Gwendolyn scowled at the abrupt manner she had been roused and turned to face the other side.
Jonah kept knocking, seemingly intent on hammering down her door if she did not answer it soon.
Irritated by the racket, Gwendolyn flung aside her quilt. She slipped on her slippers and donned a thick sleeping gown before answering the door.
“What does he want this time?” she demanded, glaring at Jonah with a look of irritated disgust.
“Mr. Lund isn’t messing around this time, Ms. Harris. He visited a bar this afternoon and spent the day drinking. He even sent us away. When I went back for him earlier tonight, I found him drunk as a skunk with your name on his lips. So, the only thing I could do was to bring him here to you.”
Gwendolyn was impassive. Cold, even. “Give him something to sober up, then, or get him a doctor who would give him a jab. What good will it do sending him to me? I’m not a doctor.”
She was about to shut the door after her speech, but Jonah threw himself against the frame. “Please see him. He would feel much better in your presence.”
Gwendolyn’s frostiness did not dissipate. “I’m under house arrest because of him. He wouldn’t let me out of this house. What if he sobers up tomorrow and accuses me of misbehaving? Wouldn’t that be unfair to me?”
“Uh…”
Jonah was conflicted. He gave the matter a moment of serious thought before suggesting, “Why don’t I bring him to your room?”
“No way! I can’t stand the stench of alcohol on him. You’d better get back to Alzer Palace.”
Jonah fell silent.
“Gwen. Gwen…”
and laced with melancholy, traveled up the stairs from the
I’ll explain everything to him for you tomorrow. You wouldn’t want him to be keeping you awake, I’m sure. I’m begging
“Wake the maid,” she instructed. “Have her put together something to sober him
“At once.”
sprinted down the
furry sleeping gown tighter around
His cheeks were flushed with alcohol, and his wits
organic freshener to mask the stench of alcohol
Charles, she prodded him in the knee several times with
the night. Get lost
The haze of
toward the sound of Gwendolyn’s voice
able to conceal the disgust in her eyes, she snatched her garment out
“Let go!”
held on firmly.
at the thought of seeing Nico covered in blood from the torture that
left to wake the maid,
him two merciless slaps
dealt in quick succession, rang out sharp and
then did he loosen his grip on her shirt and sat up
swollen head and stroked his flaming cheeks, tender
“Gwen?”
After striking him, she regarded him with a bold glare. “Are you aware that you’re disrupting my sleep by turning up
his head, pretending not to hear her.
despair. Coupled with the handprints on his cheeks, he looked as if
fall, yet she remained unmoved. “You can drop your act. Get
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