Not What She Seems (26 page)

“I’m afraid I don’t understand.”

“Ah, well, Mr. Kent did mention it would be a surprise. Let’s take a look and see if you like them, shall we?” She picked up the packages and moved into the living room, where she began pulling out piece after piece of high end, name brand clothing. “I do hope Mr. Kent got your size right, but seeing you in person, I’m sure he did.”

“This is all for me?” Sylvia asked, flabbergasted.

“Oh, yes. He called me personally late this morning and instructed me to pick up some things for you. Do you find them suitable?”

Sylvia fingered the tags on
a $600 sweater. There were sweaters, tops, blouses, jeans, slacks, khakis, and even a few more formal items for nights out. Mason had even taken the liberty of having the personal shopper pick up an assorted bunch of panties and bras for her, as well as luxury bath and beauty items.

“They’re fabulous,” she managed to utter. It was unbelievable. It felt like Mason had purchased half of Newbury Street, just for her. “But I can’t accept them.”

“Mr. Kent thought you’d say that, and I’m under specific instructions to tell you that you’re to take it up with him.” She held her hands up in front of her in a ‘hands off’ gesture. “I’m not allowed to take anything back. He was very clear about that.”

“But it’s too much,” she
protested.

“Honey, when it comes to designer clothing and
the like, it’s never too much.”

Once the personal shopper
was gone, Sylvia sat in the middle of the living room in the vast mounds of clothing.

I thought I told you no clothes? But thank you!
She text Mason.

A few minutes later he replied:
N I told you to think about it. Never heard back, so took care of it myself. You are very welcome.

She
spent the rest of the afternoon trying on her new clothes. He must have looked in her travel bags to find out what size she was, and noted what colors she preferred to wear, because everything fit well and was to her taste. She put everything in the walk-in closet and chose a soft lavender angora sweater and a pair of expensive jeans to wear so Mason could see her wearing some of the new clothes when he got home. She knew it would make him happy, and it made her feel good to please him.

Her assumption had been correct, and when Mason arrived back a
t the brownstone he swept her off her feet and swung her in a circle in his arms. “Marjory said Heather Levangie was the best personal shopper in town, and she wasn’t kidding! You’re gorgeous.” His kissed her enthusiastically. “Oh, and the clothes are nice too,” he teased as he lowered her back to the floor.

“Thank you, Mason. E
verything’s lovely, but it’s too much. I can’t accept such an extravagant gift, really. I wish you’d let me take the rest back; it must have all cost you a fortune!”

“It did,” he admitted to her with a wink, “But since I
have a vast fortune of my own, and you refused to go shopping yourself, you left me no choice but to hire the city’s top personal shopper and give her a carte blanche to get whatever she thought you might need for your stay here. You can’t take it back! It would be rude to do so and my feelings would be hurt,” he pouted playfully.

“All right,”
she finally relented, afraid of coming off as ungrateful. “I’ll keep everything, if you promise me you won’t do that again!”

“I can promise you no such thing, sorry.”
His joy was contagious and she couldn’t help but laugh. It had been a long, lonely day and it was good to see him again. But she couldn’t let this one slide.

“No, I’m serious, Mason. It’s really generous and thoughtful of you, but I don’t want you to do anything like this again, okay? I’m just not comfortable with
it, please respect that in the future.”

He
let out a defeated sigh as pulled her close once more. “I wanted to treat you, Sylvia. You’re a special woman and you deserve to be treated well. Let me do it the way I do it best.” He paused, his eyes seeking hers. “I just want to take care of you and make you happy, whatever it takes. I think I’m falling in love with you, and I want to spoil you rotten. Please allow me to show you how I feel about you however I wish, even if it means expensive gifts.”

His proclamation left her speechless.
Many men had confessed their love for her before but it was usually hollow and false, thrown out into the atmosphere in the throes of passion. Mason meant what he said, there was no doubt about it. Part of her felt the same; her feelings for him had been blossoming quickly over their brief time together. That was frightening enough, but to hear him say out loud what she both longed and dreaded to hear shocked her to the core.

“Can you at least keep it to a minimum next time?” she teased weakly as she tried to av
oid responding to his bold statement.

“Okay, you’ve got yourself a deal. Now, what should we do about dinner tonight?”

It was hard for her to be present, in the moment with Mason, for the rest of the evening. Her mind kept turning back over that one single sentence, the one that confirmed her worst fears. No matter how or when this thing between them ended, regardless of if she won the Challenge or not, he was bound to be seriously hurt. She had always been comfortable with what she was. Succubi seduced and used men to feed from their energies, it was simply a different link on the food chain and she understood it as such. But the thought of causing Mason pain bothered her immensely and made her feel like a monster.

Once in bed they fooled around, and Mas
on’s stolen energy helped her to calm down a bit. It was hard to worry about the aftermath of their relationship when his pure, untainted energy was pacifying her. She refrained from pushing the subject of intercourse for his comfort and opted to finish him off orally when it became clear he had no intention of losing his virginity that night. She could almost hear the hourglass emptying out for her with each day that passed without a formal union between them. She knew she had to break it off with Mason sooner rather than later. Each day that passed allowed him to become a little more in love with her, and she needed him if she wanted to keep what was rightfully hers. But she worried about her growing attachment to him as well.

Chapter 25

Mason had classes early the next morning
, followed by business meeting in the afternoon, so once again Sylvia found herself alone in the brownstone until the evening. Luckily she woke up late enough that it wasn’t too far away, since it was already past 1:00. As she was drinking her coffee, leafing through the daily paper, a picture caught her eye. She frowned when she realized she was looking at a picture of herself, taken by some unknown photographer. It was taken on Sunday afternoon, when Mason picked her up outside of the hospital, and it showed her climbing into his SUV.
Millionaire’s mystery woman has health issues?
the caption read. A short blurb went on to insinuate she must have been at Mass General for treatment for some kind of horrible health condition. She was less irritated about the paper’s gossipy statements and more worried about stealthy photographers possibly leading the Hunter to her. If he could tie her to Mason, he could find her again.

Lilith called her and she answered immediately in hopes there was good news about Keith.

“Can you come in this afternoon?” she asked. “I need you here at 4:00, if you can make it here discretely.”

“What’s going on? Is Keith okay?”

“Keith is unchanged, I called to inquire this morning, but I do have some big news.”

“Is it about the Hunter?
Or Elora?”

Lilith sighed. “Just come
into the office please, I’ll tell you when you arrive.”

“Fine, I guess I’ll have to, if you won’t tell me over the phone,” Sylvia sulked.

“4:00, then.” The line went dead in her hand.

She fretted away most of the afternoon, wondering if
Elora had announced her success with her Innocent, or if there was a new development about the Hunter. She was inclined to believe it was good news about the Hunter as Lilith wanted to tell her the news in person. If he were still out there it seemed unlikely Lilith would ask her to leave the brownstone.

Mason’s offer that his driver was at her disposal crossed her mind, but she preferred to keep this trip to the office quiet and she didn’t know if he’d discuss her activities with Mason or not. Taking the subway was out of the question
until she confirmed the Hunter was no longer a threat, so she opted to arrange for a cab to pick her up. After her shower she threw on some of the new clothes Mason had purchased for her and stepped out into the waiting cab.

Her anxiety levels grew as she walked into Enchanted Escorts. Deborah
wasn’t at her desk, so Sylvia marched right into Lilith’s office. Her whole body tensed when she saw Elora was there, already seated and speaking with Lilith. She looked up with a malevolent grin.

“Well, there she is!” she chirped nastily. “Come on in, Sunshine, I’ve got some big news to share with you.”

Sylvia took a deep breath as she braced herself for the news she most feared. Lilith caught her eye and gave her the slightest nod, confirming it.

“It’
s true,” she told her solemnly. “I checked him out myself after Elora reported it. He’s no longer an Innocent.”

Sylvia stared at her
as she fought to keep her emotions from showing. She wanted to burst into tears and pound her fists on the desk, or better yet, wipe the triumphant grin off Elora’s face but she wouldn’t. She wouldn’t give her the satisfaction of causing a scene.

“So, I’d ask for the keys to you
r place, but I think we can all agree I don’t want
that
now, so you can keep your apartment. But you can’t hunt around there anymore. It’s mine now,” she gloated.

“Thank you,
Elora. That will be all.” Lilith stood with her hands on her desk, leaning slightly forward, and watching Elora expectantly. Elora was too busy basking in Sylvia’s pain to take the hint. “You can go now, Elora,” Lilith told her firmly. It was enough to snap Elora back to attention and she finally heard Lilith’s request.

“Don’t worry, Sylvia, I’m sure Lilith will find you somewhere decent for your new territory. Best hope it’s not
too
good, because one never knows when I’ll be in the market for a new territory again,” she called over her shoulder as she walked out.

Sylvia grasped the
armrests of her chair to boost herself out of her seat as she started to go after Elora. She had plans to silence her, violently, scene be damned.

“Sit down!” Lilith b
oomed, raising her voice. She obeyed, but still struggled to keep from crying.

“I’m sorry,” Lilith told her quietly, “This is not how I preferred for it to end, either. But what’s done is done, and
Elora is now the rightful owner of that territory. But it’s not all bad. Now that the Challenge has ended and you have to find a new territory I think it’s time to move you out of Boston, away from the Hunter. So where would you like to go? Just name the state or city, I’ll find you something, something nice.”

“But Boston is my home.”

“It has been, for a long time now, but don’t you think it’s time to move on? Without your territory there’s nothing holding you here, and you should seize this opportunity to leave the whole mess behind you. I have available territories open here as we’ve lost so many girls to the Hunter recently, but I think it’d be a poor decision for you to stay here.” Her face fell. “Deborah didn’t show up for work today, and she hasn’t answered my calls or texts. I think the Hunter got her. I won’t know for sure until she turns up or the police find her body. He’s still active, and still looking for you, no doubt. So tell me, where would you like to go?”

“Home,” Sylvia answered
pitifully.

“You know that’s not possible, you don’t have a home right now. And even if they catch the Hunter tomorrow, do you really want to go back to your old apartment? Could you even stand to, with all that’s happened in the last few weeks?
Would you even want to live in someone else’s territory? Because as of today, that’s Elora’s territory.”

She considered it for a moment,
then reluctantly shook her head.

“I didn’t think so. You may be stubborn, but you’re generally not a fool. Tell you what
- why don’t you sleep on it overnight and call me in the morning? You tell me where you want to go and I’ll get you there, all right?”

Lilith’s uncharacteristi
c understanding surprised her but she nodded. She didn’t have much of a choice, as she saw it. She took Elora’s thinly veiled threat about coming after her next territory as well seriously. She couldn’t go through all of this again; she wanted her own territory free of Elora’s presence. Really, Lilith was right, there was nothing here for her anymore. Elora had done what she set out to do and destroyed her life, and if she stuck around, she knew she would continue to do so any way she could.

“I have to
go, I’ll call you in the morning.” Sylvia needed to get out of there. She was tremendously disappointed, and embarrassed, that she had not won the Challenge. Without waiting to hear Lilith’s reply she rushed out of the office, through the empty waiting area and into the elevator. She wanted to be alone when the tears came. Luckily the building’s lobby was empty as well and she had herself a good cry while she waited for the cab she had called. It arrived a few minutes later and she hastily wiped away her tears before she climbed in.