow behind my eyes.
“What is there for him to check up on? He’s the one that agreed to this arrangement.”
“It’s his daughter. I’m sure he’s concerned for her well-being.”
“She’s fine,” I bite through the phone.
“Words. Let him see she’s fine. That’s an order.”
There’s no fighting this. “As you wish. I’ll let the security know to expect him.”
“No. You’ll go to him.”
My gut clenches, this is the real request. He wants me to leave my sanctuary. To mix with the outside world. This is all about getting me out of this house.
“I’m sure he would be more comfortable—”
“More comfortable where? In that broken-down mansion you call your home. No. He wouldn’t and if he saw that you had his daughter living in a place like that he might think to go back on his deal.
We won’t leave anything up to chance. Go meet with him.
Bring Brenna with you. Smile. Reassure him.
Do whatever you have to do, just get it done. ”
There is no more conversation. My father hangs up the phone, leaving me listening to a dial tone.
I want to throw the phone against the wall. Break it into pieces. But that would only mean I’d have to get a new one.
Wasteful.
I’m not looking forward to this in the least but it has to be done. I make one final call before I use the internal line to call Maxim and get him to find out where Brenna’s father is so we can meet him. I also tell him to get the car ready.
With that taken care of I’m able to focus on the one part of this whole ordeal I wish I could pawn off on someone else.
I can’t, it’s just me here.
Slowly, I make my way to Brenna’s room. I knock on the door but she’s not there. I don’t want to go searching for her. Every last one of these rooms is like a mausoleum to me. Every room filled with memories I don’t necessarily want to revisit.
“Brenna!” I shout her name, my voice echoes through the normally quiet house.
“Yes!” She screams back. She’s in the library. I should’ve guessed.
The floor groans as my heavy weight travels in that direction. I peek into the room and see her dressed in pajama pants and a T-shirt. Her legs curled under her body as she lounges in one of the only chairs that will support her weight in the room.
She looks like she belongs here. She doesn’t.
Her eyebrows are furrowed together as she stares at me.
“You need to get dressed,” I say with no lead-up.
“I am dressed.”
“No, to go outside. We have a meeting to go to.”
“A meeting?” She pulls her legs from under her body, waiting for more of an explanation.
“Yes, seems like your father wants to pay his little princess a visit.” I force a smile on my face. “You’ve got twenty minutes.” I turn and leave her there.
Now that I’ve gotten that out of the way I can go about getting myself ready.
There’s a whole walk-in closet in my room with my clothes. Clothes I’ve rarely had to use. That’s all changing. This is just the start.
brENNA
My father is here in America.
As much as I don’t want to be excited, I can’t help it.
The silly part of me who wants to believe that he is worth redemption wants to believe that he’s here to take me home. The more realistic part of me knows he’s just here to lay eyes on me and make sure that his business deal is still intact.
That’s all I am to him now, a deal.
Cormac and I are in the back of a very fancy truck. I don’t know what kind but instead of there being two rows of seats there is one long row that turns into a curved L shape. There is a partition that cuts off any interaction with the driver.
It’s dark and quiet. The same way it is in the house. I sit on the very last seat closest to the window.
It’s the first I’m able to see my surroundings in the daylight. It was pitch black when we arrived here from Ireland.
Now that I can see the scenery away from the dreary mansion, I’m pleasantly surprised.
It’s October and the towns and small cities that we are driving through don’t disappoint when it comes to decorations.
Back home, Halloween has always been a big thing. Kids and adults alike dress up and celebrate the spooky holiday. In fact, Halloween is probably one of my favorite holidays.
Not so much for the candy anymore but for the ability to just become something I’m not. On that one day, I can be anything I choose to be. I can be a superhero, a witch, beggar woman, anyone.
I didn’t think it was so popular here in America but I’m happy to see that I was wrong. Nearly every shop we drive by has some decorations out front.
Spooky skeletons, pumpkins, fake spiders and cobwebs. One store had a huge inflatable grim reaper standing in front of the door that would light up and move as people walked near it.
As exciting as it is to see all this, I can’t help but feel a bit depressed about it too. This is going to be the first Halloween in years that I won’t be able to take part. I can’t even go looking at any of the costumes. See how the traditions differ in the two different countries.
If Cormac doesn’t want me leaving the property regularly, I doubt he’ll lift that stipulation just because it’s Halloween.
Besides, just living in that mansion is haunted-house enough for me.
I lean back against the soft leather of the seat, suddenly the silence in the large vehicle feels like it’s about to strangle me.
“I didn’t think Halloween would be so popular here,” I say out loud, only to get a grunt from Cormac who is focused on his phone. His fingers moving fast over the screen, obviously typing something out.
I’m not going to let him get off the hook that easily. “Do you get many trick-or-treaters at the house?”
He finally looks up at me. “No, no one makes it past the gate. No one has for years.”