by Tori Leigh
“I understand your reservations. But trust me when I say that value is in the eye of the beholder. Money comes and goes, and I have plenty of it to spare.” He frowned, a lock of his thick, dark hair falling forward. “But my family… For me to say that my family situation is complicated would be an understatement beyond measure. Perhaps you can understand, having a complicated family of your own…”
I nodded. “Try me.”
Gabriel’s gaze met mine. “It is very important for me to make a good showing at this event—it’s the first family wedding in my generation. All eyes will be on the Dalcas. I am the oldest brother, the leader. I was expected to marry first, of course.”
He raked a hand through his hair. “But that is not to be, and I want to limit speculation into my personal life. It is very important for me to maintain my privacy and independence. I am not looking to bring a woman from society to this event, because it would cause all sorts of commotion. A stranger is best for my own personal reasons. A stranger with whom I have a business arrangement is even more ideal, because there are no strings attached. Do you understand that?”
“I think so.” But then I fidgeted, uncomfortable. “I have some more questions, if that’s okay. About the…parameters.”
“Go on.” He seemed encouraged that at least I hadn’t kicked him out of the room yet or run away screaming.
“You said that I would stay with you. Why can’t I just stay here with my sister? I could still attend all the events. I would be at your beck and call. ”
He shook his head. “I’m afraid that’s impossible. We’ll be traveling.”
“Okay—so one parameter is travel.” I swallowed hard. “What about… What about lodging?”
His gaze fixed to mine. “What about it?”
I required another deep breath before I could ask what had been on my mind since I’d met him the day before. “Are you… Are you paying to have sex with me?”
He didn’t flinch. “No, I am not. You have my word that I will not touch you—not unless you ask me to. I prefer to keep this transaction as businesslike as possible. So long as that suits you, of course.” He seemed to smirk a bit. He obviously knew he wasn’t exactly captain of the ugly squad.
I nodded shakily. “That suits me fine, thank you,” I said quickly. “And did you mean what you said about my sister? Mrs. Finn will really stay here and take care of her?”
He nodded.
“And do you swear on your life—and on the lives of every single person you’ve ever loved, to infinity and beyond—that Mrs. Finn is trustworthy? I’ve never left Winnie before. You have to understand that if I accept your offer, this is going to be really hard for both of us.”
Gabriel nodded. “You have my word that Mrs. Finn is one-hundred percent trustworthy. She will take better care of your sister than anyone. She is also very kind.”
“She wasn’t very kind to Eva,” I quipped.
“No, she wasn’t. I’m afraid that was my fault.” A small smile curved up his full lips, a hint of humor lit his eyes. In that moment, he was indisputably the most gorgeous man alive.
“So… Do we have a deal?” he asked. “You will accompany me to my brother’s wedding, and to the events surrounding it. You will stay with me and travel with me. You will be at my beck and call for the next two weeks. And at the successful completion of the assignment, the deed to Hawthorne Hall will revert to you.”
My head pounded. My heart thudded.
“If things go well,” Gabriel said, “I will pay you a large sum—a bonus, if you will. It will be more money than you need to take care of yourself and your sister for the rest of your lives.”
Woah. I felt dizzy. “T-That’s incredibly generous of you.” I searched his face but encountered nothing but handsome confidence. The man was utterly sure of himself. “But… Can you understand that this is difficult for me to trust?”
“Of course. But can you understand that you’re fulfilling a crucial function for me? As I said, value is in the eye of the beholder. This service isn’t the sort of thing that you could put a price tag on—not for me.” He watched me closely. “Do we have a deal, Ms. Hawthorne?”
The house. The money. Our freedom—and Winnie, safe. If what he promised was real, I’d be able to take care of my sister forever. All of my dreams would come true. But my insides twisted with doubt. This all seemed too fast, too easy.
“Do you swear that if I do this—if I come with you, if I act as your date, and I follow your rules and don’t mess anything up—do you swear that you will release the debt on Hawthorne Hall? And that my sister will be safe? Do you swear you’ll bring me back here in one piece?”
Gabriel Dalca raised his right hand, never missing a beat. “If that is what you wish, you have my solemn vow. And where I come from, you can trust that I mean it.”
“T-Then we have a deal.” We shook hands.
But I couldn’t help but wonder… Had I just made a deal with the devil?
7
AUDRINA
I went and packed my few belongings. I still couldn’t believe what I’d done.
I still didn’t believe what he’d offered.
But if it was true? If Gabriel Dalca meant what he said? It would be a whole new beginning for me and my sister. We could reclaim the life that we’d lost when our father died. We’d be able to care for our home. It would guarantee us a future.
It was worth the risk. It was just two weeks.
While I packed, Winnie and Mrs. Finn pulled apart the kitchen cabinets and rummaged through our meager supplies. By the time I joined them, they had ransacked the pantry.
“This kitchen is a disgrace,” Mrs. Finn declared, and Winnie couldn’t agree more.
“We don’t even have butter,” she complained to her new champion. “Who lives in a house without butter?”
Mrs. Finn tsked and added butter to her ever-growing shopping list.
It was time to tell my sister what was going on. Gabriel had insisted that we leave soon. “Winne. I need to talk to you.”
“Sure. What’s up?”
I pulled her out back with me, onto the cracked patio that faced the overgrown rear grounds. “What do you think of Mrs. Finn?”
She smiled. “She’s great! She is totally whipping the kitchen into shape.”
I hesitated before I said, “There’s a chance she could stay here and work.”
“That’d be amazing, but how? How can we afford that?” Winnie wrinkled her nose. “Does this have something to do with the hot guy holed up in Dad’s study—the one who was here yesterday?”
“Y-Yes.” I swallowed hard. “The man who brought Mrs. Finn here—he offered me an opportunity.”
She raised her eyebrows. “What sort of opportunity?”
I forced myself to smile. I should seem optimistic about this. “He said that he’d hire me as his assistant for a few weeks in exchange for a lot of money. I mean a lot—enough for us to take care of Hawthorne Hall on our own.”
Winnie’s eyes grew huge in her face. “Oh my god, Audrina! That’s incredible!”
“I know, right?”
“But wait—why does he want to hire you?” My sister was far too quick for sixteen. “You’ve never even had a job. You’ve barely even left the house. How did he find you?”
“He knows Vivian. They’ve had some real-estate dealings together.”
“C’mon.” She scowled. “Vivian doesn’t have dealings. She spends our inheritance on Eva—that’s her whole deal.”
“Well, she had some dealings with Gabriel Dalca. That’s how I met him.”
Winnie’s eyes took on a faraway look. “Gabriel Dalca. Mmm, even his name’s mysterious and sexy.”
“Winifred, please. Stop being ridiculous and listen to me.” I grabbed her hands. “There’s more to it, and I don’t understand all the legalities, but… Apparently, Vivian owes him a ton of money. Because of that, as of right now, he’s the legal owner of Hawthorne Hall.”
When
she looked panicked, I quickly continued, “But after I go to work for him, we’re going to get it back. Free and clear. And from now on, we’re in charge. Vivian and Eva are only staying here for as long as we let them.”
Technically, I supposed I could ask Gabriel to throw them out now. But as much as I despised them, leaving Winnie completely alone with only Gabriel’s paid fleet of workers seemed too abrupt. Kicking my wicked stepmother and evil stepsister out of Hawthorne Hall were definitely in my near-future plans, but what was the other thing my father used to say? Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer.
Being homeless would make Eva and Vivian desperate. I didn’t want to leave Winnie vulnerable to whatever revenge they might take. I decided that in the short-term, while I was away, it was better to keep them somewhat happy—and under the watchful eye of Mrs. Finn and Gabriel’s security team.
“This all sounds—well, it’s too good to be true.” Winnie shook her head. “But you never answered me. Why is Mr. Sexy Billionaire hiring you as his assistant? What exactly are you going to assist him with, huh?”
“Event management.” I coughed. “He has an event coming up, and he needs someone to accompany him. So that’s what I’ll be doing—accompanying him to his brother’s big-deal wedding and helping him manage it.”
Winnie crossed her arms against her chest. “So you’re going to be his escort.”
“Winifred.” My jaw dropped. “Where have you ever heard a word like that before?”
“You and I have watched Pretty Woman, like, a thousand times. Don’t go all prissy on me. We both know what he’s talking about!”
I raised my chin. “Not that it’s appropriate to discuss with you, but Mr. Dalca has assured me that there aren’t any physical…requirements. I’m not his escort. I’m basically an expensive fake date.”
“Well, that sucks.”
“Winnie!” I threw up my hands. “Will you please stop?”
“Have you looked at him?” Winnie grinned at me wickedly. “He’s totally friggin’ gorgeous! Not a bad candidate to finally pop your cherry—”
“Not another word out of your under-aged foul mouth!” I shook my head. Maybe I shouldn’t have let her watch Pretty Woman one-thousand times. “I need to know the truth. Are you okay with me leaving? I’ll only be gone for two weeks.”
“Unless he decides to keep you as his love slave forever—in which case, you have my blessing,” she said sweetly.
I groaned.
“Did you ever consider that you might like it?” She blinked at me, suddenly serious.
“Like what?”
“Him. He’s hot. Maybe you could…I don’t know…have fun, for once in your life?”
I sighed. “Sometimes you really seem older than sixteen.”
“Sometimes you really seem like an old lady instead of a hot eighteen-year-old. I’m just saying”—she waggled her eyebrows—“you might like what he’s got going on underneath that suit.”
I shook my head. “You’re ridiculous. But I love you.” I pulled her in for a hug.
She clung to me for a second. “You’re ridiculous, but I love you, too.”
I turned away before she could see that I was crying.
8
GABRIEL
Audrina sat silently beside me in the SUV, staring at the house as we drove away. Her eyes were shiny with unshed tears.
Fuck. She was upset. She wasn’t the only one.
I’d wanted to make this arrangement happen. I’d wanted it so badly, I’d promised that I wouldn’t touch her—not unless she asked me to. Little did Audrina Hawthorne know how deep this vow bound me. As a vampire, I could not break my word. Now that I’d sworn it, I would have to adhere to it.
Since I was immortal, there was a one-hundred percent chance I’d live to regret this.
It’s for the best, I reminded myself. Hadn’t I been the one congratulating myself on my self-control?
We were silent for most of the ride. Audrina stared out the window, her heart beating as quick as a sparrow’s. I smelled the fear on her, and the sadness. Leaving her sister caused her physical pain.
I was bad for doing this, for taking her from her family. But then again—no one was going to suffer more than me.
Being enclosed with her in the back of the SUV was absolute fucking torture. Her scent rolled over me in waves, knocking me down, dragging me out to sea. To be so close to Audrina—her pale skin, wide eyes, shiny hair and swelling breasts—was to suffer with a desire so great, my dick actually hurt. It strained against my pants, desperate to get free.
My vampire instincts kicked in, urging me to take action. She was a human. I was her master. I should take her now. I throbbed with need. I was wild to get inside her and claim her virginity, while I drank from pale neck in a lust-induced frenzy…
Stop.
I couldn’t do a thing. Because I’d sworn not to.
What the actual fuck have I done?
I reminded myself I had a date for Iulian’s wedding—that was the most important thing. There were no strings attached. She would wear what I asked, behave how I asked, and nothing more. Afterward, I would send her home and return to the business of running my kingdom. It was the perfect arrangement.
And the fact that my date was a gorgeous, curvy, young, human, wide-eyed virgin? My brothers were going to freak. I would claim Audrina as mine, and no one else could touch her. But oh, would they want to. I silently gloated, imagining the looks on their faces when they saw her in the gowns I already had planned…
Wait a minute. Fury swept through me as I pictured Cristian ogling Audrina’s round, firm ass, or Stefan staring at her unforgettable tits. My hands clenched into fists, an unimaginable rage coursing through me. No one was allowed to look at her. I would tear out the eyes of my own brethren, stake them with the nearest sharp object available—
“Gabriel?” Audrina peered at me. “Are you okay?”
My fangs were about to pop out, a hiss on my lips. Then I saw the expression on her face. Concern underscored by fear. I must look like exactly what I was: a monster.
I smoothed my features immediately. “What? Yes, of course.”
I forced my hands open. I concentrated on releasing the tension in my shoulders and took deep breaths. “I was just thinking of some business I might have to attend to when we get back.”
“You had a funny look on your face.”
I shrugged, feigning indifference. “The business might get complicated—I was just running the scenarios.”
She nodded, seeming to accept my explanation.
This was why I didn’t do relationships, particularly ones with humans. Even the imaginary leers of my brothers were too much for me to bear. For a vampire, the act of claiming a virgin—which was fully consummated by mating with her while drinking her blood—could lead to primal, obsessive behavior. You protected your virgin at all costs. Because all you could think about was fucking her and drinking from her, and killing anyone who looked at her cross-eyed…
The idea of being obsessed with someone, of worrying about them all the time—who was looking at them, what they thought of it—it was too much of a distraction. I had let my personal life interfere with my duties once before. I’d learned the hard way, but perhaps that was for the best: what Leonora taught me wasn’t likely something I’d ever forget.
“So…” Audrina tentatively smiled, even though I could still smell her mixed emotions. “Where do you live?”
“In the city.” I checked my watch. “We should be there soon.”
“Oh. Nice. I haven’t been to Charleston in a long time—not since I was a girl.”
“Really?” That surprised me. “Hawthorne Hall is so close.”
“Um…” She bit her lip. “I’ve been busy with school, I guess.”
I sensed that she did not wish to discuss the matter further, so I didn’t pursue it.
“Can you tell me more about the wedding?” She glanced at me. “Or your brother? Or�
�you?”
I stared at her as she spoke, drinking her in. The luscious curve of her lips, the faint blush in her cheek, her clear, dark eyes. Her breasts swelled beneath her dress, and I longed to reach out and cup them, to run my mouth along her jawline, trailing downward…
I cleared my throat. “I run a business based in Charleston. We deal in real estate, technology, energy, that sort of thing. I’ve lived there almost all my life—my family’s from the city. I am the oldest of five, all boys. My brother Iulian is the one getting married. His fiancée’s name is Bianca. I don’t really know her well, except that she’s from a prominent family from Florida. She and my brother seem very happy together.”
In fact, the unification of Bianca’s family and ours had been the primary reason I’d approved of the marriage. This bond would strengthen our hold on the East Coast, something I’d been working toward for some time.
Audrina nodded. “Where is the wedding?”
“It’s…local.” This was going to be the tricky part. But she would see the truth soon enough.
“Oh.” Her brow furrowed. “I thought you’d said we’d be traveling.”
“For some of the events, yes. I believe my brother has something planned in Vegas.” I scrubbed a hand over my face. “For some ungodly reason.”
“You don’t like Vegas?”
“No.” I blinked at her. “Do you?”
“I’ve never been. I haven’t been on a plane since I was eight, so…” She shrugged, smiling. “I’m not exactly well-traveled, Mr. Dal—Gabriel. I’m sure you’re used to much more sophisticated women. I’m still in high school, remember?”
“Oh, I remember.” I tried to keep the leer out of my voice.
How young she was, how inexperienced—did she not know how alluring that was to me? For one such as I, who had lived through so much, the world had taken on a grayish cast. Life was still new for Audrina.
I experienced something I hadn’t felt for a long time—excitement. I almost didn’t recognize it. It would be exciting to show her more of the world, to take her on an airplane. Even Las Vegas might take on more luster.
