Prologue
**Max:
My name is Maxwell Rollings. I'm forty-six and in pretty good shape for my age. Best of all, I'm filthy rich and living in the Hamptons. I have a wife, Karen, two sons, Brett, who's 25, Jace, who's 23, and three daughters. Lyla is 18, and my twin girls, Kacey and Kendal are 16.
I'm also part of an elitist organization that's practices are not only illegal in most parts of the world, but are also taboo. Our beliefs are simple: that every man has the right to own what belongs to him. That as long as proper precautions are taken, no man should be limited by the law as to what he may do to his own property, whether it be object or person. Our members are rich, they are influential, and they are powerful. Because of our beliefs, our organization, The Order, is kept secret.
The Order believes in keeping its line strong. We marry our children off to other families in the Order, at least, whenever possible. But we aren't savages; we have learned from the European royal families. Strict breeding within mingled bloodlines creates defects—defects that are against what we believe in: strength. So we recruit—and marry— new members to keep our lines from becoming weak.
Currently, there are six men who are of age for marriage, but no women. My own son, Brett, is one of those men. At twenty-five years old, he is the man I groomed him to be. He's successful, attractive, and loyal to the Order. After graduating college with his four best friends—also of-age men in the Order—he has already started recruiting the next female member to be his bride.
As far as of-age women, my daughter, Lyla, will be the first in two years, though she won't be permitted to marry until her twentieth birthday, which is still another two years away. Our laws are very strict and must always be obeyed. Lyla must be trained from her eighteenth birthday until her twentieth on how to be a proper woman of the Order. And it is my responsibility to see that she is trained.
The first part of her training took part at an exclusive all girls boarding school, run by widowed Order women. All Order daughters are required to attend the school from their fifth birthday to their eighteenth. A special curriculum has been designed for them. Education is important. We strive for intelligent women so that our future generations will be strong, but we must also be careful to keep much of the world hidden from their innocent eyes.
The school is located in the rural English countryside. There is no television or internet available and the nearest village is over twenty miles away. We must keep our daughters pure. They must be curious about sexual relations, knowledgeable of the act, but naïve in its practices. The must understand their purpose in this world and know how proper women should act in it.
I am the fourth generation of ruling Order families. The Rollings name was around since the Order was born and my father and grandfathers before me also served on the council, just as my son and grandson will serve after I'm gone. There are twenty seats on the European council, and another twenty on the North American council--twelve of which are my neighbors in the Hamptoms.
Today is a very special day; it's Lyla's eighteenth birthday. My beautiful daughter has finally come of age and my brother Peter and I are tasked with throwing her a party.
Chapter 1--- Max's Plans
**Max:
"Lyla's flight will arrive at five pm, and the party starts at seven. I've arranged to have her picked up and driven here," my best friend and brother-in-law, Peter Branson, said from his seat across the table. "Ellen will come early to help Karen with any last minute party arrangements."
"As long as our wives leave for Canada by eleven, they can do whatever they like," I said, more than ready to ship my wife off for the month. Peter smiled, glad to get his wife out of the picture too.
"Where are you sending them?"
"To Canada," I said with a smirk. "Karen's a great wife, but she's gotten a bit boring. I'm hoping Phillip can ... liven her up a bit. You know how he is with women."
"He's a brute," Peter laughed. "She'll be begging to come back early but he'll teach her a trick or two. And Ellen too. Actually, Ellen's been mouthing off lately. Maybe I should tell him to prepare something special for her?"
Peter was right—Phillip was brute. Like Peter and myself, he was fourth generation, but Phillip had a dark side. When he punished a woman, she never forgot it. In fact, many Order men sent troublesome wives and daughter's to his ranch to learn a lesson. He was well respected in our community and I trusted that my wife would come back in better condition than when she left.
"And as for Lyla?" Peter asked. "Have you been monitoring her progress with the headmistress?"
"Of course I have. I'm quite confident, she's ready. I have big plans for her future, Peter. We need to make sure her training goes perfectly."
"And it will. We have a straight month alone with her. I've already secured two girls to help her along the way. You'll be very pleased," Peter says with a smirk.
Of course I would. I'd panned the whole night. It had been arranged just for the two of us. Nothing would happen by chance. Not tonight.
Chapter 2-- The Party
**Lyla:
Everything was beautiful. The house, the decorations, the dresses. I'd only been home for a few hours, and already, my life had changed for the better. I'd been afraid that I'd miss my school, or at least the other girls, but so far, I didn't. My mother helped me get ready for my coming of age party, and my father had let me wear the family diamonds!
I looked fabulous, completely grown up! My mother had dressed me in a sexy red dress the hugged every curve. It was strapless and dipped low in the front to show off my cleavage. There was even a slit that went from the hem all the way up to my upper thigh. I'd never worn anything like it before. It felt incredible.
I can't stop thinking about what it will be like to live here for more than just a few weeks a year when on quarterly vacation from school. My brothers both have homes of their own and my sisters are still in boarding school in England, so it will be just me and my parents. Or, actually, just me and dad, since mom is going on a spa retreat with Aunt Ellen.
I'm actually excited to be alone with my dad. He's been allowed to visit me at school for one weekend a month, so I already know how much I love spending time with him. He's a handsome man with blond hair, bright blue eyes and a square cut jaw. When other people are around, he's formal and businesslike, but when we're alone, he's relaxed and playful. He tells the best jokes and can always make me smile.
