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

Ausmor Staff Newsletter. It wasn’t made public, but I stole one issue a few years ago.
    Karenda was featured prominently in the Knewsarenda column detailing who among the staff wished her dead and a contest about doing something vile to her without getting caught. Several ideas : replacing her normal toothpaste with something sticky, adding extra laxatives to her coffee or replacing her contact lens solution with battery acid. Karenda: well liked she wasn’t.
    I was never sure if I made the list. From the weak smiles, downcast eyes and whispers, I think I was more the object of pity than ridicule. I thought of all this in the mere seconds it took for Alexander to saunter. My mind tended to flip and flop whenever I had to deal with something unpleasant. I wanted to flee as if I were about to choke on Aunt Bitty’s stink weed soup, but I still couldn’t move.
    “Nice to see you,” Alexander said.
    I nodded because I wasn’t sure if my voice would work.
    He stepped back. “You alright?”
    I nodded again and told myself not to listen to Johnston. It was Johnston. The man was a walking, talking pile of corrosive goo. I took a deep breath. “I’m sorry for how I acted. I never meant...should you be working?”
    He shook his head as if it was nothi ng. “No worries. Been cleared by the doc.”
    Byron walked in the front door and walked up to us. “Jane.” He quickly kissed my cheek and glanced at Alexander. “Do you mind?”
    “ Yes,” Alexander said but didn’t leave.
    Byron waited and then sighed and turned his attention back to me. “ You’re not ready.”
    I frowned. Byron was suited in a tuxedo, but he was always suited in some expensive thing. “Oh! The party at Bashwells.” I couldn’t believe I had forgotten the Bashley’s annual pre-Christmas Christmas party. Most of Virginia, the southeast and many from England and Scotland spent all year planning what they’d wear, who they’d take, etc. It was like a high school reunion for the venomous narcissists intent on one upping each other.
    “Yes,” Byron said, hastily. “You didn’t forget, did you?”
    “Course not.” I lied. My heart didn’t lump, my throat wasn’t dry and scratchy, and I didn’t quease up. Did I dismiss Johnston’s words or did Byron make me forget? Why was it so much easier with Byron?
    I looked at the staff whose work ethic suffered whenever Byron near ed. What would normally take five minutes stretched into hours as glances and giggles merged. I wondered if Byron ever got used to it. Who was I kidding? Byron was born looking like that. Born into the money and the name.
    He probably wouldn’t know how to react if it all stopped. He was blessed with superhuman looks and rich ancestors who didn’t squalor their fortunes . This made him one of the wealthiest bachelors on the east coast. That, coincidentally, made him extremely eligible and very popular. Strange.
    I g lanced quickly at Alexander whose expression changed from disturbed to concerned. He and Byron hated each other. That much I knew, but I couldn’t remember why. “It was Johnston.”
    Alexander looked at me. “What?”
    “He’s the one who attacked you.”
    Alexander stared at Byron. “Are you sure?” His tone more than hinted he didn’t believe it.
    “He told me when—”
    “I’m sorry,” Byron interrupted. “He told you? You talked with him? With Johnston?” Byron could barely utter the name. “Why?”
    I hesitated, but I was tired of hiding. Tired of secrets. “I was on my way downstairs because I was trying to find you…” I looked directly at Alexander and noticed Byron shift positions. “But someone grabbed me and threw me in Bitty’s storage room.”
    “What?” Byron and Alexander asked in unison.
    “Are you alright?” Alexander asked. “Did he hurt you?” He looked me over as if trying to decipher fresh wounds.
    “I told him to stay away. I warned him.” Byron muttered.
    I noticed Byron didn’t look directly at me.