Page 32 of Reveal Me
‘Yes.’ Kat’s slight smile tells me she tried to buy me time. ‘She said it wasn’t a request.’
I sigh, pulling off my paint-stained apron. I suppose I can’t avoid her forever. Knowing my luck, she’s probably decided to summon me back to London just when things are getting interesting. ‘Wish me luck.’
I take the phone and inhale deeply. Kat hovers near the door—close enough for moral support, far enough away to maintain plausible deniability about overhearing royal conversations.
‘Hello, Mother.’
‘Ah, I was beginning to wonder if you’d eloped with one of the stable hands.’ My mother’s voice drips with disapproval.
‘There’s no need to be dramatic, Mother. We’re merelyhaving casual sex twice a day.’ I glance down at my paint-stained hands and wait for the onslaught. ‘He is rather charming, though.’
Her disapproval smothers me from across the Irish Sea. ‘How you can jest about such vulgarity is beyond me.’
Yes, because obviously my sisters and I were immaculately conceived. Or did she just lie back and think of England?
‘Relax, Mother, you know I live to torment you.’
‘Indeed,’ she sniffs. ‘How are you? Has your migraine finally passed?’ The way she drags out the word migraine assures me she didn’t buy the excuse Kat offered Lord Finegan Montgomery for my absence.
‘Just about. Dreadful things. You know I seem to get one every month atthat time.’
Kat coughs out a little laugh from the doorway, all too aware that my mother considers the female menstrual cycle yet another utterly inappropriate topic for discussion.
‘Ah yes, well,’ my mother stumbles as she recovers herself. So backwards. If I ever have children—and that’s a big if—I will normalise all healthy bodily functions. ‘I trust you’re feeling better now.’
‘Yes, thank you, Mother.’ I roll my eyes. I wish she’d get to the point because you can bet your arse there is one.
‘Good, because Lord Montogomery has asked if he could call again this evening. I assured him you would be there, given the nature of your visit to Ardmore Castle is limited to the estate because of the circumstances you left under.’
Fuck. Fuck. And Royal Fuck.
Kat’s eyes widen. Apparently, she can hear my mother’s majestic voice as clearly as I can, even from the door. She has no idea that I signed a contract to be Sean Beckett’s submissive for three months, but she does know I signed up to his “nightclub” and that I’m supposed to be meeting him there tonight. Naturally, she demanded details of our dinner. WhileI told her Sean had an exceptionally impressive skillset for a billionaire bachelor, I didn’t include his ability to tie me to his table with an elaborate knot and make me come so hard I saw not only a myriad of stars, but the moon, and the entire fucking galaxy.
She promised to cover for me tonight, as long as I promised not to leave Sean’s estate.
‘And Lord Caspian Ashworth is in Dublin next month.He’s invited you to join him at the Annual Formal Ball for the Wicklow Hunt Club.’
‘Who?’
‘Lord Caspian Ashworth. His father and your father go way back. You might remember him from Patricia’s wedding. He’s a handsome fellow. Tall. Auburn hair. Piercing green eyes.’
Could this get any worse? ‘Can’t say it rings a bell.’ I twist my ponytail around my fingers. So much for being sent to consider my options. My parents are just pimping me out to a different set of suitors. Even exile is exhausting.
I need to come up with an excuse, and quickly.
‘I suppose there were over six hundred guests in attendance, so that’s understandable, but I assure you Lord Ashworth would also be a wonderful match for you.’
By me, she means her—this family.
She’s delusional enough to think setting me up with two ‘suitable suitors’ is allowing me to choose. In reality, it’s like choosing between an alligator and a bear. She drones on utterly oblivious to my horror. ‘The ball’s being hosted at The Shelbourne. Randomly, it’s a Wednesday. Black tie, of course.’
‘I thought I was on house arrest.’ I have no interest in being set up, but I could be persuaded to drink champagne on a Wednesday night in a nice hotel, given it won’t clash with my sessions at Reveal. It’s not like Sean’s ever going to take me out.
For a split second, that realisation stings.
I shake it off.
It’s an arrangement.
