THREE

“This way please Ms. Wilberforce.” An elderly woman stepped into the room and gestured for Mary to follow her. The woman’s eyes did a once over, and from the way her upper lip curled up in disdain, Mary could tell the older woman didn’t approve of her.

   Shrugging, she followed in the woman’s wake. She could care less about what a fellow servant thought of her. The woman led her forward, into a room that was such an anachronism, it looked like it had been picked out from the previous century.

   The room itself was made of wood – or wood plaited, and the floor was covered in what she could only assume was rich Persian rug the color of red wine. The antiques and carvings were also very impressive, and so was the huge French window that overlooked what looked like a garden -- Mary could not see it better from the angle she stood.

   In front of the window, a very small frail looking woman stood looking out. Before Mary could speak, the woman turned and pinned her with arresting Mid night blue eyes, the same shade as Adonis’.

    Mary gasped slightly. “You must be Emma Swansea –”

   “And you must have lost your way. My grandson doesn’t allow his whores wander about in the house, let alone my bedroom.”

    Mary lifted her chin. “I’m not a whore.”

  “You’re not? Then pray tell me why you’re up in my house dressed like a slut, with your very tiny unimpressive breasts hanging out from your skimpy dress.”

     Mary lifted her chin even higher as she felt tears prick at her eyes again. “I was not aware you would find my dress so provocative –”

   “Oh is that so? So this means you are used to dressing like this, going out on ‘dates’ with gentlemen –” Emma allowed her voice to fade off. The insinuation was not lost on Mary.

   “I am not here on a date Ms. Swansea. I’m here to be your personal maid.”

    The older woman burst out into laughter, and she kept laughing for a while till she saw Mary was being serious, then her face hardened, and a stern expression like the one Mary had seen on her grandchild covered her face.

   “So, you want to be my personal maid? And that’s why you’re dressed the way you are? With hopes that you’d seduce Ady, make him fall for you, marry you maybe.”

   The older woman came over to inspect her. “Your perfume smells cheap, and your manicure is freshly done. I don’t know what back water alley you crawled out from and thought to polish yourself enough to get into my family, but it would never happen.

    Read my lips you social climbing, gold digging harlot. You do not belong here, and never will.”

   Dismissing her, the older woman turned and went back to the window, and Mary fled as she felt the tears gather at her eyes for the tenth time that day.

    She hardly made it past the room before she collided with a rock hard body. Adonis.

   He held her in his arms till she was steady, before he let her go.

   “Where are you going off to in such a hurry Marry?” His voice sounded surprisingly friendly.

     “Home! I’ve had enough of the Tribeca snobbish ways. I quit! And I’m not even going back to Coney island, I’m going back home! Back to Ohio.”

    “Nonsense.” He said simply, and even though his lips were solemn, she could see from his eyes that he was amused. “Has Emma been hard on you?”

   “Hard!” Mary snapped. “Your grand mother has been very mean. She called me a harlot and a gold digging social climber. I do not want to work for her, I can’t work for her – I can’t even bare to be in the same room with her for one more minute.”

   Adonis smiled outright now. “You should know that Emma’s just being jealous.”

   “Emma jealous? Of me? I don’t understand.”

    He nodded and drew her to him, gently yet firmly, as though he owned her body, and again, the only natural thing for her to do was to let him pull her closer. Her hand lifted and pressed against the hardness of his chest through the sheer fabric of his shirt.

    Adonis smiled. “You see why Emma’s jealous. You’re so lovely, she thinks you would steal my heart away, and then I’d marry you and take you off to live somewhere, and never care about her again.”

    Mary swallowed. “Would you? Marry me?” She couldn’t resist asking.

    “Yes.” He answered simply. “If you weren’t my grandmother’s maid, and if there was anything left of my heart to give.”

   Mary stepped back so that she could look into his eyes. They were hooded, clouded with an expression she could not name, so that she could not tell what was going on in his mind. “Why do you say that – as though your heart has been broken before?” The reporter in her asked – Coleman was going to be proud of her.

    “I’d have to have a heart first for it to be broken Mon Amie. I have non. The highest thing that can happen between us is sex, hot wild mind blowing sex. And then I’d get bored like I always do, and move on – no, don’t start crying now,” he added when he saw her lower lip trembling, a tell take sign that tears where about to gather in those clear grey eyes of hers.

    “I only told you this so that you would know what you’re getting yourself into –”

   “And why do you think I’d want to work here after all you’ve told me – after all your grand mother said to me?”

    A cold smile twisted at his lips. “Because you’re a fighter Mary. Didn’t you just tell a while earlier about how you’ve had to work hard all your life?” He stepped aside so that she was free to pass if she wanted to “You’re free to walk out of this challenge – if you want to.”

   He turned as started walking off, leaving Mary seething with anger, because she knew one thing – she never backed down from challenges, and she was on a mission. Getting that article on him would be the biggest break of her career. Renowned newspapers would want to work with her.

   He paused and turned a bit to face her. “I’d ask Emma to apologize to you if that means anything.” Before Mary could reply, he turned again and was gone.

    Mary watched the empty door way, a jumble of emotions running through her mind. She had never been this much agitated in her life, and somehow, it was all his fault. Adonis Scott. She would like to see that smirk on his face when she dug up his innermost secrets and published it for the whole world to see. But first she had to accept the job, and suffer through Emma’s insults.

   But Adonis was going to pay! For every one insult Emma threw her way, she would dig up one of his secrets for the whole world to see, and she knew he had secrets, he was a mysterious man.