CHAPTER 8
1269 Words
Inside Lord Harrison's suite, the air was velvet-thick with night. It was the night Evelyn had chosen to seduce Lord Harrison.
So, as she stepped out of the shower, she slipped into a silky, black-fitting dress that outlined the curves and contours of her feminine shape.
The deodorant she applied was a little too much, so she had to wait for its effects to subside. She will seduce her prey, not choke him.
“My Lord,” she said as she walked firmly into the suite. Across the table by the fireplace, Lord Harrison sat with a glass of champagne, and a cigarette dangled effortlessly between his lips.
Lord Harrison surprisingly raised an eyebrow. “Miss Evelyn, I am not shocked at how you love paying your guest a surprise visit. To what do we owe this occasion?"
Evelyn, the seductress, stopped just in front of him and smiled, her dentition sparkled white in the dim glow of the night. “I just felt maybe you'll need company.”
Lord Harrison was amused. She was not dressed this way just to keep him company. This young woman could have other missions but not company keeping.
She leaned down slightly, brushing her fingers against his shoulder as if dusting away something that wasn’t there.
“You’re tense,” she whispered, lips dangerously near his ear. “Power does that to a man, keeps him too wired to rest, too guarded to... feel,” Harrison smirked but didn’t move. She was too direct, and it irked him.
“You think you can help me feel?”
“I know I can.”
Evelyn was a chameleon and a snake put together, she switches personalities to suit her purpose. In one night, she had turned to Kairo's lover boy and Lord Harrison's seductress. Her hand trailed lightly down his chest, slow and unhurried.
She sat beside him, not across, legs crossing as her thigh brushed against his, her body was close, too close. The slit of her dress revealed more than it hid.
“Tell me, Lord Harrison,” she said, placing her hand on his knee. “What’s a man like you after? Empire? Legacy?” Her lips curved slightly. “Or is it something far simpler… and much more human?”
Harrison held her gaze, calculated and curious. He had been expecting this moment right from when he had overheard Uncle Hadrian telling her to seduce him.
Of course, it was one part of their big plan to make him fall for Evelyn and, in consequence, make her a beneficiary of his wealth and money. It wasn't enough that they had erased his parents, and they now want to partake in the wealth of the heir.
She leaned closer, her breath warm against his neck.
“Everyone has a weakness, even you. I just haven’t decided if I want to be it… or exploit it.”
Harrison was not cut out for such games. She should either cut to the chase and stop flirting like a ten-year-old. "My dear Evelyn, what do you want?" He asked her.
A chuckle escaped her lips, and like a wild temptress, she caressed his face and hair.
"Isn't it obvious I want you? Or is it about your darling Celesta?" She scoffed with charm. "Oh, c'mon. My Lord is allowed to have two women all to himself."
Evelyn leaned back against the couch, crossing one leg slowly over the other, her silk dress shifting just enough to catch Lord Harrison’s eye. Her voice dropped into a tender whisper as she reached for her wine glass, letting her fingers trace its rim.
“You know,” she began, eyes glinting in the candlelight,
“For a family so obsessed with appearances, the DeLanceys are rotten to the core. Every living thing in this household is after your wealth, power, and affluence. Do not once think you're lucky to be the darling of the household. It's your money which had earned you a favourite position in the family picture.”
She stood slowly, taking measured steps toward him, letting the tension simmer.
“And ohh... Lady Delancey could trade her soul to secure her status as the queen of the household.
Donald, I fear things are not going so well with him since you landed. He’d throw your reputation under a carriage if it meant pleasing his father. My stepdad and his brother?”
Evelyn stopped just inches from him.
“Well, I'll choose not to call the devil by his most common attributes, but the obsession with power and wealth is so terrible that you'll be crushed the moment you stop being useful."
Harrison raised a brow. “And what about you?”
Her smile deepened. “Oh...Me?” She leaned back. "I choose not to be in anyone's face. With that, I am unnoticed, and I get to live my life without worrying about pleasing anybody, dead or alive."
Evelyn stared deeply into his eyes. She could tell he was a bit tipsy. Good. Now was the best time to make him succumb to her influence. She rose, trailing the edge of the table with her finger.
She came around him and leaned temptingly into his ear. “I know you have power, Lord Harrison,” she whispered, her lips tickling his ears. “But your silence speaks volumes.”
“I’ve been watching you,” she continued, coming around to face him again. “The way you walk through this house is like you already own it. Like you’ve already sized up everyone here… and found them wanting.”
She caressed his face and brought her lips close, dangerously close so that Harrison could feel the thickness of her breath. “I wonder what it takes to impress a man like you.”
“I’m not easily impressed,” he said. Evelyn’s smile curved. “That’s what makes it fun.”
Her hands brushed the lapels of his coat, straightening them unnecessarily.
“I could be your ally in this place, you know. We both want something. Maybe we could help each other… enjoy the spoils.”
Harrison scoffed within him. If he needed an ally, it wouldn't be with a treacherous, two-faced lady who would do anything to suit a purpose.
He wasn't prepared to blow his cover, at least not yet; until he had properly crumbled the DeLanceys' household in revenge.
Just then, heels slapped against the marble floor like thunder, unannounced, fast, and impossible to ignore. The door swung open with force, and Lady Celesta stood, framed in the doorway like an Egyptian goddess.
Evelyn froze mid-step while Lord Harrison, still seated, didn’t flinch, but his eyes flicked sharply toward Lady Celeste.
Lady Celeste’s eyes went from Evelyn’s daring dress to Harrison’s relaxed posture, then down to the space between them that spoke more loudly than words ever could.
“So this is what the great Lord Harrison does in his leisure?” she said, her voice low, brittle. “Flirting with the household?”
“Mi' lady!” Harrison stood, already knowing words might fail him.
“Don’t bother,” she snapped, eyes glistening but refusing to break. “I was foolish to think you were any different from the men my father surrounds himself with. You're as rotten as they all are.”
She turned, her dress swirling as dramatically as her anger, and stormed out.
“Celeste!” Harrison raced after her, but she was already gone, her footsteps fading into the marble hall.
On second thought, he dashed inside and quickly changed into his houseboy attire.
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