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He hands me an unfamiliar implement and pushes a carrot into my other hand. I sit waiting for instructions.
“Don’t tell me you don’t know how to peel carrots.” His voice is full of amusement, which makes me feel like an idiot.
I shake my head.
“Wow. The rich really do live in another world to the rest of us. Didn’t one of your Daddy’s servants ever teach you how to cook?”
I lower my head, shame filling me. I don’t know how to cook. I’ve never so much as boiled water in my life. I’ve certainly never peeled a carrot before. I hear his footsteps as he rounds the counter. My body tenses, and for a second I think he’s going to hurt me. His body molds to mine, his chest on my back as he wraps his arms around me. I flinch in terror as his hands run down my arms.
“Do I scare you, Sinful?” he breathes into my ear. The hair on my arms stands on end and goose pimples rise on my skin.
He does. They all do, but he seems to like it. I won’t give him the satisfaction. “No.”
He chuckles softly. “Nix thinks you are acting, but you really suck at lying. Keep your secrets, my sinful girl, but don’t think you can hide behind lies. I’m the master of deception and I can spot a lie a mile away. Here.” He moves his hands down my wrist causing an involuntary shudder, then wraps his fingers round mine as I grip the peeler.
“Watch your fingers.”
“I can’t,” I say in a quivering voice. It’s one thing telling him he doesn’t scare me, but I can’t hide my trembling body.
He runs the peeler down the carrot, my hands in his. “Feel your way,” he says in a husky voice. It’s only peeling vegetables but suddenly it’s too much. He’s turned it into some kind of erotic act. I can’t breathe. He’s too close. His body is pressed right up against mine and his arms wrap right round so that he has one of each of my hands in his. I’m like a puppet and Mercier is the puppet master. I try to ignore the warmth spreading through me at his touch. Contrary to popular belief, my life has been devoid of basic human touch and something as simple as someone pressing their body against mine, has my own reacting to it, whether I like it or not. It takes everything I have not to press back into him.
I swallow and continue to peel, feeling along the vegetable with my fingers.
“I think I’ve got it,” I say, willing him to move away. He does and I let out a low breath. I’ve been in both Nix and Dacre’s arms, but Mercier’s breath on the back of my neck has my body reacting in ways that are foreign to me. I feel his eyes on me and I don’t know how to act. I’ve never felt more on show. Not when Dacre watched me pee, and not even when I walked out of the bathroom with no clothes on. It was an idiotic thing to do, but it didn’t even occur to me to be bothered by it. It was their reactions to my naked body, rather than being naked, that made me realize it wasn’t one of my best ideas.
I drop the peeled carrot on the counter and reach for another, gripping it tightly to hide my trembling hand.
We work in silence, the only sound is the knife hitting a chopping board in a quick staccato. Until... “What did you do to Nix, Sinful?”
My heart freezes, and I drop both the carrot and the peeler. “Nothing.”
He laughs, “More bullshit, eh? I’ve never seen him like this. You must have done something pretty special or something pretty insane to fuck him up this badly.”
I can’t speak. My throat feels dry. “Can I have a glass of water, please?”
There’s the sound of running water and then glass on marble. I reach for it, but as I do, I hear it being pulled across the counter away from me.
“Please,” I croak.
“Go sit down, Sinful. Here’s your water.” He thrusts the glass into my hands. I understand that I’ve been dismissed and I’m glad. Mercier has an aura of malevolence about him. I navigate my way back to the sofa and take a sip of the water. I choke as the liquid burns my throat. It’s not water.
“What is this?” I manage, my eyes streaming.
“Stoli. Found it in a cupboard. Dacre won’t like me taking it, but I’ll refill the bottle with water before we go. No harm, no foul.”
“Stoli?” I choke out. It tastes like chemicals.
“Vodka. Jesus. I thought you, of all people, would know the taste of it. Don’t rich people pour this stuff on their cornflakes? Or are you more of a Dom Perignon kinda girl? I thought it would loosen you up a bit. I wanna see the party girl I see in the press.”
He starts to laugh although I don’t understand what’s so funny. Just being near him has my anxiety reaching a crescendo and once again, I feel like no matter what I say, I may as well be speaking a different language. We come from two completely different worlds.
I turn away and reach for the remote control. I need the familiarity of my characters. Anything to stem the visceral fear I feel being around Mercier.
Thankfully, he doesn’t say another word as I listen to my show. I hear him chopping and mixing and after a while, the most delicious scent fills the air. I’ve never smelled anything like it. It’s almost good enough to take away some of the fear I feel.
“Eat up!”
He hands me a plate and a fork. I feel his eyes on me as I dip the fork into the food. It’s delicious and like nothing I’ve ever eaten before. I want to ask what it is, but I know that will elicit more ridicule from Mercier, so I eat silently.
