AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I don’t play with people. Everyone who deals with me knows exactly what they’re in for. If someone hopes for more, that’s on them. I’m always clear.”
The gate slid open before I had to even speak to the guard. Of course it did, though. Every person who worked at this estate knew me, knew my car, and probably expected us.
Yet the opening gate caused that tension inside of me to crank even tighter.Just breathe through it.I scolded myself for being so foolish. I never cared what people thought about me, refused to let anyone else dictate my life, had long since given up such worries.
That was what I said, at least. Why then was it that when my parents looked at me with those looks full of disappointment, it always caused this splintering pain inside me?
I drove the car forward, parking it in the empty spot near the front where I’d always parked. My father had yelled at me time and time again about how he didn’t like having flashy cars like this one out front, and hell, maybe that was why I ignored him and did as I pleased.
Kenz got out of the car as I did, not waiting for me to open her door. I’d noticed that she waited for Hayden to do it, but maybe that was because he was the sort to lecture her about security.
There’s no safer place than here, though.
Still, something that felt suspiciously like jealousy didn’t care for it at all.
She looked up at the house, but she didn’t seem nearly as impressed as most of the girls I brought were.Then again, she grew up in places like this too, didn’t she?
She sure looked at home here. She’d put on the dress I’d bought for her without complaint, and it had fit her just the way I knew it would. Her dark hair and pale skin looked fantastic against the maroon dress, and her silver jewelry shone in the lights from the house.
She was beyond lovely. It was one of the things that surprised me about her again and again. She fit everywhere.
She’d looked comfortable and amazing at the fancy restaurant I’d taken her to, appeared to fit in here at the estate, yet she looked just as good when dressed down at a café or the school cafeteria.
Somehow, she could go anywhere, dress in any way, and it never dimmed her in the least. Perhaps that was just part of her personality and charm.
I held my arm out slightly, and Kenz slid hers through the open space in a practiced motion that showed she’d done this before.
She walked in the heels without issue, even resting against me when she stepped on the slightly uneven cobblestone of the walkway to the front door.
We didn’t have to knock—they were expecting us, after all. The moment we stepped onto the front porch, the large front door opened like magic.
Not magic, just Taylor.
“Young Master,” he said and bowed slightly, his voice as familiar as my parents’. In many ways, he was the parent they’d never been, the one to watch me, to go to those boarding schools with me. In fact, it was only in the last five years that we’d spent so little time together. “Welcome home.”
“This isn’t home,” I reminded him.
His lips quirked up on one side as though amused by the same exchange we often had. “This will always be your home. And you must be Miss Fox?” He held his hand out, and when Kenz offered her own, he lifted her hand and placed a kiss on her knuckles. The gesture was old-school, and the flush on her cheeks said even she hadn’t expected it. “Welcome. It is our pleasure to make your acquaintance and have you here.”
I knocked Taylor’s hand away and pulled Kenz tighter against my side, annoyance eating at me over him touching her. Which was strange, seeing as he’d introduced himself to all the other women in the same way. Why did it bother me so much this time?
Because Kenz is the first girl I’ve liked…
That was far too embarrassing, though, so I pushed the thought down before the observant bastard could see it.
However, when his smile widened, it suggested he knew. “Right this way, please. The master and mistress are already in the dining room.” He waited for us to enter, then closed the door behind us.
It took me back, seeing this entryway. I still recalled when I was ten and tried to open the door myself, the way the butler had all but had a heart attack over me doing it for myself, how I’d gotten lectured about proper behavior for ayoung master.
Taylor spoke as we walked, giving small tidbits of information about the architecture and history of the house. He’d always enjoyed doing that, showing off the things as though they somehow made him look better.
And it never failed to annoy me.
Kenz paused, and it took Taylor a moment before he noticed, turning back to see what had delayed us.
He smiled and gestured at the large painting on the wall. “That was the young master’s favorite. He saw it in an exhibit when he was five. He sat in the gallery until they closed, just staring at it. I had to force him to leave then, to bring him home, crying the whole way.”
The image before us was smaller than I remembered it being, but I had been much smaller when we’d gotten it. It was all bright colors that bordered on neon and filled all the way to the edges. It had little negative space, something my father had always complained about, that it was far too busy. I’d loved it, though, the image of the northern lights, even the snow and trees done in fantastic hues that didn’t appear natural at all.
