Chapter 8 SCENTS OF SECRETS

LUCIEN

Her being so close to me felt a bit strange; her scent filled my nose as I tried to find out what it was. "Vanilla", I blurt, unable to help myself.

"What?" She looked up at me, her face scarred with bruises. I wonder if she intentionally left them exposed for me to see, or maybe she was comfortable with them on her.

"You smell like vanilla," I say, and then I begin to wonder why I had just blurted that out once again.

"Oh, it's the bath wash," she said, raising her hand to her nose and sniffing it gently. "I guess you know nothing about it, and those women were probably the ones who chose it," she added, and I nod because she was right. I had told them to make sure that the room was fit for her use. I was going to use her for my revenge but it did not mean I was going to treat her like her father did.

"Your face is bruised," I say, and she instinctively gently raises her hand to her face as if she were trying to cover it up. "Did something happen to you?" I ask. I wonder why I want to indulge in the details from her, but maybe it would be good for the basis of our relationship; breaking all of the stereotypes she already had of me would be good as well, at least according to Theo.

"Yeah," she said as if she did not know what else she was supposed to respond with. She bent her head, showing that she was not comfortable with me pointing it out.

"Do you need to go see the doctor?" I ask, and she lifts her head with her eye still facing down.

"Are you going to come with me?" She asked as if she were challenging me. I shake my head slowly, and she smiles at me; it is faint and kind of sad, but it has an electrifying feel. "Of course not; I was not expecting the answer to be yes, but I felt it might be fun to ask either way," she added and lifted her head to face me squarely.

"They can help you get to the doctor's office to get treated; those bruises might be more fatal than you think," I say, a bit concerned by the state her face was in. I had seen pictures of her in the wedding dress and the person sitting across from me now did not seem like the same person in the pictures.

"It's fine," she said in a dismissive tone, making it seem like I was worried about nothing; that only made my chest tighten. "If they can get me a first aid box, I can treat it myself." It was almost like she was telling me she had survived worse, but the words never came. I sigh and beckon to the woman who had been standing by, waiting for any instructions. She moves swiftly towards me and bows her head slightly.

"Get a doctor to come see her," I say, and the woman nods before going away. She had worked here for the last five years, and I was sure that she was not going to make any mistakes; she knew the right thing to do when guests came over. The emotion I was feeling felt wrong and out of place; it was not part of the plan, caring.

"You are making a big deal out of nothing," she said as she winced while trying to act as though it was nothing.

"You just flinched. That is not nothing." She stopped and stared at me as if she were trying to unravel what was going on.

"Am I not here as a scapegoat for something?" she asked without a beat. It was as if she had been waiting for me to say something along those lines. She wanted to know why she came here. "Why did I come here? Why did you make me come here?"

"Not everything has a reason; some things just happen. We got married and that's all," I interject. She is smarter than she looks. Myaeb would have helped Enoch's business better than his son, who was currently ruining everything with his poor decisions.

"Did you just decide to marry me? We've never met, and in no world is that normal," she threw back at me. I had not expected her to get confrontational with me. I lean in and shake my head.

"I guess I am not normal, right?" I smirk, and she looks at me unimpressed by my choice of words. "At least not according to the rumours."

"You want to know a lot, but the truth is that the less you know, the safer you are," I say. It's too early to let her know she was going to work against her family. "I am your husband now, and that is all that matters."

She puckered her lips as if she wanted to say something, but then they slowly fell, and she settled into her chair. "I hear you have more rules of things I am not allowed to do, so let's hear them," she said, finally giving up on getting any information from me.

"Well, it's simple; no one must know who I am throughout."

"Well, I do not have anyone to tell about this, so you can be sure your secret is safe with me," she shot back. It was obvious she was mad about something, but she was trying her best to hold it down. "Is that all?" she asked, pushing herself off the seat.

"We haven't had dinner yet."

"I am not really hungry," she said and then paused, her eyes flickering as if she remembered something before she lowered herself down to the chair. "What do you think about having a family?" she asked suddenly and the intention of what she means is not hidden at all.

"Why do you ask?" I avert her question because I have to know what made her think that far.

"I can do everything you want, but definitely not that," she said, and I frowned.

"Not what?"

"Sex" – the word hung in the air like a challenge. I didn't flinch, but inside, something shifted. This girl... she was going to be a problem.