Chapter 4

Adam POV

“What do you want?” She asked with a smirk.

“Nothing. Don't worry,” I said and walked away.

Gulping down on my second shot of whiskey, I started to grow impatient waiting for Aaron, my brother's personal psychiatrist.

Re-reading the Letter my brother, Richard, had sent me years ago, the task of finding him a suitable wife lingered on my mind.

With his mental condition, I had never considered Richard would want a wife.

We'd managed to hide his illness from the world for so long and built a unique persona for him, bringing in a third party to the family made me feel uneasy.

But maybe he did need a wife, he was dying anyway, continuing his bloodline legally wouldn't be such a bad idea.

I put the letter back into the envelope and ordered a third shot.

"Ugh"  Someone bumped into me,

knocking the letter out of my hand.

My men, watching in the shadows,

readied their arms in case she was a threat.

Keeping my expression stiffened, I turned to look.

"Oops,my bad!"  She says, bending down to pick up the envelope.

The mild flowery scent of peach stung my nose, it was... pleasing.

Rather than handing it over, she opens to read and pretends to have understood the content.

Her actions amused me. The letter was written in a specific coded language only my brother could understand, we'd made it up to bond and communicate in a special way–Richard's idea.

But what was more intriguing is the fact that she knew me and wasn't afraid of me, even when I glared at her.

Many women had used all sorts of tricks to approach me in the past, but none had dared be this bold.

She seemed the perfect bride for my brother—Smart and beautiful!.

With a hand at my back, I signalled for my men to be at ease.

I wanted to strike up a conversation with her, but Aaron finally arrived.  I painfully watched her disappear into the back door, I will have my men dig into her.

"I'm not so sure about this, Richie, we could still tell them to leave, it's not too late."  I look out at the gate through Richard's window.

Walking back to his sick bed, I try to convince him harder.

"And call it a wrap, what do you think?"

"No" He manages to say, shaking his head.

Refusing Richard has always been a difficult thing for me. I nod, and head out to interview the flocking guests one by one.

I sighted the lady from the bar standing in  line with the other women.

I smirked, signalling my men to bring her forward.

"Are you stalking me?"  I teased, observing her demeanour.

"Well, if you consider advertising your need for a wife as stalking, then yes."

She smiled, taking the seat in front of me.

"Witty, I like that"

"Just for clarity, what's in for me" she leans back into the chair

"For you? What makes you so confident?"

She shrugged.

"Nothing, I'm just a lucky butterfly I guess."

"Then tell me, Why would you want to be married to a sick dying man?" Curiosity pinched my mind.

"For the money of course, why else would I want to be associated with a viper?" She smirked.

Daring. Outspoken. Confident. I never thought I'd meet a woman like herself in these contemporary times.

Leaning into my seat, I signalled to one of my men behind me and whispered something into his ears.

"What is going on?" She asked, turning to see the other women being ushered out.

"We already found our bride."

Observing her uneasiness, I decided to take her for a walk through the garden.

"Your brother,what is he like?" She asks.

Turning to my left side, I glanced at her past my shoulder . "My brother is ... different. You'd get to know once you move in. My men will escort you to get your things?"

"Already?" She sounded surprised

"Wasn't that what you hoped for?" I stopped in my tracks.

She bumps into me again from behind.

"Ouch. Sorry."

Her sorry face made me chuckle.

"Do you have a hobby of bumping into people?" I turned to look at her.

"Sorry, I can be silly sometimes."

"Your name?"  I caught her stare at me, surprised. I flick an eyebrow, "You haven't told me your name yet."  

"Figured your men would've run a background check on me by now, or is that not so?"

"Think of it as an official introduction."

"I'm Elizabeth Hugh, twenty six years old, high school dropout who works at Christy's, the local restaurant downtown, as a waitress. Anything else you'd like to know?"

"None, for now." I scoffed. "I also figured something out. You dared to approach me to get my attention first, before any of these women did, didn't you?."

I caught her again, smirking.

"Were you not afraid?" I ask, curious.

"You were without your bodyguards, why would I be afraid? I saw an opportunity and took it."  She shrugged

"You were stupid" I chuckled. "I wasn't without security."

"How so? There was no one by your side last I remembered. Harming you would've been so easy if I had that intention."

"See, that is the trick. I own the club."  Her eyes widened In surprise.

Looking up at the East side of Richard's room window, I caught him staring at her before quickly covering the curtains.

"You should go prepare your things, my men will come pick you up by the evening".

***

"Closing the door to Richard's room, I walked over to him."

"I would introduce her to you when it is time" I covered his body up.

"She's the kind we need in our circle. She is also secretive, that is why we need to keep a low profile for now. We can't trust her motive, yet." I add.

Richard struggles to say something, but only ends up nodding. His condition kept getting worse.

He was diagnosed with Delirium, a mental condition that caused him to behave erratically.

Even though I was the younger one, I'd taken up looking after him and cleaning up his mess every time.

Aaron had said he only had a short time left to live. If only he had listened to me and stayed home on the night of the accident five years ago, a temporary anger that was about to cost him his life.

I clench and unclench my hands as I go down the memory lane.