Lily and the Beast 2 Read online

  But in the end, I was too afraid of pissing Aidan off again. Then again, I couldn’t complain too much about his punishment the night before. Maybe it was worth a little risk? I edged closer to the desk, my hand hovering over the mouse, when I heard a door close down the hall. Snatching my hand away guiltily, I jumped three feet away from the desk, fumbling with the blindfold around my neck, snapping it into place just as the door opened.

  “What are you still doing in here?” I heard the frown in his voice, and I struggled not to cower from it.

  “I… wasn’t sure if I should leave or not.”

  Some of the bite left his tone as he strode past me, settling into the desk chair with a soft whisper of leather. “You can go ahead and go, I think you’ve learned your lesson.”

  “Yes, Aidan.” I took two steps in the direction of the door before I hesitated.

  “You’ve got a clear shot to the door, you can make it there fine,” he said, probably thinking I was afraid of crashing into furniture.

  “I was just wondering…” I licked my lips, turning slowly to face him again. “I thought maybe you’d like some company?”

  “You want to sit there and listen to me work?” He sounded amused, and I felt my cheeks grow warmer.

  “Well, when you put it that way, it doesn’t sound all that thrilling. But I thought maybe…”

  “You thought maybe I could blow off my day and entertain you?”

  “No...”

  Aidan let out a tired sigh. “I have a lot of work to do, Lily.” He rose and put his hands on my shoulders, turning me to the door and gently propelling me forward. “Go on and get some breakfast, you must be hungry.”

  “Okay.” He didn’t sound mad anymore. In fact, he almost sounded like he wished he didn’t have work to do. “Will I see you later?”

  “No.” My heart sank, but then he leaned forward, his breath fluttering over my ear. “But I’ll be thinking about you.”

  “You will?”

  “Yes, and I’ll send for you when I get back.”

  “Back? You’re leaving?” I gasped, too shocked to keep the dismay out of my voice. It seemed to please him, and he stroked my back lightly.

  “Yes, for a few days.”

  For some reason I’d thought he never left the house anymore, that was the way the tabloids always spun it. He’d mentioned that he went places once, but it’d seemed like more of a boast. “Where are you going?”

  Just like that, his good mood was gone and Aidan pulled his hand off of my back. “None of your business,” he snapped, and I frowned at the sudden change. Honestly, he was the most exasperating man to keep up with.

  “I was just wondering.”

  He let out a long breath and his voice softened. “I’m not accustomed to answering to anyone.”

  “Yeah well, I’m not accustomed to half the things you make me do,” I murmured, and he wrapped an arm around my waist, pulling me close.

  “I’ll send for you when I get back. So behave, I wouldn’t want to have to punish you again.”

  “Oh, I don’t know, it didn’t go so bad last night,” I teased, pleased to hear him laugh softly into my hair.

  “Goodbye, Lily,” he said, giving my ass a playful swat.

  “Bye. Have a safe trip,” I smiled, sneaking in a last touch of his magnificent chest. Aidan kissed my forehead and then left me alone in the hallway.

  ~~~

  I spent a lazy day, mostly reading and writing about the crazy, wonderful, messed up night before in my journal, and I took a walk in the garden after lunch. I didn’t know too much about his business, only that he was worth a fortune. My father had done some managing of his personal finances, which was how he’d been able to embezzle from him, but Aidan had been savvy enough to catch on to it on his own. I’d seen his name in the news before, usually in connection with his private foundation, donating to various charitable causes, which took up some of his time. But I had no real idea what Aidan did all day.

  So far I hadn’t seen anyone else come to the house and he didn’t have a secretary or an admin. Was he going on a business trip? Maybe. Was it a ploy not to seem too desperate to see me after last night? That sounded better to my ego, so I went with that one while I plodded through my day.

  The night was lonely. I hadn’t realized how much I’d come to look forward to his company. Not just for the sex, but for someone to talk to. I’d gotten used to staying up late too, and after the house settled down for the night, I went wandering for a midnight snack. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much in the way of comfort food in the kitchen, and I wasn’t really all that hungry, so I wandered from room to room, exploring in a way I hadn’t done since I’d first arrived.

  I ended up in the forbidden west wing, pausing every few steps to make sure it was really deserted, and Aidan wasn’t hiding out in his bedroom trying to avoid me. Most of the rooms were vacant, the furniture draped in cloths that made it seem creepy as fuck as I wandered around in the dark. Only one room was locked, the ornate double doors making me think I’d found his bedroom. If I’d thought I stood the least bit of a chance at success, I might’ve tried picking the lock, but the idea that he might be in there and catch me scared the crap out of me. Instead, I tiptoed down the hall, back to his office, shutting the door behind me.

  My eyes adjusted quickly to the gloom, the moonlight streaming in through the windows providing more than enough light for me to avoid the furniture. His computer was still on, the screensaver changing between nature landscapes, everything from majestic redwood forests to snow covered mountains. Beautiful, but impersonal. Somehow, I didn’t think he’d ever gone to those places.

  Settling into his chair, I caught a waft of leather and that scent that was unique to him, and I closed my eyes, inhaling deeply. Less than one day, and I missed him already. Did he miss me too? He probably wasn’t even thinking about me. He was probably fast asleep. No… it wasn’t all that late, and he was used to staying up pretty late too. I wished I’d asked him to give me my phone back and call me while he was gone, but he probably wasn’t into that sort of thing. Pity, because I had a feeling he would fucking own phone sex.

  My hand closed over the mouse and the landscapes went away, the prompt for a password appearing in the center of the screen. “Fuck…” I whispered. So much for the internet. Darlene probably would’ve been able to bypass it no problem, my sister was a whiz with computers, but the closest I came to hacking was watching that old movie with a teenage Angelina Jolie on Netflix.

  The login was already there, I figured I could take a stab at his password, and he’d never know it. Only what the hell was it? I didn’t know his date of birth or the city he was born in or his mother’s maiden name. Thinking he might be a simple kind of guy, I typed in – PASSWORD – but that wasn’t it. It wasn’t GOD or DOM either. I tried a bunch of random words, and came up with nothing, until I got an idea, and typed in PEACHES. Instantly, the box disappeared, and his desktop came into view. Score!

  His computer background was Titian’s nude, Venus of Urbino, and I spent a few seconds gazing at the rich work of art. Opening a browser window, I logged into my email account, frowning over how few actual emails I’d received since I last checked. There were a few from Michael at first, but then nothing beyond a few SPAM emails and a notice from the university that I’d better send in my intention to defer if I expected to ever return.

  I drafted a quick email, asking about Dad’s health, cc’ing both of my sisters to double my chances that at least one of them might answer. Then I wrote a note to my father himself, letting him know I was thinking about him and hoping he was well. I stalked a few people on Facebook, but didn’t dare like anything or talk to anyone, since I didn’t want Aidan to find out I’d been online, in case he was keeping tabs on me. Not that I thought he was seriously putting that much thought into keeping me offline, but better to be safe than sorry.

  I felt a brief stab of guilt for abusing his trust, using his computer like that, but
I wasn’t causing any harm. He was the one with the unreasonable rules and the need for secrecy. I wouldn’t have minded showing him the emails I sent my sister or my dad. Besides, I hadn’t contacted Michael, knowing that would probably bother him.

  And then I started to wonder. Why the need for all the secrecy? What difference did it make if I contacted the outside world? Why the need for the blindfolds? And what was that stuff Mrs. Fisk mentioned about an accident?

  I started searching on his name, scanning through the tabloid articles, looking for any kind of dirt on Aidan. Links turned up vague mentions of his foundation or the fact that he’d bought a villa in the south of France. The farther back I looked, the more I started wondering why there were never any pictures of him. Surely someone had to have snapped a shot of him in public somewhere.

  I searched under Aidan Pierce academy, figuring he had to have gone to a private school, and sure enough, I got a grainy picture of him on the soccer field with about ten other guys, cheering next to a trophy. He was tall even then, the tallest guy on the team, with broad shoulders and short blonde hair. It was hard to make out his features with the victorious cheer on his face, but he didn’t look like anything to be ashamed of.

  Aidan Pierce graduation, led to another old picture, this time of him in a maroon graduation cap and gown, standing at a podium to deliver his valedictory speech. Holy fucking Jesus… he was beautiful. Tall and tanned, his blonde hair flopping over bright blue eyes, he smiled like he had the world at his feet. This was the man who made me live in darkness? Why the hell wouldn’t he want me to see him?

  I scanned the article, but there were few details, other than the fact that his speech urged his class to “seize the day and take what the world had to offer and make it their own”. It sounded like typical rich boy stuff, figuring the world offered him everything, but for a guy like Aidan Pierce, that was the truth.

  No matter what other links I checked, that was the only picture I could find, and I sat there staring at it for a long time, trying to reconcile that image with the man I was losing more than my inhibitions to. He seemed so full of laughter and light. What had happened to turn him into the brooding control freak, who holed himself up in his house like a hermit?

  In a sudden burst of insight, I typed in Aidan Pierce+Felice+accident, and I got a hit. The article was more than ten years old, and there wasn’t much to it.

  Wealthy socialite, Felice Hallowell was killed in a high-speed car accident late Friday night. A preliminary investigation revealed that Hallowell was driving her Jaguar XK2 convertible, traveling southbound on Old Canyon Road, when it veered off the roadway, and crashed head on into an abandoned barn. Fiancé, Aidan Pierce heroically pulled her from the vehicle moments before it burst into flames, but Hallowell was pronounced dead at the scene. Pierce sustained minor injuries in the incident and was taken to the hospital for treatment and later released. The investigation is ongoing, as detectives work to determine what caused the driver to lose control of the vehicle.

  The grainy picture showed a mangled car in the wreckage of the old barn, half consumed with fire, and little else. So that’s what Mrs. Fisk meant when she said they’d lost Felice. And Aidan had been right there, pulling her from the wreckage and everything, and she’d died in his arms. How devastating! Was that why he’d closed himself off to normal relationships and love?

  I typed in Felice Hallowell+obituary, and got the link to her obituary.

  East coast heiress, Felice Hallowell died in a fiery car crash, late last Friday night on a lonely stretch of road, not five miles from her wealthy fiancé, Aidan Pierce’s ancestral home. Emergency crews were dispatched when the “huge fireball in the sky” was noticed by a neighbor, from Miss Hallowell’s crash into an abandoned barn, and tried to resuscitate her, but she was pronounced dead at the scene.

  “I’m so excited, I’m planning my honeymoon! Barbados here we come!” the twenty year old socialite was quoted as saying earlier that same day.

  The coroner’s office will do an autopsy to determine what killed Hallowell, but it was a violent, tragic end for a young woman who lived so much of her life helping others. The beautiful heiress was very active in her family’s Save the Kids charity, and had traveled all over the globe, championing the needs of the disadvantaged.

  Hallowell’s father was in London on business when he got the devastating news and immediately flew home to be with his grief-stricken family.

  “The Hallowell family asks for privacy during this very difficult time,” a spokesman for the Hallowell empire said.

  Friends and neighbors on the upper east side expressed shock at the sudden death of a young woman who seemingly had it all.

  Family friend, Lorraine Collins, called Felice “a sweet, big-hearted girl.”

  A close friend of Pierce’s said, “It's such a great loss. He loved that girl beyond all else. If he could’ve died in her place, I’m sure he would’ve.” Pierce’s bravery at the scene of the accident was noted, as he pulled Felice from the car seconds before it exploded, but was unable to revive her.

  Hallowell is survived by her loving parents, Ada and Marshall, sister Diana, and her fiancé Aidan Pierce, who could not be reached for comment.

  I stared at the picture of the beautiful heiress, with dark blonde hair, artfully styled in shining waves to frame her exquisite, heart shaped face. She was so gorgeous, she seemed unreal, like those models you see in magazines that you’re sure have to be photoshopped. And maybe the picture had been altered, but I didn’t think so. Besides being stunningly beautiful, there was a kindness around her eyes that made me believe the pretty words. This woman had truly had it all – beauty, wealth, a good spirit, and Aidan. He’d been head over heels in love with her and they were happily planning their honeymoon. So what had happened to send her careening out into the night?

  I couldn’t imagine the devastation of having my true love die in my arms like that, and my heart broke for him, even though it’d been more than ten years since she’d died. It was obvious a part of him had died that night as well. I sat there, lost in thought, my gaze coming back to that picture of his graduation again. More than anything, I wanted to take him into my arms and hold him, tell him that it was alright to move on and live his life. He didn’t have to keep punishing himself for the past. But I couldn’t say a thing or he’d know that I knew about the accident.

  We still had months and months to go on the contract though. Maybe if I was patient and kind, he’d open up to me about it on his own? Or maybe I’d never really know him the way I wanted to and I’d go back to my life, a little more experienced, but alone. The thought brought the sting of tears to my eyes, and I logged off the computer, doing my best to make sure I left the room exactly the way I’d found it. One thing I knew for sure, Aidan Pierce was much more complicated than I’d imagined.

  ~3~

  Desperate to keep busy, I started everyone in the house to spring cleaning, even though the trees were still covered in frost each morning. I’m pretty sure the staff hated me for it, but I needed something to fill my days, and besides, I pitched in too, not afraid of a little elbow grease.

  On the third evening, I went down for dinner, only to find Mrs. Fisk standing there all alone, the table bare. My eyes darted to the clock on the mantle. “I didn’t miss dinner, did I?”

  “The master has given instructions that you’re not to be served dinner tonight.”

  My eyebrows rose. “He’s back?”

  “Yes, he arrived a few hours ago.”

  He’d been back for a few hours and this was the first I was hearing of it? Yep, the servants all hated me. Or had he instructed them not to mention it until now? I couldn’t help but be a bit disappointed that Aidan hadn’t wanted to see me right away. Then again, maybe he had something special planned? Was that why I wasn’t supposed to eat dinner? Or had he noticed I’d been on his computer?

  “So he’s sending me to bed without my supper?” The idea was a bit silly. What was
to stop me from sneaking down to the kitchen later for a midnight snack?

  “No, he instructed you to make yourself ready for him. He said to come to his office, he’ll be seeing to your needs tonight.” She gave a delicate cough. “All of them.”

  Swallowing past the wave of embarrassment at having those instructions delivered by the prim housekeeper, I nodded and retreated to my room to make myself ready, as ordered.

  I wore a silky negligee of virginal white, my nipples showing through the lace. My hair hung long and shining down my back, no curl or tease to it, and the only make-up I wore was a sheer pink lip gloss. In the drawer of blindfolds, I found a lacy white one to match, and my earrings were simple pearl studs. Without waiting for an escort, I ventured to the west wing and pulled on the blindfold before rapping on his office door.

  I felt the wind against my face as he pulled the door open with sudden force, and his sharp gasp made my insides clench with anticipation. Was it a good gasp, or a bad gasp? His touch at my elbow gave no indication as he led me into the room without a word, taking me past the office to deposit me on the end of the hard, low bench in his playroom. And then his touch was gone, and my ears strained to tell what he was doing. The sound of the door closing reached me, and then the pouring of liquid.

  I scented chocolate, and my lips parted, knowing it must be close by to smell so strongly. “Are you hungry, Lily?” Aidan purred in his intimate voice, the one I’d started to think of as the one he used only for me – despite the fact that he probably used it on all women.