Total pages in book: 63
Estimated words: 58521 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 293(@200wpm)___ 234(@250wpm)___ 195(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 58521 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 293(@200wpm)___ 234(@250wpm)___ 195(@300wpm)
The Elders had rushed out of the ballroom as if they had another sex-fueled party to attend and were late. The few members of the Order who remained, now mingled, poured some cocktails, and I took this as my cue that I could leave. Maybe Cindy went back to our room to wait for me there. As I exited the ballroom, I saw Montgomery rush toward me with wide eyes.
“Jesus, what happened?” Panic laced his question.
“What do you mean?” I asked, confused as I noticed that the members outside the ballroom seemed to possess the same level of concern that Montgomery had. There was a level of controlled chaos everywhere and clearly something was amiss. “What’s going on?”
“That’s what I’m asking you. What happened to your belle?”
“My belle?” I shook my head, his words not making sense to me. “I’m looking for her—”
Montgomery’s eyes narrowed. “She wasn’t with you when the accident happened?”
“Accident?” I glanced around the hallway expecting to see Cindy walk out of one of the closed doors. “Where’s Cindy?”
“Something happened to her. I don’t know what or any of the details. I just heard that the belle had an accident and needed urgent medical care. I saw Elders rush around like they were on fire, and I came looking for you to find out what happened from the source.”
“I wasn’t with her. I didn’t see,” I explained as I tried to process the news Montgomery was telling me. What could have happened to her?
“What do you mean you weren’t with her? Weren’t you just inside the ballroom fucking her as part of your Trial?”
“I was fucking someone… just not her.” I wasn’t about to tell him that I was buried balls deep inside Jasmine VanDoren while something apparently happened to my belle. “We had different partners tonight.”
Montgomery nodded as if my words finally made sense. “Well, she was rushed out of here. Something happened. And from the way the Elders were acting, I don’t think it was good.”
“Where were you?” I looked over his shoulder as if I’d see some clue. “You didn’t see what happened?”
“I was in the billiards room with Beau, Rafe, and Emmett drinking and having a cigar. We may have to attend the events as members, but nothing says we have to actually have sex with other women.” He smirked. “We do the minimum and then head back home to our own women. The others left, but I told them I’d fill them in once I talked to you.”
His reminder that every one of my friends ended up with their belles and fell in love stings even more when not only did I not develop feelings for my belle, but apparently, she got hurt and I wasn’t even aware of that. I felt like both an idiot and an ass that I had no clue what was going on, and that Cindy got hurt under what was technically my watch. There was no love connection between us, but I sure as fuck didn’t want to see her get hurt.
“We weren’t doing anything dangerous in this Trial. Just blowjobs and fucking,” I said more to myself than Montgomery.
Mrs. H rushed by us, worry etched on her face. For a woman usually so well-kempt and composed, I saw the rough edges of a panicked woman on full display. She ran the Oleander with an iron fist but always had a heart of gold. Her dedication to this manor for decades was not something any of us took lightly. We grew up with this woman in our lives. In many ways she was like family.
But something about her tonight seemed different. Was it fear? Anger? Or did she finally see one of the ghosts who walked these hallways?
I reached out and took her arm, stopping her in her tracks. “Where’s Cindy? What’s going on?”
I’d never seen Mrs. H angry before now, but the look she gave me made up for decades of calm. “Why weren’t you with her?” Her furious question—so full of accusations—had the same effect as if she had slapped me across the face.
“We had different partners—”
“Why would you choose someone else and not your belle?” she all but yelled at me.
“The Trial wasn’t about the two of us tonight,” I tried to explain, hating the fact that if she knew who I was truly having sex with… Jesus, the fallout.
Jasmine and my life could explode if anyone found out. Aside from the fact that Sully would kill me, this secret of mine and Jasmine’s would destroy her. Ruin her reputation. I’d bounce back most likely, but she never would. For that alone, I’d have to take this secret with me to the grave.
“If you were with Cindy, none of this would have happened.” She snapped her arm free from my hold. “The rules of the Initiation are simple. Follow them.” Her eyes darted to Montgomery and then back at me. “Your generation is so defiant. You want to push against tradition and everything your forefathers built. If you just behaved and actually did what you were supposed to do… Complete the Trial—with your belle!”