Chapter 17

{Julian’s Pov}

I shouldn’t have kissed her. I leaned against the wall in the hidden room, staring at the photo of my mother with that baby. It wasn’t me. And I had no damn clue who it was. But I couldn’t focus on that. Not right now.

Because all I could think about was Hailey. Her mouth on mine. Her body pressed against me like it belonged there. She kissed me back. That was the problem.

I told her it changed nothing, but that was a lie. It changed everything. She wasn’t supposed to get under my skin like this. She was supposed to be a problem. A storm to ride out. A thief who took my legacy. Instead, she was fire, and now I couldn’t stop thinking about her.

I lit a cigarette. The lighter clicked too loud in the silence.

“Idiot,” I muttered to myself.

By the time I made it back upstairs, the house was too quiet. Afternoon light poured through the stained-glass windows, painting the hallway in reds and golds. I passed a maid scrubbing glitter off the marble floor, leftover chaos from her stupid stripper party. That party should’ve pissed me off. But instead… it made her real.

She had the whole world watching, and still, she walked around here like she owned it.

Maybe she did. In the sitting room, Marcus was pouring himself a drink.

“Look who’s finally up,” he said.

“I wasn’t sleeping.”

“Let me guess.” He raised an eyebrow. “You were with the heiress.”

I didn’t answer.

He smirked. “So that’s a yes.”

“Mind your business.”

Marcus handed me a glass. “It is my business when you start falling into the same trap George set for all of us.”

“I’m not falling for anyone.”

He gave me a long look. “You kissed her.”

I froze.

He didn’t ask. He said it like he already knew.

“It was nothing,” I muttered. “Wait.. Marcus, are you watching us?”

Marcus didn’t blink. “Then why do you look like you’re about to punch a wall?”

I took the drink and swallowed it in one go.

“I don’t trust her,” I said. “I never will.”

“But you want her.”

I didn’t reply.

The door creaked behind us. Luca walked in, his shirt half-buttoned, eyes still sleepy.

“You both look like hell,” he said. “Did something happen?”

Marcus nodded toward me. “Julian made out with the girl who took everything from us.”

Luca blinked. “Seriously?”

“It was a mistake,” I said quickly.

Luca dropped into the armchair like this was some movie. “Tell me everything.”

“I’m not telling you shit.”

“She kissed you back?” Luca asked.

I didn’t respond.

“Damn,” he said, grinning. “She’s playing you like a fiddle.”

“She’s not playing anything,” I snapped. “I kissed her. That’s it.”

Marcus looked out the window. “She’s in the house for a reason, Julian. George put her in his will for a reason. We can’t afford to lose focus.”

“You think I don’t know that?” I said.

But the truth was, every time I looked at her, I forgot.

Forgot the will. Forgot the mansion. Forgot the name “Lachlan.”

She made me feel something I didn’t want to name. Anger. Lust. Curiosity. All tangled up like barbed wire.

Luca sat up straighter. “So what’s the plan? We kiss her too? Make it a game?”

“Don’t be stupid,” I growled.

“You already made it messy, brother.”

“Back off.”

Luca raised his hands. “Fine. But don’t act surprised when you start losing control.”

I didn’t answer. Because I already had.

I left them in the room and walked out to the garden, where the air was sharp with roses and memory. I stood under the old arch where George used to smoke cigars and plot everyone’s life like a game of chess.

I used to want to be like him. Sharp. Powerful. Cold.

Now I just wanted to understand what the hell he saw in her.

Because Hailey Vale wasn’t soft. She wasn’t sweet. She was fire, just like he was.

And that scared the hell out of me.

I lit another cigarette and watched the smoke drift into the sky.

The more I tried to stay away from her, the more I wanted to follow.

And I hated that.

I hated her.

But I couldn’t stop thinking about her lips.