“Don’t think I’ve gone soft,” he says, “Grandmother disciplined you because of me.”
Carefully, Waylen fills the spoon with soup and raises it to Leilani’s mouth. She turns her face away in mute protest.
He grabs her chin, “I’ll punish you if you don’t obey me.”
Waylen stares at her and his eyes seem to change. Suddenly he grabs her face and kisses her. Leilani squirms, but she can’t get away; he’d held her tightly and she’s still weak from the fever.
Damn it! Kissing her turns him on like nothing else. He wants to have s.e.x with her of course, but he wants so much more than that.
Leilani feels his grasp on her tighten and she wonders if it’s possible for him to break her arms. She can barely breathe, and she’s almost choking with the intensity of his kiss. He pulls away just as she thinks she might faint. Both panting heavily.
Leilani glares at Waylen. “Why does he always kiss me like he’s trying to kill me?” she thinks, “It’s terrifying.”
He drags his rough fingers across her rosy lips.
His voice is deep and hoarse, “I’ll resume your punishment if you don’t behave.”
Leilani curls her fingers into a fist. She wants to hit him, but she has no strength. She knows exactly what Waylen means by punishment.
“Finish the soup and I’ll give you one privilege,” he bribes.
Leilani’s sickly face brightens with wonder. Has Waylen suddenly lost his mind? Or has he gained a conscience? It seems too good to be true—he must be toying with her.
“Anything but a divorce,” Waylen adds.
“What if I want to go out whenever I want to?”
“No problem,” Waylen agrees.
“I hope you don’t regret it.”
“I never go back on my word,” he promises.
He raises the spoon to her mouth and she allows him to feed her. She leans against the headboard, and Waylen feeds her spoonful after spoonful. In the three years since they got married, they have never been so peaceful together.
Finally, she gently pushes the bowl away, “I’m tired. I want to go to sleep now, please.”
Waylen can’t believe how agreeable she’s being. He curbs the urge to smile and nods at her. He calls the servants to take the food away and leaves her to sleep.
Waylen sits in his study and reflects on Leilani. When Robert Tinder enters the room he’s surprised to see Waylen smiling.
“Sir, Miss Summer wants to see you,” Robert announces.
“Send her in.”
Robert steps aside and Leonie enters. She stares guiltily at her shoes like a child who has done something wrong. Her pitiful expression seems designed to arouse sympathy.
“Waylen,” she murmurs.
Robert assumes Waylen wants to have a private conversation and he moves to close himself out of the room, but Waylen stops him with an impatient gesture. Robert freezes beside the open door. Leonie grimaces with anxiety; she doesn’t want the butler to hear what she has to say.
“Waylen, I spoke up for Leilani when Mrs. Bamford was about to whip her. But Leilani seems determined to upset your grandmother,” she says, “You know how stubborn she is—she insists on agitating Mrs. Bamford in spite of her age and poor health.”
“Are you finished?” Waylen asks coldly.
“What?”
“You can leave now,” he says.
Leonie stares at him, shocked by his dismissiveness.
Leonie hesitates by the door. Two red spots quickly appear on her soft cheeks.
“That night…” she says, “Well, thank you.”
The last thing she remembers is smelling the candle in Waylen’s room. When she woke to find her neck covered in blue and purple spots, she assumed Waylen had put them there. She’s waited for Waylen to come to her, but he never did. She has finally mustered the courage to approach him.
Waylen leans back in his chair and stares at his tablet screen. Without looking up he calmly asks, “Did I do something? I think there’s been a misunderstanding.”
“Come on, Waylen,” she pouts, “Are you still mad at me? I was nervous and one of the maids told me to use some borrachero to soothe my nerves. I didn’t mean to cause any harm.”
Large tears begin to drip down her cheeks. Waylen frowns. He’s heard people say that women are as gentle as water and prone to shedding tears, and in his experience, it seems to be true. Their fragility and weepiness annoy him.
Unbidden, Leilani’s face crosses his mind. If most women are water, she is ice. Instead of crying, she likes to glare at him with her attractive, cat-like eyes. What would it be like if she cried in front of him? He begins to imagine her tear-streaked face. If he pushed her over the edge, would she break and cry? Would she cry for him as Leonie does now? He is sinking deep into his thoughts.
With a great effort, he refocuses on the situation at hand. Casually, he tosses his tablet onto his desk. The noise startles Leonie and she stops weeping.
“I didn’t touch you that night,” he says, “According to David, the marks on your neck are from an allergic reaction.”
Leonie inadvertently steps backward. She can’t believe what she’s hearing.
“What? But I—” she mumbles, confused.
“I’m not interested in you,” Waylen speaks slowly and deliberately to avoid any possible misunderstanding.
“That’s impossible!” Leonie gasps, “Why would you invite me to stay here if you weren’t interested?”
Waylen pulls a cigarette from his pocket and lights it. He knows that Leilani invited Leonie—he allowed it because he wanted to know what his wife was playing at. Personally, he doesn’t like having women around; even the maids’ presence bothers him, and he tries to stay away from them as much as possible. He relies on Robert whenever possible. If some task requires physical contact, he insists that Robert perform it.
“Don’t you enjoy our hospitality?” he asks.
“Of course. It’s just—I thought—.”
“My grandmother likes you a lot. You should spend more time with her,” Waylen advises.
His meaning is clear: if it were up to him, he would ask Leonie to leave. She’s only been allowed to stay this long because Mrs. Florence Bamford has developed an affection for her. Leonie twists the fabric of her dress in her hands. Tears still linger in her eyelashes, and her face is prettily flushed.
“Is there something wrong with me?” she asks sadly.
“I’m just not interested in you,” Waylen answers cooly.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.
Leave a Reply