by Melody Anne
“We have a dinner tonight.”
Dalton’s voice startled her as he joined her in the dining room.
“Oh. What sort?” she asked.
“It’s with business colleagues at their home,” he told her before walking back out of the room.
Elena’s heart sped up the slightest bit. It appeared as if she’d passed his tests. He was taking her out with people he knew. Nerves surged through her. She knew if she messed up this night, it would be the last time he would take her out.
Going to her room, Elena spent much more time than normal getting ready. He hadn’t told her how to dress, so she slipped on a simple black skirt and a light blue blouse before spending too much time on her hair, and redoing her makeup three times before she deemed herself worthy of Dalton’s business associates.
When she came down the stairs at a quarter to seven, he was waiting for her in the sitting room. She stood there as he looked her over from her two-inch heels to the top of her coifed hair. She couldn’t determine if he approved or not.
She wanted to ask if he did, but she kept her mouth closed.
Without a word, he led her to the car outside; Lincoln was driving them. Lincoln always drove when Dalton wanted to drink. At least Elena knew there would be alcohol to help soothe her nerves. She also knew she’d better be careful not to drink too much which could lead her to do something she would surely regret. A shudder wracked through her, thinking about the night in the bar.
They drove for nearly an hour before the vehicle slowed and began turning down residential streets with wide, manicured lawns similar to Dalton’s. It appeared his associates made as good a living as Dalton.
Of course that was a foolish thought. Why would he be in business with an unsuccessful person? He wouldn’t. Wealth attracted wealth, and the elite weren’t known for their hospitality.
“Remember, I don’t air my secrets, Elena,” Dalton told her as the car stopped and Lincoln stepped out, waiting for Dalton’s signal before opening the back door.
“I understand that,” she told him, slightly irritated that he felt he needed to say it.
“Good. I want you to enjoy your night. Feel free to visit with the guests and have a good time, but there’s no need for anyone to know how you got here.”
Damn, this man infuriated her. Was he telling her that she wasn’t to tell people she was there with him? If that was the case, why did he bother bringing her? The butterflies that had been fluttering in her stomach multiplied ten-fold.
“Of course.” She said nothing else, fearing she might do something that would earn her a one-way trip back to his house.
For a brief moment, Dalton seemed to soften as he looked in her eyes. She knew he could read her like an open book, but he didn’t seem irritated with her, a good sign.
Lifting his hand, his knuckles skimmed over her cheek before he seemed to realize what he was doing. He quickly pulled back and tapped on his window. Lincoln immediately opened the door and Dalton stepped out, holding out his hand to assist her.
When Elena looked up at the regal home before her, she was impressed. Three stories of rockwork lined the walls, with huge, spacious windows giving a view of the enormous front lawn and circular driveway, now filled with cars she didn’t even know the names of.
This was wealth at its finest, and she wondered how she was a part of this world. Dalton didn’t give her time to think about it. He took her hand and slipped it through his arm before walking to the door where a uniformed man let them in.
Dalton guided her through the three-story foyer. A giant chandelier hung from the ceiling, and beautiful pieces of antique furniture adorned the room. After passing through the foyer, Elena heard voices as Dalton led her down the hallway, through a set of double doors, and into a huge room filled with furniture and at least a dozen people.
A woman stepped from the crowd, a genuine smile on her face, and she walked over to them.
“Dalton, you’re running late as usual,” she said in a raspy voice that intrigued Elena. She leaned in so Dalton could kiss her cheek, and her bright green eyes turned to focus on Elena. “But all is forgiven since you’ve brought a guest.”
The woman looked over Elena, making her feel she’d been probed. Elena had a feeling this woman didn’t miss a whole heck of a lot. Who was she that she felt comfortable enough to be so intimate with Dalton? A surge of jealousy flooded through Elena that she needed to push back.
She didn’t have the right to feel jealousy. But just because she wasn’t allowed to feel something didn’t mean she could so easily push it away.
“Darcy, this is Elena, my guest for the evening,” Dalton said.
Elena wasn’t quite sure how she felt about his choice of words for her, but what else would he say? Companion? Sex slave? Intruder? Elena certainly wasn’t his girlfriend. He might own her, but she had zero rights when it came to making her own decisions.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Elena,” Darcy said. The smile seemed real, so Elena relaxed the slightest bit. Maybe she’d been wrong about the woman.
“Thank you for having me,” Elena told her, grateful to still have Dalton at her side.
That ended quickly. He took her arm from his and stepped back.
“Go and get a drink and wander. I’m going to talk with some people,” Dalton told her.
Then Darcy looped her arm through Dalton’s and the two of them walked away, leaving Elena standing there feeling like a fool. Why had she been excited to go out with him? She knew none of these people, had zero in common with them, and had never had idle chitchat with strangers.
For some reason, she’d assumed Dalton would be at her side for the evening, so she could simply observe, maybe answer easy questions if anyone chose to speak to her at all. But instead she was in a roomful of people who all knew each other, and she appeared to be the only stranger.
Taking Dalton’s advice, she crossed to the large bar where another uniformed man was serving drinks.
“What can I get for you, ma’am?” he asked.
“I’ll take a glass of Chardonnay,” she told him.
He poured it, and Elena decided to sit on one of the stools at the end of the bar. She would rather be near the help than move around the room speaking to strangers, or busting in on someone’s conversation. She was no more elevated than the bartender anyway in this high-society crowd.
She would someday change that, she thought. No matter what other goals in life she had, that was a sure thing. She wouldn’t always be the woman hiding in the corner. If only she could figure out how to change directions in her life.
Her eyes sought out Dalton, and she felt the slightest twinge of jealousy when Darcy leaned against him and whispered something in his ear. Dalton threw back his head and laughed, and that twinge turned into downright possessiveness.
Had Dalton brought her to this place to show her he could do what he wanted with whomever he wanted? Maybe. Elena tore her gaze away from him and began looking around the room, observing more carefully.
The ratio between men and women seemed to be even, with people paring off. Then she noticed a man whisper in a woman’s ear and the nod of her head before the two of them disappeared.
What was going on?
“You’re new here.”
The voice startled Elena as she turned and found a man taking a seat on the stool next to her.
“Yes. I came with Dalton,” she told him.
He nodded as his eyes sought out Dalton. Elena couldn’t help but look at him too. Now his arm was wrapped around Darcy’s waist in what could only be described as intimate.
“Does he realize that?” the man next to her asked.
Elena wanted to make a snarky comeback, but she refrained as she drained her glass of wine and looked at the bartender, who quickly refilled her glass. She would not go crazy, but a slight
buzz seemed to be exactly what she needed at the moment.
“I don’t know anyone here. These are Dalton’s friends,” she replied as politely as she could.
The man ordered a bourbon on the rocks before giving his attention back to Elena.
“Are you new to the scene?” he asked, confusing her.
“I don’t know what you mean,” she replied.
Elena wasn’t able to take her eyes off Dalton as Darcy laughed at something the couple in front of them said before her hand reached up Dalton’s back and her fingernails rubbed along his neck.
The man had zero qualms of flashing his intimacy with this other woman in front of not only Elena, but the entire room, even after he’d invited her to be his guest. Was this punishment for something she didn’t realize she’d done? Or was this just how he was?
Elena wasn’t sure.
“Hmm. You are very new to this,” the man said. “I’m Arnold.”
“I’m Elena. It’s nice to meet you, Arnold,” she told him. Although she didn’t really want to meet anyone in the room. As a matter of fact, she wanted nothing more than to leave.
She chatted with Arnold for several more minutes, her eyes still glued to Dalton and Darcy flirting and enjoying themselves. Without realizing it, Elena found herself with a nice buzz, her irritation level spiking.
Without saying another word to Arnold, she got up and found herself moving closer to Dalton. She didn’t have time to think that she might be making a mistake. She was irritated, and more than that, she was hurt.
“I wanted to speak with you, Dalton,” she boldly said.
His eyes narrowed as he glanced down at her. Darcy appeared shocked as she remained wrapped in his arm. That was Elena’s place to be, not this woman’s. Even if Darcy seemed to be nice.
“I’m in the middle of something right now,” Dalton said with clear displeasure.
“It’s important,” Elena insisted.
This would have been a great time to walk away, but she couldn’t stop herself. She knew, beyond a doubt, she was overstepping her bounds. She also knew that Dalton most likely wouldn’t invite her out again after this.
But she didn’t care. Elena really didn’t want to go anywhere with him if she was just going to be left idly by to watch as he flirted with other women. She’d rather be in her bedroom where she could at least get lost in a book.
“I’ll be back. I’m sorry, Darcy,” Dalton told the woman before lifting her hand and running his lips across her knuckles.
“This way.”
Dalton gripped Elena’s elbow and led her from the room, not causing the least bit of a stir. No one even turned in their direction. That should have made Elena the tiniest bit frightened, but it didn’t.
He tugged her down the hallway and opened a door into a large room that had a table with chairs around it and closed blinds. Dalton pushed her over to the table and then boxed her in, his hands pressed down on the cherry wood while he gave her a censorious look.
“What do you think you’re doing?” he demanded.
“You brought me here and haven’t spoken a word to me. I don’t want to be alone anymore,” she fired back.
Her words seemed to shock him, but he didn’t back off, and his surprise ended quickly.
“I can do what I want with whomever I please. I don’t have to tell you what I’m doing, and I don’t have to explain myself to you. This party was a test, and you’ve failed miserably,” he snapped.
“If all you want me to do is stand in a corner and watch while you get ready to screw another woman, then yes, I’ve failed, and I don’t want to go out with you,” she said, feeling on the verge of crying.
“Oh, Elena, you have so much to learn,” he told her, his irritation evaporating as he leaned back, his eyes alight. The look was far scarier than his words.
“Maybe I don’t want to learn anymore,” she said.
He didn’t say anything, just lifted his phone and typed something in it before putting it back away.
“Now you will learn what happens when you truly displease me,” he said.
He took her arm again and led her from the room. Elena knew, as he pulled her from the house, she might have pushed her tantrum too far.
She was thrust into the car, and it pulled away without Dalton in it; she felt tears streaking down her cheeks. She had defied him after she’d promised to bend to his will. And as she realized he might be sending her away, her emotions toppled over, and she fought the surge of sorrow that wanted to overtake her.
She couldn’t do this on her own. There was no way she could trudge through the flurry of emotions within her without Dalton’s help. And she might have just ended that.
Long after she was taken to her room and locked inside, Elena wept as she curled into a ball in the center of her bed. Too much — it was all too much.
Chapter Seventeen
A week went by with no word from Dalton. Elena sat in her room, her meals brought to her and nothing else. The maid came in got her dirty clothes and returned with clean ones. She had no books, no music, nothing.
It was torture.
When she’d first come to this place, she would have loved alone time — for everyone to leave her alone. Now, she wasn’t used to being on her own for long. She needed people — she needed Dalton.
But she’d displeased him.
After another week passed, she thought she would surely go out of her mind. The seclusion he was torturing her with was far worse than anything else he could possibly do. She started eating minimally. She just didn’t have the desire to do anything, even something as simple as putting food into her mouth.
When the maid came in at the end of two weeks and told her she could go out of her room, Elena’s heart raced. Finally!
But then she was told she couldn’t go to Dalton’s room; he didn’t wish to see her. Fine. She didn’t care. Or so she thought.
Two weeks turned into a month, and Elena wondered what she was still doing at Dalton’s home. He obviously was done with her. But she had nowhere to go. And the thought of leaving hurt her more than she would ever admit.
The worse part was how much she missed the man. Things had actually started to get better. He’d allowed her to sleep in his bed, and she missed that, missed him so much more than she ever though possible.
Sitting out in the garden, she slowly peeled the petals from a daisy as she sat back in a chair, her book set aside, her eyes stinging with the need to shed tears. What was she going to do?
“Good afternoon, Elena.”
The greeting startled her so much she dropped the flower she’d been butchering as she turned to see Lincoln approaching, an envelope in his hand, his expression serious. A shiver ran down her back as he came and sat down across from her.
It had been so long since anyone had addressed her that it took her a moment to even respond.
“Hi, Lincoln,” she finally said, her voice slightly scratchy. When was the last time she’d even spoken? She couldn’t remember.
“How are you feeling today?”
She blankly looked at him as she turned his words over in her mind. How was she feeling? She really couldn’t answer his question honestly because she had no idea. She felt as if she were drifting through a dark tunnel with no light in sight, but that wasn’t an acceptable answer. She chose to say nothing, just sat there and looked at him.
“I guess that answers my question,” he said with an understanding look that nearly had her breaking down before him.
Somehow she managed to hold it together as she waited to see his purpose in seeking her out. There was a reason, and she had a feeling it wasn’t a good one.
“As you know, Dalton has been unhappy with you,” Lincoln began. Elena couldn’t help but cringe at his words.
“Yes, I know,” she said, her voice sounding so sma
ll.
“You look pretty miserable yourself,” he pointed out.
“I am,” she admitted.
“You have a choice to make,” he told her before holding out the envelope to her. She gingerly took it, but she didn’t open it.
The large manila envelope was heavier than she’d thought it would be. She twisted it in her fingers and waited for Lincoln to go on. He didn’t make her wait long.
“If you’re unhappy, you can do something about it. I know none of this has been easy for you, but this has become your home. In the envelope, though, you will find an ID, a bus ticket to Chicago, and money for starting over. There’s an apartment there already set up. You can choose to leave,” he told her.
Elena’s heart sunk at his words. Dalton was kicking her out. Why Elena hadn’t thought he would do that, she didn’t know. She’d thought about leaving, but with nowhere to go, that idea had fizzled.
Now, in her hands, she had the means to do exactly that, and all she felt was panic at the thought. Maybe if she gave herself some time to think about it, she would feel better.
“Your other option is to stay. But if you do, Dalton has been very specific about what he wants,” Lincoln told her.
He didn’t elaborate, didn’t go into detail about what Dalton wanted from her, but Elena already knew. She was surprised she was even getting another chance, to tell the truth.
“What exactly does he want from me?” she asked, even though she knew. Maybe she just needed to hear the words again. Honestly she didn’t know.
Elena couldn’t interpret the look in Lincoln’s eyes. She wondered what he thought about her. That was new. She hadn’t cared to think what anyone else in the household had thought about her in a long time, not since she’d been so broken.
“There’s a note in the envelope. But basically, he wants the fighting to stop. He said there will be no more chances.” Lincoln cringed just the slightest bit as he said these words.
Elena didn’t even blink. It had been what she was expecting.
Lincoln stood up and took a few steps before he turned toward her, his eyes flashing as if he was dealing with an internal battle. Finally, he sighed and took a step toward her and then stopped again.