The morning light poured into her room in long golden slants, but Leighton had been awake long before the sun came up. Sleep had been impossible. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw Rhett’s measured stare, Adrian’s smile-that-wasn’t, Kai’s unreadable gaze. The three of them crowding her in that room, their words threading into her head until they felt heavier than her own thoughts.When the knock came, it was quiet but decisive. Three taps, evenly spaced.“Come in,” she called, her voice rough from lack of rest.Kai opened the door. No greeting, no explanation — just his tall frame filling the doorway, dark t-shirt clinging to him like a second skin. “Downstairs. Now.”She blinked. “Is something wrong?”His gaze lingered on her for a moment before he answered. “Breakfast. And the start of your day.”The way he said start of your day made her stomach tighten.She pulled on a simple sweater and leggings, brushed her hair into some semblance of order, and followed him down the grand
The knock came just after nine.Three sharp raps — not a question, but a statement.Leighton sat on the edge of her bed, still in the robe she’d pulled on after her shower. The steam from the bathroom had barely faded, her hair damp against her neck.She opened the door to find Rhett standing there, black shirt, sleeves rolled, every inch of him deliberate.“Come with me,” he said.She hesitated. “What for?”“Family matters.” The way he said it left no doubt it wasn’t about bills or holiday plans.The hallway felt longer tonight, shadows stretching under the soft recessed lights. Rhett didn’t speak until they reached a door she hadn’t been through before. He opened it and stood aside.The room was darker than the others in the house, lit by a single low lamp in the corner. A massive desk dominated one wall, but the rest was open space. Adrian was leaning against the desk, sleeves pushed up, hair slightly mussed. Kai sat in a leather chair near the window, one ankle hooked over his kne
The car rolled through the wrought-iron gates as if it had been swallowed whole. The Vale estate wasn’t just large — it was sprawling, a maze of gardens and stone pathways, fountains lit from beneath so the water shimmered in pale gold. Leighton pressed her palm against the leather seat, trying to steady herself.Her mother had remarried quickly — shockingly quickly — to a man who owned more properties than she could list. That man was away on business, so tonight was to be her first meeting with his sons. Her new stepbrothers.The driver pulled up to the front steps. They looked like something from a movie — white stone, wide, immaculate. She stepped out, the cool night air brushing her cheeks, and the scent of something expensive and faintly floral lingering in the breeze.The door opened before she could reach it.He was there.Tall, broad-shouldered, in a charcoal suit that looked like it had been cut for him and him alone. Rhett Vale. She’d seen his photo online when curiosity go
Arden didn’t knock anymore.She stepped into the Devils’ penthouse at exactly five o’clock, the weight of the silver ring on her wrist a constant reminder of the contract she’d signed. She expected to find them in the usual places — Dorian in his study, Maddox in the gym, Elio sprawled across the lounge chairs like the room existed for him alone.Instead, they were waiting. All three.They stood in the center of the living room, the furniture cleared to the edges as if the space had been prepared for something specific. The curtains were drawn against the city, the lighting low enough to blur the corners.Dorian stepped forward first. “Close the door.”She obeyed.“Come here.”The tone left no room for delay. She crossed the room, her heartbeat quickening with each step.Maddox’s eyes followed her, slow and deliberate. Elio leaned lazily against the arm of the sofa, but his stillness was deceptive — he was watching everything.When she stopped in front of Dorian, he held her gaze for
It began with the blindfold.Dorian fastened it himself, the silk cool over her eyes, the knot precise but not tight. Darkness closed in, sharpening every sound — the faint hum of the air system, the shift of a chair’s legs on the floor, footsteps circling her.“You’re in our hands tonight,” Dorian’s voice said, deep and close. “All three of us. You don’t choose who touches you. You don’t choose when it ends.”Her pulse jumped. “Understood.”“Good girl.”A hand — big, warm — closed around her upper arm. Maddox. She knew the weight of that grip. He guided her a few steps forward, then stopped, turning her slowly.“Stay still,” Maddox murmured.Fingers she didn’t recognize — lighter, more teasing — brushed the inside of her wrist. Elio. He traced the vein there lazily, as if he had all night to map her.“Breathe slower,” Elio said, his voice a soft curl in her ear. “You’re rushing for nothing.”Someone — Dorian, she thought — stepped behind her. The air shifted as he leaned close, his b
The morning after her first night in the Devils’ penthouse, Arden woke to the knock. Firm. Even. Three beats.She sat up before she remembered she’d been told to wait for instructions before leaving her room. The door opened anyway, and Dorian stepped in.He was in a dark shirt, sleeves rolled, cuffs buttoned precise. He didn’t look like he’d just woken; he looked like he’d been awake for hours.“Get dressed,” he said. “Follow me.”She obeyed, pulling on the clothes she’d left folded on the chair the night before — a simple sweater and jeans that felt suddenly too thin in his presence.They walked down a different hallway this time, one lined with tall glass doors opening to balconies she hadn’t seen. Dorian led her into a room with a long desk, shelves of leather-bound books, and a single chair set directly in front of his.“Sit.”She lowered herself into it, the desk between them wide enough to remind her she wasn’t meant to move closer unless told.He laid a folder in front of her.