Heaven And Hell novel Chapter 52

"Stunned?" Michael teased, poking me with his elbow.

"Duh."

"All right," he said, rubbing his hands together, "I'm going to sleep. Dad's probably busy so I wouldn't want to 'disturb' him."

I nodded, allowing myself some sleep too. But as we reached the first step of the stairs, a female voice called out Michael's name. The voice was deep but womanly.

We both looked up at the same time the person descended down the stairs to greet us. She hugged Michael tightly, kissing his cheek soundly. I felt a tiny pang of jealousy but ignored it since I was tired from the trip and from bickering with my fiancé.

As the girl faced me without Michael's introduction, she gave a brilliant smile.

"You must be Keller," she said warmly, giving me the same hug she'd given Michael. "I'm Emerson," she whispered in my ear, grinning.

Emerson Cutting pulled back, leaving her slender hands on my shoulders. She looked me up and down. "Pretty girl. Disheveled from the trip, but pretty nonetheless! Dad's going to be smitten."

I doubted that but I blushed at her compliment. "Thanks."

"Already fast friends," Michael commented. "Dangerous."

"Shut up!" his sister and I snapped, wearing the same scowl.

We looked at each other, then burst out laughing.

Michael smirked. "Knew this would happen."

Emerson rolled her eyes. "He was dropped when he was but a babe," she told me with pity in her silver eyes. "We're twins, but I'm the bright one."

"Yeah right," her brother bit off. "Well, I'm the cute one."

She rolled her eyes even harder at that.

I watched them bicker as siblings did. Right now, I could see that they really were twins. They both had the same hypnotic eyes; the same bone structure and patrician nose; the same raven-black hair. They were also both tall, with Michael only towering a few inches than her.

They also both had the same lethal smile.

Curved or not, it was deadly.

"Oh yeah I almost forgot," Michael chimed, touching Emerson's hand lightly. "What's the problem here? You won't tell me, but now you will."

Emerson sighed heavily then looked at me. "I'll show the both of you."

With that, she took us up the grand staircase, leading us to rows and rows of corridors up to another staircase, heading to the second floor. I felt like I was on the thirtieth floor, though. This was tiring.

I was huffing by the time we reached an elegant white door with a gold doorknob. I could hear muffled voices and someone shushing another person.

Michael and I looked at each other with raised eyebrows.

Emerson bit her lip. "Dad won't be home till noon, so he has completely no idea about this."

"Just open the door," Michael barked.

"You open it!" she hissed, stomping her foot.

"No, you --"

"Oh, for God's sake!" I exclaimed, barging past them and turning the doorknob open.

As I stepped into the room, I stopped, my eyes rounding in horror. Michael went silent too, though I had no idea what his expression was.

Emerson broke the silence. "I told you this is shocking. Rather too early for this..."

Go figure.

But what she meant by "too early for this" was this:

Emerson stepped aside even more, whistling.

I turned and looked at the three Cuttings in the gigantic white and gold bedroom. "All of you are insane in this family!"

"Hey!" Emerson accused, offended.

"Just stating fact," I told her.

She pursed her plush lips, cheeks flushing crimson and eyes turning into a stormy grey.

Lady Cutting cleared her throat and stared at me with narrowed icy blue eyes. "You're not the only one who has a wedding gown."

I raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

Michael looked bewildered and suspicious at the same time while Emerson's eyes bulged.

"Bloody hell, I forgot about that," she mumbled.

The dowager ignored her language and continued looking at me.

She smirked. "You'll see."

Now what could she mean by that?

You'll see.

Huh. Well, whatever it was, I knew that I should worry. I mean, this was Lady Cutting we're talking about here. Anything she has up her Italian-silk sleeves is a danger to the world.

Plus, couldn't she at least tell us earlier that she was already in England so that I could feign illness and be stuck in Michael's London flat? Was that so hard to accomplish, notifying us?

Apparently, the dowager wanted to "surprise" us. But really, me and her grandson were just annoyed at her for selecting a gown for me and setting a wedding date herself.