Then he was gone, leaving the three of us in tense silence.
Lia was the first to speak. "Well. That was pleasant. Nothing like a casual threat over breakfast to really set the tone for the day."
Despite everything, I smiled. Lia's dark humor was one of her best qualities.
Aria just looked shell-shocked.
"Come on." Lia stood, moving to Aria's side. "Let's get you out of this depressing room. I'll show you the parts of the estate my brother inevitably forgets to mention because boys are terrible at tours."
"I was literally told to show her around—"
"And now I'm coming with you. Deal with it." Lia linked her arm through Aria's, already pulling her toward the door. "Plus, she needs another woman's perspective. You'll probably just point at things and grunt 'security camera' forty times and call it a tour."
She wasn't wrong.
We walked the grounds together, Lia and Aria in front, me trailing slightly behind like the world's most dangerous chaperone.
The estate was massive. Main house, three guest houses, elaborate gardens that my mother had designed before she died, a pool that rarely got used, tennis courts, and a shooting range that definitely got used.
Guards everywhere. Cameras on every corner. Motion sensors, reinforced gates, the works.
My father didn't fuck around with security.
"See those cameras?" I pointed to the obvious ones mounted on the main gate. "There are also hidden ones you can't see. Motion sensors along the entire perimeter. Guards rotate every four hours. If you tried to leave, you'd be caught before you made it fifty feet."
I wasn't trying to scare her. Just being honest. Escape wasn't happening.
Aria's face was unreadable, but I saw her cataloging everything. The gates. The guards. The weak points that didn't actually exist.
She was smart. Looking for exits even though she had to know they wouldn't work.
"Our mother designed these gardens." Lia gestured to the elaborate flower beds, the stone pathways, the fountain in the center. "She loved roses. Said they were beautiful but dangerous. Kind of like our family, I guess."
The way Lia said it was careful. Not mentioning that we thought our father had killed our mother. Not bringing up the fact that she'd supposedly committed suicide but we both knew better.
But Aria heard it anyway. I could see it in her eyes. That moment of understanding. Of recognizing that this family had secrets darker than she'd realized.
We walked for another hour. Lia kept up a steady stream of conversation, telling stories about growing up here, about childhood adventures and teenage rebellion and all the normal things that felt surreal given our actual lives.
And I watched Aria.
Couldn't stopwatching her.
The way sunlight caught in her dark hair. The way she smiled at something Lia said. The way she moved, graceful and careful, like she was constantly aware of being watched.
She was wearing a simple sundress and somehow made it look better than any designer outfit I'd ever seen on the women my father usually associated with.
Every time she laughed at one of Lia's jokes, something tightened in my chest. Every time the wind blew her hair and she reached up to tuck it behind her ear, I remembered doing the same thing last night. Every time she looked over her shoulder to see if I was still following, those big brown eyes meeting mine, heat flooded through me.
This was dangerous. I was supposed to be protecting her. Keeping her safe from my father. Not fantasizing about getting her alone again.
But I couldn't help it. She drew me like gravity. Like something inevitable.
After the tour, Lia dragged Aria back toward the main house, talking about showing her movies and having actual girl time for once.
I let them go. I had work to do anyway.
Marco was waiting in my office when I got there, sprawled in one of my chairs like he owned the place.
