***
Andy
I was gasping for caffeine by the time Topaz brought coffee. She set it down and glanced at Faye’s empty spot.
“Yes, that’s her desk. She’s gone to the bank,” I said.
She smiled politely, almost making it clean out of the room before I called her back. She approached slowly, wary of what was coming.
“I want answers, and I want them now. What do you know about Vincent Blackthorne?”
She wouldn’t look at me. “Pretty much everything.”
“Fine. What’s the latest? In a nutshell, please.”
“New book release in a few weeks,” she said. “Bird in the bush.”
“Why did she leave Italy?” I demanded.
Topaz fiddled with her nose ring. “I don’t know. Honestly.”
“You asked her about him, though, didn’t you?” I could see the fear in her eyes. “Answer the question, Topaz, I know you pissing well asked her. If I was going to fire you, I’d have done it by now. Don’t make me regret my decision.”
“She said he’s brooding, serious. A creative type.”
“A flouncy fucking fairy, probably.” I couldn’t hide my disdain. “He writes porn, doesn’t he?”
“Erotic romance, Mr Morgan. It’s not porn.”
“All the same bloody thing if you ask me.” I knew I was scowling. “What’s the deal with his books?”
She took a breath. “His latest series is about a woman, Magpie. He meets her at a conference, their eyes meet and there’s this crazy fated connection. She becomes his pretty bird, his muse. It’s very intense, very romantic. Very dark.”
“Dark?”
“It’s a turbulent love affair, jealous, and sexual and... well... it’s dark...”
“A crock of old shit,” I scoffed. I failed to mention my foray into the world of Vincent Blackthorne, an older book of his when Faye had just left. Pretentious fluff. Up his own arse and then some. I’d thrown the thing in the bin before reading past chapter two.
“I don’t think it’s shit. I think it’s real.” Topaz shifted her weight from hip to hip, stared at me. “She’s Magpie, isn’t she?”
“You fucking tell me.”
“Ok, then yes, she is.” She pulled her phone from her pocket, and her eyes were wide. “I didn’t know whether to ask her about it or not.”
“About what?”
“About this.” She turned the screen to my eyes and my breath caught. “It was only revealed today, I swear, and I haven’t even seen her… Even if I did, I’m not sure what I’d say.”
I gripped the phone, eyes wild and fucking crazy. Bird in the Bush. Book 4 of the Pretty Bird series. Sir Vincent Blackthorne. Like fuck he was a Sir. I’d never seen Faye look so sad as she did on that picture. Her eyes were glistening with tears, the tracks of which fell beautifully down her cheeks. Her lip would have been trembling, you could tell, a single moment of sorrow captured perfectly. Her eyes were big and dilated, and haunted. Brimming with fucking despair. And love.
The eyes of a woman in love.
It made me sick to my stomach.
“And this is his fucking book cover, is it?”
She nodded. “I didn’t know before today, I promise.”
I threw the phone back at her, angry fingers jabbing at the keys on my laptop. I looked up the piece of shit’s website, and Faye’s eyes took my breath for the second fucking time.
Topaz was reading the text aloud before I found it on screen.
A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
Magpie is a broken bird. Spinning in Master Blake’s web in the heart of the Veneto mountains, her fate will play out on stage, during Blake’s most dangerous show of all.
His pretty bird is broken, but her beautiful pain only serves to bring her closer to Him. Her Master. Her Lover. Her everything.
Fourth instalment in the acclaimed Pretty Bird Series.
Warning: Contains aspects of dominance and submission which may disturb some readers. Dubious consent, multiple partners and sadomasochism. Please enjoy responsibly.
“What the fuck is this?”
“I’ve read the others,” Topaz said. “All of them. They’re pretty hardcore.”
I started clicking around the screen. “Where can I get a copy of this fucking book?”
“You can’t,” she said, simply. “It’s not out yet. You wouldn’t understand it anyway, it’s not a standalone. You have to start with book one.”
“Where can I get a copy of book fucking one then?”
“Amazon. Do you have a Kindle?”
I raised my eyebrows. “Do I look like the kind of guy who has a fucking Kindle, Topaz?”