youth and replaced it with the obvious truth that the family wasn’t as prim and proper as most would expect. Our surface businesses only a disguise for the crimes that ran just beneath.
I almost laughed to think what the little bitch’s reaction would be when she left the safety of the upper floors to discover the changes that had occurred in her absence.
With that thought, I forced myself out of bed and into the shower, my palms pressing against the tile as I lowered my head and let the hot water roll down me. I wondered how many days I could continue being Lisbeth’s shadow before my patience wore out.
Two full days and I still had no clue what I planned to do with her.
Obviously, this couldn’t go on much longer. Hiding in my own house was a lot more challenging than I’d thought. I had businesses to run and a workout regimen that I’d avoided since her return. Volatile energy was building up to a breaking point inside me that not even Isabelle’s attention had been able to dampen.
I needed to make a decision before I lost my patience entirely and tossed Lisbeth out.
Finishing my shower, I dried off and pulled on a pair of jeans and a plain black T-shirt. There were no meetings today. I had nowhere to be, so there was no point in dressing in anything nicer. It made me laugh to think that at one point in my life I’d wished for the fancy clothes and the social status that matched, and now I couldn’t stand being confined in restrictive collars and pressed pants. I hated just about everything that came with this life.
All I wanted was to walk into the pit and fight, but it wouldn’t be soon enough to release that tension. Our regular weekly schedule had been suspended for maintenance following a pipe burst that flooded the arena and made it a mud bath. Although the damage had been repaired, we’d lost time acclimating the fighters to the environment and training them.
I left my room and wound my way to the servant halls en route to the kitchen. Wanting to eat breakfast before Lisbeth woke up, I rounded a corner to take the back stairs down when I heard muffled crying just outside the halls leading to the east wing.
Curious, I turned to glance down and saw the same maid from a few days before crouched against a wall, her shoulders shaking and legs bent against her chest. She’d buried her face into her knees and wrapped her arms around her shins while sobbing. Holly, I think her name was. A muscle ticked in my jaw wondering why Edward had hired this girl. The timid ones never lasted long, especially when up against Gretchen’s demands. He knew that. But that didn’t mean I could leave her to flounder and cry by herself.
Stepping up to her, I crouched in front of her to reach out a hand. “Are you okay?”
Her head snapped up, blond hair flying around her face, pure panic tightening her features as tears slipped down her cheeks.
“Mr. Rose.”
Struggling as if to stand up, the girl was terrified that I’d found her.
“I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t be crying while I’m at work, it’s just-“
Her voice trailed off, and she collapsed against the wall again, unsure how to behave now that I was here.
“Just what?”
If Gretchen didn’t lay off this poor girl, she’d likely have a heart attack from the stress of the job.
“Nothing,” she tried to say as if to throw me off, but I needed to know what had upset her.
“Did you get in trouble for something?”
I knew I was the last person she would want to speak with about any problems. My presence was intimidating. Not just my size, or my reputation, but also the title I’d been given as head of the family.
Most of the staff didn’t know I had a soft spot for them and often came to their defense behind the scenes when either Edward or Gretchen demanded one be let go.
“I broke a vase,” she admitted, shame painting her face. “I didn’t mean to.”
Attempting a smile as if that alone could appease her, I weakly joked, “You do realize we have hundreds of them, right? Just clean it up and replace it. Gretchen will never know.”
She shook her head.
“It’s not Gretchen.”
Releasing a shaky breath, Holly confessed, “I was in Miss Rose’s room. She was sleeping, but I thought I could clean a little without