THE DEAL

taken

Beast/Adrian’s POV

     I gave my servants a very stern look, “Get the house prepared. She will be here tomorrow.”

     They all gazed at each other in awe. Stepping forward, a timid girl asked the question on everyone’s lips, “Are we designing her room, master? Or is she going to design it herself?”

     I thought about this. I didn’t know much about my young mate, but I knew one thing, she was an individual  unafraid to make her mark in her home. I smiled at the memory of her, “She’ll design it herself. And as I get to know her, I will write down her likes and dislikes to pass on to the chefs and gardeners.”

They all nodded in understanding and quickly scattered away to get to work. They had one day to get the entire house ready for her. Ella. Even her name sent shivers down my spine. I could not wait until she was in my arms.

The next day, the servants were all in a rush putting the finishing touches on the house. My princess was coming home and everything had to be perfect.

    “Master.” My personal butler, Damon, approached me. He had been by my side my whole life and was my closest friend, “It is time to retrieve the mademoiselle, sir.”

I nodded and walked out to my car. The Aston Martin’s engine purred with life as I swung it out of the driveway and sped off towards my new mate. 

After breaking around five-hundred speed limits and almost running over sixty civilians who were inconveniently placed on the road, I arrived at the house. It had taken me no more than twelve hours. Weighing the difference between my dangerous driving and my need to be with her, the twenty-four hours it would have taken me normally seemed irrelevant and simply stupid.

I strode up the driveway and towards the house confidently. As I knocked on the door, I was reminded of the day I found her. This time was different though. This time I would not leave empty handed. She would be coming with me and nothing would get in my way.

Ella’s POV

I looked around my room and sighed. How could I leave this place? Even if I was willingly leaving, I still wouldn’t be happy about it. I was leaving everything behind. I was leaving Maddie, my mum, and my dad. The fact that I was being forced to leave them only made things worse. It made me furious.

     “Ella,” My mother knocked lightly on the door as she opened it. “It’s time to go.”

     I lifted my gaze to her, feeling the tears well in my eyes and trickling down my cheeks, “Mum, I don’t want to go.” My voice was flat and croaky, backing up how awful I felt about all of this.

     She gave me a sad smile and pulled me up into a tight hug, “I know, honey, I know. But your father thinks this will be good for you. Please, just try it out for a while. If you don’t like it, we’ll figure something out.” She held me out at arm’s-length and smiled again. Stepping towards me, she wiped the tears from my cheeks with her thumbs and held my face in her palms, “You’re a brave girl, Ella. You’ll be fine.”

I sighed and nodded. Swinging my backpack over my shoulder, I followed my mother out of the room. I met my father at the door. 

     He bent down to kiss me on the cheek, “Être en sécurité.” His voice was a soft whisper in my ear. We rarely spoke in French unless we didn’t want anyone else to know what we were saying. He was telling me to be safe. 

I looked up at him and nodded slowly, “Always am.” I whispered back to him before walking over to Adrian. He was leaning on the hood of a very fancy looking car, making me wish I knew more about cars so I could say something about it and look smart.

Adrian took my arm and led me to the passenger seat. He smiled at me while I glared back at him, “Are you alright, Ella?” He sounded sincere, but I didn’t want to believe it. It would make my hating him all the more easier if I thought that everything his handsome face was a mask and his kind attitude was all a facade. 

      “Je vous déteste!” I spat the words at him and fastened my seatbelt. It was true. I did hate him. I hated him because he was the reason I was leaving everything behind.

     He looked at me, confusion clear on his face, “Sorry? I never learnt French.”

     A small feeling of triumph filled me as I rolled my eyes at him, “Pas mon problem.” With that I looked straight forward and crossed my arms, holding my head high. 

     I heard Adrian sigh as he closed the door and made his way to the driver’s side. He started the car and sighed again, “You’ll have to talk to me sooner or later.”

My annoyance levels were bordering on dangerously high now. If there was such a thing, Adrian could have won the ‘most irritating person’ award. I took my iPod out of my bag and shoved the ear buds into my ears. Whamming the volume up to full power, I looked sideways at Adrian. He was mad. His hand clutched the steering wheel tightly as he swung the car down the driveway and onto the road. He was looking straight ahead, but I could tell he wasn’t focussed on the road. His eyes had darkened. 

I smirked and leaned my head back, closing my eyes. I was going to make him regret taking me away. He was going to pay for what he had done. The last thought on my mind before I fell asleep was that he was going to take me home.