I didn’t know what time of the day it was—as usual—but I usually sang for hours between each meal. And it hadn’t felt nearly long enough when I heard a key in the lock.
The song abruptly died in my throat, and dread filled me as I scrambled to cover myself with the comforter since I still didn’t have any robes.
My breaths were rough as I worried and wondered why he would be coming back so soon, but they stopped altogether when the door clicked shut, and an unfamiliar voice called out, “Hello, First.”
I turned, my hesitation apparent in every slow, calculated move of my body.
An older man I had never seen before walked toward me nearly as slowly as I had turned. Something about him seemed familiar, but I couldn’t place it until he was sitting on the edge of my bed. Although his were a pale blue, his eyes had that same cold and terrifying look as the devil’s. His expression suggested he had all the time in the world.
I scooted away from him and pulled the comforter tighter to my body. My skin crawled when he smiled wickedly at my actions.
After long moments of staring at each other, he finally dipped his head to the side. “Truly, you don’t need to fear me. I am only here to see how you are—to check on your progression.” His proper British accent surprised me, and somehow, made him more terrifying. When I still didn’t respond to him, he said, “I can only assume from your expression that Lucas has warned you about me.”
I couldn’t hide my shock or confusion.
Who was Lucas? Was he the devil? And who was the man in front of me that someone as terrible as the devil would warn me about him?
The man gave me a once-over that chilled me to my bones even though I was mostly hidden from his sight. “Your new hair color becomes you, even more so than the original. Lucas made a great choice.”
I was now certain that Lucas was the man who’d bought me, and I rolled his name around in my mind a few times as I thought of him. Devil suited him so much better.
“How do you know?”
“Ah, you do speak.” The man laughed. Something about the sound pushed ice through my veins. “How do I know what?”
“That it looks better than the original.”
“I was here when you had your spell with dehydration.”
I didn’t know if I believed him. Everything about him made me not want to trust him, made me not want to be in the room alone with him—but that might have been because he was perfectly comfortable sitting there when it was obvious I was naked under the comforter. “Are you a doctor?” I finally asked.
“No, darling. I’m Lucas’s mentor. My name is William, in case I forgot to mention that before.”
I nodded because I didn’t know what to say and looked around the bedroom until my restless gaze landed on the closed door. I waited, silently pleading for the devil to walk through there.
It surprised me, and I hated that I wanted him there at all, but I would rather the devil than the man sitting on the edge of my bed. And despite the evil that radiated from Lucas and the fear that had so often filled me in his presence, I somehow knew he would keep me safe from William.
“Where is Lucas?”
William’s lips pulled into a sinister grin when he answered. “Work.”
Chapter 14
Day 21 with Briar
Lucas
I straightened my already straight tie, and messed with the cufflinks on my shirt as I watched the city pass by me. The scowl on my face deepened with every mile traveled.
I had a home office for a reason. All the men in this world did. For the first two months, none of us were expected to leave our new girls. I could do everything I do at the office at my house—including this meeting I was supposedly needed for.
My eyes rolled when my phone rang, showing one of the partners’ names on the screen. I lifted it to my ear, and didn’t bother with a greeting. “I should be there in fifteen.”
“Where?”
“The office for the board meeting.”
There was a pause before he said hesitantly, “There are no meetings today. Aren’t you working from home anyway? I was just calling to get your opinion on—”
“No meeting?”
“No . . .”
I thought for only a second before I hissed a curse as my stomach dropped. “Is William in?”
Another pause. “No, he left for—”
I didn’t wait for him to explain. I hung up and yelled for the driver to turn around and go home. I searched for William’s cell number and had the phone back to my ear within seconds. My thumb and forefinger squeezed the bridge of my nose as I silently begged for him to pick up his phone.
“Hello?” a feminine voice answered.
“Who is this?” I demanded.
The woman chuckled. “Do not use that tone with me, Lucas. You do not scare me. I will find a wooden spoon, and we will see who is scared then.”
I blew out a ragged breath and smiled. It was William’s first. “Karina, is he there?”
“No, he’s at work. The old fool forgot his phone,” she said affectionately.
My body went rigid, but I bit back a curse. “Thank you, Karina, I’ll try him there.” As soon as I hung up, I barked, “Drive faster!”
I needed to get back to my blackbird—needed to get to her before he did. Because if he got there first . . .
I didn’t want to think about what might happen.
William alone with Briar would be some of my worst fears coming to life for so many reasons.
My mind raced as I thought about the girl in that room, and my chest tightened with dread as we drove far too slowly.
I shouldn’t have left her alone.
Should’ve never given William this opportunity.
Should’ve never let him trick me this way.
He’d been hounding me every day about how behind Briar was. As if I wasn’t already aware. I’d been worried that he would visit us in a couple weeks if she hadn’t made it out of that starter room.
I hadn’t expected this.
And after what had happened between us the other night, her hate for me was only going to grow . . . and I wouldn’t have anyone to blame but myself.
I never should have touched her that night . . .
As much as the thought of breaking her destroyed me, I knew it was something that had to be done. Just as there was a list of things I had to do when it came to Briar.
Pleasuring her wasn’t on that list.
But I should have known from those first minutes during the auction that it would’ve been inevitable.
My days of trying to ease her into getting comfortable weren’t working. And after the way she’d spoken to me before the women showed up to dye her hair, I knew I needed to teach her a lesson—one I still hadn’t been able to do.
So I’d taken her robes and anything else she could have covered herself with in a last-ditch effort, because I couldn’t continue to give her time.
Time that had run out long before.
The girls were expected to progress faster. She should have been out of that starter room by the end of her second week at the very latest.