Claimed (4 page)

The woman smiled, apparently totally forgotten about her bath water cooling in her bathroom. “The Capitol is beautiful. It’s modern and chic. It’s a place where you can easily lose yourself into.” She turned to her side to look out at the luscious green hills of her property. “It’s not as beautiful as this, though.”

Tara raised her brow. Did she not know of the poverty that lay beyond Callum’s Hill? “How often do you visit Callum’s Hill?” The woman cocked her head to peer at her. “I mean… I’ve never met you before, Miss. But then again, I have only recently started working here too, so…,” she stammered. What was she doing? She didn’t want to lose her job.

The woman smiled again. “I’ve lived most of my life in the Capitol.
I only come back here occasionally; to keep Dad company more or less. He’d rather I live there. The Capitol’s got the best schools, universities in the country. The technology there is remarkable as well- a far cry from Sector 8.” Her voice trailed off sadly, her dark eyes growing heavy and dismal.

Tara’
s fingers uncomfortably wound the fabric at the sides of her skirt. She didn’t want to talk about the politics in the country. She didn’t want to be complaining about the pitiful lives of her family and her neighbors. Burrowing into such subjects ever only brought more trouble than good. “Will there be anything else, Miss Callum?” But the woman seemed to have drifted into her own thoughts, her eyes lowered to the pale, tiled floors. “Miss Callum?” Tara asked again.

The woman raised her head tiredly. She let out a sigh and tightened the belt on her violet, silk robe. She walked over to her table and picked out some fruit, placing them decoratively into a basket. “I love my fruit. Edmund dropped by yesterday and brought in a little extra for me. Unfortunately, I
can never finish it. I’d rather someone eat it fresh than leave it to waste. Would you like to take some for your family?”

Tara looked eagerly at the basket laden with exotic fruit; her mouth watering with a sudden craving for it. “
Mr Farriss must love you a lot, Miss. The fruit looks delicious.”

“They are. And
Mr Farriss
has
to love me. I’m engaged to marry him after all,” the woman smiled as she held out the basket. “I’m sure your family would love these.”

Tara’s took a
faltering step forward and then stepped back just as fast, sifting rapidly through her reasons as to why she should accept it. Ma and the kids would love them; in fact, Mae had never tasted plums in her life. But then, there was the matter of Jared. She loved her brother but sometimes he could be so stubborn to the point of irrationality- such as his resentment towards the Callums.

If she took the basket back with her, he’d probably leave the house in his anger just as he did the previous time when she took back with her a bunch of extra celery sticks
Chef John had given her. She and Ma had not seen Jared for three days then. He had returned only when his anger had subsided. But together with her insistence to continue working at the Callums, he would most likely disappear for at least a week this time. Until then, they all would be terribly stressed over his safety and his whereabouts. Nobody ever knew where he went. It was some degree comforting though, that whenever he would make his disappearances, Wolf was always with him.

She looked at the basket again. It wasn’t worth the trouble she’d cause her family. Mae would rather have her uncle than a basket of delicious fruit. On the other hand, how do you politely turn down an employer’s daughter’s generosity without offending her?

“Miss,” she started but she was cut short by a series of desperate knockings at the door.

The woman walked up to the door and opened it.
“Nessie?”

“
Ma’am, is Tara here?” the older maid asked.

“Yes,” she replied and opened the door further to allow her into the room.

Nessie eyes floundered between the two women. “Tara, Mr Glover has asked to see you in his office. Right away,” she added quickly.

Tara paled, knowing exactly why she was being sent for. Jared had come for her.

“Miss, can I ask for your leave?” Tara asked, swallowing a nervous lump in her throat.

“Yes, of course,” the woman replied curiously.

Tara and
Nessie scrambled out of the room, whispering hoarsely amongst each other.

“Where is he?” Tara growled.

“In the hallway outside Sam’s office. He seems awfully angry. He was pacing in circles like a mad man. I had a peer at him before I came up to the Missus’ bedroom.”

Tara swore under her breath. Her brother had some nerve showing up at her workplace
again in such a temper. If he had his way, he’d rather have Sam fire her. And the way he was doing it; there was every likelihood that this might probably be that day.

They turned the corner leading to the hallway.
Nessie staggered behind her uncomfortably.

“Tara, I have tasks to finish…,” the older maid stammered. Clearly, she didn’t want to be a witness to a row between the siblings.

“Of course, of course, Nessie,” Tara waved her away. “Thank you for walking along with me.”

“Take care,”
Nessie squeezed her palm. “I hope you don’t take too long returning to work here like you did the last time.”

“Don’t worry. I won’t let my brother run all over me,” she hugged her.

“I’ll miss you.”

“Me too.”

She watched her friend disappear into the inner complexes of the house. She rolled her eyes and headed down the hallway to face her very vexatious brother.

He ran his hands through his hair. Sam had successfully managed to make him feel awkward yet again. He didn’t want to know about the successful discoveries of some poor Indonesian laborers or the plight of African slaves. He wanted to resent the Callums and every government official freely without feeling guilty about it.

He pulled out the picture of the slave Sam had given him.
The man wore an iron collar with prongs and iron hobbles around his ankles. His wrists were scarred but that was nothing compared to the complicated mesh of scars on his bare back. Evidently, he had been brutally lashed.

His fists balled in anger.
What was Sam trying to prove to him? That regardless of their struggles and their discrimination, they were still fortunate in comparison to these slaves? There was nothing that could justify the contemptible way in which his people were treated by the government! There would never be anything to ease his pain.

“Jared!” Tara growled at him
as she entered the hallway, breaking his attention from the slave’s photograph. “What do you think you are doing?!”

“Taking
you home,” he let out flatly. “Are you ready then?”

“No, I’m not ready. You can’t come here and expect to just pluck me out of my workplace like this! This is my job for god
-sakes!”

“No, it is not. You won’t be working here. I thought we discussed this before.”

“It’s my life!” Tara minced angrily. “I’ll do what I want and I’ll go work wherever I want to.”

“Not while you’re living under my roof!” he spat out in equal ire.

“Your roof? I don’t believe you said that! For your information, it’s just as much my house!”

“Tara?” a soft refined female voice interrupted them.

Tara spun around in shock. “Miss Ellie… um… Miss Callum,” she stammered.

Jared raised his eyes to meet those of the warm brown beautiful ones of the woman standing across them in the distance. She was nothing like he’d ever seen or imagined. Her fringes were strewn about her face and her long dark hair was twisted into a messy bun at her nape. It seemed to be loose and
was beginning to unravel, leaving stray long strands on her shoulders. There was something unfamiliar that did to his body and he didn’t like it. But so did the violet silk robe she was wearing.

In her haste to follow Tara, she had apparently forgotten
that her sash had slackened to reveal a generous proportion of her creamy flesh at her bosom. They were laced with an exquisite matching camisole, hiding its treasures beneath it.

Her eyes followed his and she reddened. Her fingers clutched at the two parts of her robe and she swiftly tightened her sash, veiling
her semi-nakedness from him. Her little attempt at cloaking her body suddenly made it even more enticing and forbidding and he was acutely aware of the throbbing ache in his groin warning him that he was delving into dangerous territories.

She was a
Callum, he reminded himself.

He moved his eyes away from her, trying to get back to the matter at hand- his sister.

“Let’s go, Tara,” he said in a low growl.

“At least, let me get my wages from Sam,” Tara bit back sharply.

“What’s going on, Tara?” Ellie asked curiously.

“Nothing, Miss,” Tara replied, glaring at Jared.

Ellie moved closer. Her scent drifted to his nose and his body tingled with a new sensation. He didn’t like what she was doing to him at all.

“It doesn’t look like nothing,” Ellie said, her eyes wandering between the two people. “I heard you arguing with him. Clearly, you don’t want to leave your job. Why do you let him treat you that way?”

A muscle tensed in his jaw. Finally, he’d found back his bearings of hate for the family she’d spurted from. “This is none of your business.”

She leveled up to him, daring him. “If you treat a woman like you’ve just done your wife, I have every reason to make it my business. I will not allow you to drag her away only because she happens to be a working mother, trying to make ends meet in her family.  You…”

“Wife?!” he cut her short severely and let out a mocking laugh. “You have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about! Well, of course, because like I said this is none of your business.”

“Jared!” Tara pled, trying to pull him away from her employer’s daughter.

“
I
have no idea of what I’m talking about?!” she huffed with disbelief. “You’re the one who has no idea of the crap falling out of his mouth. Look at you, being all egotistical and full of pride, daring to show up at your wife’s work and dragging her out as if she was your slave.” She turned to the terrified woman beside Jared. “I’ll tell you what, Tara, you leave him right this minute and I’ll talk to Dad about giving you a staff quarters on the property. You don’t deserve a man like him. You’re a beautiful, wonderful woman who can do much, much better than this …this despicable thing called a man!”

Jared flared at her. Tara threw herself between them in a panic.

“Please, Miss Callum,” she begged. “We’ll resolve it between us.”

“Tara, honey,” Ellie shook her head. “I know how you feel. It’s ca
lled battered woman syndrome. Women often blame themselves for the domestic violence they endure, making them difficult to leave their abusive relationships. The only way out of it is to leave him now.”

“Miss Ellie,” Tara bit her lips. “Jared is my brother.”

Ellie froze, stunned by the revelation. She stared at them, suddenly becoming aware of their physical resemblance. She flushed with embarrassment. “Well,” she stammered. “That makes it all the more worse then, doesn’t it? Brother or husband, a man can’t just drag a woman out of her workplace. It’s undignified and certainly heartlessly shameful to her.”

Jared stepped around Tara and moved closer to Ellie. He was only a breath’s away from her and the temptation was too great for him to simply tug her into his arms and possess the lips that berated him with such daring rage. “My sister will never work for a
Callum. And I will see to it she never does again from now on.”

She stepped back, horrified by the hatred with which he spoke. “
Mr… Jared, my family has done a favor to your sister-”

“Your family-” he minced, his animosity surfacing into his voice.

The door opened and Sam stepped into the hallway. He looked at them with a raised eyebrow and then turned to Tara. “Your wages, Tara.”

“Thank you,
Mr Glover,” Tara said, graciously accepting the envelope he was handing over to her and even more grateful that his presence had quieted the raging couple.

The elderly butler cleared his throat.
“Miss Ellie,” he addressed. “Mr. Edmund would be arriving soon to pick you up for tonight’s dinner with the Lintons. You have only a couple hours left before he would be here.”

Ellie closed her eyes, biting her lower lip to stifle her temper. The butler’s disguised cue for her to leave this infuriating young man before her, did not fail her sharp sense
s.

She opened her eyes and
suddenly grew riveted to her spot. He was looking down at her, his molten brown eyes impaling her soul, affecting her in ways she could not describe. She pulled away from him before he could mesmerize her any further.

“Tara,” she stammered.
“Your basket of fruit.” It was all she could manage to say with him standing so close to her; she felt he would burn her.

“Thank you, Miss,” Tara
muttered, willingly accepting the basket. She’d deal with the consequences of her gift later. At the moment, she wanted to leave as soon as she could without any further furor.

Ellie though, kept standing frozen
to her spot, writhing her fingers and unable to move away from him.

“Miss Ellie,” the butler reminded.

Ellie staggered back, trying to break free from the spellbinding gaze of the man. Her heel caught into the hem of her robe and she slipped. She let out a small cry as her legs gave way. She closed her eyes, waiting to hit against the cold hard floor of the hallway. She felt his muscular arms catching her waist instead and the heat of his body as he tugged her against his hard chest.

Her hands involuntary wound around his nape
, his breath rasped against her face as he held her, continuing to captivate her with his eyes.

“Miss Ellie… Miss
Callum!” Tara fumbled carelessly between the names, utterly worried if her mistress was hurt at all. Could this day get any more worse?

Jared reluctantly loosened his grasp on her, his hands now resting at her waist.

She withdrew her hand slowly from his nape, dragging it against his flesh, feeling the softness of it.

He let out a sharp breath, his fingers clutching onto the sides of her gown.

“Miss Ellie, are you okay?” Tara peered at her.

Sam coughed. “Miss Ellie?”

“I… yes,” she stuttered, withdrawing quickly. She felt the loss of his heat almost immediately. She dared not look at him again, fearing she would be entranced by him once more. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what happened there,” she gave a nervous chuckle. “I think it was my shoe… my heel… in my skirt….” She was rambling. She held her breath and then started again. “I have to go.”

She turned around
and hurried out of the hallway, her long robe fluttering behind her.

*****

Tara marched into the house, grumbling to herself. She threw her cardigan onto the couch with frustration.

“Mom!” shouted out Mae, running to cling at her skirt.

“Hello, Pumpkin,” she said, lifting her up to kiss her. “How was your day?”

“Good. What’s that?” Mae asked, pointing to the basket of fruit.

“It’s grapes and lychees and strawberries and papaya,” she held up a strawberry for her.

The young girl took it eagerly and ran out with it.

“You shouldn’t have brought that home,” Jared grumbled.

Tara flared. “You know what shouldn’t have been done? You shouldn’t have come to
Callum’s Hill. You shouldn’t have embarrassed me at my job! If you hate the Callums so much, then why don’t you just stay the hell away from them?!”

“I can’t stay away from them if you keep crawling back to them for their money!” he shouted back.

“We need the money, Jared! When are you going to get that in your head?!”

“What’s wrong with what we have?
You have a roof above you, food on your table and most of all you’re safe.”

She snorted. “Who is ever safe, Jared? No one is safe.”

“And you won’t be if you keep running up to those people.”

“Those people?
Those people are the ones who have showed me
some
concern if any for my family. Those are the one s who keep calling back to offer me work regardless of the so many times you’ve embarrassed me.” She picked up a fruit harshly and held it up to him. “And this is from one of those people who you think doesn’t give a crap about how we live. And you know what, I’m gonna eat it and I will enjoy it without feeling guilty about it; because I’ve never tasted a lychee before, nor has my kids. I don’t care what your reasons are any longer, Jared, but I do know one thing- everything can’t be about you. Your resentment for the Callums is unreasonable. It’s unreasonable because it doesn’t make sense anymore!”

“Tara,” her mother growled softly. Their argument had caught her attention as she was preparing dinner. She had been expecting a squabble between her two children. They stood poles apart on their perception of the
Callums. But seeing Jared now, she knew something was different. He was far more affected than he usually was. He sat quietly at the table thinking, his fingers playing thoughtfully with a glass bottle filled with wild flowers Mae had collected on her day out with her friends.