Free Mesmerizing His Bride (Magical Mesmerism Book 3) by Nadia Nightside Page A

held up a finger, catching the waitress’s attention.
    The waitress was a perky young blonde, perhaps two years older than the two of them. She arrived with a smile.
    “Excuse me, but what the fuck is this?” asked Daniela, holding up her mostly-full plastic cup of soda.
    The waitress seemed taken aback. “So...soda?”
    “It’s diet . I asked for regular . Are you so simple that you can’t distinguish between completely different logos and words on your little machine back there?”
    “I...um...I apologize, miss, and...”
    “Oh, I get it.” Daniela smiled. “This is an intervention on your part. You drink diet, because you’re a cow, and you think every other woman in the world must also. Look at my fucking body. Is it not clear how much better I am than you? Do I look like I need diet soda? Is that what you’re telling me?”
    As she stumbled for an answer, Daniela grabbed the waitress by the elastic band of her skirt and poured her drink inside. The waitress let out a shocked little yelp. Her panties were soaked entirely with the sugary syrup water. The dark liquid ran down her thighs, bleeding into her socks and shoes.
    Paige knew that in other towns, probably someone would call the cops on Daniela. At the very least, she would be told to leave the Corner Diner. Instead, everyone kept eating and drinking, doing their best to look as if they weren’t paying any attention, and the waitress kept her head down, tears starting to brim in her eyes.
    “Fix it,” said Daniela. “Now.”
    Daniela turned back to Paige. “Sorry. Good help is just so very hard to find, isn’t it? I’ll need to find out her name and make sure Father knows to discipline her family later.”
    And that was why no one dared stand up to Daniela. Her wrath was legendary in the town, and either through the town’s factory or one of many side businesses, her father owned almost every source of income the town had. He doted on her endlessly, and she milked him for it, and his own moral standing was firmly in the gray. Punishing some waitress’s family for a wrong drink order was rather on the low end of the scale of what Paige had been witness to in the past.
    Daniela’s wrath was, incidentally, why Paige was turning to her for advice. Paige had friends who would be more compassionate, probably, and more understanding, but Daniela would catch wind of Paige going to them first, and this was something that Daniela, as Paige’s self-proclaimed BFF, would be highly offended by.
    Depending on the nature of Daniela’s advice, the gorgeous blond might also end up offended by Paige going to ask someone else for advice after being consulted first. It was a tricky prospect all around.
    Tricky prospects like that were why Paige kept so much to herself. No one knew she was still a virgin, for instance, except for Daniela. What Daniela thought was that Paige was saving herself for marriage. The truth of it was a little more complicated—that Paige was saving herself to by ravaged by just the right man.
    And she just didn’t feel Charles was that man, as much as she adored so many things about him.
    Paige struggled to not say something about the overkill that Daniela had performed on the waitress.
    “Good help is hard to find, you’re right. It’s a shame she forced you to do that.”
    “Isn’t it?” Daniela nodded, examining her perfectly manicured nails. “Now, what is it that’s troubling you, dear? You’re feeling trapped, you said?”
    “Yes. It’s just...I do so love Charles, but lately I just can’t get around the fact of just...” she sighed. “He is so very affectionate, and so very sweet, and he consults me on every single little decision that he makes. ‘Should I wear this tie with these shoes? This shirt with these socks?’” As if on cue, her phone buzzed. She picked it up and showed it to Daniela. “He’s left me thirty text messages since I’ve sat down here. And I’ve talked to him about this, Daniela. I have!