Aston’s Maid

Three

Eight pairs of eyes stared down at me, waiting for me to sign my freedom over to their cousin who wasn’t even here. I read through the contract, trying to ignore the harsh conditions written for me but found myself crumbling inside. I always knew Aston Diamandis to be cruel, but I never expected him to be an absolute monster.

The contract highlighted everything I would be expected to do as Aston’s maid and that included s*x. I didn’t know why Aston would want to have s*x with his maid but I wasn’t sure if I could give it to him. I didn’t think I could have s*x with a man if I didn’t love him or trust him and I could never trust Aston with anything.

“Well? What are you waiting for? Getting cold feet, are we?” Colton taunted while the others sniggered. I wish I could slap them all to death but I had no power here. This was the enemy’s territory and it was about to become my new home.

“I won’t be surprised. Being Aston’s maid is not a small feat. I mean, there’s a reason the others didn’t survive.” This came from Noah and no matter how brave I was trying to be, his words woke up the slumbering fear inside me. What did he mean by they didn’t survive? Were they killed? Did they kill themselves? Did they ran off? Asking them to elaborate was futile. They wanted me to be afraid, and they were willing to say and do whatever it took to make it happen.

“If she signs this before the day ends, I bet you five grand she won’t make it past the week,” Mack said to Ryan, a man who had an obsession for sharp objects.

“Ten grand I say she’ll stick around,” Ryan responded, bumping his fist with Mack.

I bit my tongue so I wouldn’t yell out the profanities that were begging to be spilled. These people were treating me like a toy—something to be played with; someone who was only there for their entertainment. I wasn’t a human being to these people. I didn’t think anyone was apart from their own family.

With a simmering glare—which I didn’t bother bestowing on any of them—I scribbled my signature on the page hard enough to leave indents on the subsequent ones. I quickly signed the contract because I didn’t want to give them any excuse to summon my sister and force her to be Aston’s maid.

More like his s*x slave.

I agreed with my inner voice and it only made me more determined to survive this Hell. I slapped the file shut and all but threw it at the man standing closest to me which happened to be Adan—the silent one. The deadly one. The greatest punishment to a woman.

“I’ve signed the contract. You can let him know that I’ll be in his room just like he told me,” I said, my voice harsh.

Adan took hold of the file, but his glare was leveled on me. I stared right back, not willing to back down. I couldn’t let these people intimidate me. Fearing them would be akin to giving them power and I couldn’t afford to let anyone else have power over me other than Aston Diamandis.

“Lower your gaze. You have no right to disrespect us,” Ryan commanded and I shifted my gaze to him.

“Master Aston is the one who owns my family, not you. I don’t need to worry about disrespecting any of you other than him,” I stated before tearing my eyes from his and striding towards the door so I could get out and breathe.

However, when I stepped out I immediately realized that I shouldn’t have let my pride and temper get the best of me. Because now I had no idea where Aston’s room was and I really didn’t want to embarrass myself and go back and ask them for directions.

Well you just have to swallow your pride once again.

Just as I turned around to go back one of the staff members appeared and I sent a prayer of gratitude before hurrying over to her and clearly catching her off guard because she stumbled and would’ve fallen had she not gripped the banister in time.

“Hi. Hello. I’m sorry to scare you but I really need your help,” I said.

The maid stared at me with big blue eyes. Her jet black hair fell around her face in a sleek bob and she looked really young and clearly freaked out by me.

“I’m sorry. Um… how can I help you?” She asked.

“Can you tell me where Master Aston’s room is? I’m his new maid and he told me to wait in his room but I don’t know where it is and he didn’t tell me,” I said, hoping she would just help me out rather than telling me to go and ask Aston’s cousins.

The maid’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “He told you to wait in his room? Are you sure? Master Aston’s bedroom is off limits to everyone.”

I shrugged. “He clearly told me to wait for him in his room. I don’t know whether his room is off limits or not but I need to go there. So can you tell me where it is?”

“I think it’s best if I take you there myself. The Masters’ bedrooms are difficult to locate,” she said. “Follow me, please.”

Hoping she wouldn’t lead me to the wrong room I followed after her. I really didn’t have a choice, it was either going with her or asking those monsters for directions and I wanted to stay away from all of them as much as possible.

“So, um… what’s your name?” I asked as she led me up another staircase and took an immediate right turn.

“My name is Leah, but I must advise you not to talk too much. The Masters don’t like it. And they’ll be quick to silence you if they don’t like the sound of your voice,” she said. I couldn’t look at her as she was walking ahead of me but I could hear the horror in her voice.

“Wh—what do you mean by that?” The longer I was here, the more I regretted it. I really shouldn’t have come. Perhaps Harlow would’ve been a better fit for this position. I didn’t know why Aston summoned her instead of me but perhaps it was better if I’d let her handle it.

Then she would’ve been Aston’s s*x toy and you can imagine the kind of things he would’ve made her do.

The thought drove a physical shudder through me. My inner voice was right. Aston would ruin my sister and any chance she had of living a happy and fulfilling life. No, no, I couldn’t let that happen. Whatever it was I’d deal with it. But I wouldn’t let Aston have my sister.

After taking three left turns and four right turns I was officially lost. I knew there was no way I’d be able to find my way back. But it was Aston’s fault. Everything was his fault.

“Here it is,” Leah said and I looked around trying to spot a bedroom but finding none.

“Uh, where? I don’t see it,” I said just as I spotted a single door up a small flight of stairs.

“That one is Master Aston’s bedroom. I don’t know if it’s locked but you can check for yourself. I have to go now,” she said and hurried away before I could ask her anything else.

“Well Harmony, you have no choice but to go into the lion’s den all by yourself,” I said to myself before moving towards the door.

The door screamed at me to turn around and never come here but I’d signed the contract. My will no longer mattered. I was here because my Master wanted it. Denying him wasn’t an option for me.

Taking a deep breath, I closed my hand around the gold plated handle and pulled it down and pushed the door open. Before my mind could persuade me otherwise, I stepped inside and closed the door behind me.

My jaw dropped when I saw storm that was laid out before me. Aston’s room was a mess. A pile of clothes was dumped in one corner of the room while his ties were dangling like streamers from the top of the door of a cabinet which was hanging open. A mix of black loafers and sneakers littered the floor. I could even spot a few pairs of socks balled up and sitting inside the shoes.

“What in the world?” I whispered as I stepped further inside the room. Was that why he needed a maid? Because he couldn’t clean up after himself? What a spoiled brat!

My hands itched with the need to clean this entire room; to pick up everything and put it in its rightful place. But I held back. Aston hadn’t told me to clean his room. If I touched anything without his permission he might kill me.

I ran my eyes over his room, trying to see the furniture which was hidden underneath. He had way too many clothes for one person and he didn’t even care. I was pretty sure when he’d come back he would order me to clean up his room.

Just do it now and get it over with.

No, I couldn’t do it. It wasn’t right. Aston wouldn’t like it and I didn’t want to piss him off so soon. I just hope he wouldn’t ask me to have s*x with him.

Ask you? He won’t even tell you. He’ll just strip you and have his way with you.

God I hope he wouldn’t do that. I didn’t want him to do that. But what I wanted no longer mattered. And I just signed my consent away. Now he really could do whatever he wanted.

I needed to get out of here. I needed to get back home and stay there and hope Aston would forget about me and hire somebody else to be his maid. I was sure she’d be eager to work for him and even have s*x with him willingly.

My phone began ringing and I fished it out of my purse to see Harlow’s name flashing on the screen. My heart began racing just as I answered the call.

“Hello?”

“Where are you? You were supposed to join us for an early dinner,” Harlow said from the other end.

I swore under my breath. Harlow and Tyson invited me and my parents to a dinner to a fancy restaurant. I had a feeling Tyson was going to propose and I wanted to be there for my sister’s big moment.

“I’m so sorry, but I don’t think I’ll be able to make it,” I told her, ignoring the guilt stabbing my stomach.

“Why not?” She demanded and I looked around the mess I was in, trying to come up with a plausible excuse.

“I got a sudden gig so I took it,” I said, feeling like an absolute i***t. That was the lamest excuse I could give but my mind refused to come up with a good one.

“Seriously? You’re choosing money over me now?! I am so disappointed! I can’t believe I have you for a sister. I would’ve been better off with a brother…”

I rolled my eyes as she continued to ramble, doing my best to pay attention to her tirade and not to the chaos around me.

“I’m sorry, I really am but you know I need the money,” I told her, which wasn’t a lie. I really did need the money. As a struggling artist I needed every penny I could get just so I could pay my bills and have some money left for food.

She sighed and I knew she was caving. “I know. And I’m happy for you. But Tyson’s going to be there and you know how much I love our family dinners.”

And that’s why she deserved to be with our family and have a family of her own rather than me. As for me, I could survive on my own. I valued family just as much as she did but I could still live without one as long as I knew that my family was okay.

“I know but this way you can tell me all about it later. And be sure to tell Mom and Dad that I won’t be able to make it,” I said to her.

“Fine, I will.” I could hear her rolling her eyes. “By the way, where are you?”

“Uh… it’s an apartment somewhere downtown. I’m not really sure of the exact location,” I replied.

“Tsk. Tsk. Harmony, do you realize how unsafe that is?!” She shrieked. “Do you even know the real identity of this client of yours? What if he’s a serial killer? What if he likes to kidnap women for his sick amusement? Harmony, send me your location right now. I can keep an eye on you. Don’t worry, I won’t come and ruin your job but I need to know you’re in a safe place,” she urged and I cursed Aston for putting me in this situation.

Technically, you put yourself in this situation because he didn’t call for you.

Okay fine. I hated myself for being in this situation. But I couldn’t let her know where I was. She would lose it if she knew what I did.

And thank God I didn’t have to, because a sinister voice chose that moment to fill my senses.

“My, my, so many lies. So many secrets.”

I turned around to see Aston standing with a smirk on his beautiful face and darkness in his eyes.

“Harlow, I—I’ll talk to you later,” I said and quickly pressed the button to end the call. “Yo—you’re back.”

“Yes. I’m glad to see you can deduce the obvious. Now, shall we get down to business or would you like to tell your precious sister where you are?” He asked, stepping closer to me.

I swallowed hard and tried to look for a place to hide, or an opening which I could use to get the hell out of here but found none.

I was officially trapped with the Devil himself.