MAYA
I felt a surge of heat crawl up my neck.
It wasn’t jealousy; it was humiliation.
Two minutes ago, he was talking about baby-making practice.
Now, he was being devoured by someone else right in front of me.
I didn’t stay on the floor.
I pushed myself up, my palms stinging from the impact.
I wiped my hands on my skirt, my eyes burning with a promise of payback.
I cleared my throat, but they didn’t break apart immediately.
I didn’t care.
“So much for looking ahead to baby-making practice,” I announced.
Isabella finally pulled back.
She turned her head slowly, looking at me with a squinted gaze as if she’d just noticed a bug.
Her eyes raked over my cheap clothes and messy hair, her lip curling in a sneer.
“Is this a new maid, Silas?” she asked.
She didn’t even wait for him to answer before looking away in disgust.
Maid?
I scoffed, glanced at her messy lipstick and the way she was hanging off him.
Silas wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, his ocean-blue eyes settling on me.
He didn’t look guilty.
He didn’t even look bothered.
He looked like a man who was exactly where he wanted to be.
“Maya, this is Isabella,” he said.
I looked her up and down.
“Isabitch?” I snapped.
“Because the manners definitely match the name.”
”Isabitch?” Isabella’s face turned red.
“How dare you?” She looked at Silas, acting like she was about to cry.
“Did you hear what she called me, baby?”
Silas sighed.
“Maya.
Stop it.”
He was taking her side?
She had just shoved me to the floor like I was nothing, and he was telling me to stop.
I shouldn’t have expected him to be fair.
I was nothing but a distraction he needed.
But I wasn’t going to back down.
I stood my ground and stared her right in the eyes.
“I’ll stop when she apologizes for knocking me down.
Or do you only care about manners when they’re used against you?”
”I didn’t touch you.
“Lying is not a good look for your first day here.”
She really had no shame.
Lying so openly in front of the man who watched it happen.
She would regret this.
Since she wasn’t going to apologize, I wasn’t going to back down.
Silas didn’t say a word, his eyes going back and forth between us.
He looked like he was evaluating us, waiting to see how I would handle her.
“Are there more of them?” I asked, pointing a finger at her.
“Is she part of the benefits package you mentioned earlier?” I lied smoothly, watching the confusion wash over Isabella’s face.
“You know, the orgy or the threesome thing you were talking about.
I can’t seem to recall which one she’s for.”
Isabella’s eyes landed on Silas, her brow arching.
“Silas, what is she talking about?
Who is this filthy thing?”
I almost wanted to smile.
Seeing the perfect mask on her face crumble into total confusion was better than any apology.
Score one for the maid.
I interjected before he could speak.
“Filthy thing?” I snickered.
“I’m the one who is going to be bouncing on that dick while he’s filling me up with his cum during baby-making practice.
That’s who I am!”
Isabella’s face soured, her gaze trying to burn a hole through mine.
If he could ruin my life with Liam, I could certainly set fire to his evening.
I didn’t give a flying fuck.
“Unless he’d prefer I swallow,” I shrugged, adding a smirk.
“Whichever fits the Mrs.
Blackwood brand better, I guess.”
I heard a small sound escape from Silas.
It sounded almost like a chuckle.
He was trying to hold back a laugh.
He was enjoying this.
He liked watching two women tear each other apart over him.
Well, if he wanted a show, I’d give him one he’d never forget.
I turned my head slightly, locking eyes with him.
I gave him the slowest, fakest smile I could muster.
“Isn’t that right, Daddy?”
The silence that followed was heavy.
Isabella looked like she was actually going to explode.
Her mouth hung open.
She looked back and forth between us, her hands shaking with rage.
Silas didn’t look away from me.
He’d been doing that a lot since we met.
A small smirk pulled at the corner of his mouth.
He was waiting to see just how much further I would go.
Isabella finally found her voice.
“Mrs.
Blackwood?
Silas, she’s—”
”This is my future wife, Isabella.
Her name is Maya.” He stepped around Isabella, closing the distance between us.
He stood there like nothing was happening, his face completely calm.
“Try to be nice to each other.”
I pointed at Isabella.
“Nice?
She—”
He cut me off.
“Maya gets cranky when she’s tired, and she’s had a very long day.
So ignore the sharp tongue,” he told Isabella.
Then he looked at me, his voice deepening and sounding rougher than before.
“And Maya?
Careful.
If you keep calling me that, I might start acting the part.”
”Silas!” Isabella shouted.
Her face scrunched up, her beauty twisting into something ugly.
“This?
You’re attracted to this thing?
This is what you’re marrying?
A foul-mouthed brat who doesn’t know her place?”
She lunged forward, her hand whistling through the air aimed directly at my face.
What the fuck?
I flinched, my eyes snapping shut as I braced for the sting, but it never came.
Silas caught her wrist easily.
He gripped her so tight his fingers dug into her skin.
It would definitely leave a bruise.
The look in his eyes was frightening, but his voice was even worse.
“Lay a finger on her, Isabella, and you’ll find out exactly how much I value your services.”
He shoved her hand back.
Isabella stumbled, gasping in shock.
I stared at her, my heart beating fast.
She really tried to hit me.
My mind flashed back to Silas’s warning: It’s not safe here.