CHAPTER TWO: THE AGREEMENT

Aria’s pov

I stare at them my mouth dry.

“What if I find something better within these six months?” My voice shook. “Can I quit?”

Damien didn’t hesitate “You can.” His gray eyes pinned me in place. “But it’ll cost you fifty million dollars.” Luca leaned forward, his tone softening when he saw my face drain of color. “It’s just insurance, sweetheart. Good help is hard to come by these days.” He said with a wink. “And we pay better than most of our competitors”

Before I could reply, another voice cut in. Sharp. Impatient.

“So will you sign the contract or not?” Elias. I hadn’t even noticed him move. He was leaning against the wall, arms crossed, watching me like I was a math problem he didn’t have time to solve.

My mom’s face flashed in my head. The hospital bill. The eviction notice.

It’s just six months, I told myself. If I hate it, I quit. Fifty million dollars be damned. I’d disappear before I paid that.

I picked up the pen. The nib shook against the paper. I signed.

Noah plucked the contract from my fingers the second I finished, his touch brief but warm. “Well, now that’s settled.” He tucked it into a folder. “Do you have any questions?”

I thought for a second. My throat was sandpaper. “Whose assistant am I?”

Damian answered. His voice was ice.

“You’re ours.” His gray eyes dragged over me, slow and claiming. “We all get to use you.”

The room went silent.

Luca’s smirk widened. Elias raised one eyebrow. Noah just closed the folder with a soft click.

My stomach dropped to my feet.

Use me?

Before I could process the words, Damian spoke again. Final. Unbending.

“And you’ll have to live with us.”

The air left my lungs. “Why?” The word came out as a squeak. I didn’t mean to sound scared. I was scared.

“We deal with international clients,” Noah explained, his voice calm. Too calm. “We might need an assistant at any time. Day or night.”

Day or night. In their house.

I swallowed. My mouth tasted like metal. So now I have to live with four men. Four dangerous men. Damian’s ice. Luca’s fire. Elias’s silence. And Noah... I couldn’t read Noah yet. That scared me most.

“So when do I move in?” My voice was barely a whisper.

This time Elias spoke. The youngest brother. He’d been silent the entire meeting, watching me like I was a puzzle missing pieces.

“Today,” he said. One word. Flat. “If possible.”

I stared at them, blank. “That’s... that’s pretty short notice.”

Damian growled. Low. A sound that vibrated in my chest. “You have the rest of the day to pack up.”

It wasn’t a suggestion.

It was an order.

And I’d just signed away my right to say no.

I sank into the chair behind me, my knees giving out. What did I just get myself into? Four men. One house. Six months. Use me. Live with us. The words echoed, each one a nail in a coffin I’d built myself.

“You’re dismissed.” Damian’s voice cut through my spiral. Cold. Final.

I didn’t remember standing. Didn’t remember walking. One second I was drowning in that conference room, the next the heavy door shut behind me with a thud that sounded like a prison gate.

I slapped a hand over my mouth and sucked in air. The hallway spun.

Wow.

That was intense.

And I had four hours to pack my entire life into a suitcase and move in with four men who just told me I belonged to them.

God help me.