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“You thought it.”
She frowns. “I’m your mother. I’m allowed to think terrible things when wealthy men hand my daughter money.”
“He didn’t hand it to me like that.” I look down. “It was just a bonus.”
Mom gazes out the window. “Be careful with the Vexleys, Ella.”
“I am.”
“No.” She looks back at me. “Be more careful than you think you need to be.”
I don’t answer.
She touches the blanket in her lap. “Rumors float down from that house,” she says. “They always have.”
“Rumors are usually wrong.”
“Usually.” Her voice is soft. “But not always completely.”
A chill moves down my spine. I think of Arthur. His office. The way he looked at me when he hired me, like he already knew which of my weaknesses would be easiest to exploit.
I think of Cain Vexley. I’ve never met him, but I’ve seen photos. He looks…cold. Cold and dangerous but hauntingly beautiful.
Arthur Vexley frightens me.
Cain Vexley chills me.
Samson Vexley seems like exactly what people say he is. A beast.
But Nathaniel…
No.
Not Nathaniel.
I’m not stupid. He’s a Vexley. Danger is in the bloodline.
But there’s something real in him too. Something honest beneath the exterior.
He admitted the gala was dishonest. He apologized when his tone changed. He helped me off the floor when Audrey slapped me. He looked angry when I asked if I would need to flirt with Mr. Stanley.
“I’ll be careful,” I say. “I have to go. Mr. Vexley arranged for a dress for me, and Hazel has to alter it before tonight.” I bend and kiss her cheek.
Her skin feels thinner than it did when I arrived.
At the door, I turn back.
Mom is still looking at the money.
12
NATHANIEL
I stand in the center of the ballroom with a clipboard in one hand and the kind of patience that should qualify me for sainthood.
Not actual sainthood, of course. The Vexleys are many things, but holy is not one of them.
Florists move between tables with sprays of white orchids and dark greenery. Caterers in black shirts carry trays of glassware toward the bar. One man adjusts the lighting to make old donors look less dead and young donors look richer than they are.
