Taken (Dark Desires 1)

She forced herself to look up and smile at him.

“Good morning Conrad.” She said and looked away at her grandfather immediately.

“I’ll come down if Celia cooks me some scrambled eggs. That is the only way I’ll get out of bed.” Conrad said with that same wide smile on his face. Celia chuckled at the absurdity of it, and then she looked at her grandfather and at Wilder, with her widened brown eyes. She couldn’t believe that they actually expected her to do it.

“Just give him what he wants. Consider it your chore for the day.” Wilder said and before she could reply to him, he was riding away on his horse again.

“Two toasts, scrambled eggs and a glass of orange juice. You’ll find a tray in the kitchen for them. Bring them up to my room.” Conrad called out to her, before he disappeared back into his room again.

Celia huffed, her mouth hanging open a little as she turned to her grandfather in complete surprise.

“Thank you dear. He’s the baby of the family, quite spoilt. But a good boy you’ll see.” He said, his voice strained, but at least he sounded happy; Celia thought. She sighed deeply, patted his hand and walked back into the house. She couldn’t remember the last time she had made breakfast for anybody but herself.

The eggs and toast were ready in fifteen minutes. She arranged them on a heavy tray, placed a glass of orange juice next to them and started carrying it to the stairs. At the foot of the steps she breathed in deeply and licked her lips. Maybe this wasn’t a good idea, she thought. She didn’t want to be alone with Conrad, she didn’t want to be anywhere near him. But it was too late now, she should have said something to Wilder before.

She took the stairs slowly, stretching out time as much as she could till she finally reached the first floor, and to the door of Conrad’s bedroom. How spoilt was he? While his brother worked away at the ranch, without a single air of being wealthy; Conrad on the other hand behaved like he was some sort of prince.

Celia knocked on the door twice, before she heard his voice asking her to come in. The tray shook a little in her hand when she entered.

Conrad’s room was good enough to belong to a prince. With Wilder, it was easy for her to forget just how much money the two brothers had inherited, but Conrad clearly didn’t have any qualms about showing it off.

His bed cover was in a deep red velvet, to match the curtains as well as the upholstery on the chairs that dotted the room

. His carpet was thick and Arabian. There were gold fixtures on everything, and an elaborately embroidered dressing gown hung from the back of the door which Celia shut as she entered his room.

Conrad smiled at her, his face still a mess, as he straightened to sit himself up on his bed.

“Smells great, you’re a doll.” Conrad said as she brought the tray closer to him.

“Leave it on my lap.” He said and she placed it gently on his outspread legs. Then he patted the bed next to him, the smile still on his face. Celia remained standing in front of him and tucked a few strands of her curls behind her ears.

“Have a seat Celia.” He insisted, but she didn’t budge.

“I’ll go attend to my grandfather now. Enjoy your meal.” She said curtly and just when she was about to turn around, he stopped her.

“Be careful of my brother.” He had said.

Celia’s brows crossed and she looked at him, remaining still where she stood.

“What are you talking about?” She asked him, watching his every movement closely now. Conrad had begun to scoop spoonsful of scrambled eggs into his mouth, and held a buttered toast in his other hand.

“I mean exactly what I just said, that you should be careful of Wilder. I’ve seen the way you look at him.” He said, munching on his toast. Celia straightened her neck and raised her chin.

“You really shouldn’t accuse me of things you don’t know about. I hardly know your brother, or you. I’m here for my grandfather, to look after him.” She said, making sure that she sounded calm and confident. The last thing she wanted Conrad to smell, was fear.

“Sure, that’s why you came here. But wouldn’t you want to be looked after yourself?” He asked, smirking at her again. Celia kept her mouth pressed close. She couldn’t be sure what he was talking about and she wanted him to explain.

“You quit your job, a promising career. You can’t be sure how long old Jack will live, what will you do when you go back to New York after a year? Two years? You’ll be too old for the fashion industry, some new twenty-three-year-old would have taken your job.” Conrad continued, enjoying himself on her account.

“I’m not sure where you’re going with this.” Celia interrupted him before he could say anything else.

Conrad gave a small laugh.

“Just that you’ve had a chance to get a look around the house, and I know you like what you see. It could be yours.” He said. Celia’s head jerked up sharply to him, what did he mean? What was he talking about? She didn’t get a good feeling from all this.

“Don’t look so surprised honey. I’m only offering you a position by my side.” Conrad laughed again.

“What does that mean?” She cried, losing her temper at him.