Elegant Sins (Dark Secret Society 1)

Who the hell lived here? Surely no one person could own such a place. But it wasn’t a historical landmark, either. At least not one I’d ever heard of. People were crazy for their Southern history in these parts, and this place had never come up on any of the class field trips or anything else I’d ever heard about even though it was only a couple hours away from where I grew up.

I didn’t know much about architecture, but this place had to be, what? At least 100 years old. But for as big as it was, it was probably pre-Civil War. So that meant over 150 years old.

My gawking was cut short though, when my door suddenly opened.

There was Jeeves, looking as calm and unperturbed as ever. He held out an arm to me. “Miss Morgan.”

Oh shit. I’d been distracting myself with details of the house but here Jeeves was, throwing my actual situation in my face again.

“What if I don’t get out of the car?” I squeaked. “What if I ask you to turn around and take me back home? Will you do it?”

He sighed impatiently, the first time I’d seen him do anything like break character. “Back home to what, exactly?”

My mouth dropped open for a moment. “I have a life. I might not be rich”—I gestured lamely to the huge mansion in front of us—“but it’s a life and it’s my own.”

“Miss Morgan, the correct procedure is to wait until you are inside, but since you’re already here, I’ll ask you now. What do you want?”

“What do you mean? Look, I’m just asking if you’ll take me home.”

“Is that what you want?” he peered at me curiously. “What do you really want out of life? To go back to your life—a life that is ‘all your own,’ to use your words. No one is forcing you to be here, Miss Morgan. If you stay, you do so of your own free will. But were you truly free?”

He leaned in ever so slightly. He had to be dying of heat in the September sun, dressed to the nines like he was, but he didn’t bat an eye.

“I had a glimpse of your life, Miss, and pardon if it is not my place, but it didn’t exactly look like freedom to me.”

He pulled back. “Inside you will be interviewed. They will ask you again what it is you truly want. You can ask for anything. You are Aladdin and we are your magic lamp.”

“But it comes at a price,” I said emphatically.

Jeeves just looked at me like I was being foolish. “Do you think you deserve to be given something for nothing? That’s the way a child thinks, Miss Morgan.”

I nodded, biting back curse words on the tip of my tongue. I wanted to lash out at the guy, tell them all to go to hell, and run away before I got in too deep.

Maybe it was cowardly. Maybe it was prudent. Maybe it was my gut telling me to get the hell out of here.

But Jeeves was right about one thing—living paycheck to paycheck didn’t feel like freedom. And I couldn’t keep going back and forth like this.

I swallowed hard and looked back up at Jeeves, the afternoon sun so bright, I had to squint. “The men. Are they very horrible?”

I couldn’t be sure, but I thought maybe his face tightened just the littlest bit?

“There are rules to protect you. You will have a safe word that you may use at any time.” He stood up straighter. “But know that if you do use a safe word, it’s all finished. You will be immediately removed from the house. You forfeit your prize. You get nothing. There is no partial credit. But the choice is always yours. You may leave at any time.”

I blinked rapidly at that. “Do… do girls leave often?”

“I’ve worked here eleven years, and it’s only happened once.”

“Out of how many girls? How often does this happen? What happened to the girl who went home?”

He smiled and I couldn’t read him. “That’s enough for now. Will you enter?” He held out his arm once again.

I felt like Alice peeking down the rabbit hole.

Half of me wished I’d never seen this man’s face. That he’d never walked into the diner with that damned piece of paper and offered me this weighty choice.

But then I took his arm and he led me up the drive toward the intimidating mansion. A little further. I’d go a little further. I could always say a “safe word” and stop at any time, right? I could go back to my boring little life where nothing exciting ever happened. Where I had few choices and even fewer options of actually getting ahead in this unforgiving world.

“Let me introduce you to Mrs. Hawthorne,” Jeeves said.