The next morning, Elva was still resting peacefully after I awoke and changed, so I left her in the care of Charlotte, the Nanny, and Mark, and went down to breakfast alone. I was nearly there, when both Veronica and Tiffany blocked my path. “We want to talk to you,” Veronica said. We we
I entered the dining room and sat down for breakfast across from Tiffany and Veronica and beside Susie. Susie gave me a supportive smile. “How’s Elva?” she asked. “She was just exhausted,” I replied. “I let her sleep in this morning.” “Oh good. I was worried.” When Susie said something l
Nicholas walked into the room behind me. “Mark? What the hell?” “Protocol, Sir.” Mark did not lower the gun away from me. “The answer, Piper. Please.” “Morning glory,” I said. Instantly, Mark lowered the gun. “I’m sorry.” I shook my head. “Whatever it takes to keep Elva safe. Where i
That evening, I met with Nicholas and Julian in one of the sitting rooms. Julian had unfurled the blueprints to the palace out on one of the small tables. Now, he was holding a cup of coffee in each hand. He likely hadn’t been to sleep yet. Neither had Nicholas, though he was running on adrenali
I was not excited for this new event at Terry’s mansion. While Julian had only helped arrange it so that we could sneak into Terry’s office and snoop around, the problem, of course, was that now I would be forced to interact with Terry. A man who had some twisted fantasies about being with me an
Mark, looking at me against the closet wall and Nicholas kneeling in front of me, went very pale very quickly. “Uh… I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to… intrude.” Nicholas refastened my pants and pulled up the zipper. Slowly, he rose to his feet. “Some other time,” he whispered to me. “Promis
During a mental self-defense lesson, Julian tried to instruct me on the best way to evade answering Terry’s invasive questions. “He’ll goad you,” Julian said. “You just have to keep your head. If all else fails, just don’t say a word. He can’t twist your words if you don’t give him any to twist.
Nicholas’s mouth was hot on mine. His arms wrapped around my waist, holding me closely. I clutched at his shoulders, early accepting his kisses, until the need for air forced us apart. He rested his forehead against mine. “You have to change.” “Nick,” I said. He was being ridiculous. “This dress