ran off as if that would save her, as if there was some place she could hide.
There wasn’t.
“Mr. Rose, we weren’t expecting to see you here today. Is there a problem?”
Edward was a smarmy son of a bitch, but he ran this house well. Overseeing the hiring and firing of every employee for both the mansion and the pit, he wasn’t one to overlook mistakes. But while he often was overbearing when it came to those he viewed as beneath him, he was a suck up when it came to me.
Finding him in his office, his thin body hunched over his desk, white hair perfectly in place, his bony hands scratching notes over the pages of a leather bound ledger, I leaned a shoulder against the doorframe and made a mistake I knew would cost me.
“I want Lisbeth reassigned to the family suites.”
Edward dropped his pen on top of the ledger and relaxed back into his seat.
“Has something happened?”
“Does something need to happen for me to make changes?”
His white eyebrows tugged together, the skin wrinkling between his beady brown eyes.
“No, but I recall you wanting Lisbeth assigned to areas that would keep her out of sight.”
Bit late for that.
“So you chose the gym?”
A splutter of sound erupted from his throat.
“I apologize. Gretchen should have known-“
“It’s fine,” I growled, effectively cutting off whatever complaint he would make about the woman who oversaw the cleaning staff. “Family suites is where I want her.”
“Starting when?”
“Now.”
I turned to leave, but he shouted at my back.
“Lisbeth has already worked for the full day, Mr. Rose.”
I stopped, my fingers curling into my palms as I turned back to him.
“And that’s a problem, why?”
“Your rules have always been that we can only work each employee for eight hours.”
True for the rest of the staff, but Lisbeth wasn’t technically on payroll.
“She starts tonight.”
“But, Mr. Rose-“
Edward was dragging his claws along my last nerve.
“Are you going to continue arguing with me, or were you planning on saying Yes, Mr. Rose. Anything you say, Mr. Rose?”
Mouth slamming shut, those beady eyes widened before he rolled his shoulders and reached to straighten the cuffs of his jacket.
“Yes, Mr. Rose. Anything you say.”
“Thank you.”
The deed was done, and with every step I took away from his office, I knew I should turn back and change my mind, should tell him to keep the bitch where I couldn’t see her, where I couldn’t stare at her pouty mouth and imagine forcing her lips apart with my teeth, my tongue, my dick.
Yet, I kept storming off knowing damn well I was heading straight for disaster because Lisbeth was the only woman in the world I would break my rules for.
Not because I wanted her so much.
Only because I hated her.
In many ways, I was the bomb waiting to explode and Lisbeth was the detonator, but even that wasn’t enough to stop me.
Word must have traveled fast while I’d stormed upstairs. Not even to my suite of rooms yet, Franklin was already chasing me down the hall, his voice a hiss of anger as he questioned my decision.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
I spun on him and met his stare.
“I’m going to my room. What does it look like I’m doing?”
Years ago, Franklin had the ability to intimidate me. He stood at six foot two, his body a line of lean muscle, his grey eyes sharp and discerning. But that was then. And while I still respected him as the man who’d practically raised me, as the person who’d set me on the path to run this family, I wouldn’t cower to him. Not like I had as a child.
There was always a power struggle between us, in moments like this more than anything, but I didn’t miss the second he stepped back and understood that, when it came to Lisbeth, I wouldn’t give him the right to an opinion.
“We should talk,” he said simply, knowing better than to argue or question my decision to keep her close.
Edward must have picked up the phone to call Franklin the second I stepped foot out of his office.
“About?”
Stare holding mine, he didn’t back down to the tone of my voice. Not Franklin. Even if he couldn’t overpower me, he’d never crawl.
“About why Lisbeth is here.”
Did it matter? Regardless of the circumstances that landed her in the mansion, she was here now, and I had every intention of toying with such a frightened little mouse.
Still, I was interested in his concern. This was the second time today he’d