Page 148

Don’t open the box yet. At 8 pm exactly, I want you to be in my room with the package. You can open it then and follow the directions in the enclosed envelope. Don’t be late. Bring your phone. Break any of these rules at your peril. I’ll be watching.
* * *
Yours,
- A
* * *
I reread the note at least three times and then look at the clock on the wall. It’s only two pm. I run my fingertips over the black velvet as the butterflies flip around in my belly. I put his note in my pocket and take the box down the hall to his room and put it on his bed. Then I spend about fifteen minutes pacing and staring at the box as though it might open and reveal itself to me without me technically breaking any of Aidan’s rules.
I glance at the cart with the hard liquor and wonder if I should take up day drinking.
A knock at the door startles me.
“Yes?”
Cora pops her head in. “Claude made some cold pasta and fruit salad for lunch if you’re ready to eat.”
I had a late breakfast this morning so Claude is right on time.
“Thank you, Cora.” That sounds amazing and is just what I need to take my mind off this.
After lunch I take the copy of Pride and Prejudice Aidan loaned me and go sit in the Jane Austen garden to read. I’m still so confused by the severed head on the Medusa statue that looks so much like Aidan.
“Mrs. Stryker?” Claude says, pulling me out of the book.
I look up, realizing hours have passed. The sun is low in the sky, though it’s still light enough to read. I’m sitting in a free-standing round cushioned swing with a canopy over the top for shade.
“I thought you might enjoy having your burger and fries outside,” he says, placing a tray with the food and a glass of lemon water on it. I move the book out of the way. It’s too important to Aidan to allow it to get damaged.
“Marry me, Claude.”
His face goes pink, and he chuckles. “I think Mr. Stryker might have something to say about that.”
I thank him and he leaves me with my dinner. After I eat, I use the moist towelette Claude brought with my meal, then I finish the chapter I was on.
Three chapters later I nearly jump out of my skin. I got so into the book that I somehow forgot about the mystery package sitting on Aidan’s bed—and his instructions.
I take the book and rush back to the house, practically flying up the stairs, and grab my phone out of my room. I make it to Aidan’s room at seven fifty-nine. A moment later I receive a text.
You like to live on the edge, don’t you?
I don’t reply to the text. Instead I look around the room trying to detect where the cameras are. When did he put them in? Were they always here? Did he put them in just before the wedding, planning to lure me here for… what? Obviously something voyeuristic.
I take the note out of my pocket and re-read it, then I open the package, careful not to rip the wrapping paper.
Inside the box are two additional black boxes, one quite small, like it could contain some type of jewelry, and the second a bit larger. A red envelope sits on top of the boxes. I open it.
* * *
Open the smallest box. You’ll know what to do with it. Then I want you to take your time and slowly strip for me. Then get in the bed and wait for my permission to open the second box. When you do, you’ll know what to do with that, too.
* * *
Yours,
- A