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Chapter 89
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His Wicked Games series Chapter 90
- LILY -Sometime around 4:00 PM, I start to feel like I'm going crazy.I love having my friends and family around, but with all the ups and downs of this week, it's a little overwhelming to suddenly be surrounded by so many people. I catch a break when Lou and Ward finally join us. After spending most of the day in bed, Lou seems more than ready to socialize, and Ward also steps up as host, introducing himself to our guests. When I see that Regina and my dad have cornered Calder, I take the opportunity to slip outside for some fresh air.I only mean to wander around the gardens right next to the house. But the weather is so nice and I'm so relieved to have a few minutes to myself that I find myself moving further and further away. I'm the bride - I'm allowed a walk, aren't I? I feel bad for abandoning Calder to our guests, but I'll make it up to him later.It's not until I'm halfway around the house and the maze comes into view that I remember the events of yesterday - and the fac
His Wicked Games series Chapter 91
- CALDER -I can't believe that fucker has been on the estate. That he followed me all the way out here. That he's been breaking onto the property. That he's been in contact with Lily.I want to kill him for that last part alone. I don't even care that he caused a fight between us on the night before our wedding - I blame myself for that anyway. But I don't trust this man, and he could have done something to her - if not out of malice, then out of anger at me, or out of fear that she'd discovered him. She was alone, and she was vulnerable. And all of us in the house were too far away to have even known, let alone stop it.I don't know what Taran Harker intended to do by coming here, but I intend to end this once and for all.Lily is right behind me as I march down the hall."Calder," she says. "We need to handle this calmly."Calm is the last thing I feel right now. That man was on the estate. That man tried to infiltrate this family. That man might have hurt Lily. It doesn't mat
His Wicked Games series Chapter 92
- LILY -Morning comes too soon.I'm regretting asking the hairdresser to get here at 10:00 AM. I manage to roll out of bed at half past nine, but one glance in the mirror reveals that I look as exhausted as I feel. I'm going to need a crap ton of concealer if I don't want bags under my eyes in all the wedding pictures.Calder looks even worse, but that's because of the fighting he did last night. There's a huge bruise on his jaw and one of his eyes is slightly puffy.Fortunately, the answer to that comes at a quarter 'til ten, right when I'm trying to shoo Calder out of the room so I can get ready. There's a knock on the door, and when I open it I find Lou and Ward standing there. Lou has her dress and makeup bag with her, and she strolls right into the room, grinning as if she's completely forgotten about the events of last night. Ward, on the other hand looks a little worse for wear. He's sporting his own set of bruises.For a minute, I'm worried that he and Calder will go at i
His Wicked Games series Chapter 93
- LILY -I imagined we'd find ourselves in a room with a giant bed and a bunch of rose petals. What we get is even better.Ward and Lou have led us to the spa. I've never been in this part of the house before - considering it didn't exist back when I was here the first time around - and it's so beautiful that I gasp as we step into the atrium. The walls are covered with glass tiles of every shade of blue and arranged in wavy, swirling patterns, giving the impression that we're deep in the sea. Lou and Ward have decorated the entire room with candles, and the dancing light cast by the warm, flickering flames make it seem like the waves are actually moving. There's a small, trickling fountain in the middle of the room, and rose petals float on the surface of the water."Ward's been working all week to get it ready," Lou says. She's beaming.Ward actually looks a little sheepish as he rubs the back of his head."It was close to finished when the place passed to me," he says. "It wasn
His Wicked Games series Chapter 94
BOOK EIGHT: A CUNNINGHAM CHRISTMAS- WARD - December 23rdThe tree is up.The stockings hung.The wreaths placed on every door, the garlands hung across every window.But it's not enough.Over the past month, we've turned this estate into a holiday wonderland. This house is so huge I thought I'd never run out of things to do. But I have. The place is an explosion of tinsel and ribbons. The gardens are covered in twinkling lights. And now I don't know what the fuck to do with myself.Most of my initial restoration projects around the estate are done, so I've settled for any job I can find around here. Replacing the moldings. Resurfacing the tubs. Refinishing the hardwood floors. Anything to keep myself busy.That's why, two days before Christmas, I'm in a guest room at the back of the house with a can of paint. As long as I keep working, as long as I keep pushing this paint roller back and forth across the wall, I won't go crazy. I can keep myself from worrying about what's real
His Wicked Games series Chapter 95
- WARD – December 24thIt begins to snow overnight. There's only a soft dusting on the estate when we wake up on Christmas Eve, but the flakes continue to fall steadily. After lunch, when there are four inches of white powder on the ground, Lou bundles Ramona up in her winter gear and takes her outside for her first real glimpse of one of the season's greatest wonders.Our daughter won't remember it, of course, but that doesn't matter. I can hardly see Ramona's chubby little face beneath the hood of her puffy green jacket, but I can hear her laugh. Lou and Lily are sitting with her right on the ground, and they take turns throwing handfuls of snow into the air over their heads. Ramona squeals in glee as the fluffy white powder rains down over them. As I watch, Lou scoops up a huge heap of snow with her gloved hand and blows on it, sending a cloud of snow at our daughter. Ramona laughs again and flaps her arms.I'm standing on the front steps with Calder, watching this scene. I know
His Wicked Games series Chapter 96
- WARD -I can hardly sit still at dinner.I spent three hours this afternoon setting everything up. It took me a while to run extension cords out to the maze - I definitely didn't think that part all the way through, and I had to "borrow" cords from several of our other light displays - but I finally managed to get the power out to where I needed it. Spelling out "Marry me" was a bigger challenge. I can lay beautiful patterns with bathroom tiles or reconstruct a nineteenth-century window frame, but spelling out words with holiday lights is... well, it's a bitch. Every five minutes I had to stop and untangle the damn things again. Or figure out which of the approximately five hundred bulbs was lose and making the others flicker.I'll be honest - there was definitely a lot of cursing involved.But that's not why I'm so unsettled right now. I'm anxious because by the time I got the lights set up just the way I wanted them, it had started to snow again. And by the time I walked back t
His Wicked Games series Chapter 97
- LOUISA -I have no idea what's gotten into Ward, but he's officially insane.Why the heck would he run out into the snow right now? Without even stopping to put on a coat? The weather is only supposed to get worse.By the time I get to the door, he's out of sight.I run to the coat closet and grab my things. Coat, scarf, gloves, hat. He might be crazy enough to run out into that storm like this, but I'm not. I'm not going to catch my death just because he's lost his mind. Finally, I stuff the baby monitor in my pocket. I hate to leave Ramona upstairs by herself, but something is obviously wrong with Ward. She'll be all right for a few minutes - but if I have to go out of range, then that idiot can deal with his problems on his own.The moment I step outside, the cold hits me in the face like a brick.I'm going to kill him. I tug my scarf up around my chin and march down the stairs, stepping in the impressions left by Ward's boots. I almost slip near the bottom, but I grab the s
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