LOGINOLIVIA POVTwo weeks ago, Cassius Lance asked what I was really doing in his house.And I answered like a woman running out of a burning building.I don't even remember what I said. Something about needing the job. All I know is that one second I was pinned against his study door with my heart trying to escape through my throat, and the next I was in the laundry room, pressing my forehead against a washing machine, whispering, "He knows. He knows. He knows."Then nothing happened.That was the terrifying part.For two weeks, Cassius came downstairs at 5:59, took his coffee, and left. No lingering by the counter. No "Is this what passes for toast?" No eyebrow raised over the rim of his cup while he hunted for something wrong with my life. The bell didn't ring. Not once. He didn't need water. He didn't want a grapefruit. He didn't even look at me.At first, I was relieved.By the end of the week, I was annoyed and frustrated.At midnight, I lay on my back in the staff room, watching a v
OLIVIA POV If I looked past my grudge, Cassius Lance was my type. Tall. Dangerous. Very good with his hands. And, God help me, very good in bed. I still remembered exactly how he'd fucked me that night, every slow, merciless second of it. His only red flags were that he was an annoying tease and had the emotional range of a locked safe.By now I had learned five things about him.One: His timing was precise. Even his body seemed afraid to be late.Two: He pinched the bridge of his nose when he was angry but too polite to show it.Three: He never left his phone face up.Four: His bed was barely slept in. Every morning I smoothed sheets that looked like they had never met a human being.Five: He did not smile. Not once. Although I had caught a smirk, one time.That morning, I stood in the kitchen holding his coffee, ready for the usual: black suit, silver watch, cold eyes, "Thank you," and gone.I heard his footsteps.I turned, and the cup nearly slipped out of my hands.No suit.No ti
CASSIUS POVI read the report twice before the car reached the office.I read the last line again. Mother deceased. Something shifted in my chest, uninvited. I looked away before I could name it.I closed the file. I opened it again. I closed it again.I told myself it was research.I leaned back and stared at the passing buildings.I knew that story. I had sat in a boardroom years ago and listened to a pitch about a glass company with big promises and small margins. I had said it wasn't worth the risk. The meeting had ended. The file had been closed.I had assumed that was the end of it.An investor who pulls out at the exact moment a company is most exposed. That wasn't bad luck. That was a method.It sounded like something my father would do.Sounded like. Not was. I had no proof. And I had learned long ago not to accuse a man like my father without proof.I locked my phone and looked out the window.You're curious, I reminded myself. Not worried. __
OLIVIA POVThe moment the car disappeared down the drive, my legs gave out.I slid down the kitchen cabinet until I was sitting on the floor, right next to the coffee stain I still hadn't finished cleaning."I might start to believe in fate."I had said that. Out loud. To the man I was supposed to seduce.I covered my face with both hands. "What the hell was wrong with me?"That was a joke, sir. Like a child caught drawing on a wall. Argh.I grabbed my phone and texted Tonia.Me: I said the word FATE to him.Tonia: WHOMe: Cassius, my boss. The stranger from the bar. They're the same man, Tonia. I'm his housekeeper.Tonia: HOLD ONTonia: ARE YOU TELLING ME THE HOT STRANGER IS THE MAN YOU HAVE TO SEDUCE??Me: You keep saying he's hot, but that's not the point.Tonia: LIV. This is the best thing that has ever happened to me. And the worst thing that has ever happened to you.Me: I know. And I said FATE.Tonia: You are the worst flirt alive.Me: I KNOW.Tonia: Okay, you need training. Ru
Hi lovelies! 💕 Cassius and Olivia are finally under one roof, and I promise it's about to get messy. 😅 Tell me your theories in the comments! I read every single one. Chapter 9 is coming soon. Thank you for reading, and don't forget to add the book to your library!
CASSIUS POVI woke at five. I had woken at five for ten years.By 5:30, I had finished my workout in the home gym I started using after I cancelled my membership. By 5:50, I had showered, dressed, and ignored the email on my phone.Subject: Olivia. Report attached.My assistant worked fast. I should have opened it. I didn't.She was a loose end. Loose ends could wait until after coffee.I walked down the stairs at exactly 5:59. Coffee at six. Then the car. I didn't eat breakfast. I never had.The kitchen light was on.My housekeeper had resigned a week ago. So I probably had a new one by now. I stopped on the last step, my jaw already tightening.Then I heard a small, panicked voice. "Water at forty degrees. Towels in thirds. Never speak unless spoken to…"I stepped into the doorway. The kitchen smelled of coffee and something faintly floral. I had no business recognizing it.A woman stood at my counter with her back to me, pouring coffee with a hand that was shaking so hard it clinke







