Total pages in book: 71
Estimated words: 68354 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 342(@200wpm)___ 273(@250wpm)___ 228(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68354 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 342(@200wpm)___ 273(@250wpm)___ 228(@300wpm)
“Mr. Alexander,” he says. “Guests tonight?”
“Yes, thank you.” We go inside the building and Ben and Bailey look at every detail with wide-open mouths. Hell, I can hardly keep my own jaw from dropping.
The foyer on the main floor has a small but beautiful waterfall, lit from behind with pale pink and white lights. Gentle strings of violin play in the background, and there’s a uniformed gentleman sitting at the main desk who waves a hand in greeting to Liam.
“Joseph,” Liam says, bringing us up to the desk, but Ben’s over by the waterfall reaching a tentative finger out to touch it. He’s completely oblivious to us over by the desk.
“Oh, for crying out loud,” I mumble. It’s bad enough we’ve come in here disheveled and a mess. I don’t need to draw any more attention to how poorly we fit in here. “Ben! Ben get over here.” But he ignores me.
Liam turns and calls out in his much deeper voice, “Ben, over here.” Ben looks at us, and trots over to join us. Bailey and I share a rolling-eye look. Ben adores Liam, and when he meets us, he stands right next to him.
“Joseph, we need to give these three access until we have a place for them to stay. They’ll be with me.”
Ok, wait. We didn’t talk about this.
“Liam, we didn’t discuss this,” I tell him. “I mean I don’t know that we need keys or access cards or whatever. I don’t want you to have to—”
He shakes his head at me. “I know, and we will talk about it, but for now, you all need to be able to get in, even if you’re just here for the night, okay?”
“Okay,” I say reluctantly. “Yeah, I guess that’s fine.”
“I don’t want to be here just for the night,” Ben protests, looking back at the waterfall and the sprawling foyer. “If it looks this nice down here, what does it look like in his place?”
Liam chuckles, but Bailey goes beet red. “Ben.”
I just sigh. I want us settled and these two taken care of. And hell, I want to be taken care of myself. I need to be alone with Liam and I’m still mentally adjusting to the change in plans.
We go upstairs on an elevator that looks like it could launch a spaceship. Ben takes in every detail in wide-eyed silence as Liam introduces us to the elevator operator.
“Why do you have someone push buttons for you?” he asks Liam. “I mean, that’s kind of an easy thing to do.”
I open my mouth to stop him, but Liam just rolls with it. “It’s fine, Cora. He’ll have a lot of questions and there’s nothing wrong with that.” Liam says something to him about tradition and service, but I’m not paying attention. There are too many questions in my mind. Too much uncertainty. And my biggest fears of Ben getting attached to Liam are now pronounced, because Liam’s wowing Ben without even trying.
The elevator arrives on his floor, and the operator tips his hat to us. A slim hallway stands between his entrance and the elevator, and it feels like this is sort of monumental. Liam taking me home is a far cry from him taking me to Verge. At Verge, I could at least tell myself that I am his paid submissive for the night or the week or whatever. Here, however… Here it is different.
This is welcoming me into a part of his life he’s never let me see before. This is an intimacy we haven’t yet shared, and I wonder where this will leave us as we move to the latter part of our contract.
Fucking contract.
I don’t pay attention to the opulent details of the hallway as he brings us to the entryway and opens the door.
“Holy crap,” Ben breathes, when we all step foot inside his penthouse. I say nothing, as I take in every detail in stunned silence and Ben’s sort of already voiced my own reaction.
I knew Liam was rich. But this… this is unlike anything I ever imagined.
Past the entryway is a massive living room with floor to ceiling windows, looking out on the brightly lit Manhattan skyline. Shades of lights in blues and blacks and white glitter like gems, the magnificent buildings glow, a real-life work of art. Ivory sofas face each other, modern looking crescent-shaped pieces that somehow manage to look both swanky and comfortable aside a gleaming black baby grand piano. A large fireplace dwarfs one wall to the right, and beyond the fireplace is a spiral staircase that must lead to the upstairs bedrooms. Under the staircase lies a doorway to another bedroom. Liam’s? To the left is the entryway to the kitchen, which I can’t really see because it’s cast in darkness.
I kick my shoes off and silently beckon Bailey and Ben to do the same. They follow suit, still taking in every detail they can. Liam shrugs out of his suit coat and hangs it up in a closet by the door, then takes my hand and pulls me in.