Page 41 of Stroke of Luck

Rolling my eyes, I drop my hand since clearly she lacks true manners. “Whatever. Do you know what he wants?”

“It is not my place to ask questions, only to do my duty in serving this house and its masters.”

Clearly this woman is pissed that I’m in the house and spending time with the guys. Is every woman I meet in this house going to hate me?

“Look, it seems we might have gotten off on the wrong foot…”

Now it’s the woman’s turn to let out a sigh, seeing that I’m not going to give up. “My name is Molly.”

“Molly, that suits you,” I chirp, refusing to let her bad attitude mess with my day. “It’s clear to me that you don’t like me here spending time with the guys, but I’m not going anywhere, so is there a way that we might be able to deal with each other?”

This causes Molly to scowl, making her pretty face contort into something rather unattractive. “The masters here never keep their toys for long. You might have gotten them to turn their backs on Bethany, but trust me when I say that it won’t happen to me.”

Her words have my brows soaring into my hairline. “Really, you’re that confident? All right, let’s see how this goes. Come on, let’s go see the master.”

Grabbing her wrist, I pull her behind me as I drag her down to Othello’s office. Without hesitation, I shove the hidden door open, but when I try to drag her in behind me, Molly starts to fight me.

“What’s wrong, Molly? Oh, are you not allowed in here? Goodness me, would that be something I’m allowed to do that you’re not?” I bait, having to bite back a grin at her stricken face.

“Baby girl, what are you up to?” Othello asks, tilting his head to see who I’m talking to. “Molly, is there something you needed?”

“Yes, Molly, did you need something from your lord and master?”

Now Othello is scowling at me, not liking how I’m talking to Molly. This seems to give her the boost of confidence she needs to take that one step into the office.

“There is nothing I need, Master Lastra. I was just bringing that woman you requested,” she says in a haughty tone like she’s won this round.

Sadly for her, what she’s just done is tell Othello that she will never respect me as a member of this household.

“Molly, did you just call my fiancée that woman?” Othello growls.

The fact that she’s fucked up dawns on her rather quickly. “No. No, I would never be that disrespectful, sir. Madam Leto is an honored guest in this house as the woman you are going to marry.”

Othello stands and walks over to Molly in a slow, controlled manner, but I can feel the anger rolling off of him. “I think it’s time we had a household staff meeting, don’t you?” Brushing past her, he grabs my chin and forces me to look up at him. “What did she say that made you so upset?”

At this moment, I have the power to crush her like a bug if I want to, but that will never be the person I choose to be. “There was just a simple misunderstanding about my request to have her call me by my name. She said she couldn’t unless you told her it was okay.”

He gives me a knowing look but lets it slide as he turns to Molly. “Skyler is queen of this house, and if she requests something like that, then you listen and obey. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes, Master Lastra,” Molly answers, her head bowed in submission.

“Good. Now gather all the staff in the kitchen. I want to speak to all of them so we don’t have to deal with this kind of thing again,” Othello orders, and Molly scurries off.

“Care to tell me what really happened?” Othello presses once we are alone.

I would have shaken my head no, but he is still holding my chin in his hand. “Nope, I don’t want to risk you killing her or something equally overdramatic.”

“Skyler, people are going to need to learn that you are the queen to my king and your word is law. The way these people understand things is through violence and domination,” Othello explains.

Reaching up, I cup his face, hoping he’ll hear me when I say this. “That will never be how I do things, Othello. I am a hippie at heart, and I want to show everyone love and kindness… until they give me a reason not to. I understand this is how you live your life, but it won’t be how I live mine. Also, in fairness, you haven’t told the staff anything—they only know what they’ve seen in the past. This meeting will clear things up, and if they choose to mess with me after they know where I stand, that’s on them, and I will handle it or get one of you guys involved if I can’t resolve it.”

He leans into my hand as I speak, closing his eyes and just letting himself absorb my affection as well as my words. Then he turns his head and kisses the palm of my hand, meeting my gaze. “This is why you will make the perfect queen, baby girl. Just know that if it comes to the point where you involve one of us, it will not end well for them.”

“Noted,” I say, giving him a reassuring smile. My stomach chooses that moment to voice its hunger. “Come on, let’s get this meeting over with and find something to eat. Clearly I’ve worked up an appetite.”

When we enter the kitchen, the staff are all standing in a neat row, but I can tell from the tension that fills the room they are nervous. It is surprising to see how many people actually work in the house since I haven’t seen them around. Granted, I haven’t been allowed to wander the house that much since I got here.

“Skyler, this is our main staff. We have a few part-time people on the weekends and to cover time off. Tony is our chef and has been with us for fifteen years. You’ve already met Molly, the housekeeper, and Tiffany and Sarah both work alongside her in taking care of household matters. Mat is our handyman, a jack of all trades in charge of making sure everything in this house is running as it should. The only one who isn’t here is David, our driver.”