We Shouldn’t Be Touching

{Harlow’s POV}Adrian didn’t fuck me last night so those hurrays were wasted. But keep them.Sooner or later, I’ll be needing them.Arian had had a switch of mood after he had received a phone call and so he had thankfully dismissed me, and then throughout today, he had been away from the estate, giving me more time to breathe and my heart time to settle. Now, it was nighttime but I wasn’t catching any sleep. I still felt tense due to all that had happened and all that was about to happen in this house. Meanwhile, I had been told that the greenhouse was the only place in the Estate that didn’t feel like a pressure cooker. Calista, one of the maids who has been kind to me since my arrival, had left me a note earlier in the pantry, tucked behind a sugar jar like contraband.“The Greenhouse is peaceful and beautiful to hang. Especially at night.” The note had read so now, I left my room and went there. The glass ceiling of the Greenhouse glowed faintly with moonlight and warm air wrap

{Harlow’s POV}The Estate woke early.By seven in the morning, the west hall was already drowning in flowers, silver trays, and servants moving with the sort of panic wealthy men called organization.I stood near the center table with a clipboard in one hand and boredom on the other.“Mrs. Vale?” one of the maids asked nervously. “Should the roses go beside the champagne tower or the staircase?”“The staircase,” I answered. “If they’re near the champagne, someone important will knock them over and blame the staff for it.”The maid looked relieved enough to cry.I understood her completely.These types of settings had the unique ability to make breathing feel performance-based.I glanced around the hall again. Velvet drapes framed the towering windows while chandeliers spilled pale gold light across polished floors. Long tables stretched across the room dressed in ivory runners and crystal glassware so expensive I became afraid to blink near them.The banquet was tonight.Which meant A