A heavy silence settled over the foyer.
Conrad’s easy smile faltered, his sharp eyes darting between Lucian and me as if calculating leverage.
“You know my stepsister, Lucian?” Conrad asked cautiously.
Lucian didn’t break eye contact with me, tracking the pulse fluttering at the base of my throat.
“Know her?” Lucian’s voice dropped low and smooth.
“No.
We simply crossed paths years ago.
Before she realized where her true loyalties lay.” Shawn chuckled, stepping around Lucian.
His dark hair was damp from rain, his eyes sparkling with lethal amusement as he scanned my faded dress and simple apron.
“She looks different without custom silk, doesn’t she?” Shawn murmured, stepping into my space.
The rich scent of rain, cedarwood, and expensive cologne rolled off him, making my head swim.
“Simpler.
Does playing servant suit you, Lyra?” I pressed my lips together until I tasted copper.
Every nerve screamed at me to shout the truth—that every cruel word I swallowed from Conrad was because of them.
Because five years ago, when Lucian’s heart was failing in an ICU, Conrad stood over him, holding the rights to the only drug that could save his life.
Sign over your trust, Conrad had whispered that night.
Sign these forged letters admitting you sold their secrets for cash, or Lucian dies before sunrise.
I had signed.
I destroyed my life so Lucian could breathe.
I let them hate me so they would live.
And now, Lucian was looking at me like I was something dirty on his boot.
“She doesn’t speak much these days,” Conrad interjected, taking Shawn’s damp coat.
“She minds the estate and stays out of the way.” Before Conrad could take another step, Vin moved.
The floorboards seemed to groan under his towering six-foot-four frame.
He dangled his heavy wool overcoat directly in front of my face.
“Take it,” Vin rumbled, his voice like grinding stone.
My hands shook as I reached out.
The moment my fingers touched the wet wool, Vin’s massive hand clamped around my wrist.
His grip was an iron band, heat radiating off his skin.
He squeezed once, feeling the frantic thud of my pulse against his thumb, before releasing me.
“Hang it up,” Vin commanded softly.
“And don’t keep us waiting.” Conrad led them down the corridor to the study.
As Lucian walked past, his shoulder brushed mine, a touch so light it could have been an accident, yet deliberate enough to send a shiver down my spine.
Get a grip, Lyra, I told myself, clutching Vin’s coat.
Conrad’s key is in his desk.
The real medical ledger is in his safe.
You get the proof, tear Conrad down, and run.
Ten minutes later, I pushed open the heavy drawing room doors, balancing a tray loaded with crystal glasses, ice, and whiskey.
Conrad sat in his armchair, gesturing aggressively as he pitched his business expansion.
Across from him sat the three of them, Lucian swirling a glass, Shawn smirking, and Vin standing near the dark fireplace like a lethal shadow.
“…and with your capital, Crestwood Enterprises will double its margin,” Conrad was saying.
“Double?” Lucian asked smoothly, cutting him off.
His eyes locked onto me the second I crossed the threshold.
“A bold claim for a company drowning in three separate bank loans, Conrad.” Conrad flushed an ugly red.
“Those are temporary debts…” “Set the tray down, Lyra,” Lucian cut in.
“And pour.” My hands trembled as I set the tray on the glass table.
Before my fingers wrapped around the decanter, Lucian’s long fingers wrapped around my forearm, pulling me down toward him.
I caught myself against the table edge, inches from his face.
Up close, Lucian was breathtakingly ruthless.
His grey eyes bored into mine with quiet intensity.
“Your hands are shaking, Lyra,” he whispered, his thumb caressing my inner wrist.
“Is the house always this cold?
Or are you just nervous to see old friends?” “I’m just pouring the drinks, Lucian,” I murmured, trying to pull back.
He tightened his grip, keeping me pinned.
“Look at her,” Shawn chuckled from the couch.
“She can’t even look us in the eye.” Conrad cleared his throat nervously.
“Lyra, get out and bring more ice.” I snatched my arm back as Lucian loosened his grip and fled into the narrow hallway toward the pantry.
In the dark, I pressed my back against the wall, tears spilling over my lashes.
“Crying in the dark, Lyra?” Shawn stood at the end of the corridor, blocking the exit.
He glided forward, slamming his hand against the wall beside my head.
“Five years,” Shawn whispered, his voice thick with a dark edge.
“Five years we wondered how much it took to buy you.
You left Lucian in an ICU and ran straight to your stepbrother’s wealth.” “Shawn, you don’t understand…” “I understand plenty,” he rasped, his thumb pressing hard against my lower lip.
“So tell me…
was it worth it?” A sob tore from my throat, but I bit it back.
I couldn’t tell him.
If Conrad realized I was trying to expose him, he’d destroy the ledger.
“Let me go,” I choked out.
“Not a chance,” a deeper voice sounded behind Shawn.
Lucian walked out of the shadows, flanked by Vin.
The three of them filled the space completely, trapping me in a cage of dark power.
Lucian stepped up to me, his fingers trailing down my neck, stopping over my pounding pulse.
“Did you think we were here to invest in Conrad’s company, Lyra?” Lucian asked softly.
A dark smile curved his lips.
“We didn’t come here to give him money,” Lucian whispered, his voice dripping with malice.
“We bought every single cent of his personal debt.
The mortgages on this house.
The loans on his business.
Conrad doesn’t own this estate anymore, Lyra…
We do.
And we’re staying right here under this roof to make sure you pay back every single thing you owe us.” Shawn’s eyes held a dangerous heat, Vin’s massive body blocked the hallway, and Lucian’s grip on my neck forced my gaze up to his.
“You’re not hiding in the dark anymore, sweet girl,” Lucian purred, his thumb brushing my bottom lip.
“You’re our captive.
And starting tonight, you take orders from us.” From the main corridor, Conrad’s shouting voice called for another bottle.
None of the three men even blinked.
They had backed my stepbrother into an inescapable financial corner, and now they had trapped me right alongside him.
“Go tell your master we’ll be staying in the east wing,” Shawn whispered into my ear, his hand trailing down my spine, making me shudder.
“And make sure you bring up the fresh linens yourself.
We’re going to keep you very busy tonight.” I nodded faintly, clutching the edge of the wall to steady my trembling knees.
I was still trapped in Conrad’s house, but the real predators were no longer outside the gates.
They were sleeping under the very same roof, and they were never going to let me go.