Billionaire With a Twist by Lila Monroe Read Free Book Online Page B

in their weave, gold-framed oil
paintings that looked like they’d been taken straight from a
museum. I felt like I’d wandered onto the set of a period
drama—only the electric lights and air conditioning kept me
from feeling like I’d straight-up taken a time machine into the
past.
    I might have wandered through those
luxurious labyrinthine hallways forever, but after about fifteen
minutes my stomach rumbled in response to the delicious smells being
wafted from somewhere nearby: sizzling bacon, baking bread, fresh
squeezed orange juice…
    It was way past time for a proper
breakfast.
    I tried to follow the scent, but
instead of leading me to the kitchen, I stumbled into a room full of
animal heads. Lions, rhinoceroses, tigers, wolves, cougars, panthers,
and bears leered at me with glass eyes from the walls, their mouths
twisted in frozen snarls.
    “Sweet baby Jesus, that’s
creepy,” I muttered.
    “I know, right?” a perky
voice said. “Hey, you want some breakfast, or should I leave
you to your safari?”
    I whirled, and saw a plump young woman
with a brilliant smile, her curly black hair barely tamed by a
ponytail, and her friendly brown eyes sparkling with amusement. With
her dark slacks and button down, she had to be a member of the staff.
But which one?
    “Sorry to spook you,” she
said, stepping forward and offering her hand. “I’m
Martha. I heard someone walking around and figured that this maze of
a house had claimed its latest victim. If you need some provisions
for your exploration, I can guide you to the kitchen. We’ve got
pretty much every kind of breakfast food you could imagine, and a few
you can’t.”
    “I’ve got a pretty good
imagination,” I said, shaking her hand. “But I thank
you.”
    “Trust me, you don’t want
to imagine the things we keep on tap for the U.K. ambassador,”
she said. “I’m going to go ahead and say one of them as a
warning: fish paste. As in paste, made of fish. And gelatin.”
    “Wow,” I said. “Warning
appreciated. I’m a simple girl, though, so can I just get some
bacon and eggs sunny side up?”
    “That and a side of fruit, plus
coffee that’ll put hair on your chest. Er, metaphorically,”
she assured me. “I don’t think I caught your name…”
    “Oh my goodness, that was so rude
of me, I’m sorry,” I apologized. “Allison Bartlett,
but please call me Ally. Very pleased to meet you, and not just
because you’re offering me bacon.”
    Martha led the way out of the room of
stuffed animal heads, and I followed, trying to keep track of the
route. I didn’t want to take a wrong turn when I was on my own
and starve to death, after all.
    “So, are you the cook?” I
asked to make conversation.
    “Oh, sweet fucking Christ on a
cupcake, no!” she blurted, and then covered her mouth with her
hand, giggling. “Sorry. I just had a vision of me trying to
work a blender to make anything other than a banana daiquiri and it
was absolutely horrifying. Nah, I’m Mr. Knox’s personal
assistant.”
    “Well, either way, you’re a
lifesaver,” I said. “I feel like I could get lost in this
place for days.”
    “Yeah, Theseus and the minotaur
had nothing on this place,” Martha agreed. “Last time the
British ambassador was visiting, we thought he had left after an
argument with Mr. Knox over the history of Scotch, but it turned out
he had just taken a wrong turn in the library and gotten stuck in the
greenhouse. Want me to make you a map after breakfast?”
    “More than I’ve ever wanted
anything else,” I assured her.
    She grinned. “I have a feeling
we’re going to be friends.”
     
    #
     
    “I don’t think I can take
another bite, and that is a goddamn tragedy,” I said.
    It truly was. The bacon was just the
right mix of crispy and tender, seasoned with hickory smoke and
honey, and the eggs were cooked perfectly, sprinkled in fresh-cracked
pepper and with just enough yolk spreading from them to dip the bacon
in. The bread was hot