His Unexpected: A Demon Romance (COMPLETE)

Chapter One - Risky Bargain

Ash

Accepting Blaise Aoide as a trade for a seat at the table may have seemed foolish to some. Even most. Who was she, besides a girl stuck in a world that didn't respect her? She was beautiful, yes, but so were the thousands upon thousands of fans and fellow models that would have been happy to be with me. I had no need for a personal toy, as Edison Aoide implied after his daughter had left to pack her bags, nor a forced companion. There was nothing inherently remarkable about her.

But I'd overheard something before her father brought her to me. A conversation seen through another's eyes. Blaise Aoide knew I wasn't human, and she'd managed to get someone with a life oath to tell her about me. I'd have to punish Arthur Brodeur for that of course, but the point remained; people thought she was approachable, persuasive, trustworthy, and I could use a personal assistant with those kinds of traits. For even with my powers of suggestion, humans could detect the part of my soul that didn't match theirs.

If I had someone with me that other people felt comfortable around, they might loosen up, talk to her, tell her their secrets and suspicions. And I wouldn't need to lie to her about what I was. It was a risky bargain, and an unexpected turn of events, but there was a chance I could spin it in my favor.

The challenge would be getting her to trust me.

She sat across the limousine from me, looking at her reflection in the window with a hard expression. Her hair fell out of its bun in places, and an uneven layer of black makeup lined her eyes. She was in overly casual clothes, a pair of jean shorts and what I guessed was a band t-shirt, and her socks were mismatched. I guessed she hadn't known anything about this. Granted, my schedule did change, and I'd shown up a week earlier than planned, but Edison didn't seem phased. Not like her. I looked into her lap where her hands were balled up into fists and noticed they were lightly shaking. But the energy that radiated off of her wasn't that of fear.

It was anger.

I needed to talk to her, get a read on what she thought of the situation, maybe try and calm her down.

"Blaise," I said, and her knuckles turned white.

"You got ripped off," she said, her voice barely holding back rage.

"What do you mean?" I asked, and leaned forward to rest my elbows on my knees. Was she talking about the trade? She looked toward me, her eyes the color of bourbon meeting mine, and some of her anger seemed to dissipate, leaving behind uncertainty.

"I mean, you got ripped off," she told me, and leaned back into her seat with a sigh. "When you accepted that deal. I am definitely not worth a seat at the table."

"I had my reasons," I told her, and she bit her cheek.

"You said an item of utmost importance to the family," she continued, tilting her head back to look at the lights on the ceiling. "That's not me. I've never been included in anything, or told anything, or involved in any way except to dress up for the occasional dinner. My father doesn't even like me, let alone consider me his 'greatest joy' or whatever dumb shit he said to lie to you. I'm not special, and I'm nothing of importance."

"Maybe not to him," I said, and she snapped her gaze back to mine.

"Why'd you say yes?" she asked. Straight to the point.

"I believe I have use for you," I replied honestly.

"Use?" Her voice wavered when she asked this, and I reached out a hand to try and comfort her. She flinched back.

"I'm not going to hurt you," I told her, but she still watched me with distrust. Okay, okay. Let's try something different. "I overheard you talking with one of my... pawns."