Chapter 5: The King Returns

Jacob

The lights were off, but I couldn't sleep. Elsie pressed against the fridge, that image was a live wire in my head. I walked away from the window, pulling the dark silk robe tighter. Aiden was always so damn sloppy. He used her to score a point against Lena. I used her to test a boundary.

When I checked the security feed earlier, I saw she had left his room shaking. She was still holding the water bottle and the glass cup she picked from the kitchen.

I could feel the ripple of her fury down the hall. That fury was the whole point. Aiden wanted her to cry; I wanted to see how long she could burn before she broke.

I sat down on my bed, the scent of her hair and the rapid pulse under my fingers still a physical sensation. She hadn't just pushed me away in the kitchen; she shoved me.

I noticed her body in the oversized dress she was wearing the day she came for a job interview. Her curves. Sweet Jesus God in heaven, those curves. The big dress couldn’t hide it.

Full, round breasts that I want to weigh in my hands. I want to slide my hands over and grip as I sink my cock deep inside her. And that ass…

Elsie wasn't like the other girls. She was pure, defiant fire, and that was the attraction. Her small, fragile body held that iron will.

Everyone else here, Lena, the staff, even Aiden sometimes, they were predictable. Elsie was a puzzle. She looked at us like an enemy, and that made her dangerous. I liked dangerous.

Aiden just wants to take her. I want to figure out what she's hiding, then watch it all fall apart.

The thought was ripped from my head by the only sound that mattered: the deep, heavy rumble of luxury engines rolling onto the gravel drive.

I shot to my feet. I didn't need a calendar. I felt the atmosphere drop. The whole house froze up when Malcolm returned. The chaos stops. The fun is over.

I met Aiden halfway down the main staircase. He was already throwing on a shirt, the cocky smirk gone, replaced by a cold focus.

“They’re here,” I stated.

“I know,” Aiden replied, his jaw tight. “I told Lena to clear out. Did you clean up your mess?”

“My mess was psychological. It's cleaner than yours.” I watched the window. A black sedan and an SUV were pulling up. Malcolm Lancaster was home with Caleb. “We have a real problem now.”

The air got instantly heavy and cold. The giant front door opened, letting in the sharp smell of travel and money.

Malcolm Lancaster stood there, huge and judging, his face a hard mask. Next to him, stepping out of the car, was Caleb. He looked perfect, dressed just like our father, already on his phone handling a briefcase. The Golden Boy was home.

"Aiden. Jacob. You're both still alive, I see," Father greeted us, his voice a low, rough dismissal. That was as warm as he got.

"Welcome home, Father," Aiden replied, his voice flat.

"The flight was smooth," Caleb said, hanging up his phone and walking past us, giving us a quick, bored nod. "I'll start unpacking the contracts. We need to go over the Tokyo filing immediately."

Malcolm barely looked at Caleb, just nodded, then focused his attention somewhere else entirely.

My gaze snapped to the side.

Right there by the door, struggling to lift Caleb’s massive leather suitcase, was Elsie. She was in her uniform, pale, tense. She was exactly where she shouldn't be, caught in the doorway between the returning boss and his two mess-making sons.

And then her eyes locked on mine. She has the prettiest grey eyes. I had the urge to capture her in that moment with my phone camera. She is picture perfect.

There’s an unexplainably tender ache there for her. I sensed a deep sadness buried beneath layers of her brave look. How the fuck I knew that was beyond me, but it’s true. I saw it. I felt it. I wanted to unmask her.

Elsie blinked her eyes, her long, dark eyelashes fluttering against her porcelain skin. She has freckles dotting her cheeks and nose, and they make her even more beautiful.

Dad spotted her. He watched her struggle with the luggage. "The new one, isn't it?” He asked as if he wasn’t the one who hired hair a month ago. “ Get that luggage to Caleb's room, girl. Quickly." He commanded.

Elsie nodded stiffly and started dragging the bag toward the stairs. She was moving right into the danger zone.

I stepped forward, forcing a casual look, and caught Caleb’s eye as he passed. "Everything calm on the domestic front, Caleb? No surprises?"

Caleb paused, a slight frown on his face. He glanced at Elsie struggling up the stairs, then back at me, totally missing the real issue. "Everything is exactly where it should be, Jacob. Unlike this house, the business is stable."

He was reminding us he was the stable one, the one who wasn't a problem.

I looked at Aiden. His eyes were locked on the maid, a dangerous calculation there.

Malcolm started barking orders about dinner and the schedule.

I knew, right then, that Elsie was the biggest risk in this house. She was volatile, she was defiant, and now she was visible to the only man who could genuinely destroy us.

I have to control her. Before he decides she's a loose end.

The game was over. It was about survival. And I needed to claim my prize before my father eliminated the threat.