The Death Letter (Reverse Harem)

Chapter Two: Fourth of July

Lily Mayfield
July 4th, 2024

"Come to Mommy. It's okay. I'm not gonna hurt you honey." Mama was by the fire in the back yard again. Bad things always happened when the fire was burning.

I walked barefoot to her and she put me down in her lap, wrapping her arms around me. "You're gonna be brave for me now, honey. Be a sweet girl and don't scream. He chose you for sacrifice again this year." Uh oh.

I tried to squirm out of her lap but Mama was too strong. She had a knife in one of her hands while the other pinned me to her. The knife cut my palm and I screamed. "Mama, please stop! It hurts! It hurts!"

She squeezed my bloody hand in a fist over the fire. "I told you not to scream. No sleeping with Mommy tonight. Bad girls don't get love."

Sleeping without Mama when the fireworks went off was scary.

My body jolted awake. I put my hand over my heart and tried to steady my breathing. I had no idea where I was or whose bed I was in.

Memories of last night flooded in my mind. Working with Rocky all night. The deal. Him bringing me his house and showing me to the guest bedroom.

I sluggishly climbed out of the King sized bed, neatly folding the white bedding at the end of the bed to be washed.

Before leaving the room, I checked over my appearance in the full sized mirror. My curly brunette hair was in a clustered mess, the striped overalls I somehow managed to fall asleep in were all discombobulated and my eyes had deep purple circles under them. This would not do.

I put my hair up in a messy bun and made myself look as presentable as I could.

The guest room was at the end of the hall so I timidly walked down it, not really sure where I was going. The house was huge but was easy to navigate as there was an open floor plan. I heard someone talking towards the right as I reached what seemed to be the front of the house.

With hesitant steps, I walked towards the voice and found myself in the kitchen.

Rocky's back was to me, sitting on a tall stool against an island counter. Another man stood on the opposite side of the island, transferring food from a pan to different plates. He was speaking in a language I didn't understand- French I was guessing based on his accent.

He glanced up at me once and then his eyes permanently met mine after a moment. "Ahh, you must be Lily." He gave me a warm smile and ushered me over to the kitchen with his hands. "Please, come. Breakfast is ready."

Rocky turned his head and patted the stool next to him. I nervously walked over and plopped down on the seat. It felt wrong to see my boss so casually in nothing but green sweatpants and a white tank. His near shoulder length hair was messy and his voice was slightly deeper than usual which made me all tingly inside. I felt dirty for the uncontrollable sensations happening in my body.

"Pierre makes the second best omelettes, next to mine of course." He winked at me and took a bite of the food.

Pierre set a plate in front of me and another at the placemat to the right so I was sitting between the two. "Don't believe a word he says. His omelettes taste like styrofoam." He whispered in a thick accent loud enough for Rocky to hear.

It's Rocky who whispered in my left ear this time. "He's deflecting. I take back what I said."

I'm not entirely sure why but my face was beet red from the two men whispering in my ears. I shoved the food in my face to try and hide it. The heavenly flavors exploded in my mouth and I made an Mmm sound at the taste.