“Will you two stop skating around each other and finally sleep together?” I joked, throwing my hands in the air.
She groaned, leaning back against the stairs and throwing her head back.
“I mean, seriously, I have never seen two people so in love with each other refuse to admit it.”
“You’re one to talk,” Astoria gasped at me. “My brother and you are sleeping with each other, but can’t even admit that they might feel something in their cold, dead hearts.”
I barked out a laugh, but it was cut off by heavy stomps coming down the stairs. Astoria shot up from her spot, turning just in time to see her brother come into view.
“What the hell is going on?” Kaius’s voice boomed with lethal precision. His jaw was tight, the vein in his temple faintly visible. “You want to explain to me why the two of you are lurking around down here, Astoria?”
“The door was open when we went to take the trash out,” Astoria said, her voice sickly sweet as she batted her eyelashes at her brother. “I wanted to make sure nothing was wrong, but didn’t want to leave Acelynn up there all alone.”
“Alone?” Kaius narrowed his eyes at her. “Next to the bar she works at every night?”
“Well, I mean?—”
“Stop,” Kaius’s voice cracked through the air. We both froze in place, waiting for him to continue. His gaze moved from Astoria to mine, unblinking. “You both are hiding something, and I will not stand here and be lied to.”
He spoke like it were a fact, like he could smell the deceit on the two of us. Kaius moved down one step. “And I don’t have the patience to play guessing games.”
Astoria looked down at her hands, her jaw tightening as if she were fighting back tears. I held the man’s stare even as my pulse was pounding, the heat of his scrutiny making my skin itch.
“We were planning a surprise party for Josie’s birthday,” I said casually.
Kaius narrowed his glare on me, waiting for me to crack under its pressure.
“Her birthday is in a few days, correct?”
“Josie doesn’t celebrate her birthday.” He cocked his head to the side. “Does she, Astoria?”
Astoria only responded with a meek nod. I sighed, pulling his attention back to me. “Who doesn’t celebrate their birthday?”
“Someone who wants to bury their past life,” Kaius snapped at me. The venom in his voice made me jump slightly. He didn’t give me a chance to respond, jerking his chin toward the doors. “Upstairs. Now.”
I didn’t speak. I didn’t even dare to breathe. Every instinct in my body screamed that I should flee, yet I remained frozen, tethered by the pressure of Kaius’s hand against the small of myback. It was firm, unyielding, yet deceptively gentle—the kind of touch that could control without overt force. My stomach knotted in a mess of nerves, anxiety, and something darker, something I didn’t want to name even to myself. Behind us, Astoria stirred, her movement barely audible. The faint scrape of her shoes was the only reminder that I wasn’t alone, but I didn’t dare draw her attention, not now, not while Kaius’s eyes cut through the space like twin blades.
The stairs groaned beneath our weight, each step resounding like a drumbeat that matched the erratic thrum in my chest. I held on to the railing as though it were the only thing keeping me anchored. Kaius moved like a predator in his element, smooth and precise, his dark eyes scanning every inch of the stairwell as if he could see the very secrets hidden in the shadows. Every step I took felt measured against his presence, a silent acknowledgment that nothing, absolutely nothing, would go unnoticed tonight. When we reached the back hall, he paused and turned to face his sister.
“Astoria,” he said, voice calm, unwavering, yet edged with authority. “Go wait at the bar. We’ll talk later.”
She didn’t protest, only gave a small nod, her nervous gaze flicking toward me before retreating toward the bar. Through the hallway’s small corridor, I caught a glimpse of Josie cutting limes, a mundane contrast to the tension coiling around us. Once Astoria disappeared, it was just Kaius and me. The hallway shrank around us instantly. Every sound—the soft scrape of our shoes, our collective breathing, the distant clink of glasses from the bar—was magnified. I felt exposed in a way I had never felt before. He hadn’t touched me yet, not beyond the guiding pressure of his hand, but the air seemed charged with something almost physical. My chest ached in anticipation, every nerve on edge.
“We need to talk,” he said, each word measured, simple, but weighted with something heavier than its syllables. Kaius stepped closer, and I could feel the heat radiating from him. “I need to be sure. I need to know you two aren’t hiding something from me. Vince has had items taken recently from his private collection. You wouldn’t know anything about that, would you, Acelynn?”
“No,” I whispered almost involuntarily, voice trembling despite my best effort.
“So you won’t have a problem proving that to me.” His eyes roamed over my body, scanning slowly, deliberately.
My stomach churned. The thought of being searched, standing completely exposed and at his mercy, should have sent panic surging through me. And yet, I couldn’t look away. There was something intoxicating in the calculated danger of his gaze, the way he studied me like I was both prey and a puzzle, all at once. I dropped my eyes, trying to ground myself in the floorboards beneath my feet.
“I understand,” I murmured, voice small, almost lost in the charged silence.
Kaius’s hand returned to the small of my back, guiding me into his office. The door clicked closed behind us, and the hallway’s dim light was swallowed by the shadows of the room. He circled me like a hunter assessing prey. His hand brushed against my shoulder. The contact was brief, ghostlike, yet it sent a shiver shooting down my spine. Every nerve felt alight, every inch of skin aware, buzzing. It was a touch that promised both danger and something far more intoxicating.
“Do you think you can hide anything from me?” His voice was low, teasing, sharp, the kind that made my pulse pound so loudly it seemed to echo in my ears.
I could only shake my head. My chest rose and fell with shallow breaths. Every breath I took felt like it might betray me.He moved closer, causing me to hold perfectly still, letting him work, knowing that one wrong move could tilt the balance and change everything.
