Chapter Four

MONICA

The limousine pulled to a stop before iron gates that looked heavy enough to keep out an army. Beyond them, the estate rose in pale stone and glass, surrounded by lawns so green they looked painted.

Inside, Adrian started barking out rules before I'd even set my purse down.

"Listen carefully, because I won't repeat myself." He didn't look at me while he said it, already shrugging out of his jacket and tossing it toward a waiting staff member.

"One of the maids will show you to your room. You and I keep separate bedrooms. You do not enter my room, under any circumstance, for any reason. We are business partners. Nothing more." 

He finally turned to face me. "Don't let the maids and their nice welcome confuse you into thinking you belong here. The second the six months is over, you're gone."

"I think you keep forgetting I also never wanted to be here in the first place." I crossed my arms and held his stare, refusing to be the first one to look away. "You don't have to remind me every ten minutes that I'm not welcomed here. I got the message the moment you put your hand around my throat, or did you forget that part too?"

"Good. That's exactly the attitude I want to keep seeing from you." He turned toward the staircase without another word, his footsteps echoing off the floors.

A maid appeared a moment later, guiding me up a different staircase entirely, and left me alone in a bedroom bigger than my whole childhood home. Finally,some quiet, without those cold blue eyes anywhere around me.

I changed for bed and lay staring at the ceiling. Sleep refused to come. My mind kept looping back through the events of today in fragments. Especially Adrian's mouth against mine.

I didn't know how many hours I spent turning over in that enormous bed before I finally gave up on sleep altogether. My throat felt dry and tight, I needed something to drink.

I padded down the stairs in bare feet, heading toward what I hoped was the kitchen. The door stood half open, light spilling out onto the hallway and there was Adrian, shirtless, standing at the counter with a glass of whiskey in one hand and a stack of documents spread across the marble in front of him. He looked different, mostly tired.

But Damn!, what a body. Those arms. My eyes dragged over him before my brain caught up, but by then it was too late because that image had already been stored in my mind. 

I pressed my lips together and forced my gaze back up to his face, grateful the kitchen light wasn't bright enough to show whatever color my cheeks had turned.

Does this man have to be everywhere? Doesn't he sleep? I turned to leave before he noticed me.

"Hey." His voice stopped me two steps into my retreat. "I never said you couldn't use the kitchen."

"I never said I wanted to use the kitchen."

"Then what exactly are you doing down here at," he glanced at the clock above the stove, "one in the morning?"

"I- I was just," I stumbled over the words, annoyed at myself for not having a lie ready. "I couldn't sleep. That's all. I'll go."

" I didn't say you should bolt every time you see me." He set the glass down and pushed one of the documents aside.

I stood frozen in the doorway, arms crossed over my chest.

"I just needed tea." The words came out smaller than I wanted them to. "I didn't think you'd be down here by this time".

"I couldn't sleep either. So, I decided to get busy." He said plainly. The tea is in the cabinet above the stove, second shelf. There's a kettle already filled if you want it."

I hesitated before crossing the kitchen, half expecting him to snap at me for touching anything, but he only went back to his papers.

"Were you thinking about that kiss?", he suddenly asked. Was that why you couldn't sleep?

My whole body went still, the kettle handle forgotten in my grip. Heat crawled up my neck before I could stop it. Seriously, I never expected that.

"No… Why would I… I…. , I stuttered.

"Good, because it was just acting, " he replied, packed the documents and left.

I looked at his back as he was leaving. Seriously, I hate him.

Coming down for breakfast, I never expected to find two women already seated at the table. Adrian was nowhere in sight. I guessed right away they were his sisters. One was somewhere close to my age, twenty- six ish, with sharp, restless eyes, the other older and more put together. 

I greeted them both with a smile. Neither one responded. They stared back at me like a pair of hawks that had just spotted something twitching in the grass. I had barely gotten a forkful of egg to my mouth when the older one finally spoke.

“Monica, right?" Her voice carried the kind of practiced calm that made the question feel more like an accusation.

"Yes." I kept my smile in place. "It's nice to meet you both."

"Adrian already gave me the whole story, and I don't believe a word of it." She set her coffee cup down without a sound. "You can fool my brother, apparently. But you will not fool me."

"Exactly, Isa. There's no way Celeste just vanishes like that, poof, gone, on her own wedding day." The younger one leaned forward, elbows on the table, studying me.

"I'd bet money this whole thing was staged. Some little gold digging scheme with a Thorne Group rival"

"You're absolutely right." Isa's mouth curved into something that wasn't quite a smile. "Look at her. She clearly isn't accustomed to anything like this."

"Watch her eat, though."

The younger one’s laugh came out sharp and delighted, like she'd found the punchline she was waiting for. "Practically inhaling those eggs. Like she hasn't seen a full plate in months. No class at all."

They dissolved into cruel matching laughter,and I sat there gripping my fork a little tighter than necessary.

Dealing with Adrian had already stretched me thin. Now I had two more Thornes to survive, and somehow these two managed to make their brother look almost gentle by comparison.

"I don't know what story either of you have built about me in your heads." I set my fork down slowly, deliberately, and met Isa's eyes first, then the younger one's.

"I'm going to correct one thing, though. Nobody staged anything. I didn't ask for any of this, and frankly, I'd trade places with either of you in a heartbeat if I could." I let that sit for a second. 

"As for my table manners, I'll eat however I please in this home that is now mine, for now. If watching someone enjoy breakfast offends you this much, I'd suggest looking away."

The younger one's mouth fell open slightly, like she hadn't expected my reply.

"Cute." Isa's voice stayed level. "You'll want to remember your place here, though. Whatever illusion Adrian is currently entertaining, it ends the moment this arrangement is over. Women like you don't last in places like this."

"Then I suppose we'll both find out together, won't we." I held her gaze and didn't blink first.

"Isa. Ana. Both of you, stop it." Adrian's voice cut through the room.