Lies in Love by Ava Wood Read Free Book Online

by
black-out curtains and there was no semblance of light that he could
see.
    Landon
reluctantly pulled his bike to the curb as he checked the address
again. The darkness of the home and unkempt yard made the place look
vacant, but it was the address he’d been given so he wandered
to the door. He could hear the faint hum of what sounded like
chanting coming from somewhere inside as he knocked and waited for an
answer.
    “Come
in,” a seductive voice called.
    Landon
looked down at the all-black ensemble he had been advised to wear
before opening the door to step inside. The door creaked open and a
room full of candles sat before him. He could hear the chanting
resonating from the back of the house as he stepped inside. “Hello?”
    “Back
here," the voice called.
    Landon
had nothing to go on, no face, no real name, not even expectations
for the date. As he made his way through the darkened home, he
wondered just what he’d gotten himself into. When he rounded
the corner to what appeared to be a kitchen, he found a table for two
lit by candlelight and a willowy woman looking to be in her early
thirties sitting stark naked at the table. “Lady Vanna?”
    “Sit
down.” Her seductive voice had grown commanding and Landon did
as he was told. “I’ve fixed you something to eat.”
As she spoke, she lifted a silver serving lid from the table to
reveal a black plate containing a large T-bone steak.
    Landon
stared at Lady Vanna a moment, examining her obviously dyed black
hair and dark-as-midnight eyes. If the house hadn’t been
disturbing enough, her appearance did the trick. He wasn’t
certain what Lady Vanna had in mind, but he wasn’t sure how
keen he was on finding out. Unsure of whether she’d tainted the
food, he decided to decline eating. “I’m sorry to say I’m
not hungry. I wasn’t aware I’d be---”
    “Don’t
be rude. Eat.” Her eyes were squinting, staring him down.
    Landon
quickly cut into the steak and saw blood oozing at the edges. He was
all for a medium-cooked steak, but this cut was practically mooing.
“Honestly, I just can’t.” He was trying to be
polite, to meet her expectations, but virtually uncooked meat was
just something he couldn’t endure.
    “Fine.”
Lady Vanna threw down the napkin she’d had in her lap and
grabbed Landon by his collar as she passed. “But you must be
cleansed.”
    “Okay.”
He was utterly confused. Was this some kind of joke the guys were
playing on him? Did he really look like he hadn’t taken care of
himself? Lady Vanna guided him through a bedroom and, along the way,
Landon couldn’t get the pungent odor of copper out of his nose.
“What is that—”
    “Do
not speak again until you’ve been cleansed.” Lady Vanna
pulled harder at his shirt, dragging him closer to the smell.
    In
Landon’s six years as an escort, he’d dealt with his
share of crazy, but this woman seemed completely off her rocker. As
nuts as he accepted her to be, nothing prepared him for what he saw
inside the candlelit bathroom. “What is that?”
    “Do
not speak.”
    “Is
that blood?”
    Lady
Vanna whipped around to face him, covering his mouth with her hand.
“I won’t ask again. Now get in the bath.”
    Removing
her hand, he uttered, “Look, there are some things I’ll
do and some I just won’t. Getting in a pool of blood is not
something I’ll even consider.”
    “I’ve
paid my money, now be cleansed.” She shoved at his back,
knocking him closer to the blood.
    Landon
looked at the thick red pool before him and weighed his options. He’d
done things before that he wasn’t proud of, but he just
couldn’t fathom this. It was too much.
    “Stop
thinking. Turn off your emotions and get in already.”
    “No,
I can’t. I’m not built that way.”
    “You’re
an escort. Of course you’re built that way. Isn’t that
what being an escort is? You turn off your emotions to avoid
attachment. Just pretend for an hour you’re someone else. Isn’t
that what your