Your Wish Is His Command Read Online Free PDF

tearing the
house apart for weeks trying to find the combination to the safe,
yet she’d been the one to open it.
    Useless, was she? Who was the inept one
now?
    She tapped the flame-shaped finial on the lid.
Finding this wasn’t a victory, though, because while Albert might
not have been Prince Charming material, she’d thought he’d
had some redeeming qualities, namely claiming to love her for her.
Not because of who her father was or how much she’d be worth
someday, or what great merger-acquisition material she’d be, but
because of her. Not Samantha Blaine, heiress, but Samantha, the
woman who had hopes and dreams of a long, loving relationship like
her parents’ and the big family she’d never had. She’d wanted so
much to believe, so she’d let herself hope that this time it was
for real.
    The troll had helped the illusion along not
only by offering to sign a pre-nup, but also by stepping in and
taking over the burden of running her father’s custom-car
manufacturing company while she’d been at Dad’s hospital bedside
these past six months. She’d been so grateful.
    And now this. And tonight of all nights. The
jerk.
    She blinked back the tears, determined not to
let him get to her. But, God, she’d been so trusting. So hopeful.
Again.
    And again she’d been disappointed.
    Samantha tucked some curls behind her ears,
plopped her chin in her palm, and ignored Wanda, the housekeeper,
who was calling her name from the foyer. Samantha wasn’t up for
seeing anyone right now.
    Oh, not because Albert had just broken her
heart. Sadly, deep down, she’d known he wasn’t the guy for her.
She’d known that. But he’d been the first—she’d thought —guy
in her life who’d sincerely been interested in her. When Dad had
had the stroke, Albert had been there. He’d helped out with the
company and hadn’t made any demands on her other than to sign
paperwork.
    That was when he’d started mentioning
marriage, and Samantha had let herself go along with the idea
because, more than Albert being her One True Love, she hadn’t
wanted to deal with the fact that when Dad was gone, she’d be alone
in the world. Mom had died when she’d been a toddler, so it’d just
been the two of them all these years. She’d never felt the lack of
family more than she had when Dad died.
    Albert had offered her a way out, so she’d
given in to the hope that maybe, just maybe, he was the real deal.
Stalwart, supportive, there when she’d needed something… That was
what she’d always wished for, so she’d let him in. Trusted him.
Believed in the fairy-tale ending.
    And now he’d betrayed her.
    She shook the long sleeve of the djellaba over her street clothes up her arm and picked up
the lantern, her reflection not distorted enough to hide the pain
in her eyes at being betrayed.
    Again.
    Why was everyone always looking for
handouts from her? What was wrong with her that she couldn’t have
someone want her just for who she was instead of what she had in
her bank account or what she could do for them? It was sad, really,
how, with everything money could and had bought for her, love
wasn’t one of those things.
    She ran her fingertips over the lantern’s
rounded side. Wouldn’t it be perfect if this actually were a
genie lantern? She could use a little magic in her life right
now.
    For her first wish, she’d turn Albert into a
belly-crawling lizard. Then she’d bring Dad back, and
then…
    “ And then I’d wish for the genie to
take me away from all this to some place where all my troubles
would just disappear.”
    And, in a billowing cloud of orange smoke,
that’s exactly what happened.
    Or… was it ?



 
    Careful what you wish
for…
     
    Northeast Pennsylvania
    41,646 days ago
    But who’s counting?
     
    Vana cringed as the stairs vanished beneath
Peter’s feet.
    Again.
    Luckily, this time, he was holding on to the
railing.
    Which also started to disintegrate.
    Holy smokes! Would her magic ever turn out the
way