The Blood Bride (Blood Secrets) by Imogene Nix Read Free Book Online Page B

sort of detail just didn’t exist. For now, she would have to swallow her arguments until an opportunity came along to do something more fulfilling, and to prove to them that her place in life did not include setting rental rates and choosing colour swatches. After all, now she had the added fear of the news her mother had imparted.
    Her stomach rumbled loudly in the empty room, the churn painful as the lack of food was brought to her attention. Lunch had been a cold affair, and Hope’s appetite non-existent as the three senior women of the household had sat picking their way through a meal none of them wanted.
    Alexa had been there with her blonde hair artfully tied back. She’d also showcased her willowy frame to perfection. Hope had been irked by her vaguely superior attitude as she had wandered into the family dining room. As usual, Alexa was a fashion plate with her fitted hot pink pants and light cotton blouse, immaculate and much more suitable for the weather, while Hope had felt overdressed in her black pantsuit and heels.
    Hope had moved the salad and cold chicken around her plate as she’d listened to a muted discussion of nursery design. Was mint more appropriate or should she steer towards cream with gold scrollwork? Her mother’s replies, warmer towards Alexa than they were to her, had reinforced the emotional chasm that now existed between them.
    She had made her excuses as soon as she could, and fled the room, but not before her mother had made the announcement to Alexa that Hope would be taking over the household in the next few months.
    Alexa’s eyes had narrowed, and for an instant Hope had seen dislike…no, hate spike through her cold blue eyes, while her lips had flattened with distaste.
    Now, standing alone in her room, she looked up into the mirror, critically examining herself. Violet eyes, blue-black hair long and fastened back in a faultless chignon. Classically simple diamond drops at her ears and throat, and the long black and silver gown made her look like an adult, but inside, where it counted, she felt like a lost little girl playing dress-up in someone else’s life.
    How was she to get out of this? Even as she pondered the thought, the phone buzzed and she reached absently to answer. “Hope here.”
    “Miss Hope? The guests are due to arrive momentarily and the Master is expected in a few minutes. Your mother asked me to let you know that you are expected.” The voice was vaguely apologetic, and she knew Gareth was uncomfortable passing along the summons. No doubt, the household had already heard about the tensions in the family. She felt a moment of embarrassment as her skin flared hot and she closed her eyes. It wasn’t fair to live in a goldfish bowl like this and subject others to the angst within her family.
    “Tell my mother that I am on my way, thanks, Gareth.” She replaced the receiver, then with a last look at the woman she saw in the mirror, the one with lost eyes, Hope turned away, her arches already reminding her she was unused to the high heels her mother had chosen.
    Hope moved along the shadowed hallway and down the steps, slowly this time, fearing the evening ahead as the usual dull and dry event her parents enjoyed. Then she brought herself back to where she was. It wouldn’t be auspicious if she started the evening with tripping and embarrassing her mother any further before she even reached the bottom.
    Once she stopped and glanced around the foyer it was clear that her mother would insist she be with them to receive the guests in the ballroom. She moved in that direction, heels tapping on the floor as she entered through the open door. Her mother and father waited with David and Alexa. Both men looked fine in their perfectly tailored black tuxedos, while Alexa stood, her appearance ravishing in her midnight blue gown, no doubt chosen to match her eyes, and cut low enough to show her shadowed cleavage, emphasised by the sparkle of jewels glinting like a million