Read Online Pretty Perfect Toy -- A Temptation Court Novel (Temptation Court, Book 2) by Angel Payne - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Angel Payne
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long second. “I was a kid from a shoebox apartment in Jersey. Farthest I’d ever been in my life to that point was the Canadian side of Niagara Falls. So getting to see a real European castle, much less find myself living in one…” I stop to pull in a breath—and make a new stab for all the right words. “Very quickly, it started to feel like a dream. A damn good one.”
“And Lily became part of that.”
“To an extent…probably…yes. I mean, she sure as hell looked the part…” My voice trails as the remembrance takes over. In those early days, Lily was every inch the princess, with her porcelain skin, dark hair, and tentative smile—when she decided the situation warranted a smile. “But…”
“But what?”
Belatedly, I realize how thick my silence has gotten. Silence—the gift Lily keeps giving. Once upon a time, I called it her “glamorous stillness.” Once upon a time…when I was a Jersey apartment kid suddenly living in a castle. “But dreams are different things to different people.” I surprise myself by looking up. Looking there . Making sure the maw of that shattered window is stamped hard into my psyche. “If you fall asleep in the tower, you’ll dream of clouds and flying. If you curl up in the dungeon, you see monsters in your sleep.”
More silence. But just a moment of it.
“And Nash Quinn kept his daughter in the dungeon?”
Harsh laugh. “Nash Quinn would have built a stairway to the clouds for Lily if she asked.”
Ella sighs. The sound is filled with instant understanding—and unique sorrow. “So she chose the dungeon.”
I lift a stunned stare. Smack it away with a fresh dose of duh, dumbshit . Will I ever get used to the dichotomy of this woman? Do I want to? Her ability to figure people out like an ancient seer, though things like automatic tellers, flavored water, and Twitter fascinate her like a child discovering its own toes…I really am reduced to a card-carrying dumbshit—and proud of it. Beautiful sorceress. Bewitching girl…
“Yeah.” I release a long breath too. “She did.”
One of her hands lifts again to my nape. Soothes with rhythmic motions through the ends of my hair, into the tight muscles beneath. “And there was nothing your friend could do about it.”
“Which tore him apart.”
“Which tore you apart.”
I let my grimace serve as a yes —before my mind fills with more scenes from those days. Five years. They sometimes feel like five decades—and sometimes, like now, feel like five minutes. “Nash wasn’t just my first real world boss. He was the first major business figure who believed in me, mentored me. Lily was the only thing he had left of his wife, who died when Lily was a girl. Watching him grieve about her, even after spending millions on her…”
“But things weren’t what she needed.” Her caresses continue, matching the quiet calm of her voice. “Help was what she needed.”
“Yeah.” I remain a block of tension, refusing even a thought about any pleasure from her touch. Punishing myself for everything, even now. “Help we couldn’t identify.” I jab a growl into it. “You hear all the talk about depression…all the signs, all the stats…but when it’s staring you in the face, you hit the damn denial button. Call it ten thousand other things. Make up excuses for it…”
“Try to save it?”
I jerk up my head. Search her face. “Was that wrong?”
Her brows lower. Her lips purse. “Wrong?” she replies. “Do you mean following your nature? Being true to who you are?”
I feel my own gaze narrow. “What the hell does that have to do with—”
The music of her laugh cuts me short. “Oh, Cassian. It has everything to do with—everything.” She slides her fingers along my jaw. “You are a warrior. You fought to excel in school then in business. In the middle of the two, you battled even your mother—though I wager you have fought on her behalf as well, depending on when your brother was not
“And Lily became part of that.”
“To an extent…probably…yes. I mean, she sure as hell looked the part…” My voice trails as the remembrance takes over. In those early days, Lily was every inch the princess, with her porcelain skin, dark hair, and tentative smile—when she decided the situation warranted a smile. “But…”
“But what?”
Belatedly, I realize how thick my silence has gotten. Silence—the gift Lily keeps giving. Once upon a time, I called it her “glamorous stillness.” Once upon a time…when I was a Jersey apartment kid suddenly living in a castle. “But dreams are different things to different people.” I surprise myself by looking up. Looking there . Making sure the maw of that shattered window is stamped hard into my psyche. “If you fall asleep in the tower, you’ll dream of clouds and flying. If you curl up in the dungeon, you see monsters in your sleep.”
More silence. But just a moment of it.
“And Nash Quinn kept his daughter in the dungeon?”
Harsh laugh. “Nash Quinn would have built a stairway to the clouds for Lily if she asked.”
Ella sighs. The sound is filled with instant understanding—and unique sorrow. “So she chose the dungeon.”
I lift a stunned stare. Smack it away with a fresh dose of duh, dumbshit . Will I ever get used to the dichotomy of this woman? Do I want to? Her ability to figure people out like an ancient seer, though things like automatic tellers, flavored water, and Twitter fascinate her like a child discovering its own toes…I really am reduced to a card-carrying dumbshit—and proud of it. Beautiful sorceress. Bewitching girl…
“Yeah.” I release a long breath too. “She did.”
One of her hands lifts again to my nape. Soothes with rhythmic motions through the ends of my hair, into the tight muscles beneath. “And there was nothing your friend could do about it.”
“Which tore him apart.”
“Which tore you apart.”
I let my grimace serve as a yes —before my mind fills with more scenes from those days. Five years. They sometimes feel like five decades—and sometimes, like now, feel like five minutes. “Nash wasn’t just my first real world boss. He was the first major business figure who believed in me, mentored me. Lily was the only thing he had left of his wife, who died when Lily was a girl. Watching him grieve about her, even after spending millions on her…”
“But things weren’t what she needed.” Her caresses continue, matching the quiet calm of her voice. “Help was what she needed.”
“Yeah.” I remain a block of tension, refusing even a thought about any pleasure from her touch. Punishing myself for everything, even now. “Help we couldn’t identify.” I jab a growl into it. “You hear all the talk about depression…all the signs, all the stats…but when it’s staring you in the face, you hit the damn denial button. Call it ten thousand other things. Make up excuses for it…”
“Try to save it?”
I jerk up my head. Search her face. “Was that wrong?”
Her brows lower. Her lips purse. “Wrong?” she replies. “Do you mean following your nature? Being true to who you are?”
I feel my own gaze narrow. “What the hell does that have to do with—”
The music of her laugh cuts me short. “Oh, Cassian. It has everything to do with—everything.” She slides her fingers along my jaw. “You are a warrior. You fought to excel in school then in business. In the middle of the two, you battled even your mother—though I wager you have fought on her behalf as well, depending on when your brother was not
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