When the hour strikes…
MIAN
I was primped and painted, and this time, when I wore the dress, it hugged my body perfectly. The beading adorning the gown was exquisite. I ran my fingers over the intricate design while Madame Torre fussed and barked orders at the Ricardos. I dreaded what the evening could bring, but was grateful to finally have my body covered, with the exception of my shoulders. The gown was truly beautiful. Black wouldn’t have been my first choice of color, but oddly it didn’t detract.
“Do you like it?” I didn’t turn around to greet the man behind the sinfully deep voice. I wasn’t ready to face him after what he did. “It was my mother’s.”
“It’s beautiful,” I admitted reluctantly.
“I want to see all of you,” he said after Madame Torre and the Ricardos had left, and I kept my back to him. If he were anyone else, I would have blushed at the request, but he wasn’t anyone else, and I knew better. He didn’t seduce. He commanded. I turned carefully in the high black and silver stems and rested my hands on my waist for balance when I caught sight of him looking debonair in a black tux. His hair was perfectly gelled and combed into a fashionable design and the hair on his jaw and chin were freshly trimmed to accentuate his strong jaw.
He took his time inspecting me, too. My hair was pulled back so the curls Mohawk Ricardo had skillfully created fell down my back. My makeup was applied sparingly. Goatee Ricardo had focused on accentuating my eyes, which he complimented repeatedly. Even covered in layers of silk, he still managed to make me feel naked. It was as if the heat in his eyes seared away the layers.
“So? Do I satisfy your taste for arm candy?”
He smiled a feral smile. “What makes you think you’ll be my date?”
No sane part of me wanted to be his date, but it didn’t make the rejection hurt any less. “Then what am I?”
“You’re the final act.” He closed the distance between us and then flipped open a royal blue box. The most beautiful diamond choker rested on a velvet bed before he plucked it from the case and tossed it away. I didn’t move as he stepped around me and wrapped it around my neck. It was so heavy and cold against my skin. When I heard the clasp click, I fingered the necklace and wondered if it was real. It seemed too extravagant, even for the Knights.
I was surprised when something settled over my face. He quickly secured it and then stepped away while I fingered what must have been a mask. It was hard but bearable since it didn’t weigh much. I wanted a mirror so I could see and thought about stepping inside the bathroom for a peek, but the jerk held out his arm, offering me the crook of his elbow, and waited for me to accept with a quirk of his eyebrow. I cupped the muscle underneath his finery and stared ahead in horror when my pussy reacted to the feel of his muscles bunched beneath the tux. It had to be a natural response—like drowning when water fills your lungs. I did not desire this man.
Outside, there was a limo waiting. Lucas flashed me a sexy smile while I admired him in the black tux. He held a thick black box in his hand, and I was curious about what was inside.
“You look good enough to eat, pretty girl.” He bit his bottom lip and eyed me. I had the feeling he was imagining doing just that. Lucas opened the back door, and I ducked inside. He then followed and took a seat on the bench across from me. Angel sat next to me, forcing me to curl up against the opposite door. I heard the locks engage as if I were really going to jump from a moving vehicle.
“So, Mian, why aren’t you in college?” Lucas questioned after we’d been riding for some time. He reached for the chilled champagne and poured a glass.
“I had a kid,” I answered coolly.
He shrugged. “Single mothers can still attend school. There are programs, aren’t there?”
“It’s so easy to assume anyone can still conquer the world with a baby on their hip. The world is full of failures and rejects. Programs can’t save us all. If they could, the world would be a much more colorful place.”
“Didn’t you have relatives to help you?”
I noticed Angel’s head cock slightly. He must have been interested in my answer. If he knew about my aunt and uncle, he wouldn’t hesitate to use them against me. I pressed a hand to my stomach. When they turned their backs on me, there was no love lost, but that didn’t mean I wanted to see them dead.
“My grandparents are dead.”
“Theo had to leave you with someone since you weren’t in the system.”
Damn. “I never had family other than my father’s brother and his wife. My mother was an only child.”
“So he left you with them?”
I nodded not really wanting to talk about them but found the words spilling out anyway. “He had to pay them to accept me but, yeah… they were my guardians before Caylen was born.”
“Before?”
I took a deep breath slowly released. I could feel Angel watching my every move. “They kicked me out after they found out I was pregnant.” Angel made a sound I couldn’t describe. I found his eyes black and spitting fire. “You thought I ran away, didn’t you?” He didn’t answer. He didn’t have to. Before he turned his head to stare out the window, I saw guilt in his eyes.
Why would Angel feel guilty? He stopped being responsible for me when his father convinced mine to send me home. I thought the day Daddy left me with him was the worst thing he could ever do to me, but it couldn’t compare to the day he took him away from me. How hormones and a little kindness changes things…
We spent the rest of the ride in silence. I looked out the window in amazement when the house came into view. The lush green land stretched far and wide around the castle. It made Arturo Knight’s home seem like a trailer home.
“ What is this place,” I heard myself asking.
“It’s home,” Angel answered.
He was staring when I looked away to face him. “Home?”
“The Knight Estate. It was built over a century ago by the second Knight.”
“Aren’t there more of you in your family?”
He shook his head. “ The Knight not a Knight.”
“I’m not following.”
“The Knight is the head of the family. The head of the family will only ever be The Bandit.” It sounded like a riddle, which I strangely got. The real legacy must be his place as The Bandit. The book he thinks I stole was just a shiny crown.
“So why don’t you live here?” He didn’t claim his father’s home, and I knew now it was because it never truly felt like home to him.
“Because the house can only be inherited after the death of The Knight.”
“And since your father died before your grandfather could—” When our gazes met, words were lost.
“Something else your father took from mine... and me .”
His hate was my truth. I could feel it as if it coursed through my veins. I turned away to admire the house as much as I could from the limited vantage point of the car. When the car slowly stopped, Angel took the box from Lucas. I watched, feeling my heart race, as he opened the box. He lifted a black leather mask from the box and secured it onto his face. When he turned to me, the top half of his face was covered by large wings that extended away from his face. The feathers were captured in amazing detail.
His eyes, lips, and jaw were the only visible parts of his face now. He looked sexy and scary all at once, and I was grateful my body was hidden under so many layers. He would have used my reaction as a weapon to take what he wanted.
The car was uncomfortably silent as we stared at one another. My face was hidden by a mask I had yet to see, and now, so was he. Suddenly, Angel’s door was opened, breaking our moment. He took my hand and helped me from the car. Nervously, I glanced around. The circular driveway was full as women in gowns and men in tux’s poured from their limos and made their way inside.
Light shone from the white terra-cotta home through the spacious windows while music I didn’t recognize, and hoped I didn’t have to dance to, played through the open doorways.
Suddenly, the unexplained meaning of my presence here turned my legs to jelly. Prisoners didn’t go to balls. Angel said I was the final act. What had he meant?
“Don’t be scared, girl.”
I turned to Lucas who grinned down at me. “Why would I be scared?” I was totally scared.
“Because you stopped walking and gave Angel no choice but to stop, too, or drag you.” Angel’s expression was curious as he stared down at me. I lifted my chin and walked ahead while ignoring the stares. It was then I noticed that no one else wore masks. Not even Lucas.
I was stopped from entering when we reached one of the three entryways and was asked my name. “She’s with me,” Angel answered. The man must not have noticed him standing just behind me. He sputtered to correct himself and lifted the red velvet rope.
Angel’s hand fell on the small of my back. I couldn’t feel anything else but the place where his hand and my back met. As he led me through the grand foyer and mingling guests, his thumb caressed me.
We eventually made it past the stairs and through another set of open doors into a ballroom. Guests danced under the chandeliers to the soft music. The ballroom floor looked bigger than my entire apartment. There were people mingling on the sidelines with drinks in their hands as they talked and laughed. A stunning blonde in blue gossamer caught Lucas’s attention. He broke off to pull her onto the dance floor.
“Where’s Z?” I’d only just noticed a member of their trio had been missing.
Angel selected a champagne flute from a passing waiter and handed it to me. “Why?” His gaze was steady as he ignored the guests around us and waited for my answer. I shrugged after noticing how tense he became. “He’ll be joining us later.”
“Why am I here?”
“I told you.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
“It’s the only one you’re going to get.” He nodded to the untouched glass in my hand. “Drink.”
“Why should I?” I didn’t feel right enjoying a party with the man who held my son’s life and mine in his control.
“Because it could be your last.” He watched me from behind his mask. I didn’t get the feeling he was playing a game, so I tipped the glass back and let the cool liquid caress my tongue and throat.
Suddenly, a man with thick white hair and beard appeared at Angel’s side and clapped him on the back. “Nice of you to join us, son.”
“I had last-minute business to attend,” he answered back without warmth, and I wondered how he knew him.
“You’re the guest of honor. It doesn’t do well to be late to your own party.”
This was a party for Angel?
“I’m here, aren’t I?”
Rather than answer, the man’s gaze slid to me, and suddenly, I felt like I was under a microscope. “Hello, Mian.”
I was taken aback. “You know who I am?”
“Of course, my dear. You caused quite an upheaval for my family. Not to mention, your father killed my son.” He spoke dispassionately—and that scared me more than if he had yelled. Alon Knight’s eyes were blank and without feeling. I searched for the right response, but really, what was one to say at a party when the host accused you of crimes you didn’t commit?
Thankfully, Lucas saved me from responding. He sauntered into our circle with the blonde.
“Mr. Knight,” he respectfully greeted.
“Lucas…” Alon’s gaze coldly assessed the woman on his arm. “I see once again you do not hesitate at indulging in all the party has to offer.”
“You know me. I never miss an opportunity to spend the night between a beautiful pair of legs.”
“It’s good my grandson does not share your sentiments.”
Lucas didn’t react, but I was willing to bet if he wasn’t Angel’s grandfather, and we weren’t standing in a room full of people, that he would have been a dead man. “Always a pleasure, Alon.”
Alon didn’t seem to appreciate either one of our presence, but Lucas was still my enemy so I didn’t want to laugh, but a smile snuck up on me anyway. I ducked my head, but when I lifted it again, Lucas caught my eyes. There was a twinkle in his as he winked.
“Mian, may I have this dance?”
He didn’t wait for me to deny him. He took my hand and guided me onto the dance floor away from Angel and Alon. When we reached the center of the room, he tugged me close and wrapped his arm around my waist.
I looked back in time to see Angel and Alon leaving the ballroom. “So I take it he’s not your favorite person?”
He snorted and twirled me before bringing me close again. “He’s a prick, girl. Stay away from him.”
My eyebrows shot for my hairline. “You’re warning me?”
His face settled into a blank mask, and we continued to dance. Suddenly, he pulled me even closer. His arm tightened until I gasped.
“Why are you doing this?”
I frowned. “I’m not doing anything. I haven’t done anything.
“Just tell him where the book is. No amount of money is worth your life, girl.”
“I don’t. Have. The book. I don’t even know what the book is.”
His face said he didn’t believe me as his eyes searched mine. He seemed to decide something and relaxed his arm.
“No shit?”
“Why is this book so important to him? What makes it a legacy?”
“Because it’s not just a book. It’s a contract.”
“A contract,” I repeated. “How’s that?”
“The book contains a record of every job, client, and contact since Alexander Knight.”
“The first Knight,” I guessed. He nodded. “Why would they keep something like that? It’s a criminal justice wet dream.”
“That’s one way of looking at it, but the book has been untouched by anyone who wasn’t the Knight for almost two-hundred years. Until you.”
“That still doesn’t tell me why his family would keep something so incriminating.”
“Because it’s power. It can start wars, break allegiances, and cripple empires. The entries will incriminate anyone who’s every laid in bed with a Knight.”
“It imprisons them.”
“Yeah, girl. It does.”
“But that includes you, doesn’t it?” He shrugged and moved his hand down to cup my ass. I didn’t welcome his touch, but I didn’t fight it either. He ran his lips down my neck until it reached my shoulder. “You’ll never be able to walk away.”
“I have no intentions of walking away. I owe Art my life.”
“But not Angel?”
He lifted his head and pinned me with his stare. “He’s my best friend. His father gave me a job when everyone else overlooked Z and me like trash. I’d die for him .”
“It doesn’t sound like friendship. It sounds like servitude to me.”
“I’m no one’s slave, girl. If I ever wanted to walk away, Angel couldn’t stop me, and I know for a fact that he wouldn’t try. That is why I’m loyal.”
We danced some more in silence and by the end of the third song, I’d had enough. “Where’s the bathroom?” I asked as an excuse to get away.
“I’ll escort you.”
“So I’m still in shackles,” I said as he guided me through the dancing crowd.
“Afraid so.” His hand didn’t leave the small of my back until we reached a quiet corner. There was a single door, and I assumed it led to a bathroom. “Sure you don’t need any help?”
I started to respond, but the words were caught in my throat. Three men dressed in black suits rushed for Lucas. He couldn’t see them, but he could see me. His grin disappeared just as I went to shout a warning. Two of them jumped him.
“Don’t!” I screamed as they savagely beat him. I didn’t even see the third lunge for me until my scream was cut off by his hand covering my mouth. I fought him, which loosened my mask until it fell from my face. I stared at the black feathers detailed into the leather and realized I was staring at a replica of Angel’s. I was too stunned to fight and was dragged away. The last thing I saw before being pulled around a corner was Lucas sending the head of one of the attackers into the wall.