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She smiles. “You never know, you may come to love him.”
My mouth hangs open at her words. “Never. I would never love him.”
I could never love a monster.
It’sthree ten when Erin, Tennyson and I pull up to the grand estate that will soon be my home. Gabriel wanted us to show up early at three on the dot to be here when the party starts. So this ismyearly. That’s actually pretty good considering the slight meltdown that took place when I told Tennyson he needed to wear his ‘nice’ clothes. After a ten minute compromise consisting of agreeing to his blackBatmancape, life returned to normal. Pick your battles.
As I pull around the circular drive, a regal man in a black suit stands at the edge of the blacktop, ready to take my car.
“Is there always a valet on hand?” Erin asks, gawking at the behemoth house.
“Probably,” I answer.
When I stop, he moves around the car and opens my door. “Good afternoon, Miss.” He holds his hand out, waiting to help me out of my car. It’s all very pompous, but I do it.
“Oh, ok. Hi.” He smiles, and I take his hand, getting out of the car and then opening the back door. “Just let me get my son.” I lean in and unbuckle Tenny from his car seat. “I want you on your best behavior, ok?”
He nods. “Best behavior.”
I clutch Tennyson’s hand in mine and we head toward the front entrance as the valet drives my car off to the unknown. I can’t believe I’ll be living here. It’s all socold. The breeze flutters Tenny’s cape and I almost laugh at the way he reminds me of a young Bruce Wayne marching up to his soon-to-be empire.
“I’mBatman,” he says to the very tall man who opens the door.
“Yes, you are,” he says back with a smile. “And I’m Kurt, Gabriel’s assistant.”
I like him.
He smiles at us as we step into the mansion. “Mr. Prince is waiting for you in the study.”
“Ooh, the study,” Erin says, her eyes meeting mine with a hint of laughter gleaming in them.
“Thank you, Kurt.” My heels clack against the marble-tiled floor.
“This place is like a museum,” Erin says. “Where do you even get floors like this?”
“It’s Diamond Emperador marble flooring. Joseph Prince imported it directly from Spain,” Kurt says as he shows us to the study.
“Imported, huh?” Erin says.
He nods and tells us about the ivory banister on the staircase that Mr. Prince had imported from Egypt. As he leads us to the back of the mansion, he points out various things that must have cost a mini fortune to import here to the States just to put in his home. It’s all so out of my realm.
“No touching,” I whisper to Tennyson when he reaches for a vase on a pedestal.
“Where are we?” he asks.
“We’re here for a party.” I can’t bring myself to tell him yet, this is where we’ll be living soon.
“I love parties. Will there be a clown?”
I smile at his love of clowns. After this, I can hire him a hundred clowns for his birthday party. “It isn’t that type of party, sweetheart.”
We all enter the study, where Gabriel sits behind the desk, looking ominous, dressed in a black suit, with a stark white shirt underneath the jacket. His hair is gelled to such perfection, even a male hair model would be jealous of it.
I give a quick gaze down at my simple black dress and take a deep breath to say hello, but before I can get a word out, Gabriel glances up and smiles.
“Hey,” he says a little breathy, like he’s actually happy to see me. The slight smile is suddenly replaced with his cold mask he usually wears as he grits out, “I said three pm.”
“Try being on time with a four-year-old.”
