Chapters (66)
- Cover
- Dedication
- Keep Reading
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Thirty-Two
- Thirty-Three
- Thirty-Four
- Thirty-Five
- Thirty-Six
- Thirty-Seven
- Thirty-Eight
- Thirty-Nine
- Forty
- Forty-One
- Forty-Two
- Forty-Three
- Forty-Four
- Forty-Five
- Forty-Six
- Forty-Seven
- Forty-Eight
- Forty-Nine
- Fifty
- Fifty-One
- Fifty-Two
- Fifty-Three
- Fifty-Four
- Fifty-Five
- Fifty-Six
- Fifty-Seven
- Fifty-Eight
- Fifty-Nine
- Sneak Peek
- Find Me
- Books by Mary Catherine Gebhard
- Acknowledgments
I wanted to tell him I was sorry. I was doing this for us. So I could stay, so I could be near him. I was doing this because of him. There was more to this than met the eye. I’d stolen something priceless and I had to give it back. He would understand that. He’d instilled me with that value, one my mother conveniently left out.
In the end I looked away.
I tied the final lace, and Grayson pulled his foot back so quickly I nearly stumbled.
“Woodsy?” Grayson asked when he realized my uncle was still there.
Ever the composed one, my uncle straightened his spine and turned from me to Gray. “Mr. Grayson, I will finish my job tomorrow.”
“Sure, whatever.”
A spark of surprise shocked my spine. Sure, whatever to a servant who’d basically just said he didn’t feel like cleaning. I knew they had a unique relationship, but if I ever said that to Abigail, I’d be kicked out faster than I could blink.
I listened to my uncle’s retreating footsteps as nausea grew like a weighted balloon inside me. I hadn’t realized how much I’d depended on the hope I could keep my shame internal and secret until now.
I couldn’t do this.
I couldn’t fucking do it.
What was I thinking?
Grayson gripped my chin. “Do you know what today is?”
“T-The Swan Swell,” I stammered.
“Time to test that big ear of yours.”
Seven
STORY
All my years at Crowne Point I’d never been to a Swan Swell party at the Hall. It happened every year and was one of their more extravagant events. A little-known dirty secret: while we have a native swan population, more beautiful swans were imported to swim in the fountains, and silver and white glitter was brushed on their feathers so they shimmered in the air. Women spent the whole year designing their bespoke feathered white dresses.
And everyone looked bored.
At least, those surrounding Grayson Crowne.
“Let’s go, Gray.” A girl with heavy lashes and heavier lips wove her arm around Grayson’s batting her eyelashes.
“I called dibs tonight.” Another girl wove her arm around his free one.
Grayson shook them both off without a word or glance, reaching into his back pocket for a cigarette. Still, they lingered at his side, watching him with gleaming eyes. They all did. Grayson had a quorum of people who hung on his every movement, just waiting for an order.
I recognized them, the way I recognized all Grayson’s friends who visited the Hall, but I wasn’t certain of their names, couldn’t match them to faces. They were all beautiful, made to be on magazines and in movies.