Page 33 of Castle

“They’re worse. You don’t know the half of it.” He teased her.

“Don’t want to either. My imagination is wild.”

“I would know.”

“Wanna test it?”

“Aw. You guys are so adorable.” I chimed in.

She had to be hisgirlfriend. And after this exchange, I had no doubt.

Theo tried to avoid eye-contact. They’d probably forgotten I was standing here until I’d said that.

“We were…we were just going upstairs to study. C’mon, Ivy,” He said, running upstairs towards his room.

“I haven’t even asked you anything, and be safe, guys. Don’t have too much fun.” I called out after them.

The door slammed shut.

I located Castle in the horse stables. It was too hot outside, so I’d prepared a jug full of fresh lemonade.

I told him he could have it when he was feeling tired, but he ignored me and concentrated on the work at hand.

I placed the tray on an empty crate nearby and settled down on an upturned bucket, watching him as he worked on his favorite brown colored horse namedStarwho had cute silky fringes covering its forehead.

Castle was shirtless, wearing only a pair of jeans that rode low on his hips. His muscles flexed as he lathered the horse with shampoo, and that was a sight for sore eyes.

I didn’t really have a reason to complain.

It was nice to see him concentrate on something that he loved doing so much—whether it was trains, or remote control cars or horses.

The sun was beating down harshly; the birds chirped in the trees nearby—it was a lovely day and the mansion looked something right out of a fairytale story. Only, it was anything but. The darkness and horrors inside this mansion were unspeakable.

I tried my best to stop myself from thinking of the negative side and concentrate on the positive, like how Castle’s hair had streaks of gold in the sunlight or the way he’d smile when he was doing things he loved.

Drops of sweat trickled down his body, and I stared at him, fascinated.

Stop it, Millie! He might be thirty, but there’s no way Castle would even have liked me if he had a choice. He was way out of my league, not to mention, I was employed by his family—More like kidnapped, so what would my attraction towards him be called?

Stockholm syndrome?

I didn’t think so. Castle was every bit a victim in this family as I was.

“Do you want me to leave?” I asked him.

Castle probably thought I was a hindrance. If that was the case, I could just walk out of here and observe him from far.

He turned to face me. “Stay.”

“Well, can I at least help you bathe him?” I asked.

He didn’t answer for an entire minute and I thought he was back to ignoring me again when he said, “Okay.”

I took a generous amount of shampoo into my palm and began scrubbing the horse. The texture of the horse felt soft under my fingers.

“Hmm…this feels relaxing. He’s really sweet.”

“I helped Star’s mother…through labor when he was born.” Castle said proudly, like a vet who’d delivered a healthy baby.

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