Pressure and me? We did not mix.
If he expected me to be a good worker, then he’d be sorely disappointed because I’d fired myself from my own company because I was the most useless person on the payroll.
Balling my hands, I cut across the marble courtyard in front of the palace and stiffened as my eyes landed on three women sitting on the steps of the impressive portico.
They didn’t look up from their intense conversation; their knees touching and faces close with fierce whispers. I managed to get within a few metres before they finally sensed my arrival and their heads shot up.
Their double-take was comical as shock widened their eyes, and bafflement made their mouths hang open.
Two I recognised.
Evelyn and Lydia.
The third I’d seen but didn’t know her name. A dark-skinned willowy woman who looked as if she’d been a murderess in a past life with how intense and sharp her stare was.
“You,” Evelyn gasped.
Shooting to her feet, she brushed back her black hair and looked me up and down as if looking for fatal injuries. “How are you not dead yet?”
“Good morning to you too.” I crossed my arms.
Lydia strode toward me, her pretty lemon dress hinting she was one of the seductresses not assassins. “Why are you still alive?”
I frowned. “I have no idea how to answer that question.”
“I mean...how has he not killed you yet?”
“Again, not entirely sure what you want me to say.”
“Are you always this annoying?” the other girl muttered.
“I’m not the one asking how I’m still alive.” I held her piercing stare.
“Have you been hiding somewhere the past week?” Evelyn asked. “Is that how you’ve avoided his attention?”
My eyes flicked to the massive palace towering behind them and wished I could turn around and flee. My headache throbbed in my temples and the urge to get far away from these people made my heart pound.
The huge double doors, carved with oak leaves and oriental dragons, cracked open. I froze, waiting for Lucien to appear and kill us all. Only...Whisper appeared from the shadows instead.
The tame, gentle panther who shared my bed no longer existed as he lowered his head and stalked the girls, his eyes narrowed and ruthless.
“Eh...guys?” I backed up, not out of fear for Whisper but because I really didn’t want to be sprayed in blood.
Do you hear yourself, Rook?
In what world was it normal to accept panthers as pets and become pissed off at the thought of getting blood on my clothes if he decided to eat someone for breakfast?
Sucking in a breath, I pointed behind them—effectively saving their lives. Not that they’d thank me. “You might want to go elsewhere to finish your conversation.”
“Don’t tell us what to do,” the third girl snapped.
“It’s you who shouldn’t be here.” Evelyn sniffed. “The minute Mr. Ashfall sees you, you’re dead.”
I didn’t bother correcting them and didn’t care that they ignored my advice. Time was ticking and Lucien hadn’t told me what time to report this morning, so I was already probably late.
“I’m just going to go.” Moving around them, the girls spun with me only to freeze as they noticed Whisper directly behind them.
Skidding backward, they clutched each other as the panther bared his teeth and roared.
I fought a smile and dared, stupidly, idiotically, to run my fingers—just like Lucien did—down Whisper’s sinuous spine. I couldn’t decide if I’d done it to prove the point that I wasn’t dead or to warn them not to underestimate me.
Either way, their eyes bugged, and Whisper joined me in my little game by arching his spine, turning to rub against me like I was his new favourite thing, then took my hand gently in his mouth and tugged me toward the mansion.
His fangs pressed against my very breakable skin. The hot wetness of his mouth made me break out in goosebumps, unable to override my body’s reflexes.
“Eh, Whisper?” I breathed. “I kind of need that hand. Please, please don’t bite it off.”
He hmphed and dragged me toward the doors.
The girls erupted in chatter behind me.
“She—”
“It’s bringing her in.”
“What the hell is going on?”
“Why is it dragging her into the house?!”
“You can’t go in there! Everyone’s forbidden from entering Mr. Ashfall’s home!”
Whisper let me go and let loose another loud, ferocious snarl.
Turning to face the women, I asked, “Aren’t you all here to harm him anyway? Why stop at the front door?”
Evelyn strode forward, braver than the other two. Her black slinky dress would be better suited in a nightclub. “We’re not trying to hurt him. We’re trying to give him everything he’s ever wanted.”
“You mean sex.”
She scowled. “He’s been alone for twenty years. He’s lonely.”
“Do you know who he is?” I asked, genuinely, desperately wanting to know. “What makes him so important to you and those men outside? What makes him such a threat that people are trying to kill him?”
Lydia rolled her eyes and came to join Evelyn. “She doesn’t even know who he is, yet his cat is giving her a private invitation.” She flung her hand in my direction, pouting like a drama queen. “How is that fair?”
Evelyn never looked away from me, respect slowly building in her gaze. I waited for her to give me the answers I needed, but disappointment settled as she giggled and flicked her hair.
Fine, keep your secrets—
“He’s so important because his blood is the key to running Brimstone Industries. Every lock, vault, and code only operates with the Ashfall bloodline. He’s the last one, which means his board are running out of time to figure out a way to run the company without him. That’s where we come in.” She grinned and cocked her hip. “The more of us who manage to have his child, the more heirs there are with his blood.”
My ears rang and Whisper grabbed my loose shirt, trying to tug me into the palace. Fighting the panther, I asked, “And the ones trying to kill him? If he’s so important, why did those men allow assassins in as well as bed-warmers?”
“Oh, they didn’t.” Lydia smirked. “They snuck in under the guise of being trained courtesans like us. Some are from his own company who would rather destroy everything than have him in charge, but some are from his biggest rival.”
Whisper growled and tried to pull me again.
Holding onto the doorframe, I fought to stay. “His biggest rival?”
Evelyn shared a look with the dark-skinned beauty. “Care to tell her, Miram?”
Miram grinned. “Snowflake Corp has a lot invested in stopping the Ashfall lineage. Even if it means some of us die while trying.”
“Snowflake Corp?” My heart splattered against the marble. “A-Are you sure?”
The girls laughed as Whisper moved around me and headbutted me over the threshold. “Looks like you’re on the menu.” Evelyn wriggled her fingers. “Don’t worry. We won’t mourn you when your body is carried out in the morning.”
Whisper jerked me backward.
The door slammed closed.
And Lucien Ashfall’s palace swallowed me whole.
Chapter Nineteen
“YOU’RE LATE.”
I blinked and did my best not to look around in awe. Just like that first day I’d sneaked inside to join the others in the ballroom, the sheer size and splendour stole my breath. Dropping my eyes to Lucien’s where he stood in the shadows, I embraced my goal of getting this over with. “I knew you’d say that.”
He didn’t smile.
He stood with his hands behind his back. Dressed in billowing black trousers, black shirt, and black long coat, he looked like a nightmare—a soulless silhouette carved from the same black stone of his palace.
My heart fluttered and my head threatened to turn bad again, but I forced myself to march toward him. “If you want a maid, I’m not the one for you.”
