His Forbidden Mate
Part 28

Ever since the last time I reprimanded Cynthia for carelessly leaving her mask, I felt the need to watch her whenever she came in for her shift. Deep in my guts, I knew she would do something stupid that would put not just her life in jeopardy, but everyone else’s. The only one who knew about my fallout with her the last time was the prince. I kept it away from Jane because she already had a lot on her plate at the parlour.

I had also seen her flirt with prince Edward a few times since then. It didn’t bother me—maybe it did a little, but I paid no mind to it. She wasn’t a child, and I had no authority over him because he wasn’t mine, despite our sneaky escapades. The prince always remained formal with her and he either was oblivious to her tactics or didn’t desire her at all.

Cynthia struck me as the type that would rather stand on the shoulders of others to get what she wanted instead of working for it. I noticed she would tag around those she suspected were rich with gold and silver coins longer than necessary. It wasn’t a crime, but it was a pattern that usually led to breaking rules to get what you want.

She was currently in the mild room, which now had only three people, including Cynthia, present. I hung around the dark corner of the entrance and it had my presence concealed as I watched them. Her conversation with the man on the chair on the left side of the room lasted longer than it should have for someone whose job was to serve drinks. I did not listen in on their conversation, but I knew I should have. The other man in the room rose to his feet and took his leave, leaving Cynthia alone with the man she had been in deep conversations with.

Soon she leaned into the man to k**s his lips, but then stopped from something he said. For a pretty girl with a rebellious attitude, she didn’t have a strong sense of reasoning because she took off her mask before leaning in again to k**s the man on his lips.

She would never follow the rules, and that was the last thing the parlour needed.

“That’s enough, Cynthia!” I called out and stepped out of the corner to reveal myself to them.

They pulled away and fear registered in Cynthia’s eyes as they saw me. I’d be a fool to trust the look on her face. In times like these, she’d plead and beg for pardon, only to disobey the fastest chance she gets.

“Mistress.”

“Leave us.”

“No, I already paid for my time with her.” the man protested.

“She isn’t a whore.” I scowled at him.

Even though she portrays herself as one.

“You paid the wrong worker,” I told him before turning to Cynthia. “Leave now!”

She nodded and walked away, leaving me alone with the man, who had a displeased look on his face. “Do I get to have another worker?”

“I do not know your agreement with her, but this is the mild room, not the whore house. If you want a whore house, there is one a few miles away from here and I advise you to go there.”

He rose to his feet, stepping towards me. I wasn’t one to scare easily, but he looked terrifying and no one else was in the mild room except us.

“I’ll leave once I have my twenty pieces of gold,” he said flatly.

I knew he wouldn’t leave, and I did not know why Cynthia brought herself low to take gold from him, but this would be her last.

“Then wait here.” I turned to leave, but he grabbed me by the wrist and hauled me to himself.

“Let me go! Let me go now!” I struggled to set myself free, but he wouldn’t let go.

He reached out and yanked the mask I had on away to reveal my face to him. He dragged a sharp breath. “You look even prettier than I imagined,” he smirked, and my stomach turned in displeasure.

“Let me go now!” I growled, my eyes glowing and red flashing in them.

“Yes, I will. After I get my fill with you,” he smirked, his hands moving down to grab my butt, and my breath hitched in my throat.

My hands balled into a fist to slam it against his smug face when we heard. “Hey, bastard!” and the next moment a loud punch met with the face of the man and he released me immediately.

I staggered but steadied myself. I looked up, and I saw Edward grabbing a fist full of the man’s hair and slamming his head against the wall. He crashed to the floor the next second. Romeo and Brown, my guards, raced into the mild room to see Edward towering above the unconscious man on the floor.

They rushed toward the man and dragged him up to take him out, stopping when Edward halted them. “Wait.” he came to them and placed his fingers on the temple of the unconscious man before nodding to the guards.

They dragged him out, leaving me alone with Edward.

“What did you do to him?” I asked, my eyes narrowing on him after a while of complete silence.

“I erased his memories of this place and what had just happened. I might have had the upper hand today, but men like that have a habit of never leaving until they get what they want.” He moved over to me, taking my cold and slightly shivering hands into his, and a tender look appeared on his face.

I don’t know what he was doing, but I didn’t want anyone coming in and seeing us this way. It would raise a lot of questions which I wouldn’t want to answer. I yanked my hands from his and stepped back. “I was going to make him leave.”

“I see that,” he answered and I couldn’t tell if it was mockery or not.

I scoffed. “I didn’t ask for your help. I had it under control.”

“Yes, but what I saw told me you needed help,” he said matter-of-factly.

Just because I needed help doesn’t mean I needed his help. And why would he be all caring and protective suddenly?

It isn’t sudden. He has always been caring and protective of you. That was what made it easy to steal from him all those years ago.

Fine, but I wasn’t used to men being tender and caring towards me. It never sat well with me and always left me doubting their true intention. I have had a hard time deciding why Edward does the things he does and what his endgame was. It felt nice and comforting, but not when he left me in a state of confusion every time.

He stepped towards me, his eyes staying on me as he inspected me. He didn’t take my hands anymore, but the tenderness returned to his eyes. “Are you hurt?”

I shook my head. Edward had stepped in before the both of us could do anything. “What did he want?”

“He wanted his gold back,” I said, knowing this might make him think the worse of me since I had a history of taking people’s gold.

His brows furrowed, more in curiosity than in judgement. “Did you take his money?”

I shook my head, “Cynthia did, and she also took off her mask for him to see her.”

Thinking about it now, I’m grateful Edward interrupted because with the man’s memories wiped off, he wouldn’t be able to recognise us even if he met us outside. Once again, we were safe, and I owed it to him.

It frustrated me to know that one person was dragging us to a dangerous point with her recklessness. I couldn’t risk the safety of everyone for one person.

“What are you thinking?”

I bit my lips. I never thought a day I’d send a worker away would ever come, but sadly enough, it had. “We can’t keep her. She is too much risk.”

“Do you need me to do it?”

“No, I will do it myself.” I dragged in a deep breath before heading towards the dressing room, where I knew Cynthia was waiting.