AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The driver eased to a stop at the front entrance and promptly opened my door. When a chill cut through my jacket and shirt and seared my bones, I knew the meeting was going to go really well. I rounded the car to Penny’s side, holding out my hand for her. I expected her to slap it out of the way, but she took it and didn’t let go as we ascended the steps to the front door. On the helicopter, her hand fit mine like that was the way it was supposed to be, her fingers twitching with excitement. There was no tremble of excitement rippling through her fingers now. It was back to business as I fed her to the wolves.
I punched the doorbell and in ten seconds or less, the door was pulled open. Branson, our family butler whose smile was as biting as a frown, stood at attention.
He cut his eyes at me, his teeth gleaming cordially. “Mr. Wade! I don’t believe madam is expecting you.”
Even though I wasn’t looking at her, I felt Penny’s eyebrows shoot to her hairline. My mother was a stickler for all things prim and proper, forcing the staff to indulge her fantasy. It was like some BBC show gone terribly wrong.
“We were in the neighborhood,” I lied.
Penny grunted under her breath, telling me she thought my reply was just as ridiculous as the ‘madam’.
I held back my smile, squeezing her hands as I performed the introductions. “Branson, this is my girlfriend, Penny Robertson.”
Branson shook her hand with more enthusiasm than I’d seen in the two plus decades that he’d been with my family. “Penny? After the-”
“Beatles song?” she finished. From the muscle that twitched near her temple, I had a feeling she got that all the time, but the warm smile she offered him when we stepped through the door never wavered. “Penny is short for Penelope. I wish I had an exciting story to share, but my mom just liked the name.”
I smirked, like I should have, but my throat clenched. That was the kind of thing I’d know if we had done this-
No more ‘right’, remember?
I dropped the panic that clutched my gut, opening my mouth to ask if she needed a tour, but Branson beat me to the punch, practically putting his arm around her shoulders to steer her away from big, bad Xander.
“I would be honored to give you a tour while madam prepares for guests, Miss Robertson.”
Of course she saw us coming. I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a trigger that engaged whenever I was on the property, weighing the occupants and the sound going nuclear when a third, unapproved person was detected. It was dramatic, and over the top—which was right up my mother’s alley.
“I’d love a tour! And please, call me Penny.” Penny brought our hands to her lips and pressed a kiss on my skin before letting go. Slowly. Like she couldn't stand it.
I couldn't either.
She followed Branson down the front corridor, her gentle brown locks swishing around her waist in time with her hips. “The house is beautiful. How long have you worked for the Wades?”
He scrambled to the grand staircase, the stained glass skylight casting a rainbow colored halo around his bald head.
“Twenty five amazing years,” he beamed with pride.
“And how many people work here?”
“Two full time maids, a chef and his assistant, a groundskeeper...and madam.” He winked at me like we’d just shared some inside joke, but he didn't realize that I was thinking that my mother, as toxically sweet as she could be, never worked a day since she married my father. “Madam has a wing all to herself for her pursuits. She runs several charitable organizations.”
My eyes nearly rolled out of their sockets.
“This place is our home and we take pride in it,” Branson ignored me. “How many people get the chance to live in a castle?”
“Wow,” Penny's voice was filled with fascination and I stood at her side, her excitement contagious. For a split second, I forgot that I'd lived in this house and knew every square inch; every antique nook and cranny.
Branson gestured around us. “This is my favorite area of the house.” His tiny brown eyes followed his pointer finger to the ceiling. “Madam had a vision. She grew up in a Victorian, and wanted to incorporate her nostalgia in the design of her home.”
As we all gazed up at the stained glass ceiling, I remembered the first and only time I'd seen my mother's childhood home. My father bought it for her as a anniversary gift and even though there were no inhabitants, the house was cleaned weekly, everything frozen in time. You'd think all that love and care meant there were beautiful memories within those walls, but she stayed in the car while dad gave Marie and I a quick tour.
Our current tour was on the move, Branson leading us through the countless sitting rooms on the first floor only. We said hello to Lauren, one of the maids that used to slip me Hershey's kisses when my mother wasn't looking, and were ushered into the elevator. As Branson gushed about how the elevator had custom hardwood flown in from abroad and the artist who crafted all the carvings and fixtures, I stole a look at Penny, expecting her expression to be one of utter boredom. Her whole face was lit up as she followed every word. She felt me watching her and when she met my gaze, hers darkened.
Message received—she was still pissed at me.
I took it in stride. My comment in the car was a dick move. It was my last ditch effort to regain control because when she was near, it was easy to forget how we met and why we were together. And thinking through all that just left me with a combination of guilt and resentment. Guilt because she deserved better than to be anyone's fake anything...and if I was a better man, a stronger man, I'd walk away for that reason alone. The resentment had everything to do with the man that was waiting for us when we stepped out of the elevator. Standing proudly in the foyer, his portrait glared down at us, I looked up at Robert Kirkman Wade. I knew there were similarities between the two of us. We had the same olive colored eyes that burned holes into anyone that dared to challenge us. His sharp nose was my nose, and the set of our jaws were identical. We both had dark hair to rival our pale green eyes, though his had a dash of white that made him look distinguished. These days the few strands left were white as snow. Even in the massive bed he resided in, his body a distant memory from the athletic one that boomed from the frame, he still had the ability to shrink anyone to nothing with one look. And just to prove how far his reach was, he could erase all the hard work I'd done for the company with a flick of his wrist.
Penny followed Branson to the library and I lingered at the picture, my head filling with all the things I didn't say to the old man. I wanted to flip him the bird. Tell him I wouldn't be manipulated. Tell him that I wouldn't play his game.
