Page 10

James

A pounding in my head woke me. Slowly sitting up, I rubbed my eyesand took in the state of the drawing room where I’d fallen asleep. Shards of glass covered the polished wooden floor, and streaks of whiskey stained the wall.

I had no recollection of throwing the glass, but the evidence wasundeniable.

Next to me, on the couch, were Willow’s journals. Some were open,the words she’d written displayed in her elegant handwriting. Others were closed, and strewn across the couch.

I rubbed my throbbing head, my gaze landing on the empty bottle ofwhiskey I’d plowed through. As I stared at it, I tried to recall the events of the day before.

I remembered being furious at discovering a vase was missing fromthe drawing room - a room I rarely used - confirming Willow’s accountthatmy staff had stolen from me.

NotthatI thought my mouse had been lying.

The vase wasn’t the most expensive antique I owned, but it was afamily heirloom which made it fucking priceless.

I had phoned Jackson, telling him to find out what he couldabout the two men known as Butch and Mack, and to see if he could locate where the fuckers had taken the vase so I could get it back.

Jackson got straight onto it, but with nothing to do but wait for hisresults, and for reasons I’d never know, I’d picked up one of Willow’s journals and flicked through it. Before I knew it, hours had passed, and I had become absorbed in her writing, fascinated with the words on the page.

Willow may not have spoken much, but her writing did. With everypage I turned, every journal I read through, I was giving an insight into her mind and her emotions.

She poured her heart and soul into every character she created, regardless of whether it was the heroine in a fantasy world who had to find the courage to defeat a dragon, or if it was through the eyes of a dog, walking the streets to find its forever home.

Journal after journal was filled with different stories, and Iremembered picking up one and finding a story about a girl who was being abused by her uncle after she’d lost her parents in a car crash.

It was atthatpointthatI hit the bottle, something about the story waspainfully familiar. I read through it in hopes it would give me a clue as to what happened to Willow before she arrived at Peartree House.

I wracked my brain, trying to remember how the story ended, but the whiskey must havekicked in atthatpoint because what happened next was a complete blank, aside from an image of Willow in her bedroom with my hand wrapped around her throat.

I tried to recollect if I’d gone to her room in the middle of the night and fucked her, but if I had, I didn’t remember.

My gaze landed on the closed journal next to me, and I reached out topick it up, intent on reminding myself what had happened in the rest of her story. But as my hand hovered over it, I paused, an alarm bell ringing, telling methatWillow was messing with my head.

She was getting under my skin where she had no right to be, and thisweird obsession to find out what had happened to her before she arrived at Peartree House was getting uncontrollable.

I had bigger fish to fry, namely two staff members who had theaudacity to steal from me, along with a looming deadline to get my wife pregnant so my cunt of a cousin didn’t take everything from right under my nose.

Standing abruptly, I stretched my arms above my head, my spinecracking from where I’d slept in an awkward position, and made a vow to myselfthatI wasn’t going to think about Willow’s past anymore.

“Well?”I snapped, storming into my office where Jackson waswaiting for me, and taking the chair behind my desk.

I’d been in the foulest of moods for the last two days which I blamedon recent developments with my staff believing they could help themselves to my property rather than what wasreallyat the heart of my mood.

My wife.

Shereallywas a mouse, scurrying through my veins, and any timeI tried to ignore her, she burrowed deeper into me.

Butch and Mack had been dealt with, they were no longer in myemploy. I didn’t kill the fuckers, they didn’t deserve to die for a crime of theft, but it was safe to say their lives were ruined for what they’d done.

Butch was paralyzed from the shoulders down and would spend therest of his life in misery. As for Mack, he was in a coma,thatif he woke up from, he’d be feeding through a straw for the rest of his life.

I hoped lessons had been learned.

Of course, Butch and Mack weren’t the only ones to bear the brunt ofmy anger. Willow was an outlet for the rage growing inside me with every passing day, butthatonly added to my mood. The more I fucked her, the more Icraved being inside her. There was something addictive about her cunt, and the way she barely moved or uttered a word when I pounded into her, no matter how hard or rough I was.

Still, I kept my promise to not delve any further into her past, sothatwas something.

“When are you going to introduce me properly to your wife?”Jacksonsaid, amusement in his tone.

I scowled at him.“I’m not.”

“You can’t keep her locked up forever,”he said, slumping back in hischair.

Why he was so keen to see her again was beyond me. He’d mether when he collected her from Peartree House, what more did he want?

“Wanna bet?”I replied, raising my brow.

Truthfully, I had thought about letting Willow out of her room, at leastso she could join me for our evening meal together. But I didn’t want to risk being around her more than I needed to be.I also liked knowing where she was at all times in case the urge to fuck her arose. If she was roaming around the house or gardens, I didn’t want to waste my time trying to find her.

Besides, I’d permitted Edith to bring Willow new journals so she could occupy herself with writing stories.Stories I had no intention of reading.

Or so I told myself.

Jackson chuckled, shaking his head.“Shereallyis a lucky girl.”

“Can we get on with business? Your incessant talk about my wife isbeginning to piss me off,”I growled, my temper fraying.

“Keep your panties on. I’ve got the information you wanted,”hereplied, pulling out an envelope and handing it to me.“I’ve located your vase, it’s on the other side of the city with an antiques dealer who has a little habit of dealing in stolen goods.”

I tore open the envelope and scanned the contents. The picture andthe profile Jackson had put together of the dealer told me everything I needed to know. He wouldn’t cause me any issues in returning my vase to me.

“Uncle Jaaaaaames!”a shrill voice echoed through the housebefore I could tell JacksonthatI would pay the dealer a visit later on.

“Fuck, I forgot Billie was home from school,”I said, dropping theenvelope and its contents into my drawer and standing from my desk.“Not a word about Willow.”

A devilish smile spread on Jackson’s mouth as Billie, my ten-year-old niece, burst into my office, bolting across the room to launch herselfinto my arms as she squealed happily. I burrowed my face in her hair, inhaling a deep breath and letting her scent wash over me.

Billie was the only person who could bring calm in my chaos.

“You got taller,”I said, releasing her from my embrace so her feetfound the floor.

“Don’t I know it,”Kiera, my sister, said, coming into my office.“Therate she’s growing out of her clothes is going to leave me bankrupt.”

Her eyes dropped to Jackson, her happy smile fading, only to bereplaced with a scowl. Something which Jackson noted.

“Good to see you too, Kiki,”he chortled, standing, and buttoning uphis jacket.

“Don’t call methat,”Kiera snapped, glaring at him.

Jackson’s grin grew bigger. Fucker enjoyed winding my sister up.“I’ll catch you later, James.”

Kiera’s scowl remained on her face until the office door closedbehind Jackson. There was no love lost between the two, when they were kids, they were friends, but something changed, and the two of them could barely stay in the same room as each other.

“How are you doing, squirt?”I said, my hands still clutching Billie’ssmall arms as if she would disappear.“Have you been good at school?”

“Yep! I got selected for the hockey team,”she beamed.

“You did? Congratulations, squirt. I’m proud of you.”

And I was. Damn proud of the kid. Two years ago, we didn’t thinkshe’d see her next birthday, let alone be well enough to play sports.

She was diagnosed with leukemia at the age of five. Despitetreatment, the illness nearly took her life, a life Kiera had fought so hard to give in the first place, no thanks to our father.

The kid had more fight in her than anyone guessed though, andshe weathered the worst of the treatment. Eighteen months ago, she was accepted into a clinical trial thanks to a member of Legion who happened to be a world-class oncologist specializing in treating kids.

Since she’d started the treatment, Billie had gone from strength tostrength, and we were waiting for her next set of test results in a few weeks which we hoped would show she was finally in remission.

“Thanks, Uncle James. If we make it to the finals, I’ll get to go toCanada. Will you come and watch?”

I rubbed the top of her head, my black soul melting like it always didaround Billie.“Wouldn’t miss it for the world, kiddo.”

“Mom’s going to buy me a-”She paused, her gaze flicking to myhand.“Uncle James! Are you wearing a wedding ring?”

Fuck.

She grabbed my hand and tugged it under her nose, her little eyessquinting as she examined the gold band on my fingerthatI’d forgotten all about.

Meeting Kiera’s gaze across my office, she stared back at me withher brows pulled together in question.

“It is a wedding ring!”Billie announced.“You got married?”

I couldn’t lie to her, not with the way hope shone brightly in her eyes. Besides, they’d find out one day.“Yeah,squirt. I did.”

“Oh my gosh!”Billie squealed at the same time Kiera shot to her feetand practically flew across the room, copying Billie’s action in grabbing my hand and examining my finger.

When she met my eyes again, hurt flashed over her face, no doubtbecause I hadn’t told her, let alone invited her to the wedding.

Kiera and I were close, but she didn’t always understand my world.She’d been ostracized from the Carter family when, at fifteen, she announced she was pregnant, and refused to tell anyone who the father was.

Our father demanded she get rid of the baby, telling herthatshe’dbrought shame on the family. When she refused, he kicked her out and barred my mom and me from having anything more to do with Kiera.

But I couldn’tjustabandon my baby sister. Growing up, she’d beenone of my best friends. For years, I quietly kept in contact with her, paying for her to live, and supporting her as much as I could when Billie came along, all without my father knowing.

It was only when Billie got ill and needed Legion’s help,thathediscovered she’d been in my life the whole time. To my disgust, when the board came to vote on whether to approve the request for Dr. Holland to help Billie, my father had voted against it.

Luckily, the other three members of the board approved, and hewas overruled, otherwise, there was a good chance Billie wouldn’t be standing where she was rightthen.

“It was all a bit of a whirlwind,”I shrugged, hoping to appease Kiera.

“But why wasn’t I invited?”Billie asked, giving me sad puppy dogeyesthathit me square in the chest.“I wanted to be a bridesmaid. I’ll never get to be a bridesmaid now.”

I kissed the top of her head, guilt gripping me.“You don’t knowthat,squirt. You don’t have to be family to be a bridesmaid to someone. Besides, it was a small wedding. In fact, we didn’t have any guests.”

“Can I meet her?”Billie replied, her eyes lighting up in excitement.“Isshe here now?”

“No,”I snapped, earning a glare from Kiera, and a quizzical look fromBillie.“I mean, no, she’s not here. She’s gone out shopping for the day.”

I hated lying to them, but I could hardly tell them my reluctantteenage bride was locked away upstairs. I also couldn’t resist either of them asking Willow questions. Neither of them knew about Peartree House, and I planned on keeping itthatway.

“Well, we can meet her laterthen. Tonight. We’ll go for dinner,”Kierasaid, her tone firm and leaving no room for me to decline the invitation.

“Oh, can we, Uncle James? Please say yes! I want to meet my newaunt,”Billie cried, grabbing my hand and squeezing it.

I grimaced. I couldn’t tell her no. I could never tell her no.“Fine.Dinner, tonight.”

Kiera smirked.“Perfect, I’ll make reservations.”I managed to hidethe snarl forming on my lips at the sickly-sweet tone of her voice. Kiera was one of the few people who knew me well, and she knew something wasn’t adding up.“Come on, sweetie. Let’s go get you some new shoes, and maybe a new dress for tonight. You want to look your best for your uncle’s new wife, right?”

After waving them off from the front door, I cursed before bolting upto Willow’s room.

I needed to warn her to be on her best behavior tonight or herpunishment would be worse than she could have ever imagined.

My fists curled and uncurled several times as I tried to calm thestorm swirling inside me. I didn’t want to turn up to dinner in a mood and ruin it for Billie.

Willow likely sensed the rage radiating off me. As soon as we’dgotten in the car to go to dinner, she’d moved to the other side, putting as much distance between us as possible.

But I couldn’t stop my fury, and honestly? I didn’t understand it. Icouldn’t grasp why the sight of Willow walking down the stairs, looking fucking incredible, angered me so much.

Maybe because my cock had been as hard as steel when I tookher in. Or maybe it was the factthatwhen she reached me, and the perfume she wore hit my nostrils, I wanted to cancel my evening with my niece so I could spend the night buried inside Willow’s cunt instead.

If it hadn’t been for the factthatI’djustput the phone down to Billie,who was insanely excited to be meeting her new aunt, I would have dragged Willow back up the stairs and fucked her to within an inch of her life.

I’d asked Edith to make Willow presentable for dinner. It turned outshe’d done too good of a job transforming my mouse into a woman.

Her usual dank, mousey-brown hair was piled elegantly on top of herhead, held in place with a glittering clasp in the shape of a butterfly.Edith had applied a small amount of makeup to Willow’s face, makingher look older than her eighteen years.

But the dress.

Fuck, the black dress.

It showed off every single one of Willow’s curves. Curves she’ddeveloped in the short time she’d been my wife and was eating three healthy meals a day.

The dress stopped above her knees, revealing her bare legs. Forthe first time since Willow had come into my life, an image of her legs wrapped around my head while I feasted on her delicious pussy sprang to mind. Something I could not let happen, because I knew, if I got a taste of her cunt, everything would change.

Tension filled the back of the car as Marco, my driver, drove usto the restaurant Kiera had picked out. Perhaps I should have insisted we traveled separately,thenI wouldn’t have been sitting there with an aching cock.

“Do you remember the rules?”I growled, breaking the silence butrefusing to look at Willow.

“Yes, Mr. Carter,”she replied softly.

“Tell me.”

“I will not mention Peartree House or the program. If I’m asked howwe met, I’m to make something believable up,”she said robotically, reciting the rules I’d snarled at her earlier with my hand wrapped around her throat.“If I am asked about the wedding, I’m to say we were married quickly because my papa was dying, and he wanted to make sure I would be taken care of. I’m to convince your sister and niecethatwe are a happily married couple.”

I grunted and turned to look at her. Fuck, with her lips painted bloodred, all I could think about was them wrapped around my cock.“Don’t fuck this up, Mouse.”

“I won’t, Mr. Carter.”

My jaw clenched, and once again my fists curled into a ball with thenext wordsthatcame out of my mouth.“Don’t call me Mr. Carter or Sir. Tonight, and whenever we spend time with Kiera and Billie, you will call me James.”

“Yes, Sir,”she replied, wincing when she realized her mistake.

Her error was enough to snap the tenuous thread holding my tempertogether. I launched myself out of the seat, grabbing her by the throat and pinning her against the door.

“Do I need to remind you what the punishment will be if you fuckthis up, Willow?”I snarled in her face.

“No…James. I’m sorry,”she said, her words garbled, and her collar pressing into her delicate skin.

“Tell me. Tell me what will happen, Mouse. I want to make sure youunderstand the consequences if you fuck this up.”

Her bottom lip wobbled as I released her throat fractionally, enoughso she could speak.“You’ll tie me to the bed and whip me until I can’t scream any longer, andthenyou’ll fuck my ass raw sothatevery time I move, I’ll remember what I did wrong.”

I released her fully and moved back to my side of the car, satisfiedthatshe knew what would happen if she misbehaved, and confident she would be on her best behavior.

But Christ, did I want her to fuck up.