Page 52 of Mama Si's Paradise

Mike’s eyes spit fire as he looked at my lips. “Hi. We meet again.” And he crossed his arms in front of his chest as he leaned against the doorframe. “How have you been, Autumn?”

“Fall is fine,” I said automatically. “I’ve been good. You?”And what the hell are you doing at my door?!

“Counting down the hours until we met again,” he said, smiling sneakily.

“Such a charmer,” I deadpanned.

The guy laughed. “We should definitely have coffee together someday,” he said, and I thought,fuck no.

“Yes. Someday,” was what I said.

“Mr. Archer is on his way and he requires your presence tonight, Fall,” Mike said.

My stomach fell all the way down to my heels. “Oh.” Mr. Archer.BrandonArcher. “I see.”

“I was hoping to walk with you to the private rooms, but I see you’re not ready yet. Meet me up there in fifteen minutes, and I’ll take you to Mr. Archer myself.”

I had never been more thankful to be caught undressed.

“What about Adam?” I asked, just to make sure I’d have no more surprises.

“Adam can’t make it tonight, but don’t worry. You already look perfect.” He winked.

“Yes. Yes, of course. I’ll be right there.”

“Fifteen minutes,” Mike said, slowly dragging himself backward, watching me from under his lashes. If I let him, his eyes would fucking hypnotize me the way Mama Si could do so easily when she wanted.

I pushed the door closed instead.

Panic, fear, excitement.

I had the dress on two minutes later—red, like some of the roses that sprouted in the clearing for me—and I was running. I wasnotplanning to go meet Johnny tonight, fuck that. Everything be damned, I was going to run and hide in the forest until sunrise and then deal with whatever was coming tomorrow.

That’s exactly what I did.

I ran all the way to the clearing without stopping to take a breath. Unfortunately for me, I’d underestimated what the fear and the panic would do to my body, so the moment I stopped running, my stomach revolted.

For the next minute, I threw up everything I’d eaten through the day right there on the forest floor.

Then I got my shit together, sat on my bench made out of tree roots, and I played the animals my favorite song.

It didn’t matter what went on at the mansion right now. It didn’t matter if they’d be waiting for me or looking for me or if they were pissed off—none of it mattered. I was where I belonged, right where I wanted to be. I’d figure out a way to stay here without being one of the dolls. I’d figure out a way to come back to this forest every single night. I’d beg Mama Si, would fall on my knees and plead whenever she came for me.

I just didn’t expect her to come right away.

“Such a beautiful song, Fall Doll. Where did you learn to play it?”

The whole fucking world tilted and turned and twisted out of my focus. Every animal who’d been listening to me playing was already running for the trees at the sound of her voice coming from somewhere behind me. My entire body was frozen in place, and I wanted to think that I’d made it up, that it was just the fear whispering in my ear, but the animals were already gone. The clearing was suddenly so damn silent, I could hear my own heart hammering in my chest.

Slowly, I forced myself to stand and turn around, holding onto the edge of the piano, knowing I’d fall if I didn’t. Sure enough, Mama Si was right there, her hair perfectly done in tight curls, her lips painted a bloody red, her black dress touching the ground around her feet, her gloves covering only her hands and wrists this time. They weren’t part of the dress for once. I don’t know why that seemed so odd to me.

“Well?” she said, coming closer, her footsteps perfectly soundless. “You didn’t tell me you play the piano—and so perfectly well. Where did you learn that song?”

I swallowed hard, reminding myself not to move away. “School,” I whispered with barely any voice. “I used to sneak into school at night and play.”

It wasover.She’d caught me. She was here, and she was going to demand I explain myself and demand I go back to the mansion and to that room with the client and spread my legs and?—

“You never told me that,” Mama Si said, pulling me out of my head. “I have three pianos in the mansion. I could have brought one to your room.”

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