The winter chill hits my skin, goosebumps pebbling all over my arms and back as I take Loki’s hand, and he leads me up the front steps. They look like marble, grey veins running through them until they have the appearance of bone in the moonlight. When we reach the top, the devil himself is there to greet us, columns of marble on either side of him.
“Welcome to Vanderbilt Manor,” Julian welcomes me, all charm and lethal smiles, his hands outstretched to encompass the grand home behind him.
The mansion reaches up so high that I can’t see the top and is made from the same bone coloured marble. It stretches either side of us, seeming to disappear into the distance, it’s that vast. I can appreciate the beauty in its history, but it’s austere, all hard lines and harsh decoration. There’s nothing soft and welcoming here.
He walks towards me, stepping right into my personal space, his hand going around my waist as he tries to pull me away from Loki, who keeps a firm grasp of my hand. I shiver, and not from the cold when his thumb traces the bare skin at my back.
“Exquisite, as always, Darling,” he whispers against my cheek, placing a soft kiss there that leaves bile in my throat. I don’t know if I misheard, or if he purposefully left off the ‘Miss,’ but I’ve never disliked my surname before now. He cheapens it, making it sound like an endearment he has not, will not, earn the right to use.
His lips linger on my cheek for a second too long, his hand too, before he steps away and frowns down at Loki’s hand, still clutching mine as he steps forward beside me, Jax coming up on my other side. They encase me in their scents, vanilla and citrus, lending me the strength to shake off Julian’s inappropriate touch.
“Boys,” he says dispassionately, nodding at them both. “Shall we?” Holding out one arm, he indicates that we follow him as he heads inside, a butler closing the door softly behind us.
The grand entrance hall is huge, but dark despite all of the lights, of which there seem to be hundreds. The walls are painted a deep navy, adding to the dark and gloomy feel, and huge portraits of presumably the Vanderbilt ancestors line the walls. The floors are black and white chequered marble, and there’s a double staircase, also in marble, leading to the next floor. We pass by several dark wood doors, all closed, and although there must be heating somewhere for the air feels warm, shivers climb up and down my body at the coldness of the interior. There’s no life here, only pictures of the long dead.
Julian stops in front of a set of wooden doors, which open from the inside as if by magic, although as we pass through, I see more liveried servants. We enter a vast dining room, panelled in dark wood with more portraits lining the walls and a huge marble fireplace on one wall.
An impossibly long table sits in the middle of the room, lit candelabras along its centre, and sparkling glasses, plates, and silverware in front of each chair. It looks as though we are the last to arrive, as most of the chairs at the far end are full with whom I assume are the guys’ parents and members of Black Knight Corporation. Everyone looks up as we enter, and I find myself wanting to shift under their scrutiny. Julian leads us past the empty chairs, stopping in front of the head of the table.
I find Kai sitting ramrod straight next to an older, distinguished looking gentleman, with salt and pepper hair and a very eighties moustache. Gross. Kai’s honey eyes are dark, and when he meets mine, it takes everything in me not to react. Not to run to him and drag him away, never to return. He has the look of a man who is drowning, desperate for air but unable to reach the surface. My hand tightens on Loki’s, and he follows my gaze, a frown drawing his perfect brows together.
“Lilly, may I introduce Stephen Matthews, Kai’s uncle,” Julian says, and I look to the side, finding eyes similar to Kai’s staring back at me. “He stepped up when Kai’s parents tragically lost their lives in that fatal car accident, all those years ago.”
Stephen nods his head, his eyes devoid of…anything. There’s no warmth there, or even dislike. There’s nothing, and I feel cold all over. It’s like being stared at by a shark who doesn’t care if you live or drown in the watery depths.
“A pleasure,” he says, his voice a cruel hard thing that sends unwelcome shivers over my skin.
“P–pleased to meet you,” I manage to murmur, taking a deep inhale when I feel Jax stroke my free hand, stepping up close behind me.
“Loki, Jax, you know where your seats are. I can show Lilly to hers,” Julian says, his tone curt and expression pinched.
Loki reluctantly lets my hand go, my fingers feeling bereft as he leaves me with a look full of worry. He goes to sit next to Kai, a beautiful woman with the same auburn hair tumbling over her shoulders, sitting on Loki’s other side. I can see his features reflected in hers, although where Loki is warm and inviting, hers is a cruel beauty, sharp and unforgiving. She must be his mother, and on her other side is a blond man, with the same emerald eyes as Loki. They look me over, undressing me, and his tongue darts out over his lips as if he likes what he sees.
I can’t suppress the shudder as Julian introduces us.
“This is Chad and Rebecca Thorn, Loki’s parents.”
“A pleasure, Miss. Darling,” Chad says, his voice low like Loki’s but lacking the sensuality of his son’s timbre.
“Lovely to finally meet you, Lilly. I can call you Lilly, can’t I” Rebecca says, her voice sugary sweet, but like Snow White’s apple, there’s poison lurking in the depths.
“Of course, Rebecca,” I smile saccharinely back, having to suppress the chuckle at the way she flinches and narrows her eyes when I use her Christian name. “Nice to meet you, Chad,” I add, hating the oily feeling that slivers over my skin when he hears his own given name from my lips. Fucking Chad.
I look over when I hear a chair scrape on the marble floor, to see Jax sitting next to a tiny blonde woman. She looks up at him with such love and sorrow in her eyes that it takes my breath away. He looks down and gives her an affectionate smile, taking her hand and kissing the back of it sweetly.
“Rafe and Jannet Griffiths, Jax’s parents,” Julian continues, leaving the top of the table and stepping next to me, taking my elbow. My heart rate kicks up a notch, knowing that I’m in the hands of a predator, but I shake my head when Jax looks ready to get up and knock Julian the fuck out.
“So, you’re the cunt leading all our boys around by their dicks?” I hear a gruff voice say, and my head turns sharply to see a guy of similar, if slightly smaller, build to Jax; basically huge and hulk-like, sitting next to Jax. I don’t miss Jax’s mum flinch at his crude words or Jax’s growl.
“That’s me,” I smile sweetly at him. “You must be the pathetic excuse of a man who beats his wife and child to make up for his micro penis.” I hold his gawking glare, even as his face goes an unhealthy shade of purple, and I hear Loki covering up a bark of laughter with a cough.
“Why, you little bitch!” Rafe roars, shooting up from his seat, as if to make his way over to me, but Jax gets to his feet as well.
“Sit the fuck down, old man,” he snarls, and warmth suffuses my limbs at his defence of me.
I smirk as Rafe does as his son orders, and takes his seat once more.
“You like to keep things interesting I see, naughty girl,” Julian chuckles next to my ear, and I literally have to swallow down vomit at his words, chastising me like he’s my sugar daddy. Fucking hell.
His blasted hand lands back on my bare skin making me jump, and he guides me to an empty chair next to Jannet Griffiths, Ash on my other side.
“And you know me and my wife, Samantha,” Julian finishes, pulling out the chair for me as his wife doesn’t even look up from studying something on the table.
“Nice to see you again, Samantha,” I say, lowering myself in my chair as Julian pushes it in. She looks up, startled.
“Oh, Lilly,” she starts, her voice soft and wispy like a puff of smoke. “I didn’t know that you were coming.”
“I told you, Mom,” Ash says from beside me, his hand coming to my thigh and squeezing gently underneath the table.
“Silly me,” she says breathlessly, then goes back to staring at her empty plate. She jumps when Julian claps his hands.
“Let’s begin!” he calls, and the doors open to reveal servers in smart black tailcoats and white gloves, holding small plates, which must be our starters.
Ash leans in, his ginger scent calming me as it wraps around my body like a warm hug.
“Princess,” he murmurs in my ear, the same one his father just spoke into, but the shivers I get this time are all from pleasure.
“‘O, she doth teach the torches to burn bright!
It seems she hangs upon the cheek of night
Like a rich jewel in an Ethiope’s ear;
Beauty too rich for use, for earth too dear!
So shows a snowy dove trooping with crows,
As yonder lady o’er her fellows shows.
The measure done, I’ll watch her place of stand,
And, touching hers, make blessed my rude hand.
Did my heart love till now? forswear it, sight!
For I ne’er saw true beauty till this night.’”
My breath catches and my cheeks flush as he quotes Shakespeare at me, his tone hushed, reminding me of the first time he told me he loved me on Halloween.
“Whispering sweet nothings already, eh, boy?!” Chad shouts from across the table, my eyes darting up in time to see him lick his fucking lips again as he looks at me, and effectively dousing all my warm and fuzzies. Wanker.
“Chad,” Julian snaps out, my head turning to see him with narrowed grey eyes, staring at the other man.
“Apologies, Julian,” Chad murmurs, looking quickly down in an act of submission. What the fuck is going on?
“Let’s eat,” Julian announces, his tone light as if he didn’t just tell off his business partner and long-term friend.
Ash squeezes my hand before letting go and picking up his cutlery to eat. I look at my plate, noticing a seafood starter, then stare panicked at my cutlery, having no fucking clue which ones to use.
“Outside in, sweetie,” a soft voice says to my left, and I turn with a grateful smile as Jannet, Jax’s mum, picks up her own smaller set of cutlery from the outside and pointedly looks at mine.
“Thanks,” I chuckle, copying her. “I was a little lost.”
“It’s a small thing in return for the kindness that you’ve shown my boy,” she whispers, her hands shaking, making the fork scrape lightly on the plate. “For helping him to…get clean.” She speaks the last part so quietly, if I weren’t already leaning in, I would have missed it.
My heart aches for her, tears springing to my eyes. Although I hope I would never be under the thumb of a man, to the point that I let him get my son addicted to drugs, I don’t blame her for being unable to stop it. By all accounts, she is the victim of domestic abuse, and you can see it clearly in the way she holds herself, like her very soul is injured.
“I love him,” I confess to her, just as quietly as she spoke to me. “I love them all, and would do so much more for them.”
“I know,” she whispers back. “And they clearly love you in return. I could see it the moment you walked in. For what it’s worth, I’m sorry for what is about to come.”
My heart throbs at her words, my breathing quickening as visions of a bloodbath fills my mind’s eye. Before I can respond, Julian stands up, hitting his wine glass gently with a fork, the tinkling sound halting all speech in the room.
“Before we move onto the main course of the evening, I have a little announcement to make,” he says, his face wreathed in smiles as he turns to look at me. Ash’s grip on my hand becomes bruising at the same time my brows furrow. “Asher?”
Ash lets go of my hand, turning in his chair to face me as he reaches into his trouser pocket. He’s wearing a tux like the others, but I barely register that as my vision zeros in on the small black velvet box that he’s holding out in front of him.
“Lilly Darling,” he starts, opening the box, and I see the twinkle of a diamond and ruby inside. “Will you make me the happiest of all men, and do me the greatest honour, of becoming my wife?”
