The door swings open behind me.
I glance up into the mirror and freeze.
She's stunning in a way that makes you doubt you’re awake. Scarlet dress clinging to every curve. Dark hair swept into a perfect chignon. Cheekbones that could cut glass.
Brianna James. The supermodel.
And, according to the tabloids I'd scrolled past late one night, Kai's ex.
Her dark eyes meet mine in the reflection. She smiles. It doesn't reach her eyes.
“So you're the new one,” she says, her voice like honey poured over broken glass.
I turn to face her. “I'm sorry?”
“Kaiden's latest project.” She moves to the mirror beside me, pulls a lipstick from her clutch with practiced ease. “Don't worry, I'm not here to cause a scene. I just wanted to see what all the fuss was about.”
“There's no fuss,” I say carefully. “And I'm not a project.”
“Of course.” She applies the lipstick slowly, watching me in the mirror. “You're special. Different. He's never felt this way before.” Her smile sharpens. “Sound familiar?”
My stomach tightens. “I don't know what you're talking about.”
“No, you wouldn't. Kaiden's very good at making you feel like the center of his universe.” She caps the lipstick, drops it back in her clutch. “Until you're not.”
“Look, whatever happened between you two?—“
“What happened,” she interrupts, turns to face me fully, “is that I made the mistake of getting too close. Of asking too many questions about his family. About his past.” Her eyes bore into mine. “Has he told you about the Hammonds?”
The name hits me like ice water. “What?”
“The Hammonds. His family.” She tilts her head, studies my reaction. “Oh. He hasn't told you.”
“I don't know what you're?—“
“Hammond Industries. Victor and Helena Hammond.” She laughs softly. “Your boyfriend is Alexander Hammond. The heir to one of the most powerful families on the East Coast.”
The room tilts. I grip the marble counter for balance.
“You're lying.”
“Am I?” She steps closer, her perfume cloying. “Ask him. Ask him why he changed his name. Ask him what happened to the last woman who got too close to Hammond secrets.”
“And what happened to you?” The question comes out sharper than I intend.
The mask slips. For a moment I see something beneath the polished exterior. Fear. Old and deep.
“I got out,” she says quietly. “Barely. The Hammonds don't like loose ends. They don't like people who know too much.” She leans closer. “I thought I was special too. I thought he loved me. And when I got pregnant?—“
“Pregnant?”
“He ran. Disappeared. Left me to face his family alone.” Her jaw tightens. “The stress, the pressure they put on me... I lost everything.”
I can't breathe. The walls are closing in.
“Why are you telling me this?”
“Because someone should have warned me.” Her voice softens. For a moment she almost sounds sincere. “The Hammonds destroy people. It's what they do. And Kaiden? He might have walked away from the name, but he can't escape the blood. Eventually, that world will come for you. And when it does...” She straightens, the mask sliding back into place. “Well. Don't say I didn't warn you.”
