CHAPTER SIX

Megan's POV

The mansion was larger than any of the residences we had passed, and somehow that made it feel less like home, and more the place where the Carusso family kept their prized personal collection.

"Your room is this way, ma'am," one of the maids said, leading me down another long corridor, which ended in a door. She opened it to reveal a large bedroom, the size of which was at least double that of our apartment back in London, with one lone bed occupying the center. "If you need anything, you just call for Dorothy," she said, gesturing to herself. "That is me." She left before I could respond, and I stood in the doorway, staring at the lone bed until Arian's voice came from behind me.

"There is only one bed," I said, turning to face him. "We agreed to have separate rooms. It is written in the contract."

"I am aware of the terms of our agreement," Said Arian, unperturbed, as he loosened his tie. "The staff here is under the impression that married couples share a bed. I did not think it necessary to explain to the staff that we are not in any way married."

"You could have warned me."

"I warn you now."

I crossed my arms over my chest. Despite the late hour, exhaustion was already creeping up on me. "People will talk if you make us sleep in separate rooms."

"They do," He said simply. "More than you know. If they were to find out that we are not even sleeping in the same room a week into our "marriage", then everything we are doing here would come crashing down around us. I need you to pretend that tonight never happened, Megan."

I did not have an answer for that, because he was right. He always seemed to be right about these things.

He must have seen the defeat in my expression, because his mouth tightened into a grim line. "I will be sleeping in the study. You will be sleeping in the room. As far as anyone needs to know, what happened tonight never happened."

Something in my chest lightened, though I did not dwell on it. "Thank you," I murmured.

He gave a small nod, and turned to leave. "We'll have dinner soon, afterwards you should get some rest. Tomorrow will be difficult enough." With that, he left the room, and I was left standing in the doorway of the room, which was the size of our entire apartment, staring at the lone bed that would supposedly be mine for the next few months.

It took an hour for me to unpack the few bits of clothing that I had brought with me, which seemed to dwarf in the size of the room. My mother's scarf laid atop the vanity, along with the framed picture of us that I had brought along, the only things I owned worth decorating with. The rest of the room was already filled with expensive furniture, draped in fabrics that I could only assume were selected by a woman who had far more refined tastes than I ever hoped to acquire. By the time the maid came to show me down for dinner, I had already changed twice, unsure what to wear for a meal that I would be eating alone with a man who had ensured that nothing about this evening felt special.

The dinner was an exercise in restraint. Arian sat across from me at a long table, the likes of which I had not seen since my last visit to my grandparents' house, the distance between us as wide as if the table had been built for twelve instead of two. He ate in silence, save for the occasional glance at his phone as he scrolled through it, while I picked at my food, pretending not to feel like an interloper in this house that was not mine.

"Is it always this quiet?" I asked finally, unable to take it anymore.

He looked up, as if realizing I was even here "I usually eat alone," he replied. "Or with work."

" Well, I am not work." I said sharply, setting my fork down harder than I meant to. He gave a small smile, as if I had said something amusing.

"No," He agreed. "You are not." He did not say anything else, and I did not press him, because I knew that whatever had happened tonight was something that he thought best be kept quiet. For the rest of the meal, we ate in companionable silence, though the way that both of us kept glancing at the empty space between us made it feel anything but comfortable. Near the end of the meal, I caught sight of one of the staff watching us from the doorway, a strange expression on her face, one that reminded me most of pity. It vanished as soon as I met her eyes, as if she thought it best for no one to know that she had felt that way in the first place

After dinner, Arian disappeared into the study, muttering something about a call he needed to take, and I was left to find my own way back to my room, which I somehow managed to do wrong. I wandered the halls twice before realizing that I was hearing voices. "...still can't believe he actually went through with it," one of them said, low enough that I had to lean against the wall in order to hear. "...everyone assumed it would be her," said the second. "The whole household was prepared for her to come back at some point." "I know, poor thing doesn't even know what she's gotten herself into." "Don't say her name where anyone can hear you. You know how it is around here." There was a pause, followed by the sound of hushed laughter. "I'm just saying, when she comes back, this is all going to be very inconvenient for the new Mrs. Carusso, that's all."

I froze where I was, my heartbeat loud in my ears.

...she. Her. Someone that the whole household was apparently expecting to come back, who everyone already knew about. Someone important enough that her name was too dangerous to say, even in a place where everyone already knew it. Someone whose eventual return would undoubtedly cause me no end of grief, given how inconvenient it would be for the new Mrs. Carusso.

I did not move until the voices grew distant enough that I barely heard them at all, my thoughts still turning over the conversation feverishly. Whatever it was that they were talking about, it certainly did not concern a guest. Not when they said that everyone assumed it would be her, and that she was not even aware of the situation she was stepping into. Not when they said that her return would be such a problem for me in particular. Whoever she was, I was evidently the last person in this house to know about her, and that would not do at all.

It took me a while to find my way back to my room, my mind whirling with the implications of what I had just overheard. Apparently, Arian had not been entirely forthcoming about the terms of my employment here, because it would seem that the entire household had expected me to be someone else entirely. Someone who they had apparently been preparing for, even as I arrived under the pretense of being a mere guest. I lay awake long after I should have been asleep, staring at the ceiling in a room that no longer felt like it belonged to me.