Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a pretty garden filled with pale pink and white hydrangeas, and when I turned to look it, I saw what lay beyond it: a labyrinthine hedge maze. I headed toward that, wanting to disappear for a while.
I’d always wanted a giant hedge maze of my own, so maybe Briarwood estate wasn’t that bad after all, because at least it had this—somewhere for me to escape to.
I found the entrance and stepped inside, brushing a stray leaf from my hair as it fluttered in the breeze and landed on my head. My pulse was already beginning to slow, and I took in a deep breath as I began to navigate my way through the confusing, intricate network of winding pathways and dead ends. This was just what I needed; something to distract me and take my mind off all the shit going on in my life.
Twenty minutes went by before I realized I was as deep as possible in the maze and yet no closer to finding the exit. I’d located the center two minutes ago—it contained a little granite cherub fountain—but I hadn’t realized how big the labyrinth was until I got this far inside. The amount of blind alleys was mind-boggling, and trying to remember where they all were and find my way out at the same time was proving an impossible task. There just didn’t seem to be any way out, and I couldn’t even go back the way I came, because I couldn’t locate that particular path again for some reason.
Great…
I wasn’t just lost in my thoughts and problems anymore.
I was quite literally lost.
Five
Asher
If there's one thing I excel at, it's hiding what I truly feel. After Chloe left the other night, I put myself back together piece by piece. I went to bed feeling like shit, but I woke up refreshed and back to my old self. Any nagging feelings of self-doubt and worry, I pushed deep into the darkest corners of my mind, and I went about my business as usual—without a care in the world.
My father dropped the big bomb a few days later. We were sitting at the dining table, a delicious breakfast laid out in front of us. I was picking at my eggs, sipping absentmindedly at a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice our cook had prepared earlier from fruit grown right here at our main family property, Briarwood estate.
"I'm getting married again."
My father's words rang out in the great room, and I looked up at him with a bored expression. Nothing he could do now would surprise me. It felt like half the time he chose his next move in life by deciding how much it would fucking piss me off, and I had no doubt he was doing this to spite me.
"I'm not surprised," I said, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible. I moved on my chair, and the expensive fabric it was coated in creaked under my weight. "Who's the lucky gal, then?"
I didn't bother keeping eye contact with him over the dining table. I could feel him trying to look at me and meet my eyes, but I refused to give him the satisfaction. I looked at the plate in front of me stubbornly, the eggs I was having suddenly losing their appeal.
"Her name is Victoria.”
"Victoria who?" I asked, my tone bored as I picked at the assorted fruit salad in the porcelain bowl next to my plate. "I'm sure she has a last name, too."
Knowing my father, he wouldn't marry just anyone, or else he would’ve done it sooner than this. She'd have to have the looks, the name, and the wealth he'd want to be associated with as a man of his class, especially after all the scandal that arose from his short marriage to my mother, Catalina.
My father coughed and cleared his throat before replying. "Victoria Carlyle.”
“Carlyle?”
I felt my blood freeze in my veins. I was all too familiar with that name, and it really felt like he was fucking with me now. Before I could speak up, my father went on, and my grip on the silver fork I was holding tightened, coloring my knuckles in shades of white and blood red.
“That won't be her name for much longer," he muttered to himself.
I couldn’t even fathom how to respond, and I simply stared as he continued.
"Before you say anything, I've fallen for this woman, and I won't change my mind about her," he said stiffly. "I'm marrying her no matter what, and I’ve invited her to live with me. I know this all seems very strange considering our previous attachments, but I’ve actually known Victoria for years. It’s not like we met because of the…the recent events.”
I refused to say a single fucking word in response to that. Let him marry the ex-wife of the man who murdered my mother then, if he was so damn desperate to forget she ever existed. I knew my father despised her memory, and so did I in many ways after what she did to me as a child…but she was still my fucking mother. I wouldn't give him the pleasure of seeing me angry or upset over this, as screwed up as it was.
"Good luck with that," I said, getting up from the dining table.
"Asher," he said. "Please, give me a moment to explain things a bit more."
"No need." I gave him a tight smile, but it felt more like a grimace. I had to force the corners of my mouth to cooperate. "I just want you to be happy, father."
The words felt like venom coming off of my lips, and I hated him for doing this, hated him for adding another wound to my fucking conscience.
"She has a daughter," he added. "About your age."
"Yeah," I replied. "I'm familiar with the girl."
“I’d like you to stay here for the whole summer so we can all get attached to each other.”
“Whatever.”
And that was that. Conversation over.
I left the room that morning without looking back, and I spent the next week avoiding my father as best as I fucking could. I never was one for teary family reunions, and I liked to keep my distance from my father at any given opportunity. If he thought he could get a new life from scratch, like a damn Build-A-Family workshop—with the family of the man who killed my mother, no less—he was wrong, and I wasn't going to cooperate. In fact, I'd already decided to make the process as difficult for him as I could possibly manage, because he needed to see how truly fucked up this all was.
But still, standing a few feet away from Chloe right now put me in a position of power over her as I welcomed her into her new home. It almost gave me a fucking hard-on, but seeing her bottom lip shake as I realized she hadn’t known who her mother was marrying until now was damn close to making me feel like shit at the same time.
Not enough to make me play nice, though. Her obvious hatred of me had made something harden deep inside me, and I wasn’t the kind of guy who took kindly to being stared at like I was a leper. Sure, I’d fucked up the other night by not telling her who I was, but if she was planning on punishing me for that forever, then she needed to grow the fuck up.
After shaking my father’s hand, Chloe ran off like a fucking child, and I pressed my lips into a thin line and followed my father and his bride-to-be into the manor. They acted weirdly formal around me, even though all three of us knew they'd been all too familiar before now for god knows how long. What game were they playing? Surely they knew what society would make of their impending marriage. It would be an even bigger scandal for them to be together than when my mother ran off with another man when I was a toddler, abandoning me and leaving my father to raise me alone.
I was certain my father had his ulterior motives in marrying Victoria, but at the moment, a certain pretty brunette was fucking with my head, and I couldn't think straight knowing she was out wandering the estate alone. A need to find her and talk to her further awoke inside me, and I decided I really was a sick damn prick for wanting to mess with her. But it wasn't strong enough to stop me, and I said a semi-polite goodbye to our parents before wandering outside.
“Please check on Chloe and see if she’s okay,” Victoria said as I headed for the door. “She’ll probably be in the car.”
“Sure thing.”
I grinned to myself as I walked the expansive grounds. They were truly beautiful, a sight that wouldn't be alien in a landscaping magazine. I seldom noticed the beauty of my childhood home and estate,
however. It always seemed like I was in a game of wits with my father, and I didn't like dwelling on my surroundings no matter the aesthetic appeal. To be honest, I barely noticed it anymore. Living a lifestyle where I was surrounded by beautiful things for my whole life, I'd stopped appreciating them long ago.
Such was not the case with Chloe, though, and her ethereal beauty only made me want to get closer. Even better if I got to taunt her along the way just to see the fire rising in her eyes like I had that night a week ago.
Pushing back the memories of her in my apartment, I tried to look at the estate through her eyes, knowing she'd be instantly pulled in by the mystery of the maze standing front and center in our gardens. I could already see she wasn’t in her mother’s car, so I was sure she’d found her way into the hedges. It was a good place to escape; I’d done it often enough as a child when I needed to be alone.
I walked toward it leisurely, a small smile playing on my lips. Since I'd been living here my whole life, I knew the labyrinth was easy to navigate for me, but for anyone else who might wander in, getting lost was easy, and I knew Chloe could be trapped somewhere amidst the green hedges.
The grass was wet with dew as I walked inside the maze. It was a crisp day, too cold to make it pleasant despite being early summer. As I followed Chloe through the maze, I felt like a predator tracking his prey. I wondered if she felt me coming the way I felt her presence in the air, the lingering scent of her permeating the air and leading my way. I was the big bad wolf and she was my Red Riding Hood—and I was going to break her into pieces.
I smirked to myself when I heard rustling in the bushes to my right. I wanted to scare her, make her feel embarrassed once she realized I'd been tracking her. I burst through the maze with my hands raised above my head.
"Boo!"
Chloe shrieked at the top of her voice, cheeks turning pink as she sprang away with terror. As tempted as I was to laugh my ass off, the way she was quaking and struggling to breathe made me reconsider for a second. "Jeez, sorry. Just wanted to freak you out," I said as her face got redder and redder by the second. “I didn’t think you’d have a fucking heart attack.”
I grinned at her, but she was still shaky as hell, so I reached for her arm and pulled her flush against me. Her body was small and frail against mine, and I could feel her heart beating against my chest. Subconsciously, my hand went to her back and started smoothing down the fabric of her dress. "Shh, pretty girl," I said softly, and for a second, Chloe settled calmly against my chest with her breath slowing down.
But before I could bring myself to enjoy the moment, she was hitting my chest with her tiny fists and pushing me off her, spitting curse words that didn't befit such a pretty mouth in any way.
"Sorry," I said again with a grin as she finally relented. "You all right? You just disappeared on us back there."
"What do you care?" she asked in a snide voice with narrowed eyes, and I raised my hands in front of me in a half-joking defense. Wouldn’t be the first time an angry girl slapped me right across the face, although usually it was because I never called them when I said I would.
Instead of slapping me like I thought she would, Chloe sighed deeply and rubbed her temples. She looked a little disheveled and pissed as hell. It was a good look on her, making her eyes sparkle and her cheeks glow. "I'm leaving," she said in a clipped tone. "I can't even look at you. Let alone be in the same..." She gestured around us with annoyance. “Whatever this is, with you."
She made a move to push through the maze, but I stepped in front of her, blocking her way until her back was pressed against the hedges and she was trapped between me and the huge bushes.
"Let me through," she said, and I shook my head playfully. "Seriously, Asher, don't play fucking games with me. I don't have time for this."
"No?" I said softly. There was something about standing this close to her; inhaling her scents, seeing how beautiful she looked in this light, her skin so smooth, her lips plump, her eyes wide and scared. "Why? What else is on your agenda, Chloe Carlyle?"
"Getting away from you and this house," she muttered, making me chuckle. She gave me a withering look, filled with incredulity and contempt. "What? You don't believe me? You know I can't stand you, Asher. I think I made that pretty damn clear the other night after the crap you pulled with me. So I just want to get away from you and your dad. For good."
She looked at me for a long time before delivering what she probably thought was the final blow. "I hate you."
I suppressed the urge to laugh again and arched a brow. "You do?" I replied in a teasing tone, and before I could stop myself, my hand wandered between her legs. Chloe gasped as I pushed them apart, gently stroking the skin on the inner side of her thighs. "That's interesting..."
"It's not," she managed weakly. For all her words of hating me, she didn't seem too eager to push me away right now. "Get off me."
"Yeah? I think you want me to…" I taunted her, my hands gliding over the slick skin of her inner thighs. "I don't think you want me to stop, Chloe." I pressed down gently a few inches away from her center, and her whole body shivered from the goosebumps I sent down her skin.
"I'll stop right now if you tell me to," I whispered in her ear, and she turned her head to the side. "Just say the word, pretty girl, and I'll leave you alone."
She remained stubbornly quiet and I chuckled low in my throat when she wouldn't reply or look at me. "See, Chloe," I murmured in her ear. "I think you like it, whatever we're doing. You might hate me, but you enjoy this, don't you?"
My hand sneaked closer to her pussy, and she mewled like a kitten when I tugged on her panties —without touching her cunt, of course. I was going to save that for later. She was soaked, the thin cotton that covered her pussy wet with her juices.
"Please," she choked out, and I tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.
"Please what, Chloe?" I taunted her again, because it was too much fucking fun not to do it. "Tell me what you want, and I'll do my best... Come on, just say it."
She gasped when my fingers sneaked inside her panties. She was waxed smooth, and I groaned when I felt her pussy lips underneath my fingers. She dripped on my hand and I wanted to fuck her right there. Push her on all fours on the ground and bury myself balls deep inside her drenched pussy...
That would've been a treat.
But I knew if I did that, it would break the last remnant of trust Chloe had where I was concerned. I'd already fucked up pretty badly, and the only reason she hadn't told me to fuck off yet was because she was still attracted to me. That was plainly obvious now, with my hand in her panties and her dripping pussy spilling all its secrets to me.
Quite literally.
"Asher," she said with a groan, and her head went back, her eyes fluttering closed as my fingers slipped lower inside her panties. "God, please."
"Go on," I urged her. "Tell me what you want. Do it, Chloe."
"Oh," she moaned, the sound low and urgent. "Keep going."
"Where?"
"Inside...me," she said, and without further warning, I parted her pussy lips and slid my index finger inside her. She bucked her hips, a moan loud on her lips as she applied pressure to where we were connected, so damn desperate to get off.
"So eager." I laughed against her ear, and she struggled against me, but it didn't stop her from moaning out loud. Her pussy was impossibly tight and soaked as fuck, dripping over my palm and pulling me in like she’d cast a spell on me. "Come on, Chloe. Are you gonna come on my fingers?"
"No," she protested weakly, and in response, I curled my finger inside her pussy, making her moan my name.
"Is that so?" I said with a grin. "Doesn't seem like you can stop, pretty girl. You know anyone could walk in on us, right?" She whimpered and I could tell it turned her on even more, so I wrapped my free hand around her hips and pulled her against me. "You like that, don't you? Someone could just walk outside and hear you moaning so fucking loud right here, in plain sight. What a dirty girl you
are."
I heard the voices and footsteps approaching before Chloe did, and I discreetly slipped my finger from her folds, smoothing down her dress as she moaned deliriously. I slid my finger between her lips and her eyes widened when she heard the voices, too. But she still sucked me clean of her juices, and I grinned at her before putting on my best innocent face and turning around to see who’d interrupted us.
"Hey," Dad said. "We heard some strange noises, figured you were here."
"Is everything all right?" Victoria asked, nervously twisting her hands. "I...I thought something was wrong, that maybe you two were fighting or something."
"Something like that." I grinned at her, sensing how uncomfortable Chloe was right behind me. I cleared my throat and looked away. "If you'll excuse me."
"Actually, Asher," my father called out after me, making me stop in my tracks. "We thought we could spend some time together. Get to know each other, that kind of thing."
I turned back to face them, Victoria with her hopeful expression and my father with his unreadable face. Chloe looked as pissed as I was, albeit a little more shaken up, and she refused to meet my eyes.
"No, thank you," I replied curtly with a brief nod at my father. "I'm leaving. Chloe?"
I turned toward her gallantly, and even though I could tell she was pissed as hell at me, we had something in common now—we were both mad at our parents for whatever bullshit they were pulling by being together. Maybe she couldn’t stand me, but she couldn’t stand them more, judging by the look on her face.
"Coming," she said, throwing her mother a vengeful look.
And then we left the maze together.
Six
Chloe
I trudged in front of Robert and my mother, heading back to the house up a cobblestone path, and I kept my eyes low, refusing to look at Asher for even a second as he walked beside me. I couldn’t believe I’d fallen for his creeping charms again, couldn’t believe I let him touch me like that.
Scandal (A Dirty Money Novel) Page 5
