My best friend's son is my secret lover

Elowen VossThe concrete hadn’t cured properly on the south elevation, and if there was one thing I couldn't abide, it was a flaw masked by expensive paint.I stood on the second-story mezzanine of the South Yarra project, my thumb tracing the faint, chalky ridge where the structural glass met the raw off-form wall. Down below, two trade contractors were packing away their laser levels, their boots echoing against the poured terrazzo floors. Outside, a late afternoon Melbourne rain was beginning to smear the skylights in long, grey strokes, blurring the leafy canopy of Lawson Grove."It’s seamless, Ms. Voss," the site foreman called up, slapping his clipboard against his thigh. "Client’s going to weep when he sees the light well at sunset.""He’ll weep if the seal breaks in three years because the joiner rushed the flashing," I replied, not looking down. My voice was calm, measured, carrying that flat, authoritative weight I’d spent a decade cultivating. In my line of work, if you don

Elowen VossThe Thorne estate in Toorak was a monument to late-nineteenth-century grandiosity: a sprawling limestone mansion hidden behind high security gates, manicured boxwood hedges, and ancient oak trees. Inside, the grand dining room was suffocatingly warm, lit by a heavy crystal chandelier that cast fractals of golden light across the long, polished mahogany table.It was 8:30 PM on Saturday.I sat on the left side of the table, sitting bolt upright in a high-backed velvet chair. To my right sat Saffron, Kaelan’s twenty-year-old sister, who was currently tapping away at her phone, complaining about her university tutors. At the head of the table sat Rhys Calder, Kaelan’s father, a sharp, graying tycoon whose presence usually dominated every room he entered.Tonight, however, Rhys was not the center of gravity in the room.Directly across from me sat Kaelan.He had traded his travel coat for a dark, unstructured linen blazer over a black open-collar shirt. The warm candlelight ca

Elowen VossMy eyes widened in absolute horror. The brass key burned in my palm like a hot coal."You wouldn't," I breathed, my voice cracking under the weight of sudden, sharp panic. "That project is eighty percent of my firm's revenue for the next three years. You would sabotage your own family's asset just to""Just to make you look at me?" Kaelan finished the sentence for me, his voice dangerously soft, entirely devoid of regret. "I would burn the whole site to the ground if it meant I got two hours alone in a room with you without my mother or father standing between us.""You're insane," I whispered, staring at him as if he were a stranger. And in many ways, he was. The quiet, thoughtful youth who used to sit silently in my office had been replaced by a man with his family's ruthless corporate instinct, weaponized entirely against me. "You’re threatening my livelihood, Kaelan. That isn't passion. That’s blackmail.""It’s leverage, Elowen," he corrected smoothly, his thumb contin