"Answer me, damn it!"
A sob escaped. "I apologise, sir. I was merely curious about the books on the shelf, and they distracted me from my search for the dining room. I didn't mean to disobey. Please don't fire me. Ireallyneed this job. I'll do better. I promise!"
More tears streaked down my cheeks at that point, but I ignored them, letting them drop to the floor as I was still unable to look up and face him.
There was the slow build of a growl, the sound of it vibrating through me as I stood there, silently crying as I waited to find out what would happen next.
"Fuck," he bit out.
Heavy footsteps crossed the room. He stopped in front of me. A large, warm, rough hand lifted my chin, forcing my gaze up to meet those piercing blue eyes.
"You're not fired. But you will be paying for this once your initiation is complete."
My breath caught.
Initiation?
"Now go to your room. I'll see you at breakfast. I'll send someone to retrieve you in the morning so you don't get lost again."
I didn't know how I was supposed to find my room when I couldn't even find the damned dining room. But I wasn't fired. Papa was safe. For now.
I bolted past him and out the door, heat prickling the back of my neck.
Thankfully, it didn't take me too long to find the correct hallway and even less time to lock myself in my suite and press my back to the door, heart pounding.
CHAPTER THREE
THE MASTER
Ismelled her long before I heard her.
Humans always carried a certain odor of anxiety when they entered my home. But she...
Her scent was warm cream and fresh soap with just the faintest tang of pride.
And underneath all of that, I couldjustmake out the slight notes of fear.
But fear of what? The usual worry she might make a mistake at her new job, or possibly work for a monster?
Regardless, her scent made something primal in me sit up and take notice.
Beatrice had insisted she'd found the right girl this time. I didn't believe her. None of the previous applicants had lasted long enough to make it past the initiation, let alone the work that came after. Some had been loud, arrogant, and too jaded. While others had broken at the first hint of discipline, others tried to hide their disgust when they learned what the position really entailed.
But when this one had stepped through the front door, wide-eyed and clutching her bags like they were a lifeline...
Something in my chest had tightened.
I'd watched her from my study, looking at the security camera footage like the creep I was. And slowly... surely... fell deeply in lust with the girl Beatrice had bought me.
She looked so small. Soft. And if I was not mistaken from the set of her shoulders and the way she deferred to Beatrice, definitely a submissive. Which was good, yet at the same time decidedlyverybad because the girl was here to do a job.Notto be my bedmate.
I had dragged my gaze from the screen, but the memory of her lingered. Jolie Lafleur. The pretty flower.
Her name alone felt like a temptation.
And after my interaction with her in the study, I was even more obsessed.
She was everything she'd seemed from when I'd spied on her.
