AllFreeNovel
Share Us
How the hell did she even find out about this place? After Douglass’ death, I went through everything in his house and got rid of any mention of the Magnolia.
"Hi." Her voice—soft, sweet, and so fucking innocent—perfumed the air like liquid silk. Out of the corner of my eye, Tucker's face snapped to attention, as well as every other man in the room. Even the women, usually silent, still, and taciturn, looked towards her.
How long had it been since we’d seen someone so sinless, so naive, in this place?
“Welcome.” Emerson looked relaxed, but he’d turned his saddle leather chair away from the table and towards her. He gave her a smile and a nod, “As God says, ‘Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. You are welcome here.”
She didn’t look so sure.
In the dark, imposing room, with black tile flooring and charcoal-grey concrete ceilings, embellished with gold and diamonds, she was a bright beacon of light. Her hair, so blonde it was almost white, and the deep blue of her eyes, brought out by the blue velvet of her vintage Ossie Clark dress, were nothing to the magnetic sexuality oozing from her.
A mixture of sweet and sinfully seductive screamed the most depraved night of sex of your life.
“It appears we have a new applicant for the Magnolia,” Emerson continued, “All those whom the Father gives me, will come to me. And whomever comes to me, I will never drive away. Isn’t that right, Saul?”
“Yes,” Saul nodded, almost breathless in his eagerness.
“Come,” Emerson prodded her closer with a wave of his hand, “Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.”
Once she’d stepped as close as she could, he nodded at Saul to take over.
"What's your name, sweetheart?” Saul's false, bright smile and soothing tone made her shoulders relax.
"Summer."
"And your last?" He knew her last name, everyone in the room did.
"Duvall."
“My name is Saul Vanderhorst. I knew your father. He recently passed, didn’t he?”
"Yes," Her voice wobbled, and I struggled to maintain my composure. Her obvious pain hit something inside me, linking us, even though she had no clue who I was. What her father meant to me.
I forced my own shoulders to relax. My face to remain impassive, though my own grief was choking off my breath.
"I see. You poor dear.”
My stomach rolled with repugnance at Saul's slick tone but she gave him a soft smile.
God, was she really this naive? Was she falling for this? Fake sympathy and feigned ignorance.
He held out a hand, and her gratitude morphed to confusion. She blinked, clutching the file in her hands to her chest. Then, hesitatingly, she reached out, grasping it, and Saul chuckled. "Aren't you sweet?" He dropped her hand like she had leprosy, and nodded towards the folder. "I meant whatever you brought for us. I'm assuming you're here because you need something." Despite his words, the look on Saul's face was too eager, but Summer didn't notice.
Instead, her cheeks flushed with embarrassment, and every man in the room practically came in their pants. I could hear William Allen panting, his fat jowls forcing wheezing breaths through his lips.
I kept my ass rooted to my chair, even though I wanted to jump to my feet and drag her from this room by her hair. The woman deserved to be punished for such innocence and, not for the first time, I cursed Douglass for loving her so much.
Or, at least, for not stripping away at least a little bit of her naivety.
And yet, wasn't it the same care that had gotten me through the worst time of my life?
I bit my inner cheek, clamping down on my thoughts and refocusing.
What happened next was vitally important.
Stepping inside the inner room of the sanctum had put a target right in the middle of Summer’s pretty little forehead. One the Magnolia would take advantage of—spinning a thread around Summer so delicate, she wouldn’t even feel the web tightening until it was too late.
She was stumbling through her explanation while Saul looked through whatever papers she’d given him. “…and I was hoping for some kind of loan. Something to get me through this, just for now."
