A Daughter's Perfect Secret by Kimberly Van Meter Page A

dirty things to her without complaint.
    “I…I’ve been sick,” she said, pulling her arm free with a quick glance around to see if anyone had seen their exchange. He narrowed his stare. What happened to his docile Brenda? He didn’t dare draw too much attention here at the center, but he gave Brenda a look that promised a return to the subject later. “I have to get my seat,” she said, moving away with a halfhearted promise, “I’ll talk with you later.”
    “I look forward to it,” he said under his breath.
    Thrown off focus for a moment and his mood soured by Brenda’s subtle rejection, he stalked from his post and into the hall, where he tried to find the woman he’d seen earlier.
    He found her, interestingly enough, sitting not far from Brenda.
    Perfect. Now he could watch them both. His mood improved, but only once he envisioned having both women service him the way he knew Samuel did with his women. Samuel could get away with that because he was handsome, charismatic and powerful. Bo knew his place in the world. The only reason women allowed him between their thighs was because he was Samuel’s muscle. Without Samuel, he’d have nothing. It wasn’t the way he’d imagined his life at this point in his career, but he wasn’t the type to cry in his beer about what could’ve been. And right now, he wanted Brenda.
    Whether she wanted him or not.
     
     
    Darcy settled in her seat, a little bit in awe of the turnout for the nightly meeting. When she’d heard that the community met every night for some inspirational blah blah by Samuel, she’d expected a small contingent of people—maybe diehards—to show up. Not the whole freaking town!
    Her reaction must’ve been noted, for the person beside her tapped her lightly and said with a friendly smile, “Amazing, isn’t it?”
    Startled, she swung her gaze to the woman beside her and jerked a short nod, temporarily at a loss for words or maybe just words that weren’t laced with the extreme discomfort she felt by being surrounded by obvious cult members. “I had no idea there were so many…um…devoted people,” she finally said, eliciting a soft chuckle from the woman who had subsequently introduced herself as Pam Donnelly. “So, what happens at these meetings that’s so special?”
    “Oh honey, having a nightly meeting is just one of the many ways Mr. Grayson keeps our community strong. When you’re not connected to your neighbor, it’s easy to let outside influences color your thinking. Mr. Grayson is all about health and clean living, morally, financially and ethically. Even environmentally! He’s a visionary, to be sure.” She lifted her exorbitantly expensive tonic-water bottle. “Did you purchase a bottle?”
    Flushing in embarrassment, she shook her head. “I didn’t realize it was required.”
    “That’s okay, honey. Just pick one up on the way out. Sales from the tonic water help keep our town special. Did you notice how clean our streets are? How fresh and new the playground equipment is?”
    “Yes, actually, I did notice,” Darcy answered, remembering how creepy it had seemed even though, admittedly, on the surface, clean streets shouldn’t seem disturbing, but they were. And when coupled with everything Darcy had begun to learn about Cold Plains, it added up to weird. “It’s great,” she lied with a smile. “Cold Plains is so amazing.”
    Pam beamed, happy with her response. “Have you met with Mr. Grayson yet? He likes to personally greet all newcomers to Cold Plains. Oh, and you’re going to love him. He’s very handsome but it’s more than that. He’s… I don’t know how to describe it. He makes you feel as if you’re the most important person in the room. Heck, in the world,” she gushed.
    Darcy fought the urge to raise her brow. “He sounds like a very interesting person,” she said. “Maybe I’ll meet him tonight. Do I have to make an appointment?”
    Pam smiled coyly and said something that chilled