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“Don’t apologize to me, apologize to Mr. Oliver,” Fitz says, a cold look in his eyes.
“I’m sorry, sir,” she says, turning to face me. She sniffles, and I hide my smirk, enjoying seeing her being put in her place.
“You need to clean this mess up tonight,” I tell her. “Fix it all before the morning or you’ll be dismissed.”
She casts a look at Fitz, who shakes his head in disappointment, then sinks to her knees to begin gathering up the broken sculpture pieces.
I hope she’s learned her lesson now.
5
EVANGELINE
Iknew that being a maid would be hard work, but I didn’t expect it to be hell on earth. Escaping my father was the only reason I took this job, but I’m starting to wonder if maybe he’d be the lesser of two evils.
Working for the Everharts has been a nightmare. I don’t know what I did to get on their bad sides, except turn down Ryder after he kept relentlessly hitting on me, but they’ve made it their life’s mission to make my life miserable.
And it’s working.
Each morning, I wake with a knot in my stomach, dreading the day ahead. Exhausted by endless tasks they give me, every muscle aches by nightfall.
I wish I could gather the strength to quit, but I’m financially dependent on this position.
Even when I want to lash out at them, though, something holds me back. There’s something in their eyes when they look at me, and it reminds me of the way they treated me that night at the club. They were so different then, so much more light-hearted and playful, and so much more attentive to me.
Some stupid, silly part of me wants to stick around and see if that side of them comes back. I know that it’s useless, but I keep hoping, anyway. I see small glimpses here and there of that side, and it keeps me coming back for more.
Like when Ryder brought Oliver a cup of tea when his head was hurting. Or when Theo swiftly took care of Ryder’s little “incident” with the police. Even if he was annoyed, he still wanted to protect his brother.
And I’m still wildly attracted to the three of them. Ryder has this charm that makes me want to cave every time he corners me. The only thing that holds me back is worrying about getting in trouble with Fitz.
And Oliver’s style is sexy, with his tight trousers and silk shirts half-unbuttoned. He can be very distracting when we’re in the same room.
But it doesn’t matter how much I like them. I’m not their equal, and they’ll never see me that way.
Fitz has hired a few new household staff members since I started—including a chef and a couple more maids. They’ve caught on to the way the Everharts treat me and have started icing me out, figuring I must have done something to deserve it and they don’t want to be associated with me.
It’s lonely here, but I’m trying my best.
Standing in the kitchen mopping the floors, I feel my mind start racing. Though the dawn sunlight filters through the curtains and the quiet solitude should be peaceful, memories flood my brain of tumultuous nights at home and the endless battles with my father that drove me to seek refuge in this job.
No matter how hard I long to escape my past, it feels as though I’ve jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire.
The overwhelming scent of the floor cleaner is making me feel light-headed. Nausea rises in my throat, and I rush over to the trash can, losing my granola bar from this morning.
As I wipe my mouth with the back of my hand, I feel a sudden icy chill from head to toe. I’ve been sick for like, almost two weeks now. And I’ve been sore and tired. I thought it was because of the relentless work, but what if it isn’t?
Doing some quick mental math, I realize that I’ve missed two periods. Ever since I started my period when I was twelve, I’ve been regular as clockwork. The first time, I didn’t really think much of it because I was so stressed from dealing with my dad, but now I’m late again.
My eyes widen to the size of dinner plates, and I feel like I’m about to faint, so I gingerly walk back over to the mop bucket, putting the entire thing in the closet so I can sit down for a second.
My head is reeling as I count again to make sure. Yep. Two missed periods.
Shit. No. Please, dear God, no!
I’ve only been with three men in the past year, and that all happened on the same night. There’s no question about whose it is if I am pregnant.
Panic has me in a chokehold, so I mentally calculate how fast it would take me to get to the nearest drugstore and whether I can do it before Fitz notices I’m gone.
