AllFreeNovel
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Two words. That’s what I get—two freaking words.
“And if I’m not?”
Van never takes his eyes off the road. “Then I suggest you change clothes at the next stop. The trunk can be blistering in the heat of summer.”
The sad part is I’m not even shocked by his answer. I knew he would say something shitty when I baited him with the question, but the thing is, Van Gogh is a whole lot of talk and minimal action.
“I’m hungry,” I say instead.
“And I am annoyed. Should we cry about it?”
I hate him.
“I hope you know that I do have to eat and sleep. You can’t just lock me away in some room for the next six years.”
One dark eyebrow of his arches. “Can’t I? Humans can live for thirty days without food.”
His lip twitches, and I know he’s fighting back a smile. “I may not have completely been paying attention, but I remember promising until death do us part—particularly your death.”
I can’t. Engaging in conversation will only increase my blood pressure. So, instead of making that ridiculous smile of his grow more prominent, I turn back to the window and mash my lips together for the rest of the ride.
“Hopefully, you’re dead, but I’ve never been a lucky man, so get out before I make you.”
It wasn’t the most romantic way to be awakened from an asshole-induced nap.
“Oh, wow,” I say as soon as I focus on the sprawling grounds with extravagant water features and professional landscaping. “This is a freaking castle!” A castle! “What billionaire did you steal this from?”
“Welcome to Eden,” Van says, eyeing the stone mansion that looks like something from the eighteenth century, “your home for the next six years.”
“It sure beats the apartment.” I chuckle. “It’s just that insignificant fact of living here with you that’s disappointing.”
Van gives me a long look. “Disappointment is for the weak.”
He gets out of the car—likely because he knows my hands get a little twitchy when he speaks—rounds the front, stops at my door, and pulls it open like the gentleman he is not.
“Wow,” I say. “I would be impressed if all guards didn’t escort the prisoners to their jail cells.”
There may have been a moment I wished it could have been real in that courthouse. It wasn’t. Van doesn’t love me. The past that we shared has long been corrupted with lies and misconceptions. Wanting to bask in a moment where someone promises to love and honor you is every girl’s dream, and I am no exception.
My mother once said love was the cure for everything. At the time, I thought she meant love had to be given to heal, but as I’ve grown older, I’ve learned that to receive love, you need to know how to give it. I fought with that concept for many years after Van. I helped and accepted him, thinking it would cure my emptiness if we left together.
But that never happened. It wasn’t until a few years ago that I realized my mother meant that I needed to start with myself to give love. If I couldn’t love myself, how would I truly love others?
“Keep up,” Van barks, pulling me out of my thoughts. “This is not a place to be caught alone.”
Abruptly, I pull to a halt and double over with fits of laughter. “Okay,” I wheeze out between breaths. “I will keep a lookout for the murderous gardener hiding behind the bushes.”
Van shrugs. It’s not the reaction I was expecting. “There are worse things than me around here.”
What? We’re standing in front of a literal castle. What could possibly be so scary?
“Wait!” I jog to catch up, stopping in front of the giant oak doors. “Are you saying there are ghosts in there?”
“Not ghosts,” he corrects. “Killers.”
Van
In my line of work, it pays to be patient.
