Total pages in book: 62
Estimated words: 58747 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 294(@200wpm)___ 235(@250wpm)___ 196(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 58747 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 294(@200wpm)___ 235(@250wpm)___ 196(@300wpm)
“What do you mean?” I take her elbow and steer her to the nearest fireplace. I position her in front of the blaze, but it’s not enough. Taking her hand, I start to chafe it.
“When was the last time you left this place? Other than the night of the ball.”
“You forget.” I drop her right hand and reach for the left. “I waited for you at your mother’s grave.”
She flushes, bowing her head.
I gentle my tone, really considering her question. “But you're right. Before that, I’d been a year in this place without stepping out the front door. But what about you, Daphne? What's the tallest building in your life?” When she gives no answer, I supply it. “Belladonna. The aptly named. Beautiful woman. Poison.”
She sighs. “We help people.”
“Is that why your father moved the headquarters to the most expensive area in the city?” I catch her chin. “New Olympus worships power. Money. Greed.”
“I don’t deny it. Logan, I’m trying to change it. To hold to my ideals. You could help me.” For a moment her expression blazes with hope. Then she turns to the fire, shuttering her expression, angling her face away.
And I’ve never felt more like a monster.
“Daphne.”
She turns, her cheeks still pink from the chill. Gods, she’s so beautiful. She’s more than I deserve.
And I must be crazy because I open my mouth and hear myself saying, “If I let you go, you must promise to return.”
She doesn’t respond right away. She squints those perfect green eyes, studying me.
“You have to promise,” I say raggedly. I’m surprised my chest hasn’t cracked down the middle, that I’m not bleeding out in the middle of the frostbitten garden. Because that’s how it feels.
She leans into me and I almost stagger with relief. I need her close, always.
“I’m not the one who left and stayed away,” she reminds me. She lays her hand on my cheek again, looks me straight in the eye. “I promise.”
Twenty-Five
Daphne
The same kindly old cabbie picks me up in his taxi. If he’s curious why he keeps ferrying a young woman back and forth from the city to this castle, he holds his tongue.
Logan stands on the stoop, dark and forbidding in his greatcoat.
“I promise,” I mouth. I watch him until the road curves and the castle disappears.
“Oh thank gods,” Rachel gasps when I call her. “The board is breathing down my neck. They’ve been here since practically dawn, holed up in the executive conference room.” Plotting your removal I hear the end of the sentence she doesn’t speak.
“Tell them I’m on my way. I have to make a stop first.”
“Daphne,” my father greets me. He looks thinner than when I last saw him, but there’s a healthier flush to his cheeks. Maybe Rachel was wrong? Maybe he’s actually doing better?
“Dad,” I kiss his cheek and stand a little ways from the bed. “I need to ask you some things. You’re not going to like it but I need to hear the answers.”
“Is this about the patents? Because—”
“No. Not exactly.” I take a deep breath. Steady. “Why didn’t you tell me what happened to Logan?”
In a flash, my father grows so pale I jolt with alarm. “Dad?” I take his hand.
“You can’t trust him.” Eyes wide, he squeezes the life out of my hand. “Daphne, please, promise me you won’t ever go near him.”
Promise me.
“Dad, you’re scaring me. I can’t make that promise.”
“He’s a bad man.”
I sigh. I can’t really deny that. Good men don’t lock women in towers or torture them in dungeons. Even if that torture was delicious…
“I’m a grown woman. I can make my own decisions.” Coming here was a mistake. My father is too frail to answer for his past mistakes.
I lean forward and press a kiss to his liver-spotted brow. “Don’t worry about me. You just focus on getting better.”
“I won’t rest easy until I know you’re safe.”
“I’m safe. I’m here, aren’t I? And I’m headed to the office next. I’m going to meet with the board.”
“I know. Adam called. He’s meeting you there.”
I press my lips together. I can’t exactly tell my dad I’m going to stop the merger and figure out another way to save Belladonna without selling out to Archer Industries. Even if Adam did half the evil things Logan accused him of, I don’t trust him. Logan doesn’t trust my dad, either, but I’m sure there’s an explanation for my father’s actions.
I just can’t ask him about it until he gets better.
“Adam will fix everything.” Dad pats my hand. “You just listen to him. He’ll take care of my girl.”
“I don’t need anyone to take care of me.”
“Nonsense. I told Adam when he called he had my blessing. He’s going to make everything right.” Dad smiles.
I’m about to ask what he means when the new nurse walks in. “Dr. Laurel?”