Free Beautiful Whispers (Ausmor Plantation Book 1 - Romance/Suspense) by Alice Ayden

anything from the twenty-first century or even the nineteenth or twentieth would leave her soul scarred. Why was I like that? Sadistic little thing. I never thought of Mrs. Kiness as anything less than my own mother, grandmother, aunt, best friend, guardian. She didn’t work for me or my family. She was family.
    “Why does he bring out the worst in me?” That jarred me. Déjà vu? I remembered saying those words. When? Maybe when he was here before? I quickly knelt down and raised the comforter to see my cat. “Fanny, did I say those same words before?”
    Fanny Dingo sighed. I guess she was as sick of me as I was of myself.
    “Sorry.” I let Miss Dingo be and paced again. Byron never moved me like this. I didn’t get all weird around him. But Alexander listened to me. He questioned me as if interested in what I thought and said and did. Believe me, I was an expert at deciphering disinterest.
    Others patted me on the head and hinted that I bother someone else. Alexander didn’t. I saw depth in his eyes. He saw me. He heard me. So, what happened between us? If we were together before…why would I choose Byron?
    I ran down the stairs and started down the hallway to the door that connected the New Wing with the main house, but I stopped. I quickly glanced at my watch. 3:30. “Tourists would still be about.” I’d have to go out the side door, down the long walkway and over to the other side of the house.
    I lost energy just thinking about it. It would take about fifteen minutes to get to him. And only if I avoided tourists and potholes and The Bitty and bees and...I turned around and someone grabbed me. Before I knew it, I was in Bitty’s storage room.
    “This is our special place.” That voice: Johnston.
    He spun me to face him and backed me up until I slammed into some metal shelves. A shelf jabbed into my lower back, and the pain took my breath away. Only inches from Johnston, I tried to be brave, but he tasted my fear. I tried to scream, but nothing emerged.
    His predatory smile. That vinegar stench.
    I was in trouble. If anyone heard a noise from the storage room they would have thought it was Bitty and avoid like a herpes rug. “What do you want?”
    Shouldn’t have asked that. I knew what he wanted and didn’t need him to spell it out for me.
    He looked me over - s pecifically staring at my breasts.
    “My sisters’ are bigger. Why don’t you stare at hers for awhile.”
    He gripped my arms even tighter until I thought my bones would snap. I wished I’d never said anything. He moved his hand to cover my mouth, and he pushed me further until the shelves pinched at my kidneys.
    The pain jolted, and I struggled to stay conscious. I couldn’t lose it. I didn’t know what he’d do. I had to say something. “Byron.”
    Johnston stopped.
    I knew he was afraid of Byron. “He’s waiting for me. You know how he gets. If I’m not there...”
    Johnston ’s beady eyes soaked me in. He tried to determine if I was lying. He released me and stepped back. “Maybe I’m not afraid of Byron.”
    “What about Alexander ?”
    Johnston giggled. It was disturbing. “I’m definitely not afraid of him. Besides, doesn’t he have a boo boo on his head. That should have killed him.”
    My blood ran cold. “He knows you did it.”
    Johnston paled but recovered quickly. “Doesn’t matter. He won’t tell. Not with what I know about him. He should be in prison.”
    I frowned. No matter how hard I tried, I could n’t keep one step ahead of Johnston. “What does that mean?”
    “You don’t know, do you?” Johnston giggled. “Can’t wait for you to find out.” He grinned and left.
    I sat down on the floor of the storage room not understanding what just happened. Was this a game? Johnston was lying. Had to be. Alexander wouldn’t have done anything to anyone. I knew that in my heart, but my gut told me something else. I didn’t want to admit it, but it sounded familiar. What girl?
    The storage room opened, and