Slave To Love
Chapter Nine
Dimitrius led the way into the kitchen, his usual warm brown eyes now cold and hard like stone. It was a rare sight for his friend to be so standoffish to any person, so even before they'd made it to the porch, Jack had a hunch of who had come calling.
The three of them poured in through the back door to find the unwelcomed presence of Lord Anthony Capono. He was lounging more than sitting at the kitchen table, the chair leaned back on its rear legs and his filthy boots propped up onto the tabletop that Lucy had just cleaned. The wet cloth she'd used was still in her hand, in fact.
A girl stood beside him, her bowed head framed by the thickness of her dark hair. She wore a dress that would be unbefitting of a common street urchin. It was filthy with what looked like years of caked on muck and dirt and had been mended with patches of random colored and patterned cloth. She wasn't even wearing any shoes, Jack realized as his eyes swept over her.
The sight made his stomach rebel against the delicious breakfast they'd had that morning. His gaze shifted to Capono, which made it roll twice as hard. The man was wearing a smarmy grin that clearly told them all that he was up to something.
"Make yourself at home," Jack commented with dry humor lacing his tone.
"Always so generous, aren't you, Jack?" the other man asked with that overconfident gleam in his eye as he glanced over Jack's shoulder to get a better look at Sue. His eyes swept her form like she was the most succulent piece of meat he had ever seen. "Always so eager to… share."
He chuckled at the look of disgust that crossed Sue's features. Hayden had obviously been wrong about her. She certainly understood more than either of them first realized.
Jack knew what he was implying and it only made him angry. Sue Thomas was a Lady. She was born and bred for high society and propriety and she deserved to be treated with love and respect. It would have been impossible for Capono to understand either concept.
"What do you want, Tony?" This visit was already grating on Jack's nerves. Myles could see that the more this conversation progressed.
Capono seemed surprised by the interruption. He hadn't realized the blonde man had been in the room. Apparently, neither had Jack. "Leland," he nodded in the other man's direction, his gaze skirting to the dark skinned woman standing beside him, her hand resting gently upon his forearm. "Still living an… alternative lifestyle, I see."
Myles seemed to take the barb in stride. He didn't care what Capono or the rest of the countryside thought about his relationship with Lucy. His heart belonged to her and that was all that mattered. "As long as it disassociates me from the likes of you, Capono."
The kitchen was silent as the two men verbally sparred from either side of the room. The rest of the house had quickly gathered only to witness the trouble that Lord Anthony was stirring up. "I mean, she does have a sort of… attractiveness to her, I suppose," he said as his boots fell to the floor with a thud and he got to his feet, his eyes roving over Lucy just as boldly as he'd done with Sue.
This needed to be stopped before it even got started.
"But she's not really the type to be wedded. She's more the type to be b…"
"I'd watch your tongue, mate," Bobby warned with menace in his tone as he thumbed at the leather sheath at his waist that housed his hunting knife, "Lest you end up losing it."
"You've got a lot of nerve, Tony. One more insult or insinuation like that and I will personally throw you out." Jack would prefer into a pile of manure. "And if you've come here with another pitiful and useless offer for my land, you can forget it. Once again, my home is not for sale."
Capono's chuckle caused a chill to race down the collective spines of all who was gathered into the kitchen. Even Sue's though she couldn't hear the laughter. It was the maniacal glare in his eyes that caused the hairs to stand up on the back of her neck.
"Jack, Jack, Jack… Do you really think so little of me?" He motioned with two fingers to the girl he'd brought with him. She followed his silent command, though she never lifted her chin or showered her face to the rest of them. "I'm not all bad, after all. This isn't about business. More… personal."
Bobby and D shared a look behind Jack's back. They were obviously both thinking the same thing. Capono was up to something and when that happened, it was never a good thing.
Tony moved around the petite form of the girl until he stood directly behind her. "I've come here today to introduce my new servant. Since you're so interested in the lower class, Jack, I thought you might be interested." He brushed the dark hair out of the girl's pale face. Her head remained bowed in the sick sort of obedience Capono craved from his people so he had to lift it with a light stroke of his index finger under her chin.
Her head lifted slowly, her green eyes still downcast as she lifted it to its full height.
The breath instantly rushed from within Sue's chest as her eyes took in the sight of the poor girl standing before her. Her heart sank at the blank look in those eyes she knew had once been so bright and vibrant. She was empty. A shell. A soulless body created only to serve the pleasures of the flesh.
"Lily."
